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Recollections
1.
Levi Smith
London, England |
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Thank you to Levi Smith who
wrote about many of the shops that he remembers in Thistle Street, between
about 1956 and 1966..
Levi wrote: |
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Shops
"In the mid-1950s, turning at the Queens
Arms in Frederick Street into Thistle Street, there was a wonderful
baker’s shop (Brown's?)
that turned into an antique shop by about 1960.
Opposite, and at the corner of Thistle Street
Lane North, was a small electrical
shop.
Next door was a shop that sold
sweets and cigarettes;
it was owned by a man with red hair and a black beard or moustache.
Then was Burke's, a
grocer’s shop where you
could buy fruit, vegetables, cold meats, dairy products, etc. I
remember that Mrs Burke was quite heavy and that her husband wore glasses
that seemed to be about half an inch thick."
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Murder
"Opposite Burkes was a stair where a woman
(Colette?) murdered her partner, cut him up and hid the parts in a
cupboard behind a wardrobe; she was caught when neighbours complained of
the awful smell and a police search found the bits and pieces."
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Ladies of the Night
"Further along past Burkes and in the middle
of this section of Thistle Street was an
antique shop and a
little farther on a stair where the local ‘ladies of the night’ used to
hang around waiting for custom.
I used to chat to them and vividly remember
when I was about 10 being invited upstairs if I had a shilling – I didn’t
go and, anyway, why should I pay a bob to go upstairs?" |
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More Shops
Next to this stair was a small
greengrocers called
Douglas where kids could buy singles (cigarettes) for 1d or 3d each.
I think that there was a
barber, now an antique
shop, opposite.
Next to Douglas was a small
printer’s shop where
you could buy envelopes, paper, etc.
Then there was
a pub (The
Thistle?) where you could go in a side-entrance to the main door to find a
counter where women could buy beer to take away while men went into the
pub proper.
The next shop I can recall was after one
crossed Thistle Street Lane North. It was a
sweet shop (Gills?).
Before the corner there may have been a small
café
before you came to Hendersons, greengrocers,
on the corner of Thistle Street and Hanover Street. |
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Night
Spot
"Opposite Gills was another
barber’s shop and on
the corner of Hanover Street there was a trendy beatnik
night spot cafe in a
corner basement." |
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Lane
Auctions
"Once a week or once a month there were sales
of used furniture in Thistle Street Lane South." |
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Lane
Auctions
"It's amazing how many small shops there were
selling food in
Thistle Street - and that is not forgetting nearby shops such as:
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Macfisheries in Castle Street
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Crawfords in Frederick Street |
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Frederick Street
"We
had the Post Office in Frederick Street and a shop that sold artwork and
artists' materials.
I also mustn't forget Joe who used to stand on
the corner of Frederick Street and George Street to sell the Evening News
on the doorstep of the Bank of Scotland." |
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Levi Smith, London,
England:
October 7 + 11, 2010 |
