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Wednesday, 28 October 2009

WEB PAGE NO 782
















FIRST PICTURE: MR KEN WELLS WAS THE METAL WORK TEACHER AT MANOR COURT. KEN PASSED AWAY ABOUT 18 MONTHS AGO.


SECOND PICTURE: SOMETHING FROM THE PAST A SCAMMELL MECHANICAL HORSE USED BY THE BRITISH ROAD SERVICES DIVISION OF BRITISH RAILWAYS. THESE WERE OFTEN SEEN DELIVERING AROUND THE TOWN IN THE 1960’S. THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN AT A RALLY AT GOODWOOD RACE TRACK IN MAY!


THOSE NOT SO SMALL SHOPS.

Shopping when we were kids were as a very different experience than it is today. I know in pat mailings I have dealt with the corner shop and local deliveries (way before Tesco’s You Shop We Drop, it’s funny how things come round again!) and before the giant supermarkets of today. I know that the first supermarket in the country was a Coop store in Southsea but at that time it was the small chains of shops that held sway in the High Street.

The Home and Colonial Store, or to give it its full name The Home and Colonial Tea Store was one of the leaders in this field. These stores were distinguished by having the name displayed in gold on ceramic tiles inside their shop windows and the fact that all their counter assistants wore long white aprons. The Home and Colonial, as far as I know never progressed into supermarkets not like their rivals The International Stores, again the complete title was The International Tea Stores. This was originally a Cambridge company which was set up to do exactly what its name suggested, dealing with groceries, mainly tea, from all over the world. Over the years it grew and had stores all over the country. The International Stores Group was taken over by British American Tabacco (BAT) in 1972, later the Dee Corporation took control and changed the shop names to Gateway and now Somerfield. Other companies in the International Stores Group were, Payantake, Priceright and Ridgways Tea.

Moving on I remember the David Greig store that was at the top of Cosham High Street just up from Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe on the corner of Spur Road. My mother was a devotee of this shop and every Saturday morning we had to get the bus to Cosham to do the weekends shopping in David Greigs. David Greig was the supermarket chain of the Greig family. With its grocery stores across Britain it was at one time a rival to the ever growing Sainsburys. There was actually personal rivalry between the two families dating back many years. The first store was opened in in 1888 and by the 1960s there were more than 160 stores across the country but the company collapsed after the payment of crippling death duties when several of the men in the family died in quick succession.

Another of the popular stores at the time was Macfisheries I really do not know a vast amount about this company so al I can do is direct you to its fascinating web site which can be found at http://www.macfisheries.co.uk/index.htm

One non-food store which had its home in Portsmouth was Timothy White’s, later Timothy White & Taylor Ltd. It was taken over by Boots in 1968, who briefly retained the brand for a chain of kitchenware shops. The dominance of the chains in the market was so high that saying "I'm just going to Boots" or "I'm just going to Timothy White's" as a line in a novel or play would be immediately understood that someone was going to the chemist's and with no further explanation being necessary. It is amazing how far the influence of Timothy White’s streched as there were references to it in episodes of "Dads Army" and in “Monty Python's Flying Circus” one of the characters refers to"Timothy White's suncream". The store I remember was again in Cosham High Street on the corner of Albert Road, opposite Weston Harts electrical and record shop but that is another story.

Pinks is the store I really remember and the shop which I knew best was the one on the south side of the Havant Road in Drayton. This was a real old fashioned place, the sort of place where there was a seat for the ladies by the counter, the cheese was cut from a block with a cheese wire, bacon was still sliced on the hand driven Berkel slicer, butter was cut from a block with special butter pats and sugar came loose and was weighed loose into blue paper cones. Ahhhhhhhhhh those were the days.

What other stores have disappeared from Cosham High Street over the past few years? Weston Harts as I have already mentioned, Ditman and Malpas the Corn and Seed Factors who had a large outlet on the western side of the High Street almost opposte Weston Harts. Mendalls the furniture store near the crossing gates and is Whitmore Jones still there?

In town many old names have gone Rumblelows, Seals, Picket and Purser, Saqusi & Laurence, LDB, the Shirt King and the Chocolate King and many many more.

Mens outfitters also seem to be in short supply today as well. What happened to Weaver to Wearer, Dunn & Co, Hepworths or John Colloier John Collier the window to watch? And girls serving in Burtons that was unheard of. I really must be getting old!



Take Care

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.com

YOU WRITE:

Geraldine sent me this warning:-
Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public
car park. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the
rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home, it was a receipt for petrol. Luckily my friend told me not to stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the car.Then we received this email yesterday.

WARNING FROM POLICE

THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN

BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE-- NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating.. You walk across the car park, unlock your car and get inside You start the engine put it into Reverse. . When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your
space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle
of the rear window. So, you stop and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically run you over as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your
money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are
now compromised!


BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, lock your doors and just drive away.
Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you
read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.

Please tell all your friends


NEWS AND VIEWS:
Sad to say that one of our school contemporaries died last week Linda Mack passed away after a long struggle against illness. We send our sympathy to her sister Sandra and all the family.
Al Martino, the Italian crooner who charted 37 times died on October 13th in his Pennsylvania home at the age of 82. Born Alfred Cini in south Philadelphia in 1927, He worked as a bricklayer before joining the Marines (where he was wounded in the invasion of Iwo Jima), all the while hoping to be a singer like his friend Mario Lanza. Upon his return he adopted his grandfather's surname and began work in New York nightclubs, eventually winning a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1952. His first single, "Here In My Heart" topped the charts that year and was followed by "Take My Heart". Unfortunately, this drew the attention of organized crime figures, who bought out his management contract. He fled to England and had no American chart records for the next seven years, until a friend was able to work out his safe return in 1958. Over the next twenty years, he had six top 20 hits. He possibly is best remembered for the role of Johnny Fontane in "The Godfather" trilogy of movies, which many say was based on Frank Sinatra, a claim Al always denied.

ON THIS DAY 1ST NOVEMBER 1960-1965

On 01/11/1960 the number one single was Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/11/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/11/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance (BBC) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/11/1963 the number one single was You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

The big On 01/11/1964 the number one single was (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me - Sandy Shaw and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/11/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was 7 die in UK hurricane-force winds.

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