Various old shops, now gone.


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Before self-service.  When there was a sales assistant in the middle of the counter at M & S.  

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The James Store was before my time but I remember the electricity version. This is from the late 60s and shows that building (far left); just about in the centre - ahead of the bus - is the Sherwood Rooms. This is just before Broad Marsh Centre was built, and the whole area is about to be changed again.

sjSj5t0.jpg

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On 31/05/2017 at 9:24 PM, NewBasfordlad said:

Mary the gas show rooms was on Parliament Street, corner off Glasshouse Street. Spent many a happy hour in there setting up displays, for some reason showroom staff weren't allowed to touch em.

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There was a demonstration theatre upstairs in the gas showrooms where they did cookery demonstrations to show off new gas cookers. As the punters went in (it was free) they were given a raffle ticket and at the end of the demo. there was a raffle draw to win whatever had been demonstrated in the cooking. I won the raffle once and received a dish of gammon and pineapple. I was warned when it was given to me that they hadn't time to cook it thoroughly and to cook it properly when I got home.

 

Something else I remember about that occasion was that I sat in a glob of chewing gum left on the seat. Ruined a pair of trousers!

 

Another cookery demo I went to was at the Albert Hall where Fanny and Johnny Cradock were demonstrating their skills. Well, Fanny was. Johnny just stood there like a wet flannel doing as he was told.

 

Is the Albert Hall still there? Nearby on around the corner Derby Road was Kent & Cooper Music, a tiny theatrical-come-joke shop called the Sign of Four (very creepy in there) and also, somewhat later a ships chandlers. This was probably before the Playhouse was around the other corner.

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14 minutes ago, jonab said:

Is the Albert Hall still there? Nearby on around the corner Derby Road was Kent & Cooper Music, a tiny theatrical-come-joke shop called the Sign of Four (very creepy in there) and also, somewhat later a ships chandlers. 

 

The Albert Hall is still there.  And the Sign of Four has a thread: https://nottstalgia.com/forums/topic/8345-sign-of-four-magic-emporium-derby-rd-nottingham/?

 

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That's not the Sign of Four which I new. The one near the Albert Hall was a small, pokey place painted red. Well before 1980 (I had long gone by then). Perhaps they moved when their original site was redeveloped (which I understand it has been).

 

I made an error in naming the music shop - it was Clement Pianos at that location. Kent & Cooper were near the top of Market Street.

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8 minutes ago, NewBasfordlad said:

The Sign of Four you remember was close to the Three Horse Shoes I do believe, the other side of the open space belonging to Skills or Bartons?

No, I don't think so. I don't remember aThree Horse Shoes nearby. I'm rusty on the locations but it was definitely just around the corner from the Albert Hall next door (almost) to Clements Pianos and the ships chandlers opened quite a long time later but still while the SoF was there

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On 07/06/2017 at 9:03 AM, Cliff Ton said:

The James Store was before my time but I remember the electricity version. This is from the late 60s and shows that building (far left); just about in the centre - ahead of the bus - is the Sherwood Rooms. This is just before Broad Marsh Centre was built, and the whole area is about to be changed again.

sjSj5t0.jpg

Assuming the pic was taken from a height at (what was) People's College, the road in the foreground must be the bottom of Maid Marion Way. I attended that college in 1960 to do my "O" levels.

The two rows of parked cars, centre, left are on a road that housed Watmough's sweetie factory. They made boiled sweets in all sorts of flavours and the smell of the hot sweets would waft across into the college. It was really nauseating some days, depending on what flavour they were making. Early autumn was the worst when they were making cough sweets - not only nauseating but choking as well.

On centre right, behind the bus, is the Dragonet Chinese restaurant. I think this was the first high-quality Chinese restaurant in Nottingham. OK, there was the place up the stairs opposite to what became the library (it was a furniture shop then) and plenty of half-crown lunch places but nothing quite as good as the Dragonet (where chopsticks were the norm as eating utensils. That's not unusual now but it certainly was then.)

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Thanks, denshaw.

 

Another excellent Chinese was the Shing Fat (very unprepossessing name) on Chapel Bar more or less opposite to (I think) the ABC cinema or was it further up nearer to Parliament Street?

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25 minutes ago, jonab said:

 

No, I don't think so. I don't remember aThree Horse Shoes nearby. I'm rusty on the locations but it was definitely just around the corner from the Albert Hall next door (almost) to Clements Pianos and the ships chandlers opened quite a long time later but still while the SoF was there

Just checked, a1963 picture on 'Picture the Past' shows coming down Derby road, Circus street, Three Horse Shoes, large space with petrol pumps, SoF and then Little John's restaurant.

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My memory is failing me!

I'll have to have a sleep on it. I've no reason to doubt you, it's just that your memory doesn't quite fit with mine. It is nearly 50 years ago and you're closer to the action than I am!

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On 07/06/2017 at 9:03 AM, Cliff Ton said:

 

sjSj5t0.jpg

Adding a bit to this pic. On the right hand edge of the photo is a tall white building, just across the side street from the Dragonet, which was a motor bike showroom. This side of the road where the bus is was a side street with a car showroom on the right corner and Dunham hotel/castle pub on the left corner. Across Canal st off pic to the right was the excellent highly recommended Midland cafe who did fantastic breakfasts.

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12 minutes ago, denshaw said:

The only motorbike shop I can think of in that area would have been Kingstons which was on the corner of Canal st Wilford st.

It may have been a car and bike showroom. I parked my c15 down that sidestreet, went in the shop and asked for a part-ex on a new bike. The salesman came out to check my bike and it wouldn't start, so I didn't get me new bike.

Edit. This was 1965.

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On 6/1/2017 at 1:50 PM, Cliff Ton said:

 

 

And the building is still there today but has been empty for several years.

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I think also that the building next to it (on the left in the picture) used to be the Chrysler/Roots car showroom.....

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23 minutes ago, denshaw said:

The only motorbike shop I can think of in that area would have been Kingstons which was on the corner of Canal st Wilford st.

Spot on Denshaw I used to get my spare parts from them.

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1 hour ago, NewBasfordlad said:

Not many remember the pub but it was on the corner of Circus Street where the front doors of the Albert Hall were

The Three Horseshoes wasn't on the corner of Circus St though, NBL, it was further down towards Chapel Bar.

 

 

19 minutes ago, Willow wilson said:

 

It may have been a car and bike showroom. I parked my c15 down that sidestreet, went in the shop and asked for a part-ex on a new bike. The salesman came out to check my bike and it wouldn't start, so I didn't get me new bike.

Edit. This was 1965.

Don't remember a motorbike shop except Kingstons. However further up Canal St corner of Carrington St was Breffits.

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