There has certainly been a lot of change since then. Much less variety of shops sadly.

Quality of shops have declined since the 90s unfortunately

@@awsanteina5152 it seems to be a bit of a national affliction

Thanks for those vivid memories from back in the 60s, it adds to the romance of this olde worlde bookshop. The fact that it had Marvel comics too shows how versatile it was. Like you describe, Ilford was full of 'treat shops' in years gone by, places where your parents could take you at the end of a day and buy you something. The variety of offerings in towns these days isn't what it used to be.

He seemed to have a ready supply of romance it seems 😄Nice that he knew how to treat his customers to keep them coming back!

well said

Ah I never knew about Ben. Thanks @storm3698 that's helpful

Do you remember, in the old chapel across the road, there used to be a bookseller there every Saturday - this would have been the mid 1990s. I moved away by 1998, and I doubt the business still exists today as the man who ran it was quite elderly. Your dad might recall it, storm3698

@@alangiles2763 I remember going to the bookseller inside/upstairs at one of the chapel wings, late 80s. Whether it's the same place as you're referring to I'm not sure, but there was anaglypta wallpaper on the walls and books piled all over the place.

@@IlfordRetro Thank you - yes that is the one. All those lovely little unexpected places in Ilford and Seven Kings were so interesting - along near Seven Kings station there was a small row of shops, long demolished. One was called J. Ruth and he sold radio parts - when I was a boy in the late 60s I was often in there. These days it is just a grass embankment, and it has been since they unnecessarily did all that demolition. The area has just gone off terribly.

@@algiles881 I must admit that J Ruth is a new one on me but it does seem a shame that the space is no longer used for independent shops like it once was. You're right that many of the nooks and crannies and shops to get lost in have disappeared. In a similar (but not quite the same) way, there's the house clearance place called 'Giant Indoor Market & Boot Fair' (formerly Malvern Carpets) on High Road, Goodmayes which always had a second hand gem to discover. I'm not sure whether this has recently closed for good though.

I know exactly what you mean about collecting magazine adverts for their quality imagery. Sometimes adverts capture the imagination and I went through a phase of collecting car adverts which I thought looked so aspirational and in idyllic settings. Great memory you have to remember the slogans from them. Your the first to point out the parade on Aldborough Road - I haven't seen an old photo of that area either, not even a more recent one from a resident for example. Unfortunately we (father and I) didn't get up that way with our camera in the late 70s/early 80s when we started taking photos. But your suggestion is a good one and there is definitely a case for featuring Followers Photos in the future (?) if they are submitted for use and enough information can be found out. I wonder if anyone else remembers Mr Baldwin and know what happened to him.

That is an interesting suggestion!

Thanks for your memories of going to "Terry's" It's really nice to hear that, although you found no direct link, you were able to look this up and check after all. I supose that's one good thing about the passing of time and development of technology. It was always nice to go to a neighbouring town for shopping wasn't it, and in those days each town had something a little bit different from the next. Very happy times.

Nice to hear of someone who knew Brian and when he was there; he must have known every romance reader in Ilford at one point 🤣