Photo taken by Paul Graham during visit to Local Studies Library and Croydon Archives.
As he writes: "The
High Street at the top of Surrey Street, taken just outside the hardware
shop on the corner with Mint Walk that my father used to manage, Mence
Smith Ltd. It later became part of the Timothy White's chain, then Boots
the Chemist. It's now the "Red Square Bar," sadly not open at 9 AM when
the photo was taken. (I meant to go back and get a shot of the shop itself
with the sun at a better angle but, with all the excitement at the Croydon
Archives, I forgot.)
"You can see some of the High Street buildings that are now part of the
Croydon Heritage Area.
"Down Surrey Street, you can see some fruit and vegetable market stalls
being set up, just as I remember in the 1950s and 1960s. The Pavement used
be full of squashed peaches and rotten cabbage leaves."