Hawthorn Road shops

On 28 October 1955 Woolworths opened a new store at 232–234 Hawthorn Road and tried something none of its Midlands branches had done. Customers served themselves. According to the Woolworths Virtual Museum, whose account Voices of Kingstanding quotes, it was the first branch in the Midlands to go self-service, and the Birmingham district’s managers were “highly resistant” to it. Shoppers told them they missed the counters and the personal service, and could not find things every other branch sold, the Pic ’n’ Mix among them.

Hawthorn Road, where it meets Kingstanding Road, Dyas Road and Warren Farm Road, was the estate’s second shopping centre. Ray Griffiths remembered that it “used to be the monkey run”.

Shop by shop

Rob Wells, who grew up in the 1960s in the flat above Sketchleys the cleaners, could still walk the parade: Boots on the corner, Sketchleys, a butcher’s, Tranters the jeweller’s, Littlewoods, Woolworths, the shoe shops, then the gully to the back; across the gully Timpson, Gwynnes the sweet shop, Rumbelows, Wrensons, Miles the pet shop, a furniture shop and Johnny Caukin’s decorating shop. Lynne Hart added Wimbush the baker, Foster’s the menswear shop, W. J. Taylor “with the record booth at the back”, Leavers the dress shop and the Newbys at the post office. Morice Sellars never forgot “the aroma that you got when you went into Corkings the hardware shop”.

Jeff Egan remembered pressing his nose to Gwynnes’ window of red toy buses and Dinky cars until his mother dragged him off to Jones’ the furniture shop. Pam was the Saturday girl at Miles the pet shop in 1969–70, and remembered Rocky the black standard poodle.

Behind the counters

Keith Moore left school in 1962 to work at W. T. Baker the butchers, where the big family steak and kidney pies came from the firm’s head office at Cape Hill. He was voted the most progressive young butcher across their 13 shops, and left in 1974 to become a Co-op milkman. A string of boys did paper rounds for Kirton’s the newsagent, and several remembered it being linked to Billy Kirton, the Aston Villa footballer. Rochelle’s the butchers had a shop just down from Dyas Road, where, GG Jean remembered, they “used to sell cows udder by the lb and it sold like hot cakes”.

At the lower end the Co-op had its own run of shops, food, clothing and haberdashery, with the Co-op youth club above, as Lesley Harper remembered. There was a snooker hall too. And on 7 May 1945, let out of school early, Peter Walker went into Peacocks and bought two Union Jacks. Next day they were flying for VE Day.

Still the monkey run

Woolworths closed in December 2008, and Heron Foods now trades in the building. When Lynne Hart wrote her memories down, Miles the pet shop was “still there”. The parades are still there too, and so is the wind that Jeff Egan remembered blowing across that junction “on cold wet mornings”.

Then and now

1950

2012