With granddad and his cup of soup outside the Post Office on Wilbraham Road

Now I bet a lot of people remember the TV advert for Heinz soup with granddad.

But I had completely forgotten that it also appeared on posters until Ursula shared this picture with me.

We are on Wilbraham Road sometime around 1980 by the post office and Ursula and her friend Helen are in front of the side wall of what was once Lipton’s, became Ethel Austin and is still going strong selling all manner of clothes.

To the left you can just make out the sign for the Asian restaurant and opposite was the wool shop.

I don’t ever recall going in the wool shop but have fond memories of the restaurant and also the travel agents next door.

In that pre internet age if you wanted a holiday or even to book train tickets in advance you relied on the “expert” who talked on the phone to “other experts” and in the space of 20 minutes  sorted out your requirements while you waited .

And it was there that I sorted out a long weekend to Paris, with the chap behind the counter arranging the trains to London, the connecting trains to Dover and from Calais along with Channel crossing and the hotel.

All around were posters for places from Greece to Frinton along with coach excursions and train destinations I never heard of.

It was cluttered old fashioned and a world away from the modern shop with its bank of computers, instant internet access and currency exchange.

And I have Ursula to thank for sparking off the memories of the day she and her best friend Helen posed in front of granddad and his cup of soup.

“My friend Helen was my best friend through secondary school - she also went to St. John's primary as I did. It was Helen's idea to pose for that picture. 

She grew up on St Anne's Road and introduced me to the wonders of King Spot - and Chorlton Cinema where her mum was a cleaner at one point.”

Now I have every confidence that there are similar pictures of Chorlton out there, tucked away in old albums, stuffed at the bottom of wardrobes or just laying around in the attic and I would welcome sharing them with the blog.

And of course if there is a story as well so much the better.

Picture; Wilbraham Road, circa 1980, courtesy of Ursula Achah