Kindred Spirits reader Paul Hyder sent me detailed memories of Ipswich town centre in the 1950s and 60s, which I published recently, writes David Kindred.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
His letter has prompted many readers to send their recollections of shops and services available a generation or two ago.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
Ray Harvey worked in St Matthew’s Street, Ipswich, from where he made deliveries on a trade bike in the 1950s and he can remember the day he heard much of the street was to be demolished in the 1960s.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
Also receieved this week was a detailed letter from a remarkable lady of 91 who grew up in Ipswich and has lived in Holland since 1947.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
Jean Sobtebier wrote: “My maiden name was Jean Smith. I came to the Netherlands when I married my first Dutch husband in 1947. I have a friend in Ipswich who sends me Kindred Spirits features.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
“I was born in Peel Street, Ipswich, in June 1924, so I knew the area well. I remember Mann Egerton’s garage being built where there used to be a big garden and Lloyds Avenue being cut through to the Cornhill. Mr Lord had a milk shop in Crown Street and came round with a little cart selling milk at the door.
Claydon village as it was when Betty Taylor was a child in the 1930s. The Greyhound Inn is on the right and the Crown public house is at the far end of the buildings. (Image: Dave Kindred)
“Many shops and businesses in the town centre were mentioned by readers, but the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street was missed.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
“I started school at Thornley House, Norwich Road, after the summer holidays in 1929 and stayed until July 1938. My family had moved to 14 Blenheim Road in December 1932.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
“You entered the school by a tradesman pathway at night to a cloakroom where we hung our coats and changed into indoor footwear. There was a large garden at the back where we spent our morning break. You could take a snack from home or buy a fresh bun for half-a-penny which were brought each day from Westons’ bakery in Bramford Lane. A mug of cocoa was a penny, provided by Doris the maid.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
“The day started with morning prayers and a hymn. Miss Pratt was the pianist. She gave music lessons and was in charge of needlework and sewing. We used to make things for Dr Barnardo’s Homes.
Jean Sobtebier recalls the Lyceum Theatre in Carr Street, Ipswich. The 1,100 seat theatre, on the left of this photograph, struggled to attract audiences and reopened in 1923 as a cinema.The theatre closed in 1936 when the site was purchased by Great Universal Stores of Manchester who built a store on the site. The Co-op stores are in the right background. The Cross Keys Hotel on the right closed in 1938. This photograph is from around 1920. (Image: Dave Kindred)
“Teachers, I remember, were Miss Burton, Miss Weston, two Miss Coopers and Miss Cook who lived in Hatfield Road. In the summer Miss Weston took us swimming at St Matthew’s Baths and in the winter to gym exercises in King Street.
“Among the pupils I recall are, Avis Fleet, Betty Partridge, Mary Napper, Vera and Gwen Pemberton, Betty Asquith, Mary Markham, Pearl Clover, her father was a florist, Barbara and Rosemary Quinton came every day from Needham Market.
“Once a year we did a musical play which was performed, one in St Thomas Church Hall and one in All Saints Hall. I was not very big and was usually a fairy. My mother became good at making wings!
“There were no books in the lower classes, we learned to write on slates, it was a race to get a slate without a crack.
Our uniforms were bottle green with a mauve stripe in the hat band and badge, navy blue overcoats and black velvet hats in the winter. Green blazers and cream Panama hats in the summer.
“Everything could be purchased at Grimwade’s shop on the Cornhill.
“My mother paid for mine from her Co-op dividend. I used to go with her once a year to the Co-op Hall in Carr Street to collect it.
“I enjoyed my school days at Thornley House, it was a very good all-round education and you learned good manners. You had to behave yourself in the street if you were wearing school uniform.
“Many of the pupils from the school went to higher school at aged 11, but I finished at 14 followed by Mrs Hayles school of shorthand in Spring Road which was at the junction of Grove lane.”
Ray Harvey, of Ipswich, added: “Paul Hyder’s letter reminded me of my first job after leaving school in 1956. It was at Seager’s pork butchers shop in St Matthew’s Street, Ipswich. I had to transport sausages, bacon etc all over Ipswich on a trade bike. The weights, letter box, light switches and door knobs at the shop were made of brass and it was my job to shine them up with Brasso.
“I had to spread sawdust on the floor when it rained to stop customers slipping on the black and white tiles. I was also tea boy and had to go the Maypole Dairy to buy tea and sugar. On my way I passed a coffee bar where “Teddy Boys” would play records on the juke box, Johnnie Ray, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Tommy Steele spring to mind.
“St Matthew’s Baths Hall was almost opposite the shop and I went to boxing events there. I remember watching Bob Shelley boxing there, he represented the Ipswich Lads Club which was run by Sgt Sutcliffe of the Ipswich Borough Police Force.
“One day in the shop, manager Ted Kevin said “Boy there is going to be a roundabout where you are standing, I’ve seen the plans”.
“There were five pubs in St Matthew’s Street, the Half Moon and Star Golden Fleece, Lord Palmerston, Queen’s Head, and the Rainbow.”
Claydon featured in Kindred Spirits a few weeks ago and Betty Taylor has sent her memories of living there.
She said: “I moved to Claydon with my parents and two older brothers in 1936 when I was four years old. My brothers and I attended the village primary school in Station Road, where St Peter’s Court sheltered housing scheme now stands.
“I remember that there were four classes and the headteacher was Miss Leader.
“At the age of 11 we transferred to the Area School (now Claydon High School) in Church Lane. I belonged to the Brownies and Guides for several years and we used to meet in the village hall. One of the activities that we did was tracking along the Slade, a bridleway and country path, and also around the fields on which the Claydon Garden Estate was built in the mid 1960s.
“I began working in the village store on a part-time basis from around 1970. This was owned then by Mr and Mrs Percy Jary who sold food and haberdashery as well.
“The shop had a traditional ‘over the counter’ service and also ran an order and delivery service in the area. I remember that at one time there were a number of celebrities from the health clinic at Shrubland Hall who used to come into the shop and buy food to supplement their ‘health diet!’
“I worked in the shop until I retired, although there were a number of other owners during my time there. I was married at Great Blakenham Baptist Chapel in 1954 and, like most couples in the village, we held our wedding reception in the village hall. After my marriage I left the village and moved to Ipswich, but my husband and I returned to Claydon in 1975 to live in Thornhill Road.
“My father was a shoemaker and harness maker in the shop which is now an estate agents and we lived in accommodation above the shop. During the Second World War, the American soldiers would bring their shoes/boots to be repaired in my father’s shop. My father was also an ARP warden and a member of the Home Guard. There was a bowls club and green at the rear of the Crown public house (now the Hungry Horse) of which my father was a member and captained for two years.
“During the Second World War traffic in the village was very light, although army vehicles and tanks regularly came though. On one occasion a tank, while turning out of Station Road, demolished the telephone box on the edge of the path opposite. Also it was said that secret meetings were held at Barham Hall which General Eisenhower was alleged to have attended.
“Although the main street in the village has not really changed that much over the years, when I lived in Claydon as a girl, Alastair Place in Church Lane, now a retirement complex, was a private house with extensive grounds and was owned by a Mr Verity. The original Church Rectory was in Norwich Road, but was eventually replaced by a new one which was built in Back Lane. The former rectory became Newton House Nursing Home, but has now been converted into apartments.”
Peter Goodwin, of Harwich, said: “I may not be an Ipswich boy, but when a kid we would come to Ipswich by steam train on a direct service from Dovercourt, on cheap day tickets. I remember Leamans and Footmans, I was always taken in there.
“The Ancient House book shop was a great place, but the icing on the cake today was Cowell’s store in the Buttermarket, what a place, the toy department was like Aladdin’s Cave. The rest of the shop was good, but that toy shop... I agree with the reader who recalled Dinky toys, they were by far the best.”
A popular Ipswich fish and chip, Sabbatella’s in Orford Street, which used a coal fire to heat the fat and often had queues along the street was featured in Kindred Spirits recently. Their tiny shop featured with other town centre shops.
Colin Lane, of Bramford Road, said: “I recall Sabatella’s fish and chip shop from 1949. It brings back many memories. There was a small private school, Northgate House in Redan Street, Ipswich, where I attended as a five-year-old, I am now 71.
“I remember my teacher Miss Darleston very well. I used to take a packed lunch except on Friday when Miss Darleston took one of us to Sabatella’s fish and chip shop to pick up our dinner. “It was the best fish and chip shop in Ipswich at the time. Mr Sabatella was a little man with glasses. I remember the white tiled surroundings and the glass sliding door around the frying pans and the little door to the coal fire burning away. It was nice and warm there on cold days while we waited to be served.
“His son and daughter took over in later years and the shop moved to Norwich Road, just around the corner, in the late 1960s.”
And Elizabeth Newman, also referred to the shop. She said: “What wonderful memories the feature brought back to me. I was born and raised in Ipswich and lived there for many years, I can remember going with my late mother to Sabbatella’s fish and chip shop in Orford Street, it was the best fish and chip shop in the area, absolutely delicious, plus it was wrapped in newspaper something long gone today.
“I can also vividly remember the two Sainsbury’s stores. Mother always shopped at Sainsbury’s and I can still visualise a member of staff using the old fashioned butter pats to shape the butter ready for purchase. Sainsbury’s used to sell a delicious liver sausage, which you could buy either sliced or in a whole piece, it was the best tasting liver sausage ever, sadly not available today. The customer service was excellent and nothing was too much trouble for them to prepare for the customer to purchase.
“The Ancient House, and indeed many of the wonderful array of shops in the Buttermarket, I remember so very well, many of our books were bought from the Ancient House as they had a range second to none. Thank you for bringing these memories back to me again.”
Heather Jasper (nee Caddick) shared her memoris. She wrote: “There were several small dairies in the Ipswich area a generation or two ago. The picture of an Alnesbourne dairy vehicle and a letter from Harold Motts has brought an email from Heather Jasper.
“I too remember the small dairies in Ipswich. My parents, Ernest and Kitty Caddick, owned the one at the bottom of Christchurch Street until the middle 1970s. Earlier, it had been owned by the Bird family for whom my father worked to begin with. Later, it became Thompson and Caddick until Mr Thompson retired. My mother worked in the dairy, with another workman, washing and sterilising the bottles and then bottling the milk. Although barely five foot tall she could roll a full 10 gallon milk churn as well as any of the men. My parents both got up at 4am to start the day long before most people were up and about.
“In those days, milk was delivered seven days a week, 365 days a year whatever the weather. Tyre chains were a must in the snow and ice. On Christmas Day we used to climb into my parents’ bed to open our presents with them at 4 am, and then we would go back to sleep until breakfast time. My sister’s wedding and ours had to be planned for the afternoons to give time for the deliveries and all work in the dairy to be finished.
“The business was definitely a family affair. My sister and brother-in-law eventually became joint owners with my parents working in various capacities. As a teenager, I too, had a Saturday morning job, delivering with my father, for the princely sum of 10/6!
“I remember going to two local farms to collect the milk, one on Humber Doucy Lane and the other in Westerfield owned by a Mr Gemmell. In the early days, the milk was not pasteurised but eventually this changed. A large vat was installed in which the milk was heated to a certain temperature before being cooled again and bottled. I still have a pint bottle with E. Caddick, Dairyman, printed in red, on the front.
“As a family, we were very friendly with the Gleeds of Tuddenham Avenue and also the Atkins family who owned a dairy in Spring Road. I knew there was another in Hervey Street, but was unable to recall the name. The Miss Mondays’ dairy was in Orford Street. In those days there was a Dairyman’s Association and as a teenager, I recall going to the annual dinner with my parents.
“Even now I occasionally meet people who were customers and who still remember my parents.”
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