Comparing Ilford past with Ilford present. Old photos of Ilford, a retrospective look at the town and its changes over the past 50 years. (All photos and footage are owned by Ilford Retro).
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My Grandfather was a builder & built the houses from Green lane to the vicarage and he lived next to the vicarage until he passed away in the mid 70's. My father (who's over 100) remembers the clock tower in South Park as a child, he could see it from his bedroom window. When the V2 came down in 1944 it destroyed the clock tower, knocked down the park keepers lodge and blew the front out of our family home with all my father's sisters in the house. Luckily there were no fatalities in the family and all six sisters and my grandmother survived The incident. (My grand father was out working at the time).
For many years there was a car breakers yard in Mill Lane (at the foot of Ilford Hill) at the front of this on Ilford Hill were a pair of Georgian houses sadly neglected and demolished in the 1980s
The two houses adjoining the Town Hall were for many years used as offices for the Libraries Department including the central catalogue - kept on index cards.
Amazed yet again, thanks! Not seen this side before so glad I've seen the buildings demolished to make way for Sainsburys which in turn 40 years later is due to be changed again.
Thanks for your feedback! Being witness to the cycle of change in Ilford is interesting in itself. While the process seems slow before things get underway, once the new buildings are there we'll see how suddenly things can happen.
I live in Vicarage Lane. When the factory was demolished, excavating what was beneath took a VERY long time - there must have been a substantial structure below.
That's very interesting. I didn't come across any information which described an underground bunker or something similar, but don't think it would have been widely publicised anyway. Judging by the comment from @ohyeah2816 there was indeed an underground factory there!
I bought my first 'proper' grown up shoes in Granditer in 1970 at 13. It was a pair of Kingsway Brogues size 6 which grew to size 7 with my feet. Also bought a two tone suite. Last time I shopped in Granditer was 1976 at the East Ham. Happy memories.
Pleased to hear from someone who bought from Granditer, which amongst lots of competition were good quality. Even good enough to push a size 6 to a size 7!
@@IlfordRetro I’d bought from their shops in East Ham the first and second, Green Street and Ilford. I wasn’t that old but I worked for my dad part time and earned good money. I was questioned when I went in for a two tone suit if I could afford it, I got my roll of fivers out and we carried on. I used to get my Ben Sherman’s from them, then moved on to brother creepers, round collars and ‘Rupert Trousers’. They certainly did have good quality and kept up with the fashion trends. Last time I bought a pair of shoes I came down from north Cambridgeshire especially to the East Ham branch. Then I came down in the late 80’s to have a look and they were gone. This sounds a bit stupid but I lost part of my youth that day. Love your stuff, a lot of memories tied up around Ilford of the 60s and 70s so you’re feeding my nostalgia quite nicely thank you.
@@ohyeah2816 you really were a loyal customer of theirs... I can just picture the look on the face of the sales assistant when you showed him the cash! A perfect comeback 😁. I think the Ilford branch was one of the last to survive as Granditer before it became BASE, but I completely understand how something was lost when you found that the East Ham branch was no longer there. Happy to feed your nostalgia senses!
I'm just hoping that those who run the private Facebook Group I'm on, Old Fife, decide to do a Fife Retro RU-vid channel! Be quite interesting! Hopefully you return, and do one on Ilford railway depot!
I'm sure someone could start one up - if they've got the old photos....! Fife Retro has a ring to it too :) It's been a pleasure having you along and adding your very comprehensive knowledge on the commercial and retail histories of some of the shops and companies, very impressive in fact. I will make a note of Ilford depot and see if I have a photo for a future episode on it for you!
I lived in britannia road in the late 70s any one remember bailey sweet shop . I remember the green shield stamp shop and a old cafe before they knocked the shops down and built sainsbury's . .
The Green Shield stamps shop was legendary but I do not have a photo of it sadly. Living on Britannia Road you would have had a front row seat to all the changes around you during that time.
it's completely changed . any one remember north Thames salvage warehouse next to the pioneer market bought some school shirts there all the clothes smelt of smoke lol
@@junehoward6668 I wish I did remember that, but hopefully someone else will - perhaps not with the same experience of buying smoky clothes at Pioneer because of it!
Never a green Routemaster on the 193 route. There were Green Line buses that ran through Ilford, such as the 722 but not on standard London Transport routes.
Beautiful memories of my childhood. 1982 was my inauguration of being in Ilford. Thanks for your videos of memory lane and fantastic work Hope to catch up soon. Ilford Retro forever ❤
Thank you Raj, it's means a lot that you've enjoyed coming back each episode to remember the old days. We'll see you again in the future no doubt. Stay Retro!
@@jadielisabsent you will have a good view of all the changes which are due to take place around Ilford Hill. Thanks for finding the channel, and #StayRetro !
My aunt and uncle moved to Newbury Park with a couple of my cousins in the 60's. I was raised in Strone Road. Manor Park and a couple of times I walked from there through Ilford to visit. We used to drive down Ley Street to visit them at least once a month My mum worked for Plessy in their underground factory and I temped for them for 3 weeks on an audit. My part of the family moved to Cambridgeshire and stopped using Ley Street to visit just drove down the M11 and on to Gants Hill, so it was a big surprise when I drove into Ilford to find Plessey gone! Ilford was a shock to, try to avoid it when we visit The City of London for all my family who are buried there. Occasionally I have dreams of walking up the Romford Road to Ilford, usually included the toyshop?!? Does anyone remember Gilberts the tobacconist on the Romford Road? Like your stuff, so many memories, thanks!
I love hearing stories like yours of old routes to visit places. The walk from Manor Park to Newbury Park would have been full of life, and included the buzz around the industries which were still part of Ilford (like Ilford Film and Plessey) and the huge array of shops. It must have been a huge shock to see the imposing Plessey building had vanished! The main toy shop in the 60s and 70s would would have been Worrickers on Cranbrook Road, then later Zodiac came along on the High Road. Not sure if either of these is what you remember? Someone out there must remember Gilberts...!
@@IlfordRetro Gilberts belonged to the dad of a kid I went to school with. He was given a cruel name by we boys. Bit worse than Polecat which was mine, though I wore my nickname with pride.🤣 I also explored the ditch behind the Charringtons brewery wharehose with another school friend. We ended up in Valentines Park then walked back to Manor Park. Just one more memory, my dad took me for my first ever steak in a restaurant owned by a chap named Dallas. I think it was opposite Ilford station? This was 1970. I later found out he used to go there on his own if he fancied a good steak because my mum used to cook steak, even rump or sirloin, in the oven.🤣 I checked a map, Balfour Road or Heron Mews for the steak house Green Lane/Barley Lane for the toy shop, though that isn’t in Ilford. Quick question, was there a Palais along the main drag?
@@ohyeah2816 Ha ha, glad to hear your nickname was work with pride! Funny how many adventures for people who live nearby include Valentines Park. It's definitely a focal point for people who know east London. While Ilford is bursting at the seams with places to eat at the moment, it always did have a decent range of menus to offer. I wonder if the place you went to opposite Ilford station was the Sombrero restaurant? They did a good steak and were quite popular - probably popular enough to skip homemade steak however it was cooked! 😁
I moved from East London to North Cambridgeshire in 73. I passed my driving test at the end of 74 and my first long drive was to Ilford for a Big Mac with my then girlfriend, now wife. Parked outside that McDonalds, got a Big Mac and a shake, ate it and drive back. Nearly a 4 hour drive for a Big Mac, think that may have been the closest one at the time. Were I am now has 3!🤣
At the time that might have been a UK record for distance travelled to get a Big Mac 😆 I know of people who came from other parts of London for the Ilford branch, but your trek beats them hands down. Credit to you for coming 'home' when it opened and nice that you shared the experience with your missus. Clearly she was game for a landmark journey!
I wish I had a good photo of it as it was, and I agree it would be interesting to do one featuring it because a lot of change has happened there since the early days of Cranbrook Road.
I think you're right about that, and someone else suggested the same. So far I've only seen that David Greig eventually became Fitch & Lovell's Key Markets - which was further along Cranbrook Road towards the station. Therefore I'm not certain about the David Greig being in the position before Timberland, but will take others' word for it! Perhaps one day a photo of it will turn up.
The Gateway building society sign needs explaining. Although not a branch of the Gateway, Lawleys estate agents would've been a local agent for the Gateway, offering limited facilities, such as paying in cash to an account, or withdrawals, or making payments for a mortgage. They would've only offered these, and perhaps a couple of other facilities, a Gateway branch offering full facilities. You may be interested to know, the Temperance Building Society merged with the Bedfordshire Building Society in 1974, to create the Gateway Building Society. In 1988, the Gateway merged with the woolwich equitable building society, to create the Woolwich building Society, itself later taken over, and absorbed into Barclays. It's therefore possible that upon the merger, Lawleys switched from being an agent for the Gateway, to one for the Woolwich. Nowadays, estate agents acting as local agents for building societies, are quite a rare thing. Certainly, here in Fife, I can't recall the last time I saw a local agent for a building society.
You have comprehensively filled in a hole in the research I did for this episode - very much appreciated. I noted the Gateway signage and didn't connect it to Lawleys being an agent for them, which makes sense, but rather that Gateway Building Society had at some stage been there, but fitting in a caption to say this seemed laboured. Had I thought about it further, signage of that style would not have predated Lawleys which was there from at least the late 60s. It means your summary is the most likely story behind it, so thanks for explaining it! I wonder if the notion of having estate agents acting as local agents for building societies faded out during the spate of demutualisations and closures of their estate agency branches during the mid to late 90s?
As a little boy walking to school, I remember shops like Wests showing how well to do ilford was. I went to a private school called Cra’;nbrook College on Mansfield rd, and there were two private girl’s schools nearby, Park and Ursuline.
It's sad to read that in recent years both Cranbrook College and Park School have closed, I believe due to lesser intake numbers. Wests definitely was upmarket and one of the earlier department stores to close down unfortunately.
They really did sell everything didn't they. I suppose you'd "have to" go online for origami paper these days, unless Ryman's range goes that far 🤔 . Thanks for watching the videos and supporting the channel, it's always nice to know fond memories are evoked when we go back in time.
Haha.. I can be first for once! The bus is a Leyland Titan.. in my time (mid 60s-late 70s) they introduced new types on the 167, replacing the venerable RT, firstly with the double deck DMS, then not long after replaced by the new single deck, dual door SMS, which was three feet shorter than the MB series which proved to be too long for service and also very unreliable. I used to get off at the stop before that turning if I was visiting Owen Clarke art shop!
Indeed, thanks for giving the first comment on this one. Good recollection on the bus types, I have a photo of a DMS at this junction but it wasn't as good. I wasn't local at the time of the SMS and it's interesting to hear they were introduced to solve the length issues for the route. The RTs were a classic looking vehicle weren't they, and Owen Clark was a classic shop!
I have just returned from visiting my family in Newbury Park and we went to Ilford a few times. I was fortunate to be in Ilford for Mercato Metropolitano opening on Thursday. I must say i was quite impressed about the size of the place and range of food on offer. Worth a visit.
@@IlfordRetro indeed it was! The SMS was the last single deck bus that was specifically designed by the then London Transport. Until a few years ago I owned three RF single deckers, one of which was a Green Line coach. The closest an RF got to where I lived was Chigwell Row (Express route 724) which ran from Romford all the way to High Wycombe (later Heathrow Airport). Red RFs generally ran on routes where there was a height restriction. Again, the only red RF I actually rode on was route 250 which ran from Romford to Epping. Sorry… lots of geeky comments from me today 🤣
@@storm3698 Really nice to hear you had a good time, and that you picked a locally historic day. That market has been 5 years in the making so it's good to hear that it's worth a visit. I will have to go and sample what's on offer.
@@peterb514 You once owned three RF single deckers?! No need to apologise for the geeky info, you are a true enthusiast! The green routes really did go far and wide; imagine a route from Romford to High Wycombe now......
Out of Town Business Trading estates, Internet, business rates had a massive effect in all major towns in the UK. This is the norm now. I grew up a few minutes walk from Ilford Town centre and I loved the old Ilford. Recently worked in Romford Town centre for the last 8 months and it is the same too. Even the centuries old market is not as bustling as it used to be
Interesting to hear how Romford has changed too. It still has a better variety of shops though but yes the market is a shadow of what it used to be. You're right about all those factors which have played a part in bringing town centres to their knees.
@@IlfordRetro Romford always had more shops than Ilford and both before the regeneration of Stratford were the places to shop in the East London boroughs
If memory serves my right, opposite United Dairies was a ROSSI ice cream parlour. I don't know if it was part of Rossi Bro's chain, but it had a quite distinct shop front Sign which was gloss black and ROSSI in green raised letters. It was very much like an American diner where customers could sit on pedestal seats at the counter & have ice cream sodas.
You are completely right about the Rossi branch there and yes, it was part of the Rossi Bros chain. I cannot actually remember it inside but we have it in the background of a photo just before that part of the row was demolished. Great memory to recall how it was inside. The decent places were spread right across town back then and there'd be reason to go that far east on the High Road, not least because the ABC cinema was nearby.
AND another one bites the dust. I was driving past The (General) Havelock on the 28/06/2024 and workmen were in the process boarding it up (covering the doors and windows with metal panels) so God only knows what's going to happen to it in the future. Very sad to see. I wonder if it has a preservation order on it?
I'm not sure whether it has been listed (ie I don't think it has been). It is indeed sad to see. It had been closed for I think a month beforehand but I had no idea it was because of long term closure. It's most likely due to low patronage, but then it has had its licensing problems in the past, so maybe something else came up? Perhaps the last landlord or someone in the know will see this and provide some insight, maybe even comment on the General Havelock episode......
It's a great idea and thanks for the suggestion. Our historic photos are largely based in and around Ilford and we use our own collection to avoid any copyright claims. That said, we considering ways we could branch out or at least use some of the non-Ilford photos we have in the future.
I'm so happy to see this clip. Brings tears to my eyes. I grew up on Roden street then moved to Ley street back in 1979. Back then there were ONLY a few Indian families there. Great folks. But now 😮. I've posted my rage before while trying to find a traditional fish and chips shop locally. Food is food but I never grew up with a guy wearing a turban serving fish and chips and I won't stand for it now either.
Marks & Spencer finally pulled the plug on their Ilford branch. The last day of trading was Saturday 29/06/2024. Closest branches are now Stratford, Romford and South Woodford (click & collect). At least that's what it says on the notice taped to the window of the now empty shop.
You're right. A shame that another big name either bites the dust or closes their Ilford store. There is some effort to bring back the Food Hall in some shape or form (online petition) and there'd be no shortage of vacant units available for it.
As a young teenager i would visit regularly Woolworths , WH Smiths , Boots Basement floor and Ourprice for there records and cassettes as they all sold them.I also got my T.C.R race track from Woolworths those were the days..
Boots was a great place to get some cheap releases, because from memory they would always be a bit behind the curve and have things for cheaper that they just couldn't shift. Smiths and Woolworths usually had all the current stuff and Our Price definitely did, plus loads to browse in the racks. There was great music choice in shops back in the day wasn't there.........
I was here the night it closed, there were a couple of Routemasters out working on the 165s. The place stood for quite a while after closure, not quite empty as the LT Museum stored some exhibits here, FRM 1 being one of them.....
You witnessed some history there. Interesting to hear that they stored things from the LT Museum there afterwards (including FRM1!). They must have felt it was pretty secure and maybe giving the impression that there was nothing of much value inside once it had closed.
I remember what Gerald Ratner said about his business 😂😂😂. I remember my mum brought me a watch from there 3 years earlier for my birthday. 1991 was memorable year in a lot of nice ways especially the summer
Not only did I spend a lot of my childhood in the summer in the large pool and go there with our school but my Mum told us they had wrestling there and would go there and watch the Crabtree brothers one of who was Shirley Crabtree wrestle (Big Daddy) who i met when I was a 9 year old. EASY EASY.!
Wow, you actually met Big Daddy at a local wrestling gig! Incredible. I only have a vague recollection of other events being held at the swimming baths, but like the Odeon cinemas, anywhere big enough would be used as an event space in days gone by.
@@IlfordRetro No i met him years later when he was at his most famous at crystal Palace Swimming pool my Mum watched him wrestling at ilford Swimming baths when she was younger.
@@davidmoore2308 oh, my mistake I read your comment incorrectly. Makes sense that it was your Mum who saw the Crabtrees at Ilford - and still a big deal that you both saw him. Big Daddy passed away far too early.
Ratners, ah! I remember his Crap comment, which earned front page news, as well as pages 2, 3, 4, 5 etc! In fact, he put an apology letter in each of his branches, but to no avail!
It was a masterclass in what NOT to say about your own business! I didn't realise there was an apology in the branches but as you point out, the damage was already done. I wish more of those corporate gaffes happened these days. Well, in fact I'm sure they do, most notably on Twitter but these days they are more likely to gain you a following if not loads of publicity for your brand 😂 .
i walked past burger king last week . not sure if it permanently closed or just temporary i thought they did ok for customers. the high road looked so much busier years again
You're right that in previous years the High Road was always packed and on a Saturday afternoon it would be heaving. The old Burger King on the High Road has reopened as Popeye's Chicken which brings some life back to that part of the street. It seems popular enough and will hopefully last longer than the Wendy's that was there before it.
Apologies June I was in 1991-mode when you first made your comment! You're right about that Burger King in the Exchange, I think it closed in December 2023 and I'll agree with what @Xxlovecongoxx says about their lease expiring. I guess they didn't feel they were doing enough sales to renew it.
Sorry if this sounds like a rant, but here goes. Isn't it interesting how a bustling busy Ilford high road went down the toilet after developers got hold of it. Yes I know shopping trends have changed and everyone does their shopping on line these days, BUT compare pedestrianised developed Ilford today where a lot of the high street shops are empty, or charity ships or fast food outlets and NOW Marks and Spencer finally called it a day and compare it to un-pedestrianised Barkingside high street which looks like it's still a busy thoroughfare. It makes you wonder if it's a good idea to let developers redevelop towns. All they seem to do is ruin a town centre and tear the heart out of the area, leaving it looking like any other town up and down the country . I recently visited Chelmsford town centre for the first time in 30 years and was really disappointed how much it had changed. I was struck by how uninteresting it had become and could have been ( like Ilford) any other town centre in the country. All the same shops.. all very boring, I won't be visiting it again. I know I sound like I've gone off topic, but I feel the same about how boring Ilford has become,back in the eighties & nineties I was always ' up the high road', I only live ten minutes walk from Ilford high road but NOW unless I have to use the train or need to see someone at the bank, I avoid it like the plague and go to Barkingside of Romford where there seems to be a bit more going on. It's just sad to see what developers did to Ilford and all for the sake of lining their pockets & sod the consequences.
An interesting take. There is something in what you're saying I think. I don't think pedestrianisation itself was a bad idea; it separated the traffic and no doubt eliminated fatalities caused by erratic driving and jay walking. However in its combination with the opening of the Exchange shopping centre it meant footfall slowly gravitated towards it and the peripheral but important businesses suffered. Ilford High Road's core of businesses used to spread to its eastern edge. You could find the ABC cinema and Lloyds Bank for example as well as Ajax sports shop whereas now there is no reason to browse or bank at that end of town. The discounter supermarkets do good trade but they feel disconnected from being anything to do with the High Road, with Griggs Approach making a defined and imposing border. I wonder whether buses could still have been accommodated down the High Road to give it some combination of pedestrian and calmer transport mix. All academic now of course - until some new masterplan is drawn up! Barkingside and Romford do still have something of that old Ilford busy-ness (although Romford too is largely pedestrianised).
I moved to Ilford in December 1957, to work at Stratford loco, and lodged in the newly built railway hostel, sited at Aldersbrook. I lived there until February 65,and loved every minute of it.Two things I'll always remember, Bodgers new store was being built, opposite the original station entrance, and the fire at Harrison and Gibson's.I haven't been there since leaving in 65, but from what I can gather, the new Ilford is not a patch on my era.Which is a great shame.
Nice to hear from a viewer who remembers the new Bodgers store being built. You were there at a time when the new-look Ilford Broadway was being shaped and the old early Victorian buildings lining the entrance to the town were being swept away. I think it would have been an exciting time to witness that change, which for me was the 60s equivalent to the construction of the dual carriageway and pedestrianisation of the High Road 25 years later. The fire at Harrison Gibsons was huge news too and it must have been the talk of the town for quite a while. The fact the replacement building was erected within a year or so has always fascinated me. It's like they hardly missed any business. The square, concrete architecture was not a patch on the beautiful Victorian row that was burnt down, and today the former H&G building still stands, derelect and awaiting demolition. The railways offered some good careers and hopefully led you to all manner of experiences in different regions. Nice that you remember those from your Ilford days.
I spent my childhood in Redcliffe Gardens opposite where the cricket and hockey pitches are from 1955-1972. We used to walk the family dog through the park. When my Dad took the dog through the park in the morning he would often have the cat on his shoulders as well. He got quite a few stares as he crossed back and forth on the zebra crossing on Cranbrook Road. I have memories of playing football and cricket on Melbourne Field where my Grandfather also played about 1910-1920 as well as tennis in the courts. Also spent time with friends in the cafe and sitting around outside. I used the Lido for swimming as a 5 year old. There was usually a good neighbour who would go and take me along. I remember with fondness the features such as the boating lake and the mansion. Also the large Cedar tree and rows of horse chestnuts. I spent many hours walking and cutting through the park on my way to either Ilford station or Gants Hill. Valentines Park was and I hope still is the Crown Jewel of Ilford. ❤
Wonderful memories and thanks for sharing them. The old cedar tree is still there, as of course is the mansion, cricket pitch and tennis courts. The old boating lake ceased many moons ago (not got a specific year for that unfortunately) and you may have heard they will be building a new lido beside the site of the original one you remember which was demolished in 1995. Thankfully it remains the jewel in the crown of the town and is generally well managed. I can imagine the scene of your dad crossing that zebra crossing with the cat draped over him like an accessory!
Back in the 1970's I worked in Crescent Cameras which I think was number 1 or 3 Centreway, I can't quite remember, I only worked there for a few weeks before being transferred to their head office which was in Leytonstone next to the Red Lion pub opposite Woolworths. Crescent Cameras went bankrupt in 1980 & I was made redundant .. ahhh those were the days.
Crescent Cameras eh, that's a name that I don't recall and it sounds quaint by today's technology trendy brands (eg Wex instead of Calumet Photography). The experience of being made redundant is never nice, but the fact that it was from a company that no longer exists perhaps makes your time there a bit more unique and no doubt nostalgic?! Were they upstairs or downstairs at Centreway?
@@IlfordRetro Cresent Cameras also had a branch at Gants Hill (which was the first branch I worked at). I cut my teeth on the retail industry and found it all very interesting as I didn't have a clue about photographic equipment prior to working there, But I soaked it up like a sponge and learned a lot including how to handle photographic equipment and how to sell it to 'Joe public' and I ultimately become a quite good amateur photographer even if I say so myself.😆 The Shop was right on the corner of the upper cranbrook road next to the Mandarin Palace, they took over the shop when crescent cameras went the way of the Dodo in 1980...ish. If you look at the Chinese restaurant today, the camera shop was the part with logographic writing and ' function room & cocktail bar ' on the shop front sign. Hard to believe that was 44 years ago.
From the late 70's I knew the family very well who owned Ilford Radio cars. The owner lived at the top of Tomswood hill Barkingside and had a transmission aerial on top of his house which was connected via an early kind of internet to the office @ 281 & consequently 315 high road Ilford. Ilford cars had the best reception in east London and on good days ( weather permitting) they could receive messages out as far as Heathrow and was a very successful mini cab business. But with the slow and inevitable upsurge of fly by night competitors and their constant undercutting of fares the business started to struggle and so in the early 2000's his son decided to sell the business for a piffling amount (which included the good will it had built up over the years) to a consortium made up of the Asian drivers that had worked there. I don't know what happened to the business after 1999 but it looks like they struggled before giving up. None of this is confidential as the original owner sold his house at the top of Tomswood hill and retired to the coast in the early 2000's and has sadly since passed away.
Great insight into the company. It was the only taxi firm anyone used to call in the 80s. It seems the owner was ahead of his time and for that small period really had cornered the market. While researching the episode I couldn't find much about the present company at all and its office on the High Road is vacant, identified only by the firm's signage. A real shame he didn't receive what the company's real value - as you say, figuratively you cannot begin to put a price on a good reputation.
The 199 bus route must have replaced the 291 route which ran in the early 70s (they were operated by single deck RF type coaches). It wasn't well used, so I can't imagine why they used double deckers on it - unless they were too tight fisted to buy new single deckers at the time. What a pity the old shops had to go to provide Sainsburys, which I believe is now closed as well.
According to what I've read online, the 199 started in 1972 to replace the southern end of the 179. The 179 continued to run on Saturdays though, meaning there was a duplication on that bit of the route. Good question as to why they would use double deckers on it! Yes the large Sainsbury's is due for demolition when their housing project on the site commences construction. The replacement Sainsbury's will apparently be smaller than the existing one. Not sure when that's all going to start though.
If memory serves me correctly (it's been many many many many years) in the other side of the pedestrian underpass by the new library was a large car park. The surface was just crushed rubble and shoppers & commuters used to park there. I can't remember what the charge was ( if they DID charge), but eventually the Cineworld complex was built on the site.
You are absolutely right about that. Once the houses were pulled down on Oakfield Road, car parks were created and for many years lay undeveloped. I think some were actually free. I know it seems a long time ago, but it was ONLY just over 20 years ago that Cineworld was built! That's relatively recent in my humble opinion 😅
I remember a Wimpy bar/restaurant around about the middle of the parade of shops in Ilford chambers back in the 1970's. I remember about 1978 (when I was about 18) being in the Wimpy around 10.30 at night having a meal with a mate after coming out of Room at the top ( on top of Harrison Gibsons) and a fight kicked off in the Wimpy between a couple of drunks, the manager called the police and the drunks were duly arrested. My mate and I just sat there out of harms way watching the fracas while eating our Wimpy & chips. When we eventually got up to leave, we had to pay the bill at the cash register and I quipped "And here's an extra pound for the floor show" 😂😂😂😂
I never knew Wimpy did in-house entertainment 🤣 What a kind man you are. An impromptu show like that (as long as no one was seriously hurt) is well worth a complimentary fee. Was at least some consolation to the manager!
Brings back memories. Both mom and her brother brought brand new 5 door (blue) Mk3 Fiestas from that site in the nineties. LX (L reg) for uncle and a (M reg) Sapphire for mom. I also remember the Mk5 (K reg) Escort hire car they gave my mom when her car was in that dealership for repair work. #memories
@@IlfordRetro My family certainly did! Fords were very much the fabric of Britain in those days, at least it felt that way for me as a young 'un. Mom sold her sapphire in 2006 after a £500 servicing bill from the same dealership in your vid a few years prior and uncle scrapped his fiesta a year after that as the fuel injection was playing up on a car that was then worth about £750, if that! Still both cars lasted beyond their specified design/service life to be fair!
@@shahzadayub7191 Very good mileage and decent length of service by the sound of things. It's no wonder they've issued some of the most popular models in the UK over time. Good to hear your experience of them!
@@Mr-To-Do-List Ah yes that too. That part of the area was very memorable for me. Once lived in Goodmayes and my late grandparents were Ilford residents from early 80s to late 90s. Seven Kings was where my grandparents lived from 1983 to 1997 great memories
