#061

[@healthystyle]

Memories....Thank you, could you do 1986 Romford and Seven-Kings, please?

[@IlfordRetro]

You're welcome and we would love to do some of Romford and Seven Kings. The main hurdle is that our photo collection is mainly based in Ilford (which back in film-developing days was what we could afford to snap). We won't say we'll never do them though, should the conditions be right to branch out with other photos.

[@mikeuk4130]

I bought my first Ben Sherman button-down shirt from Granditers in Ilford around 1971. It was a Pacific Stripe, colour Biscuit, size 14.5”. We kids used to enjoy reading the pricing tickets on items in the windows. They were all neatly hand-written, with strange names, like “Stick”, “Bing”, “Squire” and “Trask”. You had to use the name in the shop when asking to buy the item, which was awkward.

[@IlfordRetro]

Incredible memory...... And to recall the style names of the clothes back then, very impressive! I always wonder who makes them up and whether they're a rehash of names from years gone by which they hope nobody will remember. It's memories like yours which can have them found out if so 😄

[@josephlambert6642]

Same era as me (Same size neck as well) Good shop back then.

[@anthonyrowling7829]

I have been waiting for the Zodiac toys photo since you mentioned in a comment way back during season 1. So many fond memories of looking at Transformers, M.A.S.K. and Dinoriders in that store. I can vividly remember two isles of toys that stretched on and on…

[@IlfordRetro]

Great to hear you were looking forward to it and I recall you mentioning it at at the time; hopefully now its place on the High Road is clearer it can evoke more memories. You're right that the toys were piled long and high and I always thought the upstairs window was a secret area that privileged kids could access lol

[@pankajmarwaha9815]

Love this...Zodiac toys was one of our favourite stores growing up

[@rajnirvan3336]

Absolutely, I can't think of any other shop in Ilford that had awesome toy range. Was heartbreaking when Woolworths shut in 1983

[@IlfordRetro]

It was just so rammed with toys wasn't it. There just wasn't the money to buy them all.

[@storm3698]

I loved zodiac toys. I remember, my brother and i crossing the road there to go to the toyshop and a policeman winding his car window down and telling us we shouldn't be crossing there.

[@IlfordRetro]

He obviously didn't know the importance of getting into Zodiac. Either that or he wanted you to live to visit it again......!

[@storm3698]

@@IlfordRetro well I'm still here and the shop has long gone, not the other way round 😁

[@awsanteina5152]

I didnt know wenzels' has been about since 1975. I thought it was new and only came about after percy ingles shut down around East London and Essex

[@rajnirvan3336]

I rate Wenzels nice jam doughnuts too. Wish some branches would come to South East London too. If I'm in Ilford or Romford I try to buy something from there that's appealing

[@IlfordRetro]

It was a bit of a surprise doing the research that it was so old. One of those stories in which the brand's franchising took a while to establish itself.

[@ohyeah2816]

@@awsanteina5152 Percy Ingles has gone? The East End must gone into morning.

[@Roamingree]

Granditers, Ilford and East Ham. Thanks for the memories ❤

[@IlfordRetro]

One of the big names from this side of town and one not to be forgotten!

[@Roamingree]

@IlfordRetro Granditers use to be on the top of my road in East Ham b4 turning in2 Boys Base, then just Base Menswear. So many businesses lost resulting in the death of High Streets as we knew them 🥲

[@IlfordRetro]

@@Roamingree I actually didn't know that it became 'Boys Base' initially (at least in East Ham) so thanks for the info. Definitely right about the loss of solid, local chain stores and the impact it's had on the high street

[@ohyeah2816]

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.

[@IlfordRetro]

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!

[@ohyeah2816]

@@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.

[@IlfordRetro]

@@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!

[@JaspreetGrewal-lz6jr]

Ah, Zodiac toys... My favourite shop on the High Road as a kid... That looks like Masters of the Universe piled up high in the window?! :) Lots of great memories/purchase from Zodiac, and we didn't realise it at the time but the '80s was the golden age of toys/action figures. Gaming and smart phones slowly took a larger and larger portion of kids' attention away. And then Toys R Us got asset stripped and exploited/shut down a few decades later. Such a shame!

[@IlfordRetro]

It is definitely a shame that the toy shop as an entity - let alone good quality toy sections within department stores, is almost a thing of the past in itself. Thankfully The Entertainer is around but as for the old names....... I couldn't place what they were showing in the window, so would be happy to take your suggestion that Masters of the Universe is in the display. You're completely right about the golden era of toys in the (70s and) 80s. After wooden toys had had their day, but before the miniature computers we now all use. And the cartoons and animation that went alongside them - just magical.

[@rajnirvan3336]

Oh wow that shop was amazing Zodiac Toys. Would visit with my late grandmother. In 1987 Thundercats were so popular I recall buying some from there. This was probably the next best place for toys after Woolworths shut down. Awesome memories. This was before it was shut to traffic

[@IlfordRetro]

Thundercats was one of those classics and if you still have any of them, they'd be worth something....

[@rajnirvan3336]

@@IlfordRetro I still have my original figures keep forever. Along with The Real Ghostbusters, A Team and some Masters Of The Universe

[@IlfordRetro]

@@rajnirvan3336 you have been very wise. A great collection.

[@ClydebridgeStation]

In the 1987 photo, I also noticed the projected sign of Radio Rentals, another long gone, but once familiar name on the high street! Is that the Fashion World shop now? And incidentally, on my layout, set in Lanarkshire in 1990, there's a Radio Rentals! You might be interested to know that in the 1980s, Radio Rentals supplied the Televisions to Butlins Holiday camps!

[@IlfordRetro]

Good spot @ClydebridgeStation I always hear "...Shoulda gone to Radio Rentals" ringing in my ears when I see a reference to that shop, so popular (or irritating) was its advert back then ha ha. You're right, it was where Fashion Zone is now. Funny, because looking up Radio Rentals details online frequently comes up with models and replicas with their adverts on, or their own commerical toy vehicles wrapped in their colours and branding - it probably fits in well on your layout 👏 Butlins suppliers? I never knew that!

[@ClydebridgeStation]

@IlfordRetro if you search for a website called butlins memories, and choose any of the camps, and look at the camp programmes for the 70s and 80s, in the guides it says "televisions supplied by Radio Rentals ".

[@IlfordRetro]

Fantastic - I love those little facts! @@ClydebridgeStation

[@deniseharris4631]

Remember Zodiac Toys not long being open in Spring 77, and a girl I knew from school, in my year, getting a job there and telling me she absolutely loved it! She'd left school at Easter. I think before that it was Richard Shops, and on the corner of Cleveland Road opposite the reference library on the other side of Cleveland Road, and the next block of the High Road with Mothercare, Woolworths and at one point, Saibsburys before it went into the Centreway. Now wondering which block.Chelsea Girl was in. I'm pretty certain that was Fantasia before. But not sure which side of Cleveland Road it was?! Or even if it took over the old Sainsburys building! I remember Fantasia being there in '73. Of course Sainsburys had gone into Centreway by late 72 I would have thought. I think 2 of my friends were walking through Centreway to get to Dane by then! We'd all just started Dane.

[@IlfordRetro]

I can well imagine your friend loved working in Zodiac Toys! It would have been any teenager's paradise back then. Chelsea Girl was indeed on the same side as Mothercare (which you rightly point out used to be Sainsbury's before they opened in Centreway in February 1972). Chelsea Girl was next door to Peter Lord (which became Clarks shoes) and next door to Clarks was Woolworths.

[@deniseharris4631]

Sorry, Richard Shops was a women's clothes shop. I think Romford may have had theirs into the 80s! When I worked in Romford

[@IlfordRetro]

You have a good memory for all those old shop names Denise 👏

[@deniseharris4631]

@@IlfordRetro thank you! It was great memories! And I think I have a photographic memory. Kind regards

[@IlfordRetro]

Really pleased you found the channel @@deniseharris4631

[@deniseharris4631]

@@IlfordRetro Oh thank you! So am I!

[@IlfordRetro]

@@deniseharris4631 it's certainly one of the best out of those who remember days gone by!

[@jeffreykenny988]

Is this definitely 1987 or possibly slightly earlier? That part of the High Road was closed to traffic on 10th January 1987.

[@IlfordRetro]

I'm pretty sure I took this just after New Year 1987 and prior to the closure. The eastern end of Ilford High Road by Lynton House was closed off in March 1985 but it was as you say, 10th January 1987 that the central section was closed. However, until then from November 1986, buses that had formerly used York Road as a terminus were redirected along the High Road to the new one on Hainault Street, so it was definitely open for route traffic up to that date. Also Time the musical began in London in April 1986 and was still being advertised through the Christmas and New Year 1986/87 holidays.

[@junehoward4251]

Can anyone remember what Starbucks use to be in the 70s or 80s on the corner of Clements road,

[@IlfordRetro]

Through the 80s it was the Job Centre before becoming a building society, but not entirely sure what it was in the 70s!

[@jimmyspencer4844]

😏 Promo`SM