My grandparents lived above a shop at 48 Station Road during the late 60s-early 70s.Can anyone tell me what the shop sold? Also, what became of my grandparents? I am Brighton born but moved to Dorset as a child and lost contact with family. Help!
By Maria Louise Hynes (09/09/2004)
77 Boundary Road was the plain brown shopfront (right side of picture) of Lloyds Bank Ltd where my grandfather was the manager. My father was born in the living accommodation above in 1906.
By David Whitfield (31/12/2004)
My friend’s Mum and Dad operated a pub at the bottom end of this road, not too far from the sea front. I think their address was actually Station Road, if I recall correctly. It used to confuse the Dickens out of this Canadian, as the station was actually on the opposite side of the street, which in turn was called Boundary Road! Prior to this, I had never seen nor heard of the same road having two names! Am I recalling correctly? By the way, the pub was the ‘Blue Anchor’, an apt name as my friend Lee was married to a matelot.
By Toni Heater (16/09/2005)
Toni, your recall is perfectly correct. The west side of the road is Station Road in Portslade (where the Blue Anchor still stands). The east side however is Boundary Road in Hove. The boundary between the two towns runs down the middle of the road. To cap that, as a teenager who lived on both sides of the divide, I recall seeing it rain on the Portslade side and not the Hove side. And that was in the days before I discovered alcohol
By Alan Phillips (04/10/2005)
Maria Louise Hynes wrote: “My grandparents lived above a shop at 48 Station Road during the late 60s-early 70s. Can anyone tell me what the shop sold? Also, what became of my grandparents?” That is a mystery. In Station Road there was Band & Co. at 43, the Post Office at 44, then St Aubyn’s Road, the Congregational Church and then Baker’s the undertakers at 52. So I don’t think that 48 existed as a shop. I guess that numbers 46-50 had been houses, and that they were demolished to make way for the church when it was built in 1932. There was a house or shop at 48 Boundary Road (Hove). In 1956 Jn A. Hynes lived at 336 Mile Oak Road
By David Hitchin (02/10/2006)
I don’t know if anybody can help me – my grandfather (William Jones) grew up in Brighton and in 1908 joined Sainsbury’s in Hove as an errand boy. The record in the Sainsbury’s archives says he had a reference from an indecipherable name in Boundary Road, Portslade (no number). The name could be Hoyes, or even Squires, but has an initial of F. I’d be interested in whether this was a “business” or “personal” reference. I can send a picture of the entry, if that would help. Thanks, Derek Hathaway
By Derek Hathaway (02/04/2007)
We live at 43 Station Road, above the current shop and think it is haunted, can anyone throw any light on it?
By Gareth Busby (13/08/2008)
Thanks for the interesting comments, Alan. By the time I worked in the cafe, I’m pretty sure it was only open in the daytime, closing in the late afternoon ready for preparations for the next day’s cooking. Maybe the previous owners had got fed up with the Teddy Boys. The clientele in my day consisted of local workers, presumably from the local shops and businesses and I think from Shoreham Harbour. Portslade Stationers sounds about right – the man who ran it had a very high, husky voice. I think the stall or table of secondhand jewellery etc that I recall may have been set up outside one of the private houses you mention between the stationers and the cafe – possibly not a full-blown shop premises.
Thanks for your contribution.
By Honor (17/11/2008)
Sometime in the 1970s my dad (Richie McDonald) bought that cafe and ran it for a few years with his second wife Rita. It was a bit of a dump but a good money maker as he would say. I also remember the man with the high pitched voice who owned the stationary shop. The Blue Anchor was my favorite pub on Station Road, my mum, Lily Mac used to love it there. and that’s where we drank every time I visited from America.
By Vince McDonald (23/04/2009)
To Honour; the name of the cafe could have been Lil’s Cafe.
By Shirley (31/08/2009)
Well I think I used to use the cafe, along with Rios in North Street, it was the Cabin Cafe I think you will find.
By Eddie Mccabe (03/11/2009)
You’re right Eddie, it was the Cabin Cafe.
By Alan Phillips (10/11/2009)
Ritchie Mac was a good mate of mine and his cafe was in West Buildings, Worthing, not Boundary Road. I remember you Vince, hope you are well.
By Paddy Murphy (04/01/2010)
Thanks for setting me straight Paddy. I was in America when he had the cafe. I never went there and I always thought it was on Station Road. I live in Massachusetts, USA now. I saw him in 1994 just before he died.
By Vince McDonald (25/05/2010)
Hello Vince, great to hear back from you. I don’t use a computer much; my grandson helps me so sorry for the delay in responding. I knew you were in the US for a long time, any family? I’m 82 now and in good health. I still miss my old friend Mac and the pints we used to have in the Vic and the Halfway House. How are your brothers and sisters? I only really knew Desmond and Brendan. Des was a great footballer I remember. Mac used to say he could have played professionally. Keep well and let me know if you’re ever going to be in the Victoria at Portslade Station.
By Paddy Murphy (09/11/2010)
The man who ran Portslade Stationers at 1 North Street (on the corner) was John Ramus. It’s a second-hand white goods outlet now. We became friends when I was struggling to run a print shop (in Payne Avenue, Hove) as he would give me little print jobs. I admired his absolute honesty and integrity and loved his little shop so much that I tried to emulate it by opening a similar one in Portland Road, with he supplying stock and advice. This was in the early 80s and of course the days of the little shop were already numbered. He closed 1987 due to ill health, never to reopen, and I closed 1988. To my shame, we never kept in contact after that, so have no idea how he fared. The cafe a few doors down was run by a neighbour whilst I was living at Shoreham. His partner who worked in it, was one of the most attractive women I have ever met (apart from my own wife of course!) and I laughed so much when Mr Ramus once remarked how obvious what the main attraction was for customers – and it wasn’t the Welsh rarebits and mugs of tea!
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My grandparents lived above a shop at 48 Station Road during the late 60s-early 70s.Can anyone tell me what the shop sold? Also, what became of my grandparents? I am Brighton born but moved to Dorset as a child and lost contact with family. Help!
77 Boundary Road was the plain brown shopfront (right side of picture) of Lloyds Bank Ltd where my grandfather was the manager. My father was born in the living accommodation above in 1906.
My friend’s Mum and Dad operated a pub at the bottom end of this road, not too far from the sea front. I think their address was actually Station Road, if I recall correctly. It used to confuse the Dickens out of this Canadian, as the station was actually on the opposite side of the street, which in turn was called Boundary Road! Prior to this, I had never seen nor heard of the same road having two names! Am I recalling correctly? By the way, the pub was the ‘Blue Anchor’, an apt name as my friend Lee was married to a matelot.
Toni, your recall is perfectly correct. The west side of the road is Station Road in Portslade (where the Blue Anchor still stands). The east side however is Boundary Road in Hove. The boundary between the two towns runs down the middle of the road. To cap that, as a teenager who lived on both sides of the divide, I recall seeing it rain on the Portslade side and not the Hove side. And that was in the days before I discovered alcohol
Maria Louise Hynes wrote: “My grandparents lived above a shop at 48 Station Road during the late 60s-early 70s. Can anyone tell me what the shop sold? Also, what became of my grandparents?”
That is a mystery. In Station Road there was Band & Co. at 43, the Post Office at 44, then St Aubyn’s Road, the Congregational Church and then Baker’s the undertakers at 52. So I don’t think that 48 existed as a shop. I guess that numbers 46-50 had been houses, and that they were demolished to make way for the church when it was built in 1932. There was a house or shop at 48 Boundary Road (Hove). In 1956 Jn A. Hynes lived at 336 Mile Oak Road
I don’t know if anybody can help me – my grandfather (William Jones) grew up in Brighton and in 1908 joined Sainsbury’s in Hove as an errand boy. The record in the Sainsbury’s archives says he had a reference from an indecipherable name in Boundary Road, Portslade (no number). The name could be Hoyes, or even Squires, but has an initial of F. I’d be interested in whether this was a “business” or “personal” reference. I can send a picture of the entry, if that would help. Thanks, Derek Hathaway
We live at 43 Station Road, above the current shop and think it is haunted, can anyone throw any light on it?
Thanks for the interesting comments, Alan. By the time I worked in the cafe, I’m pretty sure it was only open in the daytime, closing in the late afternoon ready for preparations for the next day’s cooking. Maybe the previous owners had got fed up with the Teddy Boys. The clientele in my day consisted of local workers, presumably from the local shops and businesses and I think from Shoreham Harbour. Portslade Stationers sounds about right – the man who ran it had a very high, husky voice. I think the stall or table of secondhand jewellery etc that I recall may have been set up outside one of the private houses you mention between the stationers and the cafe – possibly not a full-blown shop premises.
Thanks for your contribution.
Sometime in the 1970s my dad (Richie McDonald) bought that cafe and ran it for a few years with his second wife Rita. It was a bit of a dump but a good money maker as he would say. I also remember the man with the high pitched voice who owned the stationary shop. The Blue Anchor was my favorite pub on Station Road, my mum, Lily Mac used to love it there. and that’s where we drank every time I visited from America.
To Honour; the name of the cafe could have been Lil’s Cafe.
Well I think I used to use the cafe, along with Rios in North Street, it was the Cabin Cafe I think you will find.
You’re right Eddie, it was the Cabin Cafe.
Ritchie Mac was a good mate of mine and his cafe was in West Buildings, Worthing, not Boundary Road. I remember you Vince, hope you are well.
Thanks for setting me straight Paddy. I was in America when he had the cafe. I never went there and I always thought it was on Station Road. I live in Massachusetts, USA now. I saw him in 1994 just before he died.
Hello Vince, great to hear back from you. I don’t use a computer much; my grandson helps me so sorry for the delay in responding. I knew you were in the US for a long time, any family? I’m 82 now and in good health. I still miss my old friend Mac and the pints we used to have in the Vic and the Halfway House. How are your brothers and sisters? I only really knew Desmond and Brendan. Des was a great footballer I remember. Mac used to say he could have played professionally. Keep well and let me know if you’re ever going to be in the Victoria at Portslade Station.
The man who ran Portslade Stationers at 1 North Street (on the corner) was John Ramus. It’s a second-hand white goods outlet now. We became friends when I was struggling to run a print shop (in Payne Avenue, Hove) as he would give me little print jobs. I admired his absolute honesty and integrity and loved his little shop so much that I tried to emulate it by opening a similar one in Portland Road, with he supplying stock and advice. This was in the early 80s and of course the days of the little shop were already numbered. He closed 1987 due to ill health, never to reopen, and I closed 1988. To my shame, we never kept in contact after that, so have no idea how he fared. The cafe a few doors down was run by a neighbour whilst I was living at Shoreham. His partner who worked in it, was one of the most attractive women I have ever met (apart from my own wife of course!) and I laughed so much when Mr Ramus once remarked how obvious what the main attraction was for customers – and it wasn’t the Welsh rarebits and mugs of tea!
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