Remembering the local shops
Lived here for 22 years
I lived at the bottom of Bernard Road for 22 years, all through the 1960s and 1970s. At the bottom of Bonchurch Road, there was a small newsagent/ grocery. Whippingham Road had no shop on either corner. On the other side of the street, on the corner of Whippingham Street, there was a baker’s shop. They actually baked the bread there, and would slice it on a machine if you wanted. The lady who owned it had a big blonde bouffant hairdo.
Help yourself wages
Next was Brading Road; a newsagent on the lower side of the street, I do not remember the name of the original owners, but Harry Crane had it for many years. I worked for him as a paper delivery boy when I was about 12, to about 15. If there was horse racing on TV when I was supposed to get paid, he did not want to come out to the shop, so he let me take the money out of the till, and a large bar of chocolate. Talk about trusting. On the other corner was a small grocer shop. I can’t remember their names but their faces are still clear to me.
An energetic little old lady
There was a ladies hairdresser at the bottom of Bernard Road, called Flair. The owner was Angela and she was married, with three boys if I remember correctly. It was something else before it was a hairdressers, but I cannot for the life of me remember what. At the bottom of Totland Road, there was a grocers, run by a little old lady, full of energy, and with a Scottish accent. She sold fresh sliced meat and cheese, and vegetables and all the stuff you needed, when you ran out. After she died it became Arnold’s. I do not think it did too well, and it soon became a junk/antique shop.
Do you remember?
Do you remember any of these shops? Can you remember any others? If you can share your memories with us, please leave a comment below.
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Hi Kevin, I remember you well as we were friends. I lived just around the corner from you in Hartington Rd and we were at Fairlight together along with Christopher? who lived up at the bottom of Ryde Road. We all, IIRC, went our separate ways when we left Fairlight. You and I are both in the picture, elsewhere on this site, of the lifebuoys at Lewes Rd Congregational Church. You can remember a few more details than me of the shops around us. I was trying to think of Harry Crane’s name the other day. Scotts from the cemetery took over the paper shop after Harry retired. Glad to know you’re still around
Ah, coming to this page very late, having just moved back to the Brighton area. Kevin, you must be Kevin Bushby. I’m Alan Green who lived next to the cemetery entrance at 101 Hartington Road. Our mothers were very good friends. The paper shop at the bottom of Brading Road was called Robinsons and I dimly remember a Mr Robinson there. We knew the woman who ran the shop at the bottom of Totland Road as Mrs Mac – she gave Elaine Scott and myself cardboard boxes to take up the Race Hill to use as grass sledges down to Whitehawk. When I was quite small – early sixties – the shop at the bottom of Bernard Road sold paraffin out of a big tank, and always smelt of wet cats!
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