Shops of days gone by

When I moved to SE23 in 1981, at the ripe old age of 8, for the first few weeks we didn’t have a cooker. Couldn’t afford one straight away, so will pennies sent from a relative, we lived on meals at a local eatery. While the cooker was ordered and delivered. Not as quick then as it is these days.

Anyway, we used to eat at the “Golden Griddle”

Closed down decades ago now, but has always stuck in my mind.
Along with Myers Motors (tops tiles), Woolworths (McDonald’s then Energie) what other memories of shops do you have.?

Question, which shops gave way to the extention of Sainsburys? Still hard to believe it was once so different in there.

Pre-Sainsburys extension there was a Woolwich building society and Redifusion or Vision Hire.
Check out this link for some reeeeaally old stuff - http://www.francisfrith.com/forest-hill/forest-hill-station-and-crossroads-c1955_f179015

Lol I remember it @Anotherjohn, I was just testing others. Hired my first ever TV from there.

Alldays on Waldram Park Road (now Co-Op)

Blockbusters on London Road (now a bargain store)

Blue Mountain Cafe on Waldram Crescent (now nothing)

Sainsburys Local at the garage on Stanstead Road

Old Bank italian restaurant, Honor Oak Park (now Mama Dough)

Mediterranean Deli, Honor Oak Park (now Hopscotch)

Bar Equal, Honor Oak Park (now Hattush)

Try Tapas Honor Oak Park (now Donde)

Casa Tequila Brockley Rise (now Le Querce)

St Germains pub Brockley Rise (now The Honor Oak)

Hobglobin (now The Signal)

I miss it being a petrol station and having a Food Plus in there. Now that’s way back.

Swift Cycles on Dartmouth Road now there is another. Bought my first bike from there.

The kebab shop that used to be at the end of Sunderland Road. In the era of Myers Motors.

McDonalds next to Sainsburys (now a gym)

ABC Cinemas, then Mecca and now The Capitol

Was Woolworths before McDonald’s, crazy thinking that far back.

Don’t remember the cinema though, maybe before my time.

I think the tv rental shop became a Granada before closing down?

Surprised nobody has mentioned Midland Bank on Dartmouth Road?

More recently we lost the old Post Office to the Sylvan Post bar. (The PO moving into WHSmith).

There was also a £1 shop on Dartmouth Road, which I think is now @Pauline’s shop? (I’m sure Pauline told me this?)

See, now that’s what I’m talking about! Great call, totally forgot about that.

Keep em coming.

Not quite a shop, but how about the old darts factory? (unicorn?) I was reliability informed it was darts they made years ago…
Anyone remember where that was, and what’s there now?

There used to be a fishmonger where there is now a red cross shop (before that is was sainsbury but that was before my time).
Vickers florist and greengrocer where there is now Winksworth.
Galt Toys - not actually sure where that was, either Davids Road or Perry Vale.
Tesco then Londis where there is now Paddy Power.
Provender opposite the swimming pool.
A cheese shop and Turkish restaurant above a pawn shop near the bingo hall
Coffee roasters and deli where the Teapot is located. Can’t remember the name this morning.
Freeman Hardy and Willis close to Boots
West butcher plus veg stall where there is now William Hill
And there used to be a launderette opposite the station!

Aaah the butchers, another I had long forgotten.
Now you mention it, I remember the Tescos, and have recollections of an accident with some scaffolding there. Too young to remember exact details but a child and a buggy rings a bell.

This thread really does show how much SE23 has changed. Really mind blowing when you put it all together.

Yes Martin, my shop was the pound shop

Midland Bank is now Paul’s jewellery school & studio

And there was something called a ‘Travel Agent’ on the high street. You would go there to book train tickets.

They also had magazines full of holidays, some of which might be available. It was a bit like the internet only they printed everything out and didn’t update it.

And Bunka used to be an undertaker.
Gone but not forgotten.

lol oh how I long for days gone by! Nicely explained there too. Todays generation would be astounded at the lengths people used to go to just to book a holiday.
I remember we used to book coach tickets at a travel agents near the post office in Sydenham, and they would hand write the tickets after confirming the reservation on an antiquated simple computer system.

A friend used to live above there many years back. Actually didn’t notice it had gone.

My mother worked at Unicorn Darts factory.

Aaah, thanks for clarifying it was all as I remembered lol. Remembered the logo and name, wasn’t sure I had the purpose right.

Was it there, or where the storage place is now? I thought it was the latter.

Think Unicorn darts factory is now where the storage place is? Next to maplin?

come to Forest Hill Fashion Week Writers Workshop on September 22 at the Library - we will be looking at fashion in locations - Forest Hill looked very different even when I came 10 years ago. We need people with memories like yours.

Yep. Unicorn place is now the ShurGard. Not my sport but I recall reading somewhere that that site was a world class manufacturer of dartboards.

I remember when the Sabah fish and chip shop on Perry Vale was a chemist.

And the MoT garage on Perry Vale, which is now a block of flats.

And unless I’m very much mistaken, the health centre behind the old Perry Rise fire station used to be a Lada dealership.

And remember when there was a toy shop at the corner of Woolstone Rod and Perry Hill, anyone?

There was a fruit and veg place where Village Way hairdressers now is - is that what you were thinking of Michael? Or was there another place too? The one I’m thinking of was also called Village Way, if I recall. Always had a cat sleeping in the window.

The doors place (which is now gone) used to be a pet shop. We bought our first dog there.

I think the shop at Village Way was Vickers florist and greengrocer. The greengrocer by the butcher was a stall.

Vickers sounds vaguely familiar - but in any event I bow to your superior and encyclopaedic knowledge, @Michael.

What was the name of the sweet shop on Perry Vale opposite Platform 2 at FH Station where the flats are now? Mum always used to take me in there for sweets.

The Cabin
And that’s exactly what it was. Next to where @finches used to have the gardening / camping shop.
That’s going back! Wow I just aged lol

That’s right! Cheers @anon64893700

Thanks for challenging my brain there. Good memories back then

And not forgetting of course @rbmartin Finches removals (later Britannia) behind the cabin and finches garden shop.

Superb @Anotherjohn , brilliant find.

One of my customers told me that there used to be a car scrap yard type place where the gated houses are between The Framing Salon & what was B Cards on D Rd & the owners son was Damien in the film The Omen.

The same customer told me he had a weekend job back then in a vinyl record shop on London Rd.

Anyone know about these?

You’re right about the car place, @Pauline. I remember there was a car auction on that site one day. I was wandering around FH, had no interest in buying a car but was at a loose end and thought I’d wander up and have a look at what was happening and kill some time.

There was a crappy old Cortina or something like that up for sale. Someone bid £20 and I looked at the auctioneer to see who he was looking at so I could see who was bidding for it. Suddenly, the price was £25. Then it was £30 and I looked again at the auctioneer to see who he was looking at and the bid went up to £35.

Suddenly it dawned on me. Every time I looked at the auctioneer he thought I was bidding for the car! So I stared straight ahead at the Cortina, waited till it got sold to someone else for £40 then made a beeline for Dartmouth Road and never returned there again.

Hahaha Andy, at least you didn’t get lumbered with the car

Tell me about it! I don’t even think I had a driving licence at the time!!!

Mrs Vickers reminded me of Sybil Fawlty.
Isn’t the Jewellers in Dartmouth road the oldest shop in Forest Hill? I wonder if the same person still works there or if it ever changed hands?
Does anyone remember the Tobacconist opposite the station,where the coffee shop now is?

Village Way was Plug & Socket which moved to London Road. Vickers florist and greengrocer was the shop next door

The tobacconist opposite the station was Driscolls who also had a shop (no 4) & warehouse (no 15) Perry Vale.
BTW the coffee shop is now Gao Vietnamese Baguette.

Pauline

Would think the vinyl record shop was Reeds 29 Dartmouth Road

Michael

IIRC
Bunka was Laurel’s florist(before moving across road) and Francis Chappell the undertakers was where Stag & Bow are now trading.

The florists was called Mulberry and immediately before that it was a jeans & clothes shop.

Does anyone remember Wimpy, where The Teapot now is?

I think its where the opticians is next door to Sainsburys , on London rd.

Yes, I remember it well.
My mate ripped one of the tables off and threw it through the window onto the South Circular.
The Teapot’s clientelle are so much more refined.

What about the underground club (one of the Florist basements back then if I remember rightl) & the Mexican place you & @gulam05 have told me some brilliant funny stories about

ETA What were they called.

I remember in the late 70s there was a Wimpy stopped there once lived in Hockley Essex at the time but on my travels remember it was easy to park and pop in for an International Grill…

Ah, you’ve got me there.
I thought The Golden Griddle, which used to be in the pizza place down by the lights, did the International Grill.
Whatever - I couldn’t afford it. I just had plain ol’ Wimpy ‘n’ chips and a coke float (coke in a tall sundae glass with ice cream on top). 12p for the Wimpy, 10p chips and 10p coke float. (Mind you, I can remember a 3d (thrup’ny bit!) portion of chips after Saturday morning pictures down at the Peckham Odeon!).

My Saturday pictures was sixpence, later on I recall I could meet a girl outside the Odeon buy circle seats and either a Ki-ora orange or a tub and take her home in a black cab and have 4d left for my bus fare home.
Should have stated this was out of a Pound! I earnt before deductions £4-9s-6d gave my mum £2 saved 10 bob and the rest went on travel etc.

Michael
There used to be a fishmonger where there is now a red cross shop (before that is was sainsbury but that was before my time).
Vickers florist and greengrocer where there is now Winksworth.
Galt Toys - not actually sure where that was, either Davids Road or Perry Vale.

Galt toys were sold by KIRK in Perry Vale, the also had a card shop called Paperchase in the shop opposite the station which is now Gao Vietnamese Baguette

Does anyone remember when the fishmongers was opposite the station where the fish & chip shop now is?

Also, Finches, the furniture removal company back of the station where all their large furniture vans would be parked. Also who remembers the Timber yard at the rear of the station where the MOT and FH cars are in waldram crescent?

In fact I almost forgot what the rear of the station looked like until I saw an old photo of it.

Thee ‘Golden Griddle’ seemed to be there forever, but suddenly disappeared when McDonalds came along. Anyone know why McDonalds closed?

There was a small pet shop on the Honor Oak Parade also, and a woodwork / carpenters where Sebastian Roche extended into.

There was a pet shop where the door company was which is now Waters fish n veg. We bought our first dog from there.

Apart from the fights and rubbish I am not sure.

There was an Indian between the bank and the capitol on London rd
Pacchi SAR was it?

Was something to do with renewal of permits etc during a time of trying to deal with inner town youths hanging around. Wasn’t renewed on the basis of anti social behaviour.

So the story goes.

Who remembers the toy shop in Honor Oak parade, late 60s,early 70s?

Nah, can’t recall that.
I moved there in 1971.
Worked in the hardware & paraffin shop on the corner of Ballina St around 1974/5 then Doug McKenzie Photographic in 1977.
I remember the chemist, the butchers, Wavy Line supermarket, butchers on the other corner of Ballina St, Kuschell (?) hi-fi speaker cabinet maker, Ron Cooper cycles.
Anyone got some old photos of the road back in those days?

Here’s a blast from the past -
Spiggy’s on Dartmouth Road

spiggys590×894 89.6 KB

The coffee roasting/deli was “goslings”
The toy shop near village way was “marriots”. (They sold the best dolls house furniture and had a golden retriever)

Gosh, this has brought back memories…morely’s chicken shop( opp the pools) was Joyce’s newsagents, where you could take back your old fizzy pop bottles back and get 2p! That was run by Mick and family, mick also had the shop on the corner of Clyde vale ( not the charity shop) which was a proper hardware shop. The ald life shop was a car spares shop, then briefly an ice cream parlour, a greengrocers and a spar shop.
There was a freeman Hardy and Willis somewhere near boots, and laurels florist was where bunka is now. Stag and bow was Francis chapel funeral directors.
Village way was another hardware shop called the plug and socket!
My husband had his first Saturday job in the red cross shop, which was a wet fish shop back then.
Sorry if I’ve repeated some answers…I got a bit excited.

If you want to see some photos of Honor Oak Park from back in the day, you should drop by the (soon to be Dominos) fish & chip shop - he’s got several pics on the wall dating back over 100 years.

Cheers @HonorOakBloke

After speaking to Ben @ClaptonCraft who told me there was once a brewery in FH years ago - maybe too long ago for most of us to recall - I did a bit of digging.
I just came across this which I thought was interesting particularly for those of us who like a pint in the @AllInnOne

I love the tiled sign and thought it would be great to re-patronise it but that may be a step too far.

That is an amazing story. And a great picture of Perry Vale. So different.

No meetings today?

Only the one to discuss my leaving!
Besides it’s f**k it Friday

When I had a crack at making beer a few years ago, I fondly thought I might for fun resurrect the old labels of the Forest Hill brewery on the beer.

I think I saw a picture of the FH brewery recently, will see if I can find it and post a link.

Here you go, it became a Dairy in 1927:

Some background here (if a link to the ‘other place’ is allowed):
https://www.se23.com/forum-archive/messages/9/1029.html

I’m a relative newcomer as I only moved to FH 11 years ago but I seem to remember an old wooden shack with tyres stacked up outside where at junction of Hindsley Place and Perry Vale opposite the pub.
It looked long closed down back then. Was it ever a thriving tyre fitter?

Don’t know if “thrived” was the operative word.

If my memory is good - they also fitted radios and sound systems.

And the shack next to it operated as a busy little newsagent and shop.

Futon Plus at the bottom of Derby Hill. Humphreys pine shop opposite Boots

Yes, I bought the Futon Plus shop in 1991 and Kelly’s Nails has been in there since 2001.

Humphrey’s - poor John died aged only about 61 a year or two ago.

I loved Futon Plus. We bought a futon from there.The base broke a couple of years ago, but we keep the futon mattress stored under the bed, and it is perfect when we have people to stay. We bought quite a few bits in Humphries too that we still have -a mirror, a chest of drawers, and some photo frames. Poor John, a really nice man.

Hey, first post here, but thought i’d join in and reminisce with you all.

So basically I’ve lived here my whole life (since 1985) so I’ve seen a fair amount of places come and go.

Few places come to mind… does anyone remember a tiny bookstore on Perry Vale, maybe where Morleys is now. Would have been when I was ending primary school, so circa 1996-1997 maybe? Also, speaking of the Cabin, I have such fond memories of there when my mother used to take me in there after school and she would buy me a secret bar and my monthly Techno Quest. Anyway, as I live on Westbourne Drive I have rather vivid memories of Perry Vale, and I’m sure, for a short time at least there was a small sweet shop there, nearing my end that clearly tried to rival the Cabin but failed miserably.
Also, briefly I believe there was a hippy type of store on Dartmouth Road in the early 2000’s, I remember popping in there once or twice.
Anyone remember the Value Mart? Next to Sainsbury’s, I think it may have been taken over by Sainsbury’s but I’m not sure.
There was also a Supermarket on Waldram Park Road, that then became a snooker hall, just before where the Blue Mountain cafe was.

Sorry for the long list, just so many places from the past flooding in at once!

We bought a futon from Futon plus in 1994. Still using it.

Hi - a few things I remember;

1, Starburger, next to the station car park, next to where Oak Estates was.
2, the tagline of the above mentioned butchers was “butchers of distinction”
3, Oliver London, a shirt shop located where st Davids is now (I think)
4, the signal was called The Pie and kilderkin when I first knew it

There was a row of shops on Shipman road containg a tire shop on the end (corner of Farren rd) along with a sweet shop and a laundry - there was also briefly an upholster.

On the south circular next to the fire station (opposite Kemble rd) was a pub called the Swiss Cottage, which at one point in the 80s it had a make over and changed its name to something like Tyrols winebar, before finally being replaced with flats. There was also a shop along the side road next to this (Wastdale road) that sold tropical fish tank equipment.

I also remember going to the Golden Griddle one evening to watch a performance by a Freddie Mercury tribute act, which was basically him doing karaoke, as he was not supported by a real band.

There was a men’s shop selling clothes designed by a very personable man by the name of Michael in Dartmouth Road.

Remember buying a very smart jacket there for my son.

Looking at MackieD’s to the right is Plug & Socket, now that is an old favourite moved from Dartmouth Road where Village Way is now.

I am sorry to say that I don’t miss the rubbish that used to get chucked everywhere by people who had takeaways from McDonalds.

Crikey. Those buses. What year was that?

The photo is squashed, so they look particularly weird, but they are normal single-decker buses from the 1970s. The 12A route was withdrawn in 1990. McDonalds probably opened in the early 1980s, so I’m pretty sure this is a photo from the 1980s - probably around the middle but it would be hard to be certain - unless you knew when McDonalds opened or Plug and Socket closed.

There is still a Sainsbury’s floor mosaic by the front door.