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Northern Avenue Shopping Centre Arbourthorne


DaveH

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If you live on the Arbourthorne the most convenient shops are those located on Northern Avenue.

It would be a longer walk up to Manor Top or a bus ride into town if these shops were not there.

Built around a small circular road for access at the point where Cawdor Road and Northern Avenue cross, these local shops have provided a service to this local community for many years.

NAS.jpg

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The North East Quadrant

In this quarter there is:-

A Pizza Plaza, this used to be a flower shop.

Ellis's, not sure what they sell now but it used to be ladies clothing

Lloyds Chemist, always been a chemists but not always Lloyds. Very handy for prescriptions if your doctor is at northern Avenue surgery just up the road.

My old Junior school mate Stephen Herbert used to live in the flat above this chemists shop.

Arbourthorne Fish Bar, - aka "Northern Avenue chippie". Always been a chip shop. Some people like it, some don't. There is more about it here -

Arbourthorne Fish Bar

REASON FOR EDIT photo removed and correct picture inserted in its place. DaveH 19/11/2009

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The South East Quadrant

In this quarter we have -

Martins the Newsagent, always been both a newsagent / Post Office / sweet shop / toy shop but not always under that name

I used to be a newspaper boy at this shop.

The Central section marked Co-operative but with no windows is now part of the Co-Op but was previously a seperate butchers shop

The other section marked Co Op at the far end has always been a Co Op, formerly the B&C (Brightside & Carbrook) Co Op

My mother worked there for many years.

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The South West Quadrant

Now a sandwich bar and a Premier convenience store this quarter has much more history to it.

The sandwich bar and the first bit of the convenience store was once a butchers and a car spares shop.

There was a fire (arson) one night which burnt out both these shops. The car parts shop never reopened so its now part of the store to the right and the butchers became the sandwich shop. In the early 1970's I used to deliver papers to the butchers / sandwich shop and you had to go up a rickets set of external steps to get to the flat above the shop which had a garden on part of the shop roof where it was extended and only 1 storey high.

The convenience store was originally a walk through fruit and veg shop with cowboy salloon gates and sawdust on the floor (like the butchers also did).

When this finished the business was taken over by a Pakistani family who continued the business for many years turning it from just a fruit and veg shop into a small supermarket to rival the Co Op across the road. as SALLS STORE it probably did more trade than the the Co Op and, like many Asian run shops it had long opening hours, - you could buy almost anything at any time at a reasonable price. It has now become, as already mentioned, a Premier convenience store.

Strangely, the last shop on the right of this block seems to be missing, - the whole building just doesn't look symetrical, - and its not that the other end has been extended as it still looks wrong at the side of the buildings in the other 3 quadrants. I can't honestly remember why or what used to be there.

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The North West Quadrant

Currently Bet Fred- a betting shop, Sun King- a Chinese food outlet, Toni's- a general store and Shortcutz- a hairdressers.

Bet Fred has always been a betting shop in my memory but I can remember building work being done to make it a betting shop. No idea what it was before. notice the fencing to the far left of the pictures for security. I also have a vague recollection that the betting shop, as well as being Ladbrookes at one time was also once called Cliff Richards :blink: , but I'm not a gambling man.

The other shops on this site have been a Fine Fare supermarket, a pet shop and a grocers in their time. The current Shotcutz used to be a smaller hairdressers in the next quadrant next to the chemists / florists.

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1970 Kelly's

All addresses are Northern Avenue

North East Quadrant

129 H Knowles Turf Accountant

131 Weston's Chemist

133 S Worton Fried Fish Dealer

South East Quadrant

135 T Taylor Newsagent

Post Office

B & C CooP

North West Quadrant

132 G F Lint Grocer

134 Finfare Mini Market

South West Quadrant

140 E L Ellis Greengrocer

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1970 Kelly's

All addresses are Northern Avenue

These are the addresses I would have expected but interestingly that circle of road they are built on is given by Google maps as Cawdor Road, - the road which crosses Northern Avenue at right angles to create those 4 quadrants.

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1970 Kelly's

All addresses are Northern Avenue

North East Quadrant

129 H Knowles Turf Accountant

131 Weston's Chemist

133 S Worton Fried Fish Dealer

South East Quadrant

135 T Taylor Newsagent

Post Office

B & C CooP

North West Quadrant

132 G F Lint Grocer

134 Finfare Mini Market

South West Quadrant

140 E L Ellis Greengrocer

Yes, There was another betting shop (Knowles) where the florist later appeared.

The chemist was Westons, it was called that when my mate Stephen Herbert lived there.

Stephen passed his 11+ and went to Concorde Park Grammar School but Stuart0742 may remember his younger sister Diane Herbert who went to Norfolk.

Westons was one of those shops that me and Stuart as young photographers loved, - you could go in and buy a bottle of developer, a tin of "hypo" fixer or 25 sheets of postcard Kodak Bromesko WSG paper, single weight, normal contrast as well as a roll of film lol

Wortons the fish dealers was actually Arbourthorne chip shop, -it was staffed by the same 2 women for years.

T. Taylor the newsagent was where I did my paper round, Mrs. Taylor was the postmistress.

Of course the Co - Op was where my mum worked, - the "B&C"

The place I delivered the papers up that rickety stairway to the rooftop garden was Ellis's.

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Yes, There was another betting shop (Knowles) where the florist later appeared.

The chemist was Westons, it was called that when my mate Stephen Herbert lived there.

Stephen passed his 11+ and went to Concorde Park Grammar School but Stuart0742 may remember his younger sister Diane Herbert who went to Norfolk.

Westons was one of those shops that me and Stuart as young photographers loved, - you could go in and buy a bottle of developer, a tin of "hypo" fixer or 25 sheets of postcard Kodak Bromesko WSG paper, single weight, normal contrast as well as a roll of film lol

Wortons the fish dealers was actually Arbourthorne chip shop, -it was staffed by the same 2 women for years.

T. Taylor the newsagent was where I did my paper round, Mrs. Taylor was the postmistress.

Of course the Co - Op was where my mum worked, - the "B&C"

The place I delivered the papers up that rickety stairway to the rooftop garden was Lints.

1970 Kelly's page

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Yes, There was another betting shop (Knowles) where the florist later appeared.

The chemist was Westons, it was called that when my mate Stephen Herbert lived there.

Stephen passed his 11+ and went to Concorde Park Grammar School but Stuart0742 may remember his younger sister Diane Herbert who went to Norfolk.

Westons was one of those shops that me and Stuart as young photographers loved, - you could go in and buy a bottle of developer, a tin of "hypo" fixer or 25 sheets of postcard Kodak Bromesko WSG paper, single weight, normal contrast as well as a roll of film lol

Wortons the fish dealers was actually Arbourthorne chip shop, -it was staffed by the same 2 women for years.

T. Taylor the newsagent was where I did my paper round, Mrs. Taylor was the postmistress.

Of course the Co - Op was where my mum worked, - the "B&C"

The place I delivered the papers up that rickety stairway to the rooftop garden was Lints.

I think I can remember Shortcutz being a haberdashery shop at some stage, because I once bought an embroidery picture from there and they also used to sell wool and wool patterns, but not quite sure when this was. I am ashamed to say I still have the embroidery picture, only a quarter completed! :(

Dave and Stuart : we have mutual friends!! he he Diane Herbert was a friend of mine and I used to go to her house when they lived over the Chemist. It was a bit scary late at night going round the back of the shops to get to the entrance to her house. Often wondered what happended to her and the family? Spooky - you may have been visiting Stephen when I was there with Diane :o

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1970 Kelly's page

So, by printing the whole page, with all of Northern Avenue from 1971 on you can see that a load of people we went to Norfolk School with lived on Northern Avenue.

No. 65, Mrs J. Weger.

Her son Robert went with us on that Science Fair 1971 thing at Granville College because he had done a brilliant CSE science project about the 1969 Moon landings and had written to NASA and got a load of stuff sent back.

He also did a quiz night down at the Jervis Lum / Norfolk Park Tennants Association in a team with me and in which teams from Norfolk, Hurlfield and Ashleigh took on a team from the tennant association. Norfolk didn't do very well, - I think we came third :(

Both the science fair and the "Jervis quiz" I have referred to before in other threads, - it just never occured to me that Robert weger was with us.

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I think I can remember Shortcutz being a haberdashery shop at some stage, because I once bought an embroidery picture from there and they also used to sell wool and wool patterns, but not quite sure when this was. I am ashamed to say I still have the embroidery picture, only a quarter completed! :(

Yes it was.

As my immediate family is predominantly male it was probably the least used or visited shop in the entire centre.

I don't remember the cross stich stuff, although they would have had it but I remember their shop window was like Wendolenes in the Wallace and Grommit film "A close shave", - it was full of balls of different coloured wool and loads of old Sirdar knitting patterns which had partially faded through being left in the window so long.

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Dave and Stuart : we have mutual friends!! he he Diane Herbert was a friend of mine and I used to go to her house when they lived over the Chemist. It was a bit scary late at night going round the back of the shops to get to the entrance to her house. Often wondered what happended to her and the family? Spooky - you may have been visiting Stephen when I was there with Diane :o

The Herbert family moved to Sheffield in 1964 from Blackpool and that's when I first met Stephen as he was put in our class at Junior school.

I don't know why or how they came to live above a chemists shop but I think their mother may have worked there. I don't remember ever seeing or meeting their father.

I went through Junior school with Stephen and he chose to take his 11+ exam, I opted out. Having passed his 11+ he went to Concorde Park school, -a strange choice as it was way across the other side of town, - but that's what he did. I met Stuart0742, who did not go to Norfolk Juniors, on our first day at secondary school so I don't think Stuart ever met him. Last time I saw him was around 1970 but I met some people who had been to school with him at University and they told me he had gone into some sort of IT / computer work.

Diane was a few years younger than me and Stuart and as the 11+ was phased out the year after us (which is why we had an opt out option) she was just sent to Norfolk secondary. We never really had much to do with her other than knowing who she was. We had the odd girlfriend in her year who was a friend of hers but that was it. Not saying more as I don't think Stuart was very happy about that Cooke's garage on City Road post I did a month or so back. Due to the age difference Diane would still have been at Norfolk when we left so I have bno idea what happened to her after leaving school.

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Hopefully coming soon to this thread

Northern Avenue shopping centre has, for the last few years had its own display of Christmas lights which we have called the "Arbourthorne lights". Not very many but enough to make it look different.

I took a few pictures last year with my mobile phone which didn't come out very good but I posted them here

Arbourthorne Lights

This year I will try to get some better ones,

having said that, they haven't put them up yet,

but having said that it is still only November!

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So what is their address?

Google maps in post #1 implies that all the shops in this centre have Cawdor Road addresses

Kellys directory 1971 has the addresses as Northern Avenue in post #10

We have always referred to these shops as "Northern Avenue shopping centre"

To make matters worse, there are 2 street signs in the centre.

The one in the north east quadrant above the chip shop clearly states Cawdor Road.

But the one in the north west quadrant says Northern Avenue

So which one is right?

The actual roads cross in the middle and there are no buildings on either road in this section, - just on the smaller circular road that links them.

Stuart may want to look up Cawdor Road in the Kelly's directory to see if that gives anything away about any other shops.

I think I have got the NW and NE quadrants sorted out right now ;-)

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Diane Herbert was a friend of mine and I used to go to her house when they lived over the Chemist. It was a bit scary late at night going round the back of the shops to get to the entrance to her house. Often wondered what happended to her and the family?

Here is that back entrance Suzy, where it emerges onto Cawdor Road around the side of the chip shop.

This pathway, wide enough for 1 car in 1 direction was intended as a delivery road with access to private parking for the flats above the shops.

But as you say, they were scarey at night and were a gathering point for trouble and crime.

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So what is their address?

Google maps in post #1 implies that all the shops in this centre have Cawdor Road addresses

Kellys directory 1971 has the addresses as Northern Avenue in post #10

We have always referred to these shops as "Northern Avenue shopping centre"

To make matters worse, there are 2 street signs in the centre.

The one in the north east quadrant above the chip shop clearly states Cawdor Road.

But the one in the north west quadrant says Northern Avenue

So which one is right?

The actual roads cross in the middle and there are no buildings on either road in this section, - just on the smaller circular road that links them.

Stuart may want to look up Cawdor Road in the Kelly's directory to see if that gives anything away about any other shops.

I think I have got the NW and NE quadrants sorted out right now ;-)

In my 1970 Kelly's all the shops are Northern Avenue, but remember I used to live on Leadmill Rd, but that has been renamed Fornham St on the likes of Google and Multi map etc

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Here is that back entrance Suzy, where it emerges onto Cawdor Road around the side of the chip shop.

This pathway, wide enough for 1 car in 1 direction was intended as a delivery road with access to private parking for the flats above the shops.

But as you say, they were scarey at night and were a gathering point for trouble and crime.

Having seen the pathway which goes around the NE quadrant here is the continuation of it onto the SE quadrant

Notice that this particular one is blocked off by security fencing which is always locked.

It goes behind the newsagents, post office and Co - Op supermarket. They were always getting broken into at night to steal cigarettes, alcoholic drinks and valuables from the Post Office so eventually it was closed off.

As a newspaper boy I had to go down this path to get to the back of the newsagents to a small room where the Star delivery drivers dropped the papers off. Here we had to count out the right number of papers for our rounds into our bags before setting off on our deliveries. My round was usually 56 copies of the Star. On Saturdays we took out Star and Green Un, always carrying extra copies of the Green Un as people would stop you in the street to buy a Green Un, - but for some reason not the Star :mellow:

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In my 1970 Kelly's all the shops are Northern Avenue, but remember I used to live on Leadmill Rd, but that has been renamed Fornham St on the likes of Google and Multi map etc

Looks like Google can photograph all the streets but haven't got a clue what half of them are called lol

Still doesn't explain that Cawdor Road sign on the chip shop, although due its position it is nearer Cawdor Road than Northern Avenue.

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In my 1970 Kelly's all the shops are Northern Avenue, but remember I used to live on Leadmill Rd, but that has been renamed Fornham St on the likes of Google and Multi map etc

1970 Kelly's Page, Cawdor Rd

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1970 Kelly's Page, Cawdor Rd

Clearly no shops marked with a Cawdor Road address, so they must all be Northern Avenue, as us old residents have long suspected,

Why else did we call it " Northern Avenue shopping centre"? lol

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Having seen the pathway which goes around the NE quadrant here is the continuation of it onto the SE quadrant

Notice that this particular one is blocked off by security fencing which is always locked.

It goes behind the newsagents, post office and Co - Op supermarket. They were always getting broken into at night to steal cigarettes, alcoholic drinks and valuables from the Post Office so eventually it was closed off.

As a newspaper boy I had to go down this path to get to the back of the newsagents to a small room where the Star delivery drivers dropped the papers off. Here we had to count out the right number of papers for our rounds into our bags before setting off on our deliveries. My round was usually 56 copies of the Star. On Saturdays we took out Star and Green Un, always carrying extra copies of the Green Un as people would stop you in the street to buy a Green Un, - but for some reason not the Star :mellow:

The one which goes behind the SW quarter is also blocked off and diverted up the field created where the maisonettes have been demolished.

This is the "Salls Store" end, the other end, now rebuilt after the fire, was where I delivered papers up a rickety old metal staircase.

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The one which goes behind the SW quarter is also blocked off and diverted up the field created where the maisonettes have been demolished.

This is the "Salls Store" end, the other end, now rebuilt after the fire, was where I delivered papers up a rickety old metal staircase.

The NW quarter is blocked off with concrete bollards and there is also security fencing around the shop.

Well it is a betting shop and so at times there will be large sums of money on the premises, they probably need this level of security.

Notice that they have got one of those rooftop gardens above that extension. Can't see a staircase to access it at first floor level though

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The NW quarter is blocked off with concrete bollards and there is also security fencing around the shop.

Well it is a betting shop and so at times there will be large sums of money on the premises, they probably need this level of security.

Notice that they have got one of those rooftop gardens above that extension. Can't see a staircase to access it at first floor level though

Probably due to high levels of crime and vandalism this private garage which is "round the back" of the NW quadrant was abandoned a long time ago.

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