Wednesday, 17 April 2024

That corner shop in 1969 ……………


Now, leaving aside any poor jokes about that virus and the soft drinks company, there is much in this picture that tells a story of how we lived.

It starts of course with the corner shop, although this one I freely admit is not on a corner.

But these general shops which sold everything from Cornflakes to plasters, heaps of tinned food and toilet roll were once where most of us shopped.

Look closely at the windows and there are plenty of the products we still buy today.

I  can’t be exactly sure where we are, but the poster in the window advertises a Gala at Barmouth Street Baths and Washhouse, which anchors us in the Bradford Beswick area, just a short walk from Grey Mare Lane.

And during the year we lived on Butterworth Street, facing Grey Mare Lane Market, I took myself off one day and took some very poor pictures of the area including the baths, which gives the picture and the story a bit of a personal touch.

More so because I also remember those doors like the one beside the shop which gave access to a common yard.

Nana and Grandad, living in Hope Street in Derby had just such an access door to what had been a common yard with a set of outside lavatories , shared by several houses.

So that is it.  I doubt that by 1972, when we lived on Butterworth Street this row of terraced properties still existed.

But looking at a map today of the area I worked out a rough route from our flat to where the baths had been, which makes for a little bit more personal history.


Location; Bradford, Beswick 

Picture; the shop1969, Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection,




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