Tag Archives: Kandy Kars

Gray’s Yard

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Premises that was at 230 London Road, Mitcham, as the winter headquarters for the travelling showmen of Harry Gray and his family.

View of the yard looking north:

Photo taken by Eric Montague in 1975. Reproduced by kind permission of the Merton Historical Society. Image reference mhs-em-um-8

The following is an excerpt from Eric Montague’s book Mitcham Histories : 14 Upper Mitcham and Western Road, page 11:

for nearly half a century the winter headquarters of Harry Gray and family. Before World War 2 the site also had a Walls ice cream depot and, before that a house of ‘Georgian’ appearance called Mitcham Lodge College.

1952 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland. Reuse CC-BY. Site of yard shown bounded by red lines.

Also see newspaper article from 1955.

No. 228 next door was a small office occupied by car hire firm Kandy Kars during the 1970s.

The yard was vacated by the end of the 1990s, and the a block of flats was built with the address of 19 Holborn Way, being the by-pass road that opened to traffic in March 1992. The block was named The Harry Gray Building, and a plaque on the wall can be seen from the pavement, as shown in this photo:

From Apple Maps, 2021.

228 London Road

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Premises that were on the London Road to the south of number 226, as shown in this 1952 OS map:

1952 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland. Reuse CC-BY.

The premises are just out of view in this 1950s photo on Merton Memories/

clip from Merton Memories photo from c.1953

Businesses that occupied this address included:

T. Wall & Sons Ltd., ice cream vendors, was here before WW2, and was listed in the 1930 commercial directory. A viewer of my video channel tells me that he passed his driving test in 1963 and sold Walls ice cream from a Ford Anglia van, which was left land drive, and “Fun to Drive at Just 19 Years old !”

The 1951 telephone directory listed the company’s divisional sales office in Croydon, but didn’t mention this depot.

A car hire firm was here from 1965, as described in these Merton Council minutes.

From the minutes of the London Borough of Merton
Volume 2
1965 to 1966
Education Committee
4th October 1965

(14) 228 London Road, Mitcham

The Chief Education Officer reported that the chairman of the Sub-Committee had authorised the opening of negotiations for the letting of No. 228 London Road, Mitcham, a booking office in conjunction with a car hire business. This property adjoins the old London Road, Mitcham, School building, and is at present occupied by the Mitcham Youth Club and the Youth Employment office, and the adjoining yard is let to a timber merchant.

Kandy Kars was the car hire firm in the 1970s and 80s.

Kandy Kars building edited

1976 ad

1976 ad

5th June 1983 receipt for Kandy Kars

Minutes of meetings held by the London Borough of Merton are available on request from the Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.