Living On Park Road

On the corner of Elm Road and Church Road there was a Butchers shop named Edward (Teddy) Lord, he had a small lairage and slaughterhouse at the rear of his shop - his assistant was a man named Luther Farnell they killed lambs and beasts on Wednesdays and Saturday afternoons when the shop was closed, I had a part time job after school when I was 15 - it was a little upsetting at first but you soon got used to it - if I was lucky I received a small cut of beef along with my 2/6 pence if I cleaned up well after killing

On Gatley Green The Griddle and Grill was first called the "Gatley Milk Bar" and was run by Les and Daphne Lawrence it was a popular meeting place in the early 50's - happy times!

The Garage on Stonepail Road was called "Tulip Tree Garage" run by a family named Bracegirdle, next door was a small Farm and blacksmiths shop where you could view horses being fitted with new shoes, I remember the smell of hot metal to the hoofs, unusual but not unpleasant

We used to get our weekly shopping from Chandley's on Church Road. My mother would name out the order in an account book and would mark the items that we needed immediately. These would be taken home and the remainder would be delivered by a boy on a bike! The bicycle had two supports that dropped down from the front and enabled the bicycle to "stand" whilst the order was delivered. The following week we would pay the account and, again, take the items that we needed. Biscuits were displayed in glass-topped boxes on the front of the counter, sugar was weighed into blue bags, vinegar was sold "loose" and poured into bottles in the shop, butter was cut from a large barrel-shaped block on a pot stillage and bacon was cut fresh from a "side" on a bacon-slicing machine. There used to be a few chairs around the shop so that customers could sit down whilst their order was being selected by the assistants!! I worked at Kelsall's, Ironmongers, as a Saturday job when I was at school. They sold "everything" from paraffin, nails, Pyrex glassware to seeds and garden sundries.