The Newsagents, 99 High St Southall 1960s

A Memory of Southall.

My father owned the corner shop (newsagents) adjacent to Park View Road, opposite Holy Trinity church from 1961 until it was pulled down in 1968. My parents, sister, brother and I lived in the accommodation above and behind the shop. It was pretty awful, but we knew it as home and have very fond memories of living there. My sister and I did the paper round for Park View road and I was always scared of the old houses as we thought there were ghosts there. We used to spend hours in Southall Park across the road playing on the American swings and trying out the bikes in the new road safety centre in the park with a miniature road layout and garage. Great fun! I went to Sunday School at Holy Trinity church and had the job of ringing the church bell every Sunday morning just before 11am. I went to North Road Infants and Juniors School and was terrified of Mr. Rogers and his "slipper" called Fred. I went back to the school to teach there in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One sad memory I have is of witnessing a very young boy being knocked down and killed on the zebra crossing outside the entrance to Southall Park. This was in the days before the zig-zag lines were introduced to stop drivers parking close to the crossing. I was on the other side of the road and witnessed it all in slow motion. It's still with me today. I loved living and growing up in Southall and particularly the Saturday morning market where there was a stall where everything was sixpence. I also loved the annual carnival held in Southall Park. My late father took some home cine footage of the one in August 1966 as all the floats passed our shop. He did a good trade there that weekend. I also recall the "ban the bomb" marchers as they emerged from the entrance gates to Southall Park on their way to London. We've got footage of that somewhere too. As my father used to display posters advertising the current films showing at the cinema outside his shop, my sister Linda and I used to get free entry to the Saturday morning pictures. I wish he'd kept all those posters! Happy Days.
Robert Smith

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