My parents bought a large shop with two flats above, in Preston Village on the corner of Lauriston Road and London Road in 1967.
Old fashioned counters
The shop was really old fashioned with long wooden counters running the length of the shop each side and a delicatessen counter at the far end for bacon, cheese, ham etc plus a coffee grinding machine. The goods were displayed on shelves behind the counters so the staff had to walk up and down fetching items for the customers.
Modernisation
There was also a small square office with a glass window with speaking panel next to the deli counter where some people came to pay for their groceries on a monthly account basis. Once we had settled in, my father modernised the shop to make it self-service apart from the greengrocery, deli and off licence sections.
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This store was called Teetgens when I was a boy, and a real old fashioned and classy grocers I always thought. The Belgravia Dairies shop was adjacent at the front and their yard entrance, a little further up Lauriston Road.
I too know this as Teetgens. My mum was a cleaner for the Hon Mrs Carlkton of Flat 2, 181 Preston Road, one of the lovely houses opposite the park. This would have been in the early 1960s. The Hon Mrs Carlton had been married to a Colonel of the 60th Rifles and had had the royal princesses to tea at Windsor before the war. She liked a drink or two! My mum had to go along to the ‘Licensed Grocers’ as she always refered to Teetgens for a bottle of Haig whisky, always ‘on account’. It was part of a bygone age when that area of Brighton was very genteel and Preston village did seem just that…a village!
Really interesting to read these comments about the shop before it belonged to my parents. We had quite a few customers who liked to entertain and that first winter we had quite a lot of snow but customers had placed their orders so mum and I had to go out in our Ford Cortina Estate and try to deliver the boxes of food and drink. In Peacock Lane mum fell over and all she was worried about was if the bottles of spirits were broken. Then we were trying to deliver to a block of flats just off Preston Road and got stuck in the snow with the car slithering between a pond and a six foot drop into a basement area. I was desperately shoving bits of cardboard under the wheels to no avail and there was not a soul in sight to help us. I was only 12 at the time. I spotted some branches in a corner behind a tree and put those behind the wheels and that did the trick and we did the last delivery who instead of being grateful moaned that we were late, and we headed home exhausted.
You may be interested to see that the original Teetgens sign has been revealed – what was ‘Wine me Up’ is currently being refurbished as a different kind of off license. Signage really speaks of times past.
Dear Jane: Thank you for letting me know about the Teetgens sign being revealed, I have only just seen your post. I will have to go and see it when we visit there this year. Best wishes for 2015.
I have found a lovely photo postcard of a Teetgen’s Cafe, Brighton, but cannot find any address or details for where it was located. The stamp date is 1907 but so far my searching has taken me to Canada, US but nowhere in Brighton. Is there anyone who may have any idea where I could search? I did not realise until I started researching that this name was so connected with creative people in all parts of the world. I found the information about Teetgen’s grocers just lovely and really descriptive. The only old grocers with a lot of the old social history attached (not quite as antiquated but still interesting) is in Alfriston on the way to Eastbourne. I would really appreciate any help – the cafe was very ‘posh’ with potted palms etc.
Hi Bashuuk. The only Teetgen listed in Brighton in the directories around that time was a Tea Dealer, Wine & Spirit Merchant (and later Grocer) at 49/50 North Street. I could find no reference to a cafe of that name. Regards, Andy
Thank you, Andy for your prompt response. I am going to have to keep going on this one as it has become a bit of a mystery. Thank you for the address in North Street maybe I can go from there. Will update if I find anything interesting.
My great uncle Percy Rose used to be the manager of Teetgens in the late 40s early 1950s…my mum (His niece) remembers it well, especially the pish tea and biscuits and loved the bacon!!
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