My grandparents, John & Joyce Walker, ran the cafe at 83 Preston Road in the shadow of the Viaduct, from around 1952 to 1957. It was called the FILO (First In, Last Out!) and they served fabulous English lunches - fish & chips with fish bought from the sea front market at dawn that morning, and steak and kidney puddings made by my gran. Grandad's favourite trick was putting a pile of dirty plates on his head and waltzing through to the kitchen. (They made thier own entertainment in those days...) I dimly remember a story in the Argus that a chunk of the Viaduct fell off on to their forecourt some years after the war - presumably loosened by the bombing. Their grub was so good that it didn't harm their trade. John & Joyce were great characters, ace ballroom dancers and wonderful life-loving people. After he sold the cafe Grandad worked at Beaconsfield Hardware Stores in Beaconsfield Road, now a postcard shop. Does anyone remember them?

John Walker worked at Beaconsfield Hardware where my Sister in law Carol also worked, the owner was called Dennis. My brother Mick delivered pink paraffin in a Bedford CA van for the shop and when I first married he spoke to John about property he owned. John became my landlord at 27 Buckingham Rd for a number of years, I well remember him climbing the stairs to collect the rent and have a cuppa with us. We got a council house around 1974 and moved on as by then we had two small boys all in the one room and kitchen .