GREEN's BUILDERS SHOP - WEST GREEN ROAD |
Many longstanding and indeed former residents of Summerhill Road will remember 'J.E Green Builders Merchants' in West Green Road. It was situated just around the corner from Summerhill Road very close to the junction of Dorset Road with West Green Road.
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Aeriel View - J.E Green's - West Green Road Tottenham |
Long before the days of Homebase and B & Q etc, if you wanted tools or building materials then you would pop round to Green's. The 41 bus stop was right outside of Green's premises so you would often look at their window display of bathroom suites and kitchens whilst waiting for the bus.
We have found a wonderful picture of 'Green's' original building taken in 1910. Notice that the land behind, which now forms Mansfield Avenue and Bourn Avenue, is still open fields. We know from the 1851 and 1861 Census that when Summerhill Road was first developed, the area was known as Green Park and this picture illustrates what it must have once looked like.
| No 198 West Green Road, c. 1910. This end of terrace house formed part of Troon Villas and was the premises of builder and decorator Mr J.E Green. Alongside was a piece of land wher West Green Nurseries and an old villa called the Gothic House could be found. Each year Sangers Circus used this open space as their winter quarters before their summer tour. (Photo: Copyright Sutton Publishing Ltd) |
We have subseqently received from Stewart Green another old photograph of the family Business that dates from the 1920's and shows the original builders yard which existed before the more modern shop was constructed in the 1930's
| This photograph shows the premises in the 1920's - In the bottom right corner of the photograph can be seen a corner post on the pavement which is not what it first appears to be. Apparently this was an early emergency device that was linked to the local Fire Station. (Source: Stewart Green - May 2005) |
We have obtained from Stewart Green the following account of his families business:
'My Granddad was born in 1884. One of his first jobs on leaving school was working in a pottery in White Hart Lane. He later started working for a building firm called 'Green & Boscall' in St Anne's Road (The Green being no relation). About 1908 he managed to purchase 198 West Green Road and also started out on his own as a builder. One of his early jobs he obtained a contract to renovate a shop belonging to Salmons who were grocers. They liked his work and gave him a contract to maintain all of their shops (My Dad reckons they must have had about 50-60 shops by the late 1930's)
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John Enoch Green - 1910 |
Leslie Green -1940 |
World War 1 intervened and like millions of others my Granddad went off to war. Luckily after the war Salmon's resumed having my Granddad to do the maintenance . My Dad reckons the shop in West green Road must have opened as an expansion of the building and maintenance side. Unfortunately Salmons went out of business during or just after WW2. My Granddad (John Enoch Green) passed away in 1946, leaving my Grandmother owning the business and my Dad and his elder brother John running it. My Grandmother passed away in 1976.
As my Dad and Uncle were themselves growing older the business was sold in 1990 to Johnson's a firm from Islington.' (Stewart Green -Feb2005)
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| Lilian Green (John & Violet Green) Leslie Green - 2003 |
As Ray Swain will also tell you, Greens (and previously Stewarts Builders) had their builders yard backing on to the rear of his garden. This was used for the storage of timber and bricks etc).
