c1965, Gants Hill
c1965, Gants Hill Ref: G355049
Memories of c1965, Gants Hill
Gants Hill - Smiths Bus-Stop
I used to live in Montreal Road, off Perth Road, and remember the bus-stop outside Smiths stationers. There was also a real butchers, greengrocers, shoe shop, Woolworths, banks, a small dress shop and later a Jewish delicatessen/bakers and a kosher restaurant.
The photographer is standing with his back to the Gants Hill tube station on the Central line, and behind him to his right there used to be a taxi rank and public phone box.
I remember this area particularly, since my next-door neighbour (an honorary Grandma) was taking me with her, shopping at the Co-op stores while my sister was being born!
Had the photographer walked on down the hill, he would have passed Valentine's Park and reached Ilford, where there was also an overground train service to Liverpool Street and to Southend. The road running across the intersection oast the Odeon cinema was Eastern Avenue, and passed through the Green Gate area, named after the public house where Bill Haley had sung with his group, the Planets.
Shops in Gants Hill
I grew up in Gants Hill and would like to share my memories of shops in the area...
The Toy Shop in Cranbrook Road (now Burtons Newsagent). This was a double fronted blue painted shop with a newsagent on the left and a toyshop on the right. It was run by an elderly couple and I always found the lady a bit frightening...
Tailor Shop/Shoe Repairers (now United Sports). I used to stand looking in the shop window of the shoe repairer, and loved watching the old fella shaping the heels, squirting on the white glue and nailing the heel on, taking the tacks out of his mouth. The tailor was a very old Jewish chap who spoke with a very strong accent... The Shoe repairer was bought by United Sports who also took over the Tailor when he died, and the Sweet Shop. I remember going into the sweet shop on the day decimilisation came in (Feb 1972???) and using my new 1/2p, 1p and 2p coins to buy... Read more
Gants Hill
My grandmother lived in Waremead Road from 1934 and my uncle lived there till he died in 2005. I remember the dentists opposite Waremead Road, and also the library. This would be the late 1960s to early 1970s. In Waremead Road there used to be a shop which I vaguely remember, it is now a house on the corner. I remember that Faces was once called the Melody Inn but a previous poster said it was called The Villa which is now faces. Also on that parade there used to be a china shop and I still have the Whimsies I used to buy with my pocket money. I was also told that my grandfather who died before I was born used to make door number plagues as he was originally an apprentice with the railway and learnt signwriting there working on the old trains. My grandfather and father and his brothers used to drink and play snooker in the Valentine on the corner of Perth Road.... Read more
Gants Hill & local memories
Read and share memories of Gants Hill and Greater London inspired by Frith photos.
Gants Hill
I moved to Gants Hill in 1968, from Bethnal Green, at the age of 8. I later moved to Wanstead aged 32. I have great memories of the place, I lived on the Eastern Avenue between Ethelbert Gardens and Beehive lane. Ray Powell was the main car dealer directly opposite, they were a Leyland dealer, with a filling station, and next door was the United Dairies depot. We had bikes for Christmas bought from Halfords and mum paid weekly for them. Guy Norris was the local hardware store and record shop. I used to buy records there, singles were around 50p and albums £2, they had booths you could go into with headphones to listen before buying. Other memories are the model aircraft shop; last shop at the side of the Odeon, really nice man at that shop, the bakery on the roundabout next to shoe repair shop, the lady serving had a twitch in her eye. Hammerton's the Jaguar dealer at the Beehive Lane junction, Russell's, a very traditional... Read more
