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You are in: Home > Places > Stephen Best, 'More than small change: Half a century of Sneinton's shops : Part 1', Sneinton Magazine, no 80, Autumn 2001, 15-25

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MORE THAN SMALL CHANGE:
Half a century of Sneinton’s shops : Part 1.

By Stephen Best

RECENTLY NOTICING THAT GIORGIO'S CONTINENTAL STORE in Sneinton Dale had closed down, I reflected that, although it had been in business for a number of years, future generations of local people might never know that the shop had ever existed. In the past printed details of local traders were readily available, as Nottingham directories were published every few years between the 1850s and the 1950s. These listed streets in alphabetical order, and then properties by house number under each street. It is therefore a simple matter to check for details of any particular street at any period. The directories were by no means perfect, containing their fair share of errors, but for all their failings they do give the local historian something which is lacking for recent decades. Since Kelly's Directory for Nottingham ceased with the 1956 edition, the interested enquirer has had to rely on telephone directories, Thomson directories, and the like. While useful for classified lists of trades and professions, they include no street lists, and to add to the researcher’s problems, a significant proportion of telephone numbers does not appear nowadays in the Phone Book or Yellow Pages.

How, then, will future students of their locality be able to check what shops and businesses existed in a street at any one time, unless they have access to information from the rating authority, or other official sources? We do not yet know how the Internet may affect the public availability of such data, but the answer, as far as the years between 1956 and 2001 are concerned, is that such information is virtually lost, and could at best be extracted only very laboriously.

Kelly's penultimate Nottingham directory came out in 1953, and gives a picture of a city greatly different from that of today. This was of course Coronation year, and the first full year of the Queen's reign. It seemed an interesting idea to list all the shops shown in that directory in what were then the main shopping streets of Sneinton, and to compare these with those existing in 2001. A look at the 1953 lists suggested that Sneinton Dale, Sneinton Boulevard, Sneinton Road, Manvers Street, Colwick Road and Sneinton Hermitage would be the most rewarding streets to look at. All were what may be termed Sneinton's 'arterial' roads, leading into the centre of town. For most people then, remember, there was no question of finding a quicker alternative way into the city by car. It was a matter of a bus ride along a fixed route, either the 3 or 59 up the Dale and down Sneinton Road, or the 44 trolleybus along Colwick Road, the Hermitage, and Manvers Street. Local shopkeepers used to pick up a good deal of trade from people getting on and off the bus near their shops.

Other thoroughfares, like Southwell Road, Bath Street, and Carlton Road, had a claim to be included, but the six chosen streets were, one feels, more essentially of the heart of Sneinton. In them, and the streets leading off them, lived most of the Sneinton population of the fifties. Lest anyone question the inclusion of Sneinton Boulevard, it is pointed out that, next to Sneinton Dale, it contained perhaps the most extensive parade of shops in the neighbourhood. Not only that, it was in 1953 on a bus route, though not to the city centre. Some readers will remember the no. 8, the one Nottingham City Transport service negotiable only by single-deckers. This ran from Highcliffe Road to Trent Bridge via Meadow Lane, where the height of one of the railway bridges made the use of double-deckers impossible. Although the directory allows an armchair exploration of the Sneinton of 1953, the 2001 survey could only be carried out by personal observation. Further shop closures and openings will inevitably have occurred by the time that this appears in print, and will be listed in an issue of Sneinton Magazine sometime during 2002. It is possible that subsequent updates will appear each year thereafter.

There are of course many reasons for the huge changes in shopping habits in English cities since 1953. As indicated earlier, car ownership 48 years ago was minimal by today's standards; there were then between five and six million motor vehicles in the UK, compared with some 30 million now. No out-of-town supermarkets or city centre malls existed to lure customers away from their local shops. And Coronation year notwithstanding, rationing was still in force for some items - sweets came off the ration in 1953, but meat and bacon remained controlled until the following year, and people's expectations were much lower than they are now. A huge proportion of household expenditure was on necessities, rather than luxuries, and that rich mix of ethnic groups in Sneinton, which in time brought shops like Giorgio's to the neighbourhood, had then scarcely begun. This article, however, makes no claim to demographic or socio-geographical learning. It is primarily a comparison of what shops were available to the Sneinton resident of 1953 (readily verifiable in directories in the Local Studies Library), with what exists today (not easily checked anywhere, and likely to vanish into the oblivion which still envelops most of our everyday history.) If no profound conclusions are arrived at here, at least the names of the Sneinton shops of the year 2001 will be recorded in print for future reference.

Of course many shops have changed hands several times during the past fifty years or so, and it is a matter of great regret that many of those changes after 1956 are lost to local history. However, photographic evidence, where it exists, is invaluable in filling some of the gaps. The present writer took numerous photos of Sneinton streets and shops between ten and fifteen years ago, and a look through these reveals surprising examples of change and decay in shop use, and in one or two cases, of encouraging renewal. I originally intended that this article should include only shops, but some other business premises seemed to merit a mention, and whenever in doubt, these have been included, rather than left out.

We must begin with Sneinton Dale, then, as now, Sneinton's High Street. In 1953 the part of the Dale below Edale Road had fifty-two shops and other concerns listed in the directory. At this date the Dale shopping area was still emphatically terminated by the old Nottingham Suburban Railway bridge, which spanned the road where the police station and medical practice now face one another. In 2001 there are, remarkably, still forty-seven business premises existing in the same stretch of road. A few of those listed in 1953 were demolished soon afterwards. Of those which exist today, four are in buildings put up since the fifties, and a few others are in houses converted into shops since that date. The following lists show the changes. There are one or two examples of house-numbering which are, to say the least, capricious, and some properties bear no number at all. If there is not a by-law which insists that every address bear its proper number, there ought to be. One's sympathy goes out to the postmen and women of Sneinton.

Throughout the lists in the two parts of this article, 'dem.' means property now demolished, while 'most recently' indicates a closed-down shop premises still exhibiting the name of its last occupant or type of business.

In 1953 the site of 155 was a yard entrance, and 157 a pork butcher's. The shops are now occupied by PURPLE HAZE and FEED YA' FACES.

SNEINTON DALE

No.	1953			2000
59	C. Ellis, ladies' hairdresser			private house
65	private house			extension to The Dale Surgery
67	I..W. Chamberlain, grocer			The Dale Surgery (Dr Chahal)
69	W. Paton, newsagent			Paper Boy News & Off-Licence
91				Ali Foodstore, Halal meat and greengrocer (new building)
117	Smith, Byron & Co., coal merchants			private house
117a	G.W. Birch & Son, joiners			Willards, iron gate makers
119a				Dale Furnishings: second hand furniture
119	Mrs L.M. Castelette, confectioner			1st Choice Grooming, pet parlour
125	E.W. Blanchard, hairdresser			Blanchard’s, gents hairdresser
127	Mrs 1 Lister, draper			empty: most recently Giorgo's Continental Store
129	private house			Corals Bookmakers
131	A. Cartwright, confectioner			Naik’s Newsagents
133	H.C. Battersby, boot repairer			Dale Opticians
135		T.S. Prettie, greengrocer	Kashmir Kebabs
137		C.W. Lindsey, butcher	D.J. Terry, butcher
139		Jesse Robinson, fishmongers	empty: most recently Avenita Fast Food Take-Away
141		Samuel Bramley, grocer	Azadi Asian Resource, Research & Advice Project
143		Rose Perkins, draper	Ann Fowler, draper
147		private house	Kashi Video
149		Lady Bay Cleaners	Dawson's Bakery
151		private house	Quality Dental Care
153		Mary Ann Norwebb, hardware dealer	private house, empty
155			Purple Haze, clothing and bric-a-brac
157		Frank Brewin, pork butcher	Feed Ya' Faces Hot and Cold Snacks
163		J.D. Whiteley, grocer	Snip and Curl Ladies Hairdressers
165		Arthur Pepper, shopkeeper	A. & G. Bredice, house furnishers
167		Sketchley Dyeworks	A. & G. Bredice, house furnishers
169		P. & E. Armstrong, greengrocers	Flower Diary, florist
169a			Zeeshan Fashions
171		Jesse Robinson, fish fryer	Lee Garden Chinese Takeaway
173		J.R. McKay, beer retailer	Ahir Store, off-licence
175		J.W. Popple, newsagent, and Black Cat Circulating Library	Mahil & Sons, newsagents
177		James Coombes, boot repairers	Online Cellular, mobile phones
179		W. Newbold, wine and spirit merchants	AK Gents' Hairdressing
181		A. & E. Turner, chemists	Turner's Pharmacy
183		C. Ball, confectioner	S.G. Chocolate Shop
185		W. Holmes, hardware dealer	Willson's DIY, hardware and ironmongery
187		F. Legg Ltd, bakers	Shelton's Solicitors
189		T.N. Parr, pork butchers	Slack's General Grocers
191		Geo. Hogg, butcher	Lloyds/TSB
193		Nottingham Trustee Savings Bank	Lloyds/TSB
195		Nottingham Self Service Launderettes	Georgio's Plaice, fish bar
197		F.C. Clarke, confectioner & Post Office	Sneinton Dale Post Office and Londis Store
14a		G. Wilson, grocer	dem.
16		M.H. Sheldrake, grocer	dem.
16-18			Windmill Service Garage (new building)
18		Gethin Barratt, motor garage	dem.
18a		E.W. Orange & Son, photographers	dem.
		V.W. Bingham, greengrocers	dem.
22-24		private houses (dem.)	Akbar's Mini Market (new building)
38		Star Valet Service	dem.
		St Philip's Vicarage	Jester PH (new building)
76		E.J. Holliday, confectioner	private house
100		Mrs E.J. Cutler, corsetiere	private house
102-4		Sam Hardy, beer retailer	Drinks Cabin Off-Licence
110-4		private houses	Greenwood Family Dental Care
116		Lambert & Wand, bakers	empty: most recently The Motorist's Friend, car accessories
118		Dale Hairdressing Saloon	Ahmed & Co., accountants
140		NCS Grocers	Co-op Late Shop
142		private flat	Co-op Funeral Service
144		NCS Butchers	Affordable Accounts, accountants
146-50			Wilde Bros. (Glaziers) Ltd. (new building)
152		Nesta Garage	derelict filling station
		Dale Hotel	The Dale PH
		Dale Cinema	Aerborn Equestrian Ltd, horse clothing manufacturers

Remarkably, three premises still trade under the same names as they did in 1952: Blanchard's hairdressers (in the same family), Turner's Pharmacy, and the Dale pub. Given the helter-skelter rate of pub name-changes of recent years, the last is just as notable a survival as the other two. Indeed, it was lucky still to be there at all in 1953, following an incident in 1940 when an unexploded bomb was disarmed and removed from its cellars. Half a century on. a number of premises remain engaged in the same trades as before. Hardy's off-licence is now Drinks Cabin: Paton’s newsagents has become Paper Boy, and Lindsey's butchers is now Terry the butcher. Rose Perkins the draper has metamorphosed into Ann Fowler, while McKay’s beer-off is now the Ahir Store and Off-Licence. Ball’s confectionery- shop has become the S.G. Chocolate Shop, while Willson’s admirable DIY shop follows on from Holmes's hardware.

Sneinton Dale Post Office continues in business, and the Nottingham Trustee Savings Bank is now, for good or ill, TSB/Lloyds. This is, incidentally, the only bank we shall encounter in this perambulation of six of Sneinton's chief streets. Apart from the cluster of branches which used to surround Sneinton Market, and were presumably opened in the hope of attracting market traders and other firms, banks have been almost non-existent in Sneinton. Only the Trustee Savings Bank really penetrated the area. The former 'Big Five' seem always to have treated their Sneinton customers with the disdain shown by many banks today. Almost next door to the bank, Sneinton Dale Post Office continues in business.

These shops, past and present, offer rich scope for reminiscence and comment. The Sneinton resident of 1953 could scarcely have have imagined the nature of some businesses on the Dale today. Fifty years ago accountants and solicitors were remote figures in imposing offices in town, consulted professionally by fairly well-off people. Italian, Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese food was exotic fare, regarded with what now seems comical caution, while mobile phones were something out of science fiction.

In 1953 nineteen shops on Sneinton Dale were primarily food outlets, with a further five confectioners, three off-licences, and the pub. Now there are nine shops which are wholly, or chiefly, sources of food, while three others have recently shut down. The number of pubs has risen to two, and off-licences to four, while there is only one confectioner pure and simple. Of course, several shops serve more than one function - food is available at the Post Office and one of the off-licences, and confectionery is sold at a number of shops.

Change in Sneinton over the years is also evinced by the names of some shops and businesses: Giorgo's, Akbar's, Ali, Ahmed, Kashi, Kashmir, Avenita, Bredice, Zeeshan, Mahil, Naik, and Georgio's. All contributors to the prosperity of the Dale, none of these was here in 1953, nor, I think, in 1971, the year in which I moved house from Sneinton to Oakdale Road.

In spite of having visited Sneinton relations every week from the early 1940s, and having lived here for nine years from 1962, I recognize sadly how little I took in of the almost imperceptible changes which occurred locally during over the years, and how much more I have forgotten. It is nonetheless possible to add a few extra details from personal observation, while confidently expecting that readers will be able to fill in more of the gaps. The even-numbered properties between 14a and 38 Sneinton Dale had been pulled down in 1958, a few years before I moved to Dale Grove. This was done to allow the widening of the Sneinton Dale bottleneck between Sneinton Hollows and Lord Nelson Street. Akbar's Mini­Market nowadays occupies the site of two houses which fronted the Dale between Victoria Avenue and Pullman Road, and The Jester was built during my years in Sneinton, on the site of St Philip's Vicarage at the corner of Trent Road. The church itself, which stood in Pennyfoot Street, closed in 1963, and disappeared not long afterwards. The shop at 76 Sneinton Dale was in those days Wyatt's, and was converted into a private house when they ceased trading. This was my nearest corner shop, and consequently well-remembered.

It is surprising that the 1953 directory shows no shop at no. 114, at the corner of Lyndhurst Road where the Greenwood Dental Centre is today, and where for many years Mayfair Wallpapers were in business. The same directory lists no business at no. 142, although its ground floor was, like its neighbours on either side, an NCS food shop. The building now occupied by Wilde Bros, at 146-150 was formerly a Distiller's Company depot. Immediately after the war this was a fenced-in lot, used, I think, by haulage contractors as a lorry park. Above the garage at no. 152, the Wembley Social Club was for some years a familiar part of the Sneinton Dale scene, offering what in those days passed for exotic night life. No. 100 was never shop premises, and Mrs Cutler followed her vocation either in the privacy of her own home, or those of her customers. A discreet brass plate by the side of the porch proclaimed her calling.

Crossing over the road, the odd numbers provide a few talking points. No. 91, now the Ali Foodstore, was formerly Mingalone's food shop. One of my stepsons reminds me that Mingalone's fascia was enlivened by outlines of the map of Italy. The 1953 directory gives no entry for 119a, where Dale Furnishers have been for years. What were these premises used for fifty years ago? The shop front at 129 is another recent addition - this was in fact the last house in this block to be converted into a shop.

I was at first unconvinced that no. 153 was ever a shop, in spite of what the directory says, but am told on unimpeachable authority that the business was conducted in the front room. Here paraffin, candles, camphor balls and other combustibles were sold with no warnings about the danger of smoking on the premises. In the words of my informant: ’The place was a fire bomb waiting to happen.’ The little shop at 155 seems to me to have changed hands with bewildering rapidity; lately occupied by Tony's Fruit and Veg, it has newly reopened as Purple Haze. It was built across the entry to a large yard which contained a workshop building similar to Willard's at 117a. The Flower Diary premises at 169 are also a conversion of a yard entry - Armstrong's shop was in the building now used by Zeeshan Fashions, and what was in 1953 no. 169 has now become 169a Sneinton Dale.

As already stated, chance excursions with a camera recorded some businesses which had sprung up since 1953, and did not survive to see the new century. Take 1989, for instance. On the opposite corner of Lyndhurst Road from Mayfair Wallpapers, no. 116 accommodated Dale Footwear, with Video Addicts film hire at 118. One thinks that 116 has undergone more changes than most of its neighbours - I remember, for example, a short-lived fishmongers here during sometime during the 1980s. At the same date 142 Sneinton Dale was occupied by J. & A. Carpets, while 144 was empty and to let. Naik's newsagents was then LR Newsagents, with Palace Video occupying no. 135. The present-day Feed Ya' Faces shop at 157 was the home of Hockley Rentals, while its ever-changing little neighbour at 155 traded under the name Vanity Fair: gifts or bric-a-brac? I cannot be sure, but am confident that a reader will remember.

It is apparent that Sneinton Dale has fared pretty well as a shopping centre over the past half-century, while many suburban shopping parades of much more recent foundation have fallen victim to decay and vandalism. From this comparatively thriving scene, however, we turn to one of near-obliteration.

The road from Sneinton Dale into Nottingham passes down Sneinton Road, a much older street than the Dale, and built-up some eighty years earlier. Here in 1953 a densely- populated neighbourhood sustained an astonishing array of shops. The almost total redevelopment of New Sneinton at the end of the 1950s, however, made little provision for these to survive or be renewed, and over fifty shop and business premises were demolished holus-bolus. These were as listed below.

In 1953 the DALE FOOTWEAR premises were LAMBERT & WAND'S bakery while the VIDEO ADDICTS shop was a hairdresser's.

No. 116, now vacant, has AHMED & CO, accountants, next door.

SNEINTON ROAD

1-3	Wheatsheaf PH	60	William Taylor, pawnbroker
Old	Cinema W. Spencer, furniture dealer	62a	Wilfred Wright, grocer
33	F.R. Claringburn, apron manufacturer	66	Charles Brown, furniture dealer
33	Jesse Robinson, fish fryer's sundriesman	66a	Albert Wilson, cafe
33	C. & C. Lowater, fruit merchants	68a	James Adams, furniture dealer
43	Robert E. Bowles, shopkeeper	70	John Crane, fruiterer
49	New Inn	72	Harry Wand, hairdresser
53	Nader Hasmet, draper	74	Nelly Hancock, draper
59	G.E. Sissons, dentist	76	Thomas Bell, hardware dealer
75	Herbert Clarke, bool repairer	78	Lionel Brown, butcher
77	J.L. Button, fish fryer	80	Bernard Campion, fishmonger
81a	H. Bowles, greengrocer	82	Mrs Amy Brown, circulating library
85	Horace Barker, grocer	84	Marcel Roquet, dairy
87-89	Alice Samples, beer retailer	86	Queens Arms PH
91	Frank Wakefield, hairdresser	90	R. & S. Radio, radio engineers
93-95	Malcolm Duck, hardware dealer	92	F. Finch, watchmaker
99	Eveline Murphy, grocer	102	Harry Day, baker
103	Paul Pry PH	108	NCS, grocers
121	William Floyd, Post Office	116	J.W. Stott, shopkeeper
2	Doris Ivy Slack, fancy goods dealer	118	Ernest Roland, tobacconist
4	A. Ward, window cleaner & decorator	126	William Glossop, greengrocer
42	Dorothy, ladies' hairdresser	128	William King, stationer
44	Thomas Coxon, jeweller	130	G.W. Birch, joiners
46-48	Towes the Drapers	132	George Hoyland, grocer
56	Arthur Gough, butcher	134	Joseph Smith, chemists
58	Barbara Stevenson, greengrocer

It must of course be mentioned that because of declining trade, retirement of owner, or depopulation of the area, a number of these shops closed between 1953 and the final demolition of all but a few of Sneinton Road’s old buildings. Although so much was swept away then, the block of old buildings at the bottom of Sneinton Road escaped the general destruction, and most of it remains today. The past and present identities of these premises are:

	1953	2001
8	Smiths' Arms PH	The Lamp PH
12	Geoffrey Watts, butchers	empty, most recently Orange and Virgin Mobiles, mobile phones
14	Greenlees & Son, boot makers	12A: empty: most recently The NWI, Incorporating The Sign Studio
16-18	Claringburn & Codd, motor car garage	Tyre House, replacement tyres and car repairs
20	Abell, confectioners	empty: most recently Midland Sports Repairs
22	Steadfast Engineers	Liquor Store: Greengrocer: Newsagent
24	Harold Stuart, fried fish dealer	Malik Camera Centre
26-28	Blanche Smith, beer retailer	empty

Most disappointingly, nos. 26-28, at the corner of Eyre Street, have failed to attract tenants, despite attractive and sensitive refurbishment. Quite recently a business selling wallpaper and similar supplies took the corner shop, but never looked like becoming a permanent occupant. The empty shops are again a target for mindless vandals. Of the other premises, the Smiths’ Arms had been generally known as The Lamp for years, and its change of name merely followed local usage. Claringburn & Codd, a very long-lived firm in Sneinton Road, survived until the 1990s, and their former garage is still associated with the motor trade. One notes sadly the very recent closure of Mr Scanlan's most useful Midland Sports Repairs shop, which over the years had given a new lease of life to a succession of bags and briefcases from our household.

A photograph from 1987 reveals several features of this row, otherwise quite forgotten by me. No. 28 exhibited a notice stating that it had just ceased trading, and thanked past customers for their support. What the shop did, though, is not clear. Some sort of second­hand or reconditioned equipment? The notice refers to 'Supplies and (?) Removals.’ Once again, details will be welcomed. At that date the next-door building (no. 26) still had a domestic house-frontage, while no. 18 was trading as Nagar Stores. No. 12a was, I think, an electrical appliance business, either C.F. or G.F. - I can't quite make the name out on the print. Next door to the pub, La Femme fashions had recently occupied no. 12; this shop had apparently just closed down in 1987, as a 'To Let' board is visible on the premises. A close inspection of no. 12a in 2001 disclosed a more recent painted-out sign on its fascia; that of The NWI, incorporating The Sign Studio.

To replace all the demolished local shops listed above, a small parade of shops was built at the top of Sneinton Road, close to Notintone Place. A new pub appeared on the site of the New Inn, but took the name of the pulled-down hostelry formerly at the bottom of the road. The new shops do not occupy precisely the same sites as the demolished properties which bore their numbers. At the time of writing they are occupied as follows:

49	Wheatsheaf PH
97	Triax Car Parts: Volkwagen, Audi, BMW
101	Triax Car Parts: Peugeot, Citroen, Renault
105	Chuck's Wagon, takeaway food
109	Windmill Fish and Chip Bar
113	D.B. Jones, chemist
117	Windmill Stores, off-licence and grocery

Rightly or wrongly, the authorities had decided that residents of the new development would not require more than a handful of local shops. Certainly Sneinton Road, unlike most others we visit in this article, is an example of businesses disappearing largely through the hand of the planner, rather than petering out over a lengthy period of decline. Like the Dale, Sneinton Road in 1953 possessed one of that now-vanished breed, the circulating library. It also had eighteen food shops, I think, together with a cafe, four pubs, and a couple of off- licences. Unlike the Dale, which gained one, it lost two pubs in the years between 1953 and 2001. Nader Hasmet at no. 53 was a forerunner of the many shopkeepers of Asian origin who have done so much to keep Sneinton's shops alive. Taylors the pawnbrokers still exist in Carlton Street, and one assumes that their Sneinton Road premises was just a branch of the more central shop. We may surmise that Claringburn's apron-making business owed its presence in Sneinton Road to the nearby wholesale and retail markets, where many aprons were worn.

Billy Glossop the greengrocer was long a familiar figure in Sneinton, and local people may remember him sitting in a wheelchair outside his shop. His was one of the businesses - the chemist is another - which crossed the road when the new shops were opened. In August 1989, Parker's Butchers occupied no. 105, now Chuck’s Wagon, and the butcher obligingly posed for me. His price list is worth noting.

My grateful thanks to John Hose for reading both parts of this article, and for making suggestions and clarifying several details which had puzzled me. I was fortunate to have in him such a witty and trenchant commentator on Sneinton, and on what I had written, and regret that lack of space makes it impossible to include all his comments and memories.

(Part Two will continue the comparison of the Sneinton's shops of 1953 with those of 2001, looking at Sneinton Boulevard, Manvers Street, Sneinton Hermitage, and Colwick Road. One of these was, like Sneinton Road, the subject of wholesale redevelopment, while the others have, over the decades, seen their importance as shopping centres gradually slip away.)

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Copyright: The Estate of Stephen Best | Created: 1-June-2021