Tag Archives: 1939

250 and 252 London Road

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A building in London Road, between the Kings Arms pub and Sibthorpe Road.

Photo taken 27th August 2017 (a Sunday morning)

In this 1952 OS map, numbers 250 and 252 are south of 248 on the west side of London Road, opposite the Buck’s Head pub.

1952 OS map

This clip of Mitcham ‘High Street’ as was called then, is from around 1900, and shows the left the old Kings Arms pub. Numbers 250 and 252 are to the left of the Oil Colour Stores’ that has ‘No. 8’ between the windows on the first floor.

c. 1900 clip from Merton Memories photo 51472, copyright London Borough of Merton

From the 1891 directory (the shops were numbered from 1 going north):

1, Henry COLLBRAN, butcher
2, S.E. BURTON, stationer
3, Charles GOULD, The Kings’ Arms Public House
4, Mrs H. LACK, draper
5, John CUMMINGS, greengrocer
6, Joseph COOK, butcher
7, T.P. SHEPPARD, grocer
8, William BARTER, grocer
9, George Joseph DALE, news agent
—
— here is Sibthorpe Road
—
10, James MOULAND, Pawnbroker
11, William Henry JENNER, ironmonger
12, Charles MACRO, hair dresser
13, C. SAUNDERS & Co., grocers
14, William COURT, baker
15, MOULAND & BENNETT, Watchmakers

Hence numbers 6 and 7 High Street are now 252 and 250 London Road.

A photo from 1895 shows it looking north.

1895 clip from Merton Memories photo 51748, copyright London Borough of Merton

The 1925 street directory still referred to the High Street. In 1926/7 London Road was renumbered.

Charles A. HUDSON, Kings Arms hotel
2 & 4, H. LACK, draper
5, John CUMMINGS, fruiterer
6, G. DUTRIEZ, butcher
7, W.H. FIELD & Son, wine merchant
8, E. & A.M., grocers
9, A.E. DALE, news agent
—
— here is Sibthorpe Road
—
10 & 11, W.J. HYDE, pawnbroker
12, H. MACRO, hair dresser
13, Miss H.M. HICKS, milliner
14, M. HICKS & Sons, bakers
15, G.H. HUDSON, watch maker

Number 6, now 252, was a butchers shop in 1891. In 1939 it was occupied by A. SPICER, as shown in this ad:

1939 ad

In the 1954 phone directory, it was occupied by HEARN & Sons, Family Butchers.

Number 7, now 250, was a wine merchants as shown in the 1925 directory. In the 1930 commercial directory it was occupied by Horace Albert Paine.

1965 : Mr Tilley retires after 25 years with Mitcham Fire Brigade

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Twenty-five years as a fireman ended on Friday for Mr Terry Tilley, Russell Road, Mitcham. Here (centre) with his wife he receives a clock from Station Officer P. Dann, and an illuminated address signed by all members of the station.
All his colleagues also subscribed towards the cost of the clock.
From the Mitcham News & Mercury, 12th February, 1965, page 1.

Enjoyed his 25 years of fire-fighting

The summer afternoon when a rubber dump started to smoulder in the Willow Lane was the start of the biggest fire in Mitcham since the war.

Mr Terry Tilley recalled the blaze this week as he sat in his Russell Road home and looked back on 25 years as a fireman.

“It was two or three years after the war,” he said, “and I remember it was very, very hot.

“Tons and tons of rubber went up and you could see the flames miles away. It was like a mushroom.”

Long into the night 40 engines and dozens of firemen fought the fire, one of a spate of rubber dumps which went up the London area.

Of his experiences during the war Mr Tilley most vividly recalls a bombing raid on London’s dockland.

Fire engines raced from all over London to fight the blazing oil and tar refineries at Silvertown.

“The raid began in the afternoon,” said Mr Tilley, “and about 8 o’clock the bombers came back and went on dropping until the early hours of next morning.

“It was a fantastic sight with the fire engines and A.R.P. units all over the place. We lost a few men, I think, when the bombers came back.”

“Mr Tilley, who is 55, joined the Mitcham Brigade in 1940. In 1946 he moved to Banstead for nine years before returning to Mitcham.

He didn’t join for any particular reason, but now he says: “I enjoyed the life, and I shall miss the men.”

For the future he intends to have a few weeks’ holiday and then get another job, though he is not quite sure what.

Source: Mitcham News & Mercury, 19th February, 1965

There are photos on Merton Memories of the rubber tyre dump fire on 2nd June 1947. For example:

Clip from Merton Memories photo 51069, copyright London Borough of Merton.

Alfred Tilley, also at the Mitcham Fire Station, was his uncle, according to a post on Facebook. He is pictured on a 1930s photo of the brigade. He was mentioned in newspapers as having rescued 15 cats over his career.

Second Officer Alfred Tilley, of the Mitcham Fire Brigade, has just rescued his fifteenth cat. He saved his first cat in 1920. In those days he went out on a bicycle and borrowed a ladder.
From the Daily Herald, 16th December, 1939.