Shopping Centre c1965, Hooley
Shopping Centre c1965, Hooley Ref: H438301
Memories of Shopping Centre c1965, Hooley
My First Job!
I was born in Hooley, so I am an original "Hooligan"!! My family lived in Brighton Road, Hooley, about 300 yds to the left of this photo, in fact my mother still does. My first Saturday job was in the newsagents, Fords, which is the second shop along. Mr Merritt had the butchers shop at the end of the parade. How it has changed!!
Cheryl Holdway (nee Wakeling)
Hooley Shops
I moved to Hooley in March 1950 at the age of one month. (6 years before my sister Cheryl, (see other memory comments) was born. in addition to her comments, we had the full range of shops: from the garage (left) Peat and Townsends: grocers; Fords: newsagent / post office; "Camile": Ladies hairdressers; the Hooley Cafe; Porters: chemist / haberdashery; The Fruit Shop: greengrocers; Lee's: Baker and Confectioner (later stocked groceries as well) finally Merrit's the Butchers. Who needed Sainsbury's back then?? As a Wolf Cub and Scout I remember cleaning the glass display units in Fords and chopping fire wood in the greengrocers for "Bob - Job". I still live in the village but the only original trades left are the petrol station and newsagent - the Post Office closed after several robberies. The rest of the shops are now Antique Dealers!
Roger Wakeling
My Great Great Grandparents
My great-great-grandfather George (or could be James) Jackson lived in Star Lane Cottages. Apparently the Jacksons had been Hooley people for many years. He kept sheep for a butcher on Farthing Down, Croydon - I can remember going to Farthing Down with Dad as a child where there were boat swings and a cafe - I am not sure if it belonged to my family or if it was a friend of Dad. My great-great-grandmother, possibly called Elizabeth, ran a little sweet shop in Hooley, possibly until the early 1900s. My great-great-grandfather apparently drank a lot in the Star Public House, he was a big man with curly hair. Can anyone remember the sweet shop or the Jackson family with around 11 children?
My Childhood Memories of Life in Hooley
Our family lived in The Fruit Shop (the shop currently sells doors) between 1958-’64. Mum and Dad served customers with the support of Mrs Garner,a rotund jolly lady who lived in Star Lane. Dad could often be seen delivering ‘Pink Parrafin’ to houses in Hooley, Netherne and Chipstead in his little green van. Adjoining our shop to our right was the chemist. Mrs Porter the pharmacist was a lovely lady; to her right there was a hairdressers, where I once suffered a ‘Twink’ perm,(which turned out far too curly to my chagrin).To our left, Mr Merritt had his butcher’s shop, and to his left there was a café.
In our time, there was a lovely comeraderie amongst all the proprietors, many of who lived above thier shops as we did. The public used a footpath which ran between our shop/back garden and the butchers. Mrs Trowbridge often used to stop and chat to us over the fence, on her way up to her... Read more
Hooley & local memories
Read and share memories of Hooley and Surrey inspired by Frith photos.
Cosy Corner Cafe
My grandparents (Mr and Mrs Riches) owned the cosy corner cafe on the Brighton Road and we lived at 93 Brighton Road. I've been told it is now a Costa Coffee or something like that. The last time I went there is was a Happy Eater and one of the waitresses remembered my Mum and Aunt (Girlie). I too remember going to the boat swings and cafe but didn't remember where they were so it was good to find out. I remember the patients from the hospital walking past our house on Sunday afternoons. My sister and I used to sit on our wall and wait for them to come past and talk to them. Mrs Violet Porter (Auntie Vi) who owned Porters on the parade was a friend of my grandparents and we often went to tea on Sundays.
Netherne
Hooley Hospital, although near Hooley, was in fact Netherne Hospital for the mentally ill. Those patients allowed out frequented the Hooley shops, The Star public house (long gone due to road widening) and village jumble sales. The hospital site is now an up market housing estate and renamed Netherne -on the- Hill.
Roger Wakeling
