North Parade Shops
This parade of shops has enjoyed a popularity that has ensured its success even through times when large multi-national supermarkets chains have taken a lot of trade away from such local amenities. Providing a community facility as well as a shopping area, it has always had occupied shops and a bustling atmosphere. The people and the needs have changed but it has well served the people of Chessington North, despite the close proximity of competition from the Hook and Ace Parades
Recent changes include the addition of street trees, CCTV cameras, hanging baskets on lamposts, illuminated advertising signs, street furniture such as bollards and cycle stands, recycling bins and Christmas lights.
The postbox has moved around over the years, with the Post Office, from the end of the Parade, now in the centre
No 1 Whitford's/Chessington Library
No 3 Headley Vicar's
No 3 was the one shop which, until its closure, saw the least changes on the Parade. Run by Mr Ray Rowe, Headley Vicar's was the traditional local butcher's shop with butcher's block for cutting joints, a window full of fresh trimmed cuts of meat and a cold counter inside for cooked meats, cheeses, sausages made in the shop and bacon. At one time it sold fish too.
In 2004 it became the Parade's first cafe/restaurant, which proved very popular
No 2-4 Rumbelows
No 6 Cunninghams - No 8 Decorative Colours
The paint and wallpaper shop was originally run by a Mr + Mrs Smethwick until they became elderly and it was taken over. It was bought by a small chain called Decorative Colours Ltd who also had shops at Worcester Park and Ewell
Cunningham's carpeting + furniture showroom took two shop spaces after Decorative Colours closed, until about 1997, then number 6 was sold as Pets On Parade, the first petshop on the parade, and number 8 became Munden's cycle shop
No 5-7 Beds + Treads the Bed shop
Unipart became part of Disappearing Chessington as it closed down after 16 - years trading on the Parade - It was the Co-op - originally a small shop where people stood at a counter and the shopkeeper served them with various items. In later years the shop expanded into the greengrocers shop next door (No 5) and became self-service, supermarket style.
In the background is the Co-op supermarket frontage from 1982
(Photo has gone a bit mad - I'll sort it out later - or do you have a better, close up of the Co-Op?)
No 9
Originally Betty Curtis' shop sold haberdashery, wool, hankies, underwear all displayed in glass cases. The window display was always protected from the sun by yellow film.
It later became Kenneth Bird Estate Agents and was an agency for the Provincial Building Society, run by a local JP, Mr Bosson
In 2002 it was Mann + Co, Estate Agents
No 11 Mogford Bakery
Was this bakery in one of the shops next to Betty Curtis, possibly No 11 ? In the 1970s,
No 11 was Webb the Chemist, in later years this was still a chemist but had name-changes to Elliott Godfrey and Moss Chemists. For 40 years John James Henry, known as JJ, dispensed his knowledge along with the prescriptions and provided many a family with sound advice about treatments and medication. He retired in 2001, an event that even attracted the attention of the press with an article and photos in the local paper
Proposals in 2002 to open up the competitive restrcitions on pharmacies brought concerns about the future of such institutions as the local chemist, with fears that large superstores would erode this facility
No 10-12 Youngs Stores
Shaws Supermarket was formerly Youngs Stores, then a VG, and when it became a supermarket it had provided trolleys into which could be slotted 2 or three hand baskets - a forerunner of the Sainsbury box trolleys - instead of the trolleys we know today
2002 saw the reintroduction of these practical little trolleys in Shaws. By 2002 Shaws had modernised the shop considerably with CCTV and automatic entrance + exit doors
No 13 Brightways
This was formerly a furniture shop Brightways and later called Terry's, run by Terry but was actually a later addition to the run of shops, unusually having 2 levels of shop floor, having been built on in the place of an alley where a fish + chip van used to park unofficially selling food. It may have also been a cycle shop at some time - this is still being researched
In 2002 it was a sucessful tile shop called Versatile
No 14 Chessington Launderette
In later years, the supermarket bought out the shop next door, which had been Chessington Launderette. The launderette had a little shop in a serving hatch - it was called Forget-me-not Bar and sold sweets (including paper twists of rainbow drops for 1d) and perfumed birthday cards. I can still recall the smell of those cards. It was open on Sunday mornings as well as midweek, so we used to call in on our way home from Chessington Methodist Church.
The washing baskets provided by the launderette had the words "Stolen from Chessington Launderette". Its coming had caused local people to wonder how the Dry Cleaners would fare, which was in those days in the middle of the Parade
No 20 Ryder's Toy and Cycle Shop
No 22 World Stores
World Stores run by Sam (surname?), this became Key Markets, then evolved into a mini-mart run as a Spar shop (possibly a Londis?) and then A + M Stores until closing in about 1996.
It reopened as a charity shop and in 2002 is a sun-bed studio
No 24
No 26
No 28
No 30
No 32-34 Edana's
Edana's was one of the later additions to the Parade, run by Mr Wilf + Mrs Edna Pape.
The shop had a triple front with a shoe section in one third and the clothing and haberdashery, including dress fabrics+ knitting wool in the main two thirds.
© David Lipman
This view of the menswear and haberdashery was taken in 1982 and shows the glass drawer displays which were phased out as customers started to prefer self-service. In earlier years, the centre of the shop had an angled free-standing shelf holding rolls of fabric, but the need for dressmaking materials declined and by the time this photo was taken the central fitting held items such as tea cosies and tea towels
Clarkes and Start-rite shoes, and Pirelli slippers were sold to many Chessington children who would have their feet measured on the wooden gauge with a tape measure attached for width measurement. Edana's shoes eventually closed, merging with the main shop. The shoe third of the shop (No 30) reopened as the Vet's, but the main shop still had the glass topped drawer unit from which I chose hankies as a child, and the original wood and glass doors which opened with a very distinctive sound. Thankfully the mass-move to refurbish shopfronts with aluminium-framed picture-windows had been resisted.
Although the dress fabrics have been replaced by ladies fashions and menswear, the range of wool and haberdashery was still wide, up to January 2002 when Edana's announced it was to close due to the owners' retirement
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These photos taken Febrauary 2003 show it during its closing down sale - even the shop fittings were offered for sale in the window of the left-hand shop. This was one of the last remaining recessed windows on the Parade - a window made for "window shopping" - note the original wooden door
The Post Office
The Post Office was originally in the rear of No 36 (at one time called Lees's) until 1997 when it moved to the centre of the Parade in Dillons at No 18
Interior of Post Office 1997
© Peter Young
The saving scheme in the Post Office included one where penny (1d) stamps were saved until a cash value of 5 shillings (5/-) was reached. In decimal currency this would be 25p !
It later became a fireplace shop which closed suddenly in 2004. An estate agent then moved in to the premises
No 40
No 40 was the hairdresser Pierre's
The Dry Cleaner's closed in 2004, and applied for change-of-use planning permission to become a sandwich shop
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