Kennards

A Memory of Croydon.

At the same time in Wimbledon, there was also another Kennards and like the poster said, he used to go to Kennards with his mum and nan and so did I (to the Kennards in Wimbledon). I was about 4 or 5 then, just after the war and when I first went there with my mum and nan, I was amazed to see in this great big shop with so many departments, there was a dance floor and a small orchestra playing and a singer. I had never seen a shop playing music with a dance floor where you could sit and have afternoon teas and dance, if you wanted to. I couldn't believe it and like the poster said, I seem to recall seeing a donkey in a manger too, but I can't think why. It felt as though you were rich and someone special. I shall never forget those wonderful days of trams and trolleybuses going through Wimbledon and the two carriage train that went from Wimbledon to West Croydon. Now replaced by the new trams using the same railway and going to Surrey Street Market to buy fruit because it was so cheap. When I left school, I first worked at a printer's in Oakfield Road, in 1957, called The Modern Press, owned by Mr Walter Lewington, who lived in Ashburton Park. Kennards in Croydon was was starting to look weary and run down. I used to go there for old times sake and compare it with Kennards in Wimbledon, which by then, Kennards in Wimbledon had closed to make way for a new supermarket. Now, you wouldn't recognise Wimbledon as it was, and the first tall building built in Croydon was Norfolk House in George Street closely followed by Fairfield Halls and the college. From a large village called Croydon in 1957 to what it is now, you would never recognise it. Parking is so bad now, I very rarely go there, because of the parking wardens. From what it was then to what it is now, the character has gone as it has from many places like Wimbledon and Croydon. Slowly they have become concrete jungles, and now they have also become windy towns due to the skyscrapers catching the wind. It's a shame to see all those memories go with repairs to radios, televisions, washing machines and all the other appliances almost non existant and now a throw away world trying to deal with all the waste. I remember J & T Robinson in Norfolk House and J & F Stone opposite West Croydon Station, all gone now, replaced by Comet, Currys and Dixons that don't do many repairs now. Nothing seems to have any sentimental value now. I'm 70 now and it seems like yesterday. Those days will never come back and all we have now, are the photos and memories of how it used to be. The last I heard of Allders, which used to be opposite Kennards, was that they were struggling to survive. Whether they are still there or not, I don't know.