One of the reasons that I started this blog in 2007 was to capture the changes being made locally that usually went unremarked. A shop on Ham Parade would change and quickly the new shop became part of the scene and the old one was quickly forgotten.
In that time we have lost many shops including Barclays, Giftbox, New Mandarin, Beauty by Honey, Expertravel, Chic O'Pick, R. Tucker, Carpet Library, HSBC, Wine Rack and Mia Wood.
The first empty shop is at the far end of the Parade, close to the Common. This has changed hands more often than any other on the Parade, probably because of its separation from the main shops and the board advertising it says that permission has been granted to turn it into cottages. That may be for the best.
The second shop was an antique, or bric-a-brac, shop and because of that I only ever went to it once and then I did not buy anything. It was never a shop that looked busy and I was surprised that it survived so long. That said, I had nothing against Glencorse and I would much rather have an unusual shop like that on the parade than, for example, another estate agents or betting shop.
The final shop to close, Ham Fruiterers, is the one that I already miss the most. I went there on average once a day and it was my most important shop on the Parade. I got on well with all the people there too.
Ham Parade has been through a lot of change in recent years with the promise of more to come. When the new shops come, and I hope they come quickly, I will be there to record them.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy family owned the shop and lived in the cottage next door for generations which is next to the undertakes it was called Warner Brothers painters and decorators.Hopefully it will change once sold into cottages