14 Gardner Street

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 25 Sep 2011

After a start as a boot maker the shop became a bakery or confectioners for the next 50 years before becoming a tailors, hosier and outfitters from 1912 to the eve of the Second World War, the latter run by Percy Peckham who sounds like a character Charles Hawtry would play in a Carry On film. In the post war world the shop became a radio shop which then expanded into television retail which it would remain until the mid 1980s when small scale electrical goods shops such as these began to be put out of business by the new larger out of town chain stores. Between 1966 and 1990 the shop was combined with neighbouring Image then split up again becoming a number of ladies wear shops, a comic store, the first stop for Velvet who also traded at another shop in the street before moving south to Bond Street where they currently reside, and finally a shoe shop specialising in American boots. OCCUPANTS 1845-52: BOOT MAKER: Richard Cole (1845-50), George Strand (1852) 1854-90: BAKER: J Terry (1854-67), Thomas Vallance (1868-69), George Mitchell (1870-71), S Welfare (1873), James Robert (1874-81), Esther Gains (1882-90) 1891-97: CONFECTIONER: Mrs L Wiseman 1898-1909: BAKER: VG Smith - also known as Smith's Pastry Stores 1912-14: TAILOR: E Balchin (1912), F Suckling (1913-14) 1915-25: OUTFITTER: Percy Peckham 1926-39: HOSIER: Jocelyn Hansford 1947-85: RADIO & TELEVISION SHOP: Scotts Radio Ltd (1947-76), Wigfalls (1977-81), Robert Harding TV Ltd (1983-85) 1986-87: BAKER: Grints 1988-90: SHOE SHOP: Italian Shoe Centre Ltd (1988), Helmking Ltd (1990) 1990-93: LADIES WEAR: Laid Back Ltd (1990), The Clothes Rail (1992-93) 1993-98: COMIC SHOP: Fantastic Store Ink 1999-2000: LADIES WEAR: Bond 2000-01: GIFT SHOP: Velvet 2002-11: SHOE SHOP; Rock Sole Ltd - Trading as Bik Chief

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