My memory from where I lived in Murray Road, which was where the gentleman came from, was a gentleman called Paddy Conway. Paddy used to have a fruit and veg round on a horse-drawn fruit and veg. wagon – an old and cart with a cover over the top. He had all his fruit and veg on the back. He had his horse, Kitty, he used to keep on the […]

The parade of shops is just round the corner. We must mention M&J Hardware with Malcolm.

Locally, I shopped on the Parade.  There were two vegetable shops on the Parade and there was a delicatessen called Denby’s.  I don’t remember if there were any Indian or Chinese restaurants but there were three banks – Lloyds Bank, Midland Bank and Barclays Bank.  There was a butcher too.  We mustn’t forget the hardware shop.  Malcolm was a young man working for Mr. Dorling who owned the shop.  When […]

Yes, well Frank was there before Dunkleys and he was there for years, all through the war years apparently, cos he had my mother’s meat ration book and that.., he was very nice but he had.. I don’t know what it was – he was either tongue tied or some malformation and he spoke most peculiarly and all the kids used to rib him rotten. That was really very naughty […]

Well, the shop down at the end of Bench, perhaps the older people still refer to it as Dunkley’s.  Mrs Dunkley, her first little shop was by… where the New Inn, not the New Inn, the Brewery Tap, if you come from the Brewery Tap towards the river, the very first house next to the Brewery Tap, that was her shop, she had a little tiny shop there.   Then she […]

When food was rationed she had to go to the particular shops. Bevan’s was the butchers. She was registered with Denby’s on Ham Parade which is where the Bistro is now. There was a Mr Denby there for our groceries and I’m not sure about the bread. We didn’t have supermarkets then and she would shop in Kingston market – she was fond of Kingston Market. I’m not quite sure […]

You could do all your shopping… there’s a very, very posh converted house near here that’s called The Old Bakery, but I remember buying bacon in it in 1967, it was the Co-op!  The Co-op was in Ham Street, near the pond end and near the little shop that was called Dunkley’s, run by Mrs. Dunkley. Then the Ashburnham Parade shops had everything you needed: lovely baker, lovely butcher, lovely […]

Mrs Dunkley, have you heard of Mrs Dunkley? She had a shop in Ham Street next to the Brewery Tap, and she practically ruled it, you didn’t dare say the wrong word to Mrs Dunkley, and she, after the war, she bought a grocer’s shop and sold groceries which I always did my order every week until we had supermarkets came along and then gradually ran down, but she ruled […]