King Street its shops and alleyways

Every school day for five years, I stood outside the main post office in King Street waiting for a number 10 or number 109 bus to take me to school. Strange that I remember so little about the street.

Vivish and Baker stood opposite the bus stop selling papers, books, artist materials and had a printing works at the rear of the shop. It was many years later when I married that I found out my father-in-law had been running this establishment all those years.

Down the side of this shop was an alleyway that we used as a short cut either to Gabriels Hill, or to the Granada cinema. I remember many Saturday mornings walking down this alley to the cinema and there sat an old man with a tin of envelopes. He would place a ten shilling note inside one and mix them up. You could pay him sixpence, and choose an envelope hoping that this would buy you the one with the note in. Surprisingly I never saw anyone win.

Haynes had an electrical store in King Street and if my memory serves me correctly it stood off the road a little way, next to a church. Someone tells me that the church is still there, cannot say that I have noticed it though.

Avery the weighing machine manufacturers had a showroom on the same side as the post office and next to Clarkes furniture store.

Photo courtesy of KFRS

Clarkes suffered a fire in 1994,the heat was so intense that the helmets of the firefighters were melting. Clarkes have now moved to the site previously occupied by the Wig and Gown public house in Week Street.

Next to the Ritz cinema was another alley that we always called Pads Hole. Next to the cinema was an antique shop, the front of this is still standing today, and next to that was Paynes pet shop. We bought tortoises here and took them home in a box; I think they cost the enormous amount of five shillings.

There were two large garages along from the cinema, one called Ansteys and the other called Miles.

Ansteys sold and serviced Austin cars and Miles sold and serviced Triumph and Morris. Not sure when but they amalgamated and became Anstey Miles. There were two further showrooms in Gabriels Hill and Lower Stone Street.