POWIS St, and MACBEAN St area
Looking east from the top of Hare street
Approx' 1900. Powis street , Co op central stores
Just to the left is the end of Furlongs store .. On the Co op shop sign it says , Drapery, Millinery and Mantle department
Approx late 1950s Parsons hill
Trolleybuses parked at their terminal on Parsons hill
Look closely and you will see that Marks and Spencer have not yet built on the corner of Calderwood street..This redevelopment occured in 1964-5 The corner shop is called Ascotts cameras, which also incorporated AJ Wings Chemist . On the left side of the street is a branch of Tesco (opened 1958 ) in the shop that was Specsavers and next door to them is the Singer sewing machine shop. Singers also sold other domestic electrical goods.. Beyond Singers is a shop called Harris .. also a sewing machine seller. The Harris shop became Mothercare at the end of 1962 , So that dates this picture between 1958-61
Approx' 1910-15.. Powis street looking towards the market.
On the left you can see the junction of Hare street and on the right is Eleanor street ( Barnard close ) The large corner building on right was the HQ of the Woolwich Equitable ..
You see that in this picture Burtons have moved from their premises at the north corner of Hare street . On the left side, the supermarket FJ Wallis has now been replaced by a branch of Brentford nylons. The picture can be fairly accurately dated because 1984 is the year when the roads were covered in block paving .
Approx' late 1940's Powis street
On the right hand side you can just about see J.Lyons shop, immediately behind the cyclist... About 5 shops further down ( on the site currently occupied by Starbucks) is the tobacconist shop 'Salmon & Gluckstein' . Messrs Salmon & Gluckstein were also the founders of the J.Lyons empire.
Pearks grocers would be roughly where the exit from superdrug is now
I am told that the buses in this picture were K6 Bristol buses on loan to Plumstead bus garage from a firm called Crossville for one year during 1950 .. thanks to John A King for the info..
June 1909.. 18-20 Powis street .. Wallis & Sons
Wallis and sons were at this address until the property was rebuilt in 1922-23 for J.Lyons tea rooms
1951 Powis street Hedley Vicars
Hedley Vicars celebrates 100 in Woolwich. Next door you can just see part of the Star and Garter pub which would have made the corner of Hare st and Powis street .. both buildings were demolished a few years after this picture
This 1895 shop would be where Clarkes and Argos now stand.. The turning that is now Barnard close was in those day called Eleanor road . The little shop on the corner is Thomas Brown tailors next to the tailors the building sign says Woolwich building society temporary premises.. Their new offices were built soon after on the other corner of Barnard close / Eleanor road.. Beyond that is Furlongs premises. They eventually took the whole of this corner plot for their store which you should find in another picture on this site..
Memo on the left... Fosters on right and Safeway in the distance.. Safeway was previously Presto ..
Feb' 1982... Powis street looking west
Photo by kind permission of Richard Lyndsell
Lots of shop names in this picture to bring back a few memories On the left... Fashionways..Salad Bowl.. Martin ford..Dunns.. Superdrug On the right ... Ravel shoes.. Smile fashion ..Granada tv rentals..Top Man...Segas.. stephens jewellers... H.Samuel
Looking east you can see the co op clock tower in the distance
Old receipt from Garretts
Approx' 1900, Edmund Carter ..drapers
These premises in Powis street were built in two stages between 1894 and 1900. Th give an idea of their position in Powis street, Number 40 is now H.Samuel jewellers
The Rumbelows property became 'Blue inc' and was destroyed by fire in the rioting of August 2011. Barretts shoe shop is currently (2013) Priceless shoes .. Abbey National is still trading from the same address
An Interesting shot showing Marks and Spencer before it was extended on both sides.. The building on the corner of Calderwood st is Ascots camera shop, which also incorporated A.J.Wings chemist.. Smarts menswear was previously a menswear shop called "Weaver to wearer" Marks and Spencer first appeared in Powis street around 1912-14. Michael Marks arrived in Britain as a young man during the early 1880s, after leaving his birthplace in Poland to escape anti-Semitic discrimination. He came to Leeds, a growing industrial town with a population of over 160,000. He was attracted by its large Jewish community and job opportunities in the thriving clothing trade. At the time Marks couldn’t speak English and had no money or particular skills, but a chance meeting led to him setting up his own business and this would become the M&S you know today. Michael Marks originally traded as a pedlar, carrying his goods around the countryside. In 1884 he took an outdoor stall in Kirkgate Market, on a 6ft x 4ft trestle table. This market only ran on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so Marks also took stalls in nearby Castleford and Wakefield, where the market days were different. In 1886 he moved to the indoor market at Kirkgate, which was open daily and offered shelter from the weather. He began hiring sales assistants to run the stalls. The girls worked long hours, but Marks did his best to improve conditions, giving them wooden platforms to stand on to keep their feet off the cold stone floor. Selling simple stock such as haberdashery and hardware goods, he adopted the slogan ‘Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’. This fixed price system and the open display of goods was very popular. Customers liked being able to inspect the goods and knowing exactly what they would cost, with no need for haggling. By 1890 Marks was running five Penny Bazaars in Leeds, Castleford, Wakefield, Warrington and Birkenhead. Tom Spencer bought into the firm in 1894 and for £300 became a partner . In 1903 they registered the company name of Marks & Spencer Ltd with a capital of 30,000 £1 shares. The site of 55- 63 Powis street was first occupied in the 1860s, by Joseph Grisbrook & Co who were a Cabinet makers and upholstery company. A few years later the property was rebuilt and continued to trade as a Cabinet makers, now run by Samuel Barnes. The shop was let in 1890 to Herbert Bray & Co and was now a furniture shop. The upper floors were let as flats . By 1912 a Penny Bazaar was operating on the site, this was probably run by Marks & Spencer although they did not own the property till 1914. The Penny arcades were replaced in 1921-22 with a normal shop front. Around that time M & S began to rebuild and rebrand their shops as “Superstores” In 1934 they took on an architect called Robert Lutyens who was responsible the ‘Look’ of M & S that most of us are familiar with .. Rebuilding of the Woolwich store in the present format came in 1934-5. And in 1936 extensions were made around the back of the corner shop, to provide entrances in Calderwood street and Thomas street . The last piece of the store came in 1967 when they acquired the corner property which was Ascot Cameras..
courtesy of Richard Lyndsell The shop beyond Times furnishing is Medi care
Powis street in the mid 80s, just after Cuffs had been demolished
The hoarding on the left of picture shows where Cuffs would have been.. This plot currently houses Poundland, Carphone warehouse and a few others.
This view shows the London Boot company at 108 Powis street .. this shop was situated roughly where Shoezone currently stand . On the extreme left you can just see a part of Hedley Vicars butchers shop
Approx 1890.. A J Wing Chemist
This shop was on the corner of Powis street and Calderwood street, which was then known as William street. It was closed and demolishe shortly after 1960 to make way for the expansion of Marks & Spencer
This view shows Cuffs before the rebuild of 1939
Approx' late 1980s .. Powis street
Outside the Shakespeare pub a lorry seems to have dropped its back wheel into the pubs cellar doors. The lorry appears to be around 1974 vintage, but the street was not covered in block paving until the mid 80s
Number 66 Powis street was rebuilt in 1930.. .. This property was previously a small Tesco grocers in the 1960s and PeterLord in 1984.. Currently ( 2013 ) it is a branch of Specsavers.
photograph shown by permission of Richard Lyndsell
Approx' early 1930s Pearks staff outing
Cant be 100% sure about this one.. I am told that on the back of the picture is written " Pearkes ( woolwich ) staff outing.. Perhaps to the London Coliseum theatre . The character in the poster on the right is probably Jack Stanley who was a well known Pantomime performer in the 1930s and 40s
This view is looking towards the market end of Powis st from the junction of Hare street . On the left is the Star & Garter pub and on the right is the Woolwich Equitable .
Pryce & Sons Printers were originally based in Woolwich new road, they took these premises around 1890.. This address is roughly where the shop 'Blue inc' currently stands
Showing cuffs on the right. The cycle sign on the left could belong to Halfords cycle shop.. its in the right area and Halfords opened here in 1914
Early 1980s 103-105 Powis street
The shop to the left of picture was a mens outfitters called Male Call. From 1910 till about 1960 these two shops were a branch of Boots the Chemist
Upson was an upmarket bootmaker and shoe shop.. The address shown would be roughly where the east end of marks and spencer now stands.. In more modern times the Upson brand was renamed as DOLCIS shoes
Early 1980s'... top end of Hare street
John Colliers shop was originally built as the HQ of the Woolwich Equitable building society ..
Cuffs first arrived in Woolwich in 1884. The store was a lot smaller then, and in 1891-3 they expanded to cover numbers 88 to 98 Powis street. The whole building and its facade were modernised in 1955. Cuffs closed down on February 16th 1983
