New Era Wallpaper And Paint Shop 37 High St

A Memory of Chislehurst.

In the latter part of 1959 my father John Maile established himself in business at 37 High Street, Chislehurst, selling wallpaper, paint and Wolf power tools. This site formerly traded as Bowmans Bakery. When the shop was being refurbished prior to my father taking over, he produced and installed an innovative suspended ceiling that created quite a stir with the locals. Indeed, the local paper turned out to photograph and feature it. In 1960, the Maile family moved into the flat above the shop as well as the flat above the antique shop next door. This was run by an elderly lady called Mrs Hoskins who had a son called Jeremy I believe. Across the alley from our shop was Coolings Stationers and just up the road stood The Chestnut Cafe. My eldest brother Richard used to cycle to and from Edgebury School, and he would occasionally come across Smokey Joe. My father thought Joe was a character and would chat to him now and again. My parents once recalled that a tramp other than Joe had drowned in Prickend Pond in the early 1960s. They also remembered that during the harsh winter of 1962/63 villagers would visit our shop to draw water from the cellar as it was the only source of running water during the freeze. From the upper windows of the flat we had a good view of the Queens Head public house which my father immortalised in an oil painting. My mother still has this and it is interesting to
contrast that early 1960s image with the current view. The parking arrangements in the High Street have changed as well. In my father's time he would park his blue, split screen VW van facing the shop front, whereas now that isn't possible, though it is elsewhere. My father was a freemason and my mother remembers him delivering hot meals to the elderly in his van. In the shop window there was a display which featured a man with eight arms, each arm holding a different power tool. My eldest
brother's school teacher once pulled him aside to tell him that whilst out walking he had looked at the shop front and found himself impressed with this marketing ploy.

I was very young when we left the area in the autumn of 1963, but I have remained fascinated by the Chislehurst of the 1950s and early 1960s, and that fascination does not seem to abate despite the considerable temporal distance between then and now. It would be great to hear if this account of my fathers shop has resonated with somebody, hopefully many. If anyone has a photograph of the shop at that time, I would love a copy. I have scoured all the nostalgia sites but I have never found a head-on shot of the premises, which is now trading as an estate agents.