One thought on “Tony Bryer’s personal web site”

1. John Griffiths September 3, 2018 at 9:06 pm

   Hi Tony
   I was very interested to see your reminiscences of Twickenham shops in the 1960s – I was born in Twickenham in 1961 and so many of the names were familiar to me. Some you mentioned – Station Approach, as well as shops, also had a barber’s shop, very dark and old fashioned, and as a small boy I was rather alarmed by the barber’s electric hair clippers. When that closed, my father and I moved to ‘Artemis’ on Water Lane, run by a chereful Greek Cypriot man. The car dealership names all resonated, especially Tamplins, which use to run adverts in the intervals at the Odeon. Nearby too was a motorbike dealership called Blays. Blays loomed quite large in our family as our phone number was 892 1397 (tho’ not any more) and Blays’ was 894 1397. We got more than our air share of wrong numbers.

   I remember Beazley’s model shop, too, though not on Heath Road but it’s later premises on Hounslow Road in Whitton, near the Nelson pub. Another Heath Road stalwart, now sadly gone, was Len Smith’s sports shop. And – re DIY places – not far from Len Smith’s on the opposite side of Heath Road was (and is) the big timber merchants, Alsford’s. For more portable stuff we had an ironmongers at the end of our road (a sort parade of shops on Whitton Road, just before Willment’s Roundabout). As well as the ironmongers (now a cafe) there was a Spar shop (still a convenience store), a newsagents (still going) and a chemist’s shop, which later became and remains a laundrette. The parade was extended in the 90s/00s by a new-build Chinese takeaway. On the other corner was an off-licence: Westminster Wines when I was a child, later Victoria Wines and now run independently, but still selling wine and beer.

   You mentioned grammar school – were you at Hampton Grammar?

   Best wishes
   John

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