| old woolies |
| julie | I should be in bed now but this site is very addictive,
Anyone remember the old woolworths,were Quick Save is,before my time i believe it was a cinema, not sure on that, if it was they should still have it(more use then quicksave but i wont go into that)anyway i remmber as you went in the door right infrount of you was a large counter,with what seemed like shelves with partions on full of all sorts of usfull items,and it had a woolies smell,anyone know what i mean.?
julie
off to bed now
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| JohnH | Didn't it used to be rather dark in there! The old wooden floorboards and shop counters, more like an indoor market, and a proper selection of pick 'n' mix. I was in woolies in Reading this evening - not a pineapple chunk in sight!
JohnH
Edited by - JohnH on 18 Apr 2002 23:21:25 |
| Martin | I'd like to know who designed the Kwik Save car park, they should be sacked. There used to be a cinema just off the roundabout, where the new houses are now, they had a Saturday club for young-uns
Martin
In The Pink |
| robot1002 | Hi I was very interested in the OLD WOOLIES topic, and weather it was a cinema. Well,it WAS a cinema and I think it was called the Regent.
I used to go there as a child,and it was quite a good little cinema,since all the top films of the day where shown hot off the press so to speak.
There was another cinema in Leyland The Palace and this is now a bingo place (I think) .It is just off the roundabout Hough lane/ Chapel brow.I remember going to the Regent to see a film called The Golden Salamander, and having to sit through it twice because there was an air raid on, and it was safer to stay in there than risk walking home.By the way ,that was WW2,not WW1.hope those times don't come back.Sure they won't.
All the best for now Tony
Anthony Dilworth |
| Peter119 | The Kwik Save store was the site of the Regent cinema from 1932 until 1949, when the building had a fire which closed the cinema for ever. The building later became the Leyland branch of Woolworths, with its distinctive wooden floor, the area still known as Woolworths corner. The name of the Regent is still remembered with Regent Road further along Towngate.
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| Caroline | Hello Everyone! And thankyou Martin for getting in touch. The best thing about Leyland for me was that there was a motorway and a train station to make my escapes... this being said, I 've really enjoyed the remeniscences , especially about Grundy's- what a gas!!! Will add my own shortly. Cheers!
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| rocketmanjohn | Woolworths, which was the Regent, used to have Harry Bambers barber shop next door before he moved on to Hough Lane. I must have something about Leyland barbers locked in the old grey matter.
Rocketmanjohn
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| Thornley | Hi All, I can remember woolies very well (particularly the smell!)I also remember the cafe that was mentioned, it had a good juke box. I still believe my fear of the dentist came from my visits to Grundy's. I have not seen any mention of the infamous Leyland Tiger, my mother worked there for many years. It look so run down now.
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| magicman | I remember the cafe too - spent many happy hours in there listening to the jukebox - usually after school or at lunchtimes.
'School', being wellfield - the time being the 60's !! Oh dear, my aching back .. lolol
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| Caroline | Istill have the little black dolly that I bought in Leyland Woolies in the late sixties. i saw a couple of films at The Regent, namely The Theif of Baghdad and The Captains Paradise, both still excellent , now have them on video.
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| Doreen Hinks | Hi There I remember the Regent cinema not far from Grundies(ha ha) I used to go there too when I was a child to see Deadwood Dick which was a serial so to speak. i remember Harry the barber too. Also The Palace cinema where they used to sell parched peas outside every Saturday matinee, it was a dingy old place too.
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| anacortesdamp | It was interesting to see Peter's comment that the area around the School Lane/Towngate/Hough Lane intersection is still known as "Woolworth's Corner".
I visited Leyland for my Dad's funeral in March 01 and rode the buses a few times. My sister lives on Kingswood Road, the site of the old North Works, so that corner is where I got off. Purely by instinct I asked for a ticket to "The Regent". The driver was about my age and didn't bat an eye, just said "Yes, sir, Woolworth's Quiksave".
Frank Damp
Anacortes, WA, USA |
| Thornley | Hi All, I have no memory of the cinema but do have fond memories of the wollies store. I also remember a large house nextdoor, now the car park. Does anyone remember what the building was used for originally. I know many local businesses used the premises but I wondered if it was built or used for a particular purpose. I also remember the notice board placed on Booths store, pictures of local events, wedding etc would be posted there. I think it may have belonged to the Leyland Guardian?
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| anacortesdamp | I think that big house was the premises of a builder. I seem to remember the yard all being gravel and lots of materials and equipment around.
Can't remember a name, though.
Frank Damp
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| noel | quote:
I think that big house was the premises of a builder. I seem to remember the yard all being gravel and lots of materials and equipment around.
Can't remember a name, though.
Frank Damp
I can remember it quite graphically now, except the name alludes me. Was it part of Tomlinson's or Berry's I wonder. I'll ask some of my better memoried friends
The significant owl hoots in the night. |
| rocketmanjohn | Frank,
Was it not 'Marlands' builders.
John
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| anacortesdamp | John:
Don't think so. Marlands' yard was on Eden Street, between the north end of Church Road "Rec." and the Labor Club. The Marland family lived in a bungalow right next to the yard.
I've sent an e-mail to Jean - I'm sure she'll remember.
Frank
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| Thornley | Hi all, I now J.Rigby had the building for a while in the early to mid 70's I think he did building work of some discription.
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| noel | quote:
Hi all, I now J.Rigby had the building for a while in the early to mid 70's I think he did building work of some discription.
He built my first house on Bispham Avenue, remember him coming round while we were inspecting it, he was riding a horse , fortunately he got off it before he came into the house.
The significant owl hoots in the night. |
| rocketmanjohn | Noel,
Rigby built the house I used to live in, on the corner--387 Croston Rd.
Small world innit.
John
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| noel | quote:
Noel,
Rigby built the house I used to live in, on the corner--387 Croston Rd.
Small world innit.
John
Isn't it just , John, and what a great site this is for communicating. Ah well off to work now. The old L&B is looking rather sad. Everything behind Fishwick's is knocked down. If there were some way to post a photo I'd do it.
The significant owl hoots in the night. |
| anacortesdamp | According to my brother Colin (who used to be a reporter for the Lancashire Evening Post) the big old house that used to be where QuikSave's parking lot is now, was the HQ for Leyland Construction Company and was called Wellfield House. The company was created towards the end of WW2 to build what became Spurrier Works. The Secondary Modern school was named after the house.
The chairman of the company was Thomas (later Sir Thomas) Hargreaves, who lived in the cream-colored stucco house that is hidden in the trees next to the May Field (going up Church Road towards Balshaw's), opposite Wellington House.
They built a bit after the war, including Hargreaves Avenue, where my family lived when Eileen and I were married.
Not sure when the company closed down, but presumably had done so before QuikSave came along. I have vague memories of the house being derelict.
Frank Damp
Anacortes, WA, USA
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| Thornley | That has prompted my memory! I do recall it being called Wellfield House, however have no memory of the Hargreaves Builders. What a font on knowledge your brother could be to this site! Not sure about the house on Church Road, that area has changed so much I can hardly recognise it. Mayfields is now a housing estate, as is the land where Stokes Hall was.
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| anacortesdamp | Vanessa:
The old Hargreaves family house is (maybe was?) immediately east of the end of the old Mayfield fence that ran along the edge of the sidewalk on Church Road, on top of a dirt bank. At one time, there was no development across the road (where Stokes Hall was) between Beech Avenue and Wellington House, just a number of fields where a farmer kept cows. There was no sidewalk on the Stokes Hall side of the road. Those fields actually reached across to where my grandparents lived at the foot of Crawford Avenue.
I used to deliver papers on the Church Road route for Threlfall's shop at the Cross, and Hargreaves was one of my customers. The house was just about invisible, as the trees in the front garden were very large. As you came up to the slight kink in Church Road, the driveway to the house angled off to the right, then there was a small pedestrian gate a bit further east.
On my last visit, that area was nearly unrecognisable, with both Stokes Hall and Wellington House gone and the Mayfield built on. I don't remember if Beechfields (the big manor house a bit further up towards Balshaw's on the south side of Church Road) was still there or not.
I've told my brother about this site. He's a very busy lad (runs a pub in Plymouth) so I'm not sure if he'll join in. At least I can ask him questions.
Frank Damp
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| Caroline | 'Twas Leyland construction company I think>My cousin used to work on the office; I used to take a carrier bag round the back where a man gave me free sawdust for my hamster's cage. It was empty for a while but had a preservation order on it as it was quite a fine Georgian house.However,Leyland folk woke up one morning to find that the bulldozers had been brought in the early hours while there was nobody about to protest, and razed it to the ground...Yes, Leyland Palace was a bit of a dump- I saw Rock Around The Clock there when I was about twelve, I was impressed and a bit frightened when Teds got up and started bopping in the aisles.
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| rocketmanjohn |
Reply To:
Yes, Leyland Palace was a bit of a dump- I saw Rock Around The Clock there when I was about twelve, I was impressed and a bit frightened when Teds got up and started bopping in the aisles
I used to go to the 'Palace' on Saturday's. Usually 'Hopalong Cassidy' or something similar. It sometimes got a bit rowdy during the boring bits whereupon the owners dad would stop the film, walk down to the screen, whack it a few times with his walking stick and threaten to throw us all out if we did'nt keep quiet. The owner [forgotten his name] always arrived before the show with his wife in a convertable pink Cadillac, really something in 1950's Leyland. He usually had a big cigar going.
I think it was he that built and ran the petrol station at Tardy Gate, it was called the 'Riviera' for some reason.
John
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