This photograph will have been taken early/mid 1930s and shows my mum, Freda Guthrie outside her grandfathers shop at 96 Tilery Road on the corner of Headlam Street, Stockton. The shop was later owned and ran by my grandparents Stan and Elsie Guthrie.
Photograph and details courtesy of Graham Fewster.
I seem to remember it was the Family Allens that lived in the house at the other end of this block, bordering into Craister Street.
Ruddocks had the shop opposite in later times and was it Taylors had the other corner shop, all on the street corners and bordering Tilery road.
Fond memories of all these corner shops along the length of Tilery Road.
Hartlepool-based brewers ‘Cameron’s’ must have enjoyed a high-level of off-sales from Mr Barker’s corner shop, this judging by the investment they’ve made in external signwriting and window-display material. The brick stall-riser to the shop window on Tilery Road can be seen to house a large grille, no doubt to ventilate the cellar where the bottles and beer-barrels would be kept. The latter to perhaps facilitate the sale of hand, or tap-pulled beer, usually sold ‘by the jug’ for home consumption. These I note, are priced on the door at 6d (2.5p) per pint!
Mr Barker ran the grocery shop on the opposite corner and I believe Elsie Guthrie was his daughter so she ran the off-licence with her husband Stan. I remember her daughter Freda, she had lovely red hair and sometimes helped in the shop.