Sompting, West Sussex

The Sompting General Supply Stores.

I have a photocopy of a photograph of the General Supply Stores, Sompting, dated around 1913, showing the owners, J and A White, proudly standing outside, one with a little dog at his feet, the other holding his bicycle. They were my grandfather, Walter John White and his brother, Alfred. My father, John Alfred Kelsey White, was born at the Stores in 1913. The photograph shows the Stores very much as it was in 1955, although the part next to the wall on the left of the shop has not been built yet. There is an advert for the Worthing Red Book in the window and a sign for Nectar Tea hanging outside.

Going to the Post Office, Atterburries and Salvation Army on Sunday

My memories are of going to Mr Atturberries (the spelling of name may be wrong) to buy sweets and also just next door I think was the Salvation Army Hall, which a lot of the village children attended on a Sunday afternoon. Also in the picture is the Smugglers restaurant which is where I gained my first employment after leaving school but sadley it didnt quite work out. My Dad wouldn't let me go because the hours (he said) were to long for a 15 year old! Just further along West Street was and still is The Gardeners Arms where my friend Sally and myself would sit and pretend to like lager and lime but when nobody was looking we threw it out of the window - the money we wasted! I hope you enjoy reading this, one of many happy memories of living in Orchard Cottages West street. Linda Milburn (nee Reardon)

Villages of Sussex Photographic Memories

We are very near to Worthing, where the downland has been inhabited ever since pre-historic times. The Norman church of St Mary has many Saxon features including a tower with a Rhenish helm roof, which is unique in Britain. The picture shows Sompting General Supply Stores with a sign fixed to the shopfront advertising Players Weights cigarettes, a popular budget brand. On the opposite side of the road, Smugglers has signs offering teas and homemade cakes - no fast food yet.

Sussex Revisited Photographic Memories

West Street was originally part of the main route through Sompting, linking it to Broadwater and North Lancing. Despite modern building due to expansion, some of the older and more traditional flint-built walls and properties still survive. Opposite The Smugglers (right), which is now a restaurant, is the General Supply Store, which was one of Sompting's original shops.

Villages of Sussex Pocket Album

We are very near to Worthing, where the downland has been inhabited ever since pre-historic times. The picture shows Sompting General Supply Stores with a sign fixed to the shopfront advertising Players Weights cigarettes, a popular budget brand. On the opposite side of the road, Smugglers has signs offering teas and homemade cakes—no fast food yet.