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 Mr. Dorling left, Malcolm took over and is still there.  He has been in Ham longer than I have!  There was also a post office.  It was different then.  There were never any problems parking because not everybody had a car and there were fewer people living in Ham.  In fact, our road here, Church Road, wasn’t even tarmacked when we moved in.

I do remember that Denby’s used to deliver.  A boy on a bicycle would arrive with the order in a box.  The chemist shop was much smaller with all the old fashioned jars in a wall full of shelves.  Mr. Catto was the chemist till Mr. Tanna took over.