Front room shops

I lived in Newey Road, Wyken, in the very early 50's and very well remember that there was a very small shop, run from the front room, of number 1. The owners were a Mr and Mrs Jones. The shop was obviously called by us locals, Jones's. You would enter the front porch, turn left, open the door and there would be a table with whatever they had to sell laid out on it. They used to store the old, returned, R Whites bottles in their back garden and we kids would take them from the back, round to the front and get tuppence or thrupence each for them, which we would "spend" on whatever sweets they had (Black Jacks or Fruit Salads?). If I recall correctly, there was also a front room shop in Hermitage Road, but I may be mistaken. Other than a Brooke Bond advert in the window, Jones's gave nothing away about it being a shop. There were many corner shops about, but wonder if any members can recall front room shops. I bet the current owners of No 1 are unaware of the history of their property

An interesting memory. It got me wondering whether the Mr & Mrs Jones were the same people who set up a newsagents business in Princethorpe Way when Ernesford Grange was first built. It was one of three brand new shops with living accommodation above, and they were there by 1960 and remained for many years. Mr Jones was a slim, grey-haired chap and his wife was a large, buxom woman with plenty to say. My mother avoided Jones's as much as possible as it was a gossip-exchange where your business would be public knowledge if you let it. One similarity is the pop-bottle scam though. We used to do exactly the same as you on many occasions if their back gate was open.

A few doors up from where I lived in Coronation Road, there was an old chap, who used his front room as an antique cum second hand shop. He also had things outside on the pavement, I used to love having a good old scout around there. He sold every thing from bits of furniture to chamber pots and old coins and books. I remember buying a book from him, it was a sort of detective story but it was made out like a police crime book with samples of hair etc. It fascinated me at that time, wish I still had it. Can't recall the name of the shop owner, maybe Tricia will remember it.

There was one around the corner from me in Ludlow Road, Earlsdon which sold decorative ribbons. Council records show it was owned by a retired policeman who looked after a disabled daughter and was given special planning permission.

My aunt and uncle had a shop in their cottages in Shilton. They had about an acre of land and grew fruit, vegetables and flowers which they sold in their 'shop'. Uncle Aub also supplemented this by picking up oranges and so on from the wholesale market.

It may have been Jeffs. Mrs Jeffs was a Labour Party member. She had a huge satchel that she used to fill with election pamphlets and deliver all over Hillfields.

I remember Mrs Manning's sweet shop in the early 70s, which was on Mellowdew Rd, on the opposite side to Ravensdale Rd. Me & my mate used to go in there after school for Magic Wands, which were sherbet/licorice sticks.

Does anyone remember Wally Turrell's second hand shop on Lockhurst Lane.

Mayjan, Mother has arrived for her Christmas visit and thinks the name may be Anson, although she isn't sure. Does that ring any bells?

No sorry Primrose it doesn't...but that's not to say she isn't correct, the way my memory is lol . How lovely you get to spend Christmas with your Mum. Give her my best wishes and have a great time.

As a young one, we lived at my uncle Sids in Cobden Street. He had numbers 19 and 21, and one of those was turned into a fruit and veg shop.

Anyone else noticed how these shops are now getting converted back to front rooms? One that springs to mind is on the corner of Glendower Avenue and Whoberley Avenue. Been done for a while now.

It is not only front room shops that are being converted back to normal houses but also premises which were probably built as shops are now being converted to houses. Some of these conversions are very skilful and it is hard to see what their previous appearance was, but unfortunately others are less skilfully done. The pair of shops at the junction of Hall Green Rd and Windmill Rd spring to mind.

Hi to you all, on this intriguing topic & thank you. There is another side to this, which mostly cannot be seen like a shop window. I travel a bus distance to visit a chiropodist in Coventry a few times per year, but it is just a normal house. In fact, viewing on Google Maps, there is a practitioner in walking distance from where I live, but again just a house. A few minutes viewing on Google, we find everything being advertised being sold from ordinary houses, (except for weed, or any other illegal substance). When I was moonlighting with my work over thirty years ago, I used a PO Box No, instead of my home address, but in the early days it was my home. Just over half of eBayers trade from their home address, some making huge sums too. Business rates & so on do help fuel this trend, that whilst our local authority scratch their heads to try & earn revenue from, but no ideas so far of how to do it. The ease of the internet has made such inroads into our patterns of living, hey. Thank you all again, for the contributions on this topic, please carry on.

Spot on Philip. Houses are used for all sorts. My youngest son had his guitar lessons and my daughter her piano lessons both at private residences. Suppose they would have looked a bit strange in a shop window?