Top End of High Street

High Street c1965
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The shop at the top left (now the Chinese Takeaway) was, I think, Wards the Greengrocers, the second shop down was Graingers the Newsagents (now Pendley Estate Agents).  The newsagents was run by Mr & Mrs. Gadd, who lived above the shop.  The garage was used to dispense the daily newspapers to the paperboys.  There is also a brick built well in the back garden (who used it I don't know) as this was originally a field.  The community well can still be found, capped off,  in the cottages opposite.  Wards moved further down the High Street into what is now Wilsons Estate Agents.  Graingers moved to the top of the road into what became the Travel Agents (now demolished).  Mr. & Mrs. Gadd retired to Dudley House and have since passed away.  The shop down from Graingers was Jaynes the Hairdressers (now Ameyzoo the Exotic Pet Shop) and owned by Mrs. Williams and later by her daughter Amanda.  At some point they sold antiques from the back of the shop.  Mrs. Williams died only a short time ago.

I have lived in the High Street since 1989.  Our building was started in 1953 and finished in 1954, and it is a very well built, extremely robust building, having lots of shop storage space in the loft.   Latterly the village has become a nightmare, constant traffic up and down the road at all times of the day and night.  Limited parking and congestion all add to the mayhem.  But once in the garden at the back it is a fairly peaceful haven.