Ilford
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Ilford books (6 available)
Ilford memories
Read and share memories of Ilford and Essex inspired by Frith photos
Ron's Music Shop and Redbridge Photographic
The former Ron Pakeham (spelling?) owned one of the stores in Pioneer Market and sub-let half (and eventually all) that store to Redbridge Photographic, where I worked some evenings and Saturdays whilst at school and later college. The manager was Val Goldstein, who knew everyone in the trade! Chick ran the musical instruments side for Ron, and was a real character who enjoyed liquid refreshment... High points were a certain old gentleman called Frank Fl**ker who used to come in and buy the 'risque' 8mm shorts from David Hamilton, which were so tame by today's standards even the vicar would not blush, and a weird guy who dressed up in half of a truly ancient cinema commissionaire's uniform and claimed he ...read more here
Contributed by Douglas Allchin
Cleveland Road School
I was born in Ilford in 1933 living in Elstree Gardens near Loxford Park. After attending Woodlands Road Primary School, I went to Clevend Road School off Ilford Lane. The headmaster was a very kind man called Mr Edwards and our teacher was Mrs Strachan (pronouned Strawn). We were very well behaved so at the end of lessons we hurried to get out into the plaground. This involved descending the many granite stairs to the ground floor at breakneck speed. The roar of this exodus as kids sped to freedom is something I will never forget. Thank you Mr Edwards and Mrs Strachan for making our school years happy. They also taught us something because I passed the 11+ exam and ...read more here
Contributed by Alan Massam
Pioneer Market, Ilford Lane
I used to work at Memory Brothers in the Pioneer Market. I cannot remember the exact year, but it was around 1964-65. Right opposite our shop was Holmes fruit and veg shop. I seem to also remember that they had two shops. Our shop was open counter on three sides, grocery, bacon and cooked meats which was the counter I worked on. We had a lot of fun with fellow traders and customers alike. Great days, alas long gone.
Contributed by victor harmes
the pioneer market
I have very fond memories of the pioneer market ilford my aunt & uncle peggy & ernie holmes owned the veg stall they had no children so as there only nephew i was a very spoilt 4 year old an added bonus was that my nan daisey macCarthy worked on the oppsite hardware stall again as her only grandchild i was spoilt i remember going home with bags of sweets and toys. sadly ernie died of hodgekins disease in 1955 he was 29 aunt peg married louis amato in 1958 they had fruit & veg shops in romford road and walter hurford parade manor park they retired to barking louis died in 2004 peggy in 2006 they were 80 & 78. ...read more here
Contributed by david brown
lford lane
I was born in Ilford in 1928, I now live in Australia, came here in 1948 so my memories are of that time. This picture is of where we used to shop every week.
We lived in Dunedin Road. Is the railway close by? I was in the Gaumont Super cinema when it was bombed. But that is another story.
I remember the Hippodrome too.
Contributed by flora gully
Harrison Gibbisons Fire
Though this picture is dated 1955, I think its actually later than this. The reason for this is that about 1960 the Harrison Gibbison shop had a big fire that not only destroyed that shop but also Selfridges next door. This picture shows the Selfridges store after it had been rebuilt after that fire. Also looking further down the high road I can the Marks & Spencer store this was not built until 1965.
Contributed by Dave Drizen
Born in Ilford
Ilford Town Hall is on the corner of Oakfield Road where I was born in 1937 and lived throughout WW2. The public Air Raid Shelter we used to sleep in was opposite the Town Hall in Oakfield Road. A very large department store called Moultons was opposite, in the High Street. Moultons was bombed one night & flames were pouring from its windows, the firemen looked so small on their ladders as they fought (successfully) to save the building.
Jack & The Beanstalk was the pantomine at the Ilford Hippodrome but the night we were going there I was naughty & was sent to bed, that night it got a direct hit from a bomb.
Ilford was badly bombed during WW2 ...read more here
Contributed by Silvia Ford
Wow, I used to work right here
My first job as a teenager was with ICT, which subsequently became ICL and I think has now disappeared. I used to repair punch card equipment at Ilford Film, Plessey and Ilford town Hall back in the early 60's. I probably have walked up that piece of road a hundred times. The town hall is just visible on the right.
In the entrance to Ilford Film, Roden Street I believe, there was a working blacksmith's shop in the early 60's.
Contributed by robert graham
Extracts From Ilford & Essex books
Nestled in the rear slopes of the North Downs, the village derives its ancient name from the Saxon word ‘wudmeresthorn’, meaning ‘thornbush by the boundary of the wood’, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. This 1930s mock-Tudor shopping parade still stands on Rectory Lane as it winds its way south to the junction with the Chipstead Valley Road, where the buildings of the Woodmansterne Treatment Works, belonging to the Sutton and East Surrey Water Company, are just visible.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Much of Banstead High Street was rebuilt during the 1920s with a series of shopping parades. The leafless lime tree in the middle distance occupies the spot where the village pond once existed, while All Saints’ churchyard is concealed behind the trees on the extreme right.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
The station, on the branch line from Sutton to Epsom Downs, opened in 1865, and the white stuccoed house, now a builder’s offices, dates from around the same time. The small confectionery kiosk was one of a trio servicing the requirements of commuters, with other branches at Sutton and Epsom. The roof of the station no longer bears the white lettering, and the building is almost a mile from the town centre itself. The road almost immediately makes another sharp bend over the railway line below, before passing the Cuddington Golf Clubhouse and continuing on to East Ewell.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Originally founded for ladies in the autumn of 1890, the club admitted gentlemen to membership within a year, and from a tin hut close to Banstead Railway Station it moved to this site in Burdon Lane nine years later. A putting green was added in 1923, and further major development took place in the years after this photograph was taken.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Situated on the corner of Sandy Lane, these courts, flanked by suburban houses, now form part of Cheam Fields Club. The pavilion in the background, although substantially altered, has also survived to the present day.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".