Shopping in Petersham and Ham – by VG

Well, there was of course what there was opposite the Orchard was the Petersham Post Office and General Store.  It was lovely.  It was a wonderful shop and I would go there every week because I’d get my family allowance there and it sold you know general groceries but I didn’t do my main shopping there because every Friday evening I would phone the Co-op in Ham St and they’d deliver, they’d deliver the week’s groceries, Mr and Mrs Cox and very sad when they went and then the place was pulled down.  It seemed bad and opposite there, there was, well for a long time it was a shoe menders then briefly it was a greengrocers.  There was a flower shop, yes well that was opposite the little general store.

There was also on the main road was it Carters.. it was a sweet shop and tobacconist.  I think it’s where the photographers is.  There were two or three shops there.  There was this newsagent we got the paper from there, it was delivered from there and the boys would go and spend pocket money there.  Carters, I’m sure it was Carters and em  … There was the general stores and literally post office down there opposite the Orchard, not the Orchard, it’s the Russell School, then there was Carters there and there was Ham Parade but we didn’t go there so much because in Ham St there was the Co-op who we had the main shopping from and one or two little funny shops opposite the school.  I don’t know if they, they must have gone round the corner too, opposite the library, not just on the front.  I can’t remember that many shops but there must have been.  Were they built quite a lot later?  This is weird I can’t remember.

There was this little shop of all sorts that used to have things outside on the pavement and I bought teasets, cheap china teasets and things like that there.