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Childhood memories of Amberley Drive

Mother’s problems with the neighbours

I spent the first 30 years of my life in Amberley Drive, and lived at 114 where I was born, then 52 for several years and finally 46. For some obscure reason my mother could never get on with her neighbours, so we were constantly on the move. The chemist shop in Burwash Road was run by Mr Leslie Brayton, a thin, bald headed bespectacled man who was never in the front of the shop when you entered. He would be occupied in the back and would peer at you through a spy hole in the partition wall, and would shuffle through to deal with you shortly afterwards.

Number 52 Amberley Drive is second from the left: click on the photograph to open a large version in a new window

Saturday morning meat shopping

The butcher’s shop was named Baldock’s, and run by two youngish men who looked very much alike and I guess they were brothers and a blonde lady with glasses, presumably the wife of one of them. Many is the time I was dispatched to Baldock’s on Saturday morning to buy a whole leg of lamb for 15 shillings. The fish and chip shop at the Grenadier was known as ‘Hangleton Fisheries’ and was run by a Scottish chap and his wife, and as I recall they were constantly at one another’s throats.

Memorable ice cream vendors

There were two other mobile ice cream vendors worthy of a mention and who gave Messrs Softee and Whippy a run for their money; Nielsons was one, and the salesman was a bald headed guy called Jock. I remember the ‘Canada Bars’ he sold were to die for. The other was a one man band, an Italian chap named Sid who drove a plain cream coloured Ford van with a high back on it. No fancy jingle for Sid! He would drive up the road tooting his horn and yell out the window “Ice cream, ice lollies, choc ices”, but this was done in his strong Italian accent and sounded more like “I-dip, I-lolly, choc I-dip”. It took me several years to fathom out what he was actually saying; his cider apple lollies were superb though.

Deliveries riding pillion

I also remember Charlie the greengrocer in his old grey lorry, a real ladies man as I recall, forever chatting my mother up he was. The guy who delivered repaired shoes was Johnny, he rode a BSA Golden Flash with a sidecar, and for a number of glorious Saturday mornings I rode pillion with him and assisted him with his deliveries. Crash helmet? Unheard of. I also charmed my way into the passenger seat of Mr Kelly the fishmonger’s Morris Minor van, and would run back and forth to his customers’ houses with dubious looking packages of smelly wet fish, straight into the bath when I was dropped off home. I never did decipher what he used to yell out of the window to ply his trade, and I never had the nerve to ask.

The joys of ‘Jamboree’ bags

Finally, does anybody else remember ‘Stones’, the family in Northease Drive who ran a general store from the garage adjoined to their house? I think all things considered, Herbert, the old fella who owned it, did better out of me and my pals than Bullen’s in Burwash Road. He sold Jamboree Bags you see, 3d. a time and the novelty gift you got along with the two sickly toffees and handful of dolly mixtures was irresistible to us. I also remember people trudging up his driveway clutching an empty bottle to buy vinegar that was drawn from a wooden barrel sitting on the garage floor. Herbert was ably assisted in the store by his wife and daughter and although they were always courteous I cannot ever recall seeing any one of them smile.

Comments about this page

  • Living at the top of Applesham Avenue in the mid ’50s, I was often called upon to “pop up” to Mr Stone’s garage for vegetables and anything that we had run out of. One day my bag collapsed and I had to chase potatoes down his drive. I can add to the deliveries as one summer Lionel March from HCGSB came on a Johnny Walls tricycle selling ice creams. He was the son of the caretaker at the school and went on to become an eminent mathematician

    By David Morris (13/03/2013)
  • I lived at 30 Amberly Drive from 1970 to 2001. I was there with my mum and dad and two older brothers. I went up to see a mate who is still there where I lived. It is now just a mess and many folk have let there gardens look more like jungles. Amberly Drive looks like a waste tip.

    By Wayne Wareham (30/08/2013)
  • I lived in Beeding Avenue from 1949 to 1974 and the name of the shoe repairers was the Tomlins family. John Tomlins who delivered the shoes to you died a short while back in about 2014. His brother Brian was a motorbike racer. The whole family were really nice pepole. Their sister Shirley emigrated to Australia.

    By Gary Hudson (19/10/2016)
  • I was born in 17 Burwash Road, on the corner of Amberly Drive, in 1949 and lived there till 1961 when we moved to Cornwall. So many happy memories of growing up there.

    By John Hewitt (03/02/2017)
  • I lived at 37 from 1950-57 when my parents inherited a small amount of money and we moved a couple of hundred yards into a private house in Northease Drive. Very fond memories of the Noonans, Timmy Dawes (re-enacting the Cup Finals we had just watched on a tiny black and white telly), Tim Attree, Dave Hood etc etc. Magical childhood.

    By Richard Lindfield (06/11/2017)
  • Hi Richard. Are you the same Richard Lindfield who used to play in goal at school [Hove Grammar]? If so, I hope all is well. I remember you as a class act in goal.

    By Dudley Whittaker (09/11/2017)
  • Does anyone remember the Jusko family of Amberley Close, Hangleton if so please contact me on 07930275133. Thank you.

    By Sarah Forrest (08/02/2022)
  • Baldock’s the butchers on Burwash was run by Julie (Blonde lady) and her husband, sorry don’t remember his name. Julie was the daughter of Fred and Jessica Baldock who ran a butcher shop at 108 Church Road called Southdowns. I worked for them doing various jobs in my student days in the early 60’s. Fred Baldock was very kind to me, and he even taught me to drive. In the course of my jobs, I found a car plate from when had entered the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally.

    By Richard White (18/07/2022)
  • I lived in High Park Ave., during WW2 and can remember the houses being built in Amberley Drive and Burwash Road, which were placed on the nearby farm land shortly afterwards. A few of my school pals lived there, but I never saw them again after starting work in London at the age of fifteeen. I wonder if any of them are now still alive?

    By Kenneth Ingle (21/07/2022)
  • Hi, I lived at number 77 Amberley Drive, with my brother and my mum and dad.
    We were the “Smith’ family – Keith and myself Angela.
    We were on the corner of Burwash Road.
    Would love to hear from anyone that remembers us.

    By Angela Winbolt nee Smith (05/03/2023)

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