Bishopstoke Shops, Pubs, and other Businesses
By
Allen Guille and Chris Humby
(September 2025)
When Bishopstoke Carriage and Wagon Works were opened in 1890, they employed 1500 men. This was a substantial impact on the community and changed the area from a rural community to an urban residency for industrial workers and their families. This picture shows the Carriage Works from the bridge looking towards Bishopstoke. The office block is the prominent feature to the right, with the clock tower and workshops beyond. To the left is the works canteen and social club on the corner of Dutton Lane.
The Works Canteen was located opposite the entrance to the Carriage Works and, as its name suggests, provided refreshment for employees at lunchtime. It was also a Social Club for railway employees, and used to support various concerts, and fund-raising activities.
This is the interior of the works canteen. There is a stage located at the far end, and chairs have been arranged to permit a larger audience the tables have been removed. The other picture taken during WWII, shows a Female Military Band performing a lunch time concert in the canteen. The tables have remained in situ for the lunch time performance.
For many children, whose father worked in the Carriage Works during the 1950s and 1960s, there are fond memories of the Christmas parties that were arranged in the canteen. And yes, this is a picture of me, (Chris Humby) taken a few weeks ago in the works canteen with a rather skinny Father Christmas, but then I was rather skinny myself in those days. Glad to say that some things never change!!! But then I never got any not any taller either.
In September 1971, the landscape of Bishopstoke Road was changed when fire destroyed the old Works Canteen on the corner of Dutton Lane. The site of the old Works Canteen has been replaced by the ATS tyre service centre.
No. 1 Bishopstoke Road, was built around 1900, on the corner of Dutton Lane. A doctor by the name of John Henderson ran his surgery here from 1907, but from the early 1930s, until the 1960s the premises were an off licence, for Eldridge Pope & Co Ltd. The shop later became Force Seven Bearings, and then Blue Diamond Bearings, until the mid-2000s, and later for a while, it became J’s Corner Café. Today, it is home to Steam Town Brew Co. which opened in 2017.
Number 3, Bishopstoke Road became a Hairdressers called Rodney’s from the mid 1960’s. It had been a Confectioners in the early 1900’s, then a Grocers, Confectioners and Tobacconist. After WW2 it became an Ice-Cream parlour called Ruscillo’s, named after its owner Reginald Ruscillo.
Many people will remember “Rodney’s barbers”, run by Roger Smith and his mate Les. Many of the men in Bishopstoke had a haircut here.
Roger Smith also owned the Antiques shop next door, at No 5, called “River Park Antiques”. Roger was also active as a local politician. At one time he served as the Mayor of Eastleigh. Number 5 Bishopstoke Road was originally a shoe and leather shop, in the early 1900’s, a boot maker, from 1916-1948, a café called “Leaside in the 1960’s. The premises later were home to a fishing tackle shop and Eastleigh’s AC Model shop. More recently these premises accommodated Philip Curl Accountants, the Hog Shack, which was an artisan coffee and farm shop, whilst today it trades as the Coffee Cabin.
The left-hand picture shows Barton Farmhouse. Perhaps “farmhouse” is a misnomer because it was a large elegant Victorian house with an impressive porch. This grand house became a school, which was known as Barton Peveril, an amalgamation of the names Barton and early Lords of the Manor, Peveril. Apparently, in the 1920s, the interior of the school was rather bleak, the rooms being lit by gas and warmed by an iron stove with a big fireguard surrounding it.
The picture on the right shows the factory that replaced Barton Farmhouse. George Martin started his business in 1959, in part of the buildings once occupied by Fair Oak Dairy, in Southampton Road, Eastleigh. He moved to this purpose-built facility in Bishopstoke Road in September 1967.
Across the road from G. W. Martin’s, the shop at Number 12, Bishopstoke Road, was a dress shop from the early 1950s and1960s owned by D&J Drapers.
Eastleigh Glass & Mirror Centre took over in 1964 and traded here in the 1970’s, before it became Feet4Life, a Chiropody and Podiatry Clinic. This shop has remained closed for many years.
Bottom photo on the left shows George Rogers, who owned the Confectioner and Tobacconist shop at number 14, Bishopstoke Road from 1931-1941. Mr. R. S. Clark ran the shop in the 1950’s, until the1970s. I remember the shop when it was owned by Bob and Lynn. Today at Number 14 is A. H. Freemantle, a funeral director.
Mr. Nutbeem, the mill owner, is standing in the central doorway of Barton Mill. It was a simple, elegant, and functional building which stood along Bishopstoke Road, opposite Chickenhall Lane for centuries. It was demolished in the 1960s. The mill stream ran parallel to Bishopstoke Road, which fed an under-wheel, below the building, before discharging into the Barton River.
The Swimming Pool was opened in 1935 behind Barton Mill, and Eastleigh Boy’s Club was established in 1937 as a branch of the National Association of Boy’s Clubs. Access to both was over the mill stream bridge, alongside Barton Mill.
The open-air swimming pool was a popular place during the summer months, although the water, pumped straight from the River Barton, once a week, was usually cold. Pat Purchase, a swimming instructor and pool attendant, had the job of using a net to catch the fish and eels that had entered the pool during refilling.
Arnold Spencer and his wife Gladys ran the swimming pool. The season tickets were 7s & 6d in the 1960s. You could change in the grass by the side of the kiosk, or there were cubicles around the pool to the right for boys, and girls had separate cubicles at the deep end. Cubicles had to be shared with strangers and cost a shilling, alternatively there was a large wooden shed, at the shallow end, with the girl’s changing rooms on the left and the boy’s, on the right, which cost 6d for a day ticket.
The water always seemed to be freezing, so they would not let you know what the water temperature was until after you had bought your ticket. It was a good day if the water temperature was above 60 deg. Fahrenheit, 16 deg Celsius. Hot Bovril, hot toast, and Bovril crisps, which were for sale at the kiosk certainly helped to warm us up.
After the demolition of the swimming pool and Boys Club complex in 1979, Sparshatt’s built a Mercedes Benz car dealership showroom and garage on the site.
The car dealership was demolished, and the site was redeveloped in the early 2000s for offices called “Collins House”, they originally accommodated Radian Housing Association. Today they are operated by Abri, which is a large housing provider which owns and manages over 50,000 homes serving 114,000 customers.
Opposite the site of Collins House was Barton Farm. The painting of this area from 1844 (top) shows a glimpse of the farmyard wall on the right-hand side. There is no road to Bishopstoke, the road turned right past the farmhouse towards Chickenhall Farm, and part way down the lane a track and bridge had been constructed across the Barton River, which led back to Bishopstoke. The middle picture shows Barton Farm, and the bridges which were constructed, around 1900, across the Barton River and Itchen Navigation to support a new road to be constructed direct to Bishopstoke, which was completed around 1902 when a new bridge was constructed in front of Bishopstoke Mill. The bottom picture shows Barton farmyard and the wall fronting Bishopstoke Road.
In the 1960s, when the Carriage Works closed, Barton Farm was demolished and the area redeveloped for industry. Early development of Chickenhall Lane and the Chickenhall Industrial Estate can be seen in these pictures, with terraced cottages behind what had been Barton Farmyard. The cottages have since been demolished. Barton Farmyard has become the Chickenhall Service Station.
Around 1970, a new recreation park was created in what had been the fields of Barton Farm, and it was named Bishopstoke Playing Field. The pictures above show the original pavilion, the extended facilities created in 1975, and the rebuilt leisure centre completed in 2005. It is now known as The Hub and home to Eastleigh Rugby Club.
The Itchen Navigation was surpassed by the arrival of the railway and has now become an area for recreation. For many years, The Itchen Navigation was an important commercial waterway connecting Winchester with the port of Southampton, which gave Barton and Bishopstoke Mill’s, convenient access for bulk transportation of grain and flour.
The top picture, shows Bishopstoke Road, looking towards the Mill. In those days, the Prince of Wales had an entrance door in the middle and to the right of the front of the building there is a carriage entrance. If you observe this building, next time you pass, you can see the change in brick colour where these features used to be. The Prince of Wales was originally a shop, set up in 1834 by Jonathon Barstow. By 1864, the business had been sold to Penny and Dear, Brewers. From 1871 to 1903, the landlord was Ludwig August Hirtes.
In 1893 there was a concern raised by the authorities regarding the quality of water used by the patrons. Water was sampled from a well 26ft from the premises. This well was also close to a drop toilet and, according to an investigation by the Medical Officer of Health, was very contaminated, with you know what! The landlord was not daft. He took water for domestic purposes (his own families use) from a well at Bishopstoke Mill, with permission of the miller. It was the opinion of the medical officer that “The public should also have the right to demand a pure water supply” and issued instructions accordingly.
The bottom picture shows a gathering of the wonderfully named “Cork Club” on an outing.
The Prince of Wales building seems to have been built at a strange angle to Bishopstoke Road. We believe that it was built in-line with the original road, which led to Bishopstoke ford, and the old wooden bridge below the Mill.
In the 1960s, an old English sheep dog used to sit on the step of the front door of the pub and would rush out to bite the ankle of any passing cyclist. The poor moth-eaten old mutt was exhausted by the time all the workers from the Carriage Works had gone home for lunch.
This is how the pub looked before it closed. Top pictures are the side entrances to the Lounge and Public bars. Bottom pictures are of the Lounge and Public bars. The pub closed in April 2011 and has been converted into a Tesco Express.
The cottage on the left, between the Pub and the Millstream became the offices and workshop for Edward J. Coe in the 1930s. “Jack” Coe ran a haulage business for sand and gravel. He had a large sand pit at Fair Oak, behind what is now the telephone exchange, and a massive gravel pit at Halterworth, near Romsey. The Prince of Wales was not the only business to fall foul of the authorities in this part of Bishopstoke.
I remember visiting Jack Coe with my father sometime during the 1950s. He was keen to show us a water wheel that he had made to go into the stream alongside the workshop that powered a generator which he used to supply electricity to part of his premises. Whilst today this may be considered a forward thinking, environmentally friendly, and enterprising activity. Jack was more than a little upset that his initiative, and endeavour, had been interpreted by the electricity board as generating electricity without a licence, and the water board had, similarly, taken umbrage for misuse of company water and were planning to prosecute him. As a young boy, I was far more fascinated by a stuffed Crocodile on the floor in Jack’s office. Funny the things you remember as you get older!
Jack Coe’s workshops became a petrol forecourt owned by the Moody family in the 1970s. It was called Bridgeway Service Station. At one time they sold low mileage second-hand ex-hire cars, imported from the Channel Islands. Today it’s a Car Wash. The Moody family also ran Moody’s Garage, and Bridgeway Windscreens next to the shops at Whalesmead.
The building to the right of the mill stream, became a factory called “Sleyride” they made a variety of wheelchairs here in the 1960s. We have been told, by the son of the owner, that the wheelchair used by the leading character in the series “Ironside”, played by Raymond Burr, was made here. After Sleyride closed, in the 1970’s, the premises became Martindale Moulding’s. They manufactured many rubber items for the automobile industry and also made rubber bullets during the troubles in Northern Ireland. This work was kept a closely guarded secret at the time. The site has now become flats called Riverside Court.
Recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086, mills existed in Bishopstoke for nearly 1000 years, until the one pictured was demolished in 1931.
In 1595 – a Thomas Carpenter was recorded as the miller, and he claimed to have right of way to the bridge called “Cutbridge,” in order to repair the weir, by the water course. This bridge is also rumoured to also have another right of way. My father told the story that in the old days, under the bridge behind the mill which fed the channel, there were once eel traps. As Lord of the Manor, the Bishop of Winchester had the right to inspect them.
This picture of Bishopstoke Mill, shows how traffic was a problem along Bishopstoke Road, just like to-day. The Van, in the centre of the picture, is a delivery van for Snelgrove’s Bakery. The Snelgrove family lived at 86 Spring Lane, next door to my old family home.
Next to the river, opposite the Mill, behind a high brick wall, was a house called ‘St Agnes’. In the census of 1861, it was listed as a private Boarding School for Girl’s, run by a Miss Alice Giles. In March 1867, with only eight pupil boarders and seven members of staff, not surprisingly, Miss Giles was declared bankrupt. St. Agnes became referred to as “Dr Boyle’s house”, in the 1950s, and became a private residence in the 1970s, before being sold to become The River Inn.
Prior to its conversion into a pub and carvery, the property suffered damage due to a fire which destroyed the building. Permission for the carvery was granted on the condition that the house was rebuilt in the original style.
When it opened, replica crown jewels were displayed, said to be then worth £30,000.
The River Inn became a popular local “watering hole”. It was decorated with numerous humorous cards, pictures of local scenes, and postage stamp design artwork. For children there was a large tree house in the garden overhanging the river, and stepping stones in the river, on which they could play. Not surprisingly these features were removed years ago for safety.
The River Inn was sold to become a Toby Carvery. Once again it was badly damaged by fire in December 2024 and closed. (It was repaired and re-opened in December 2025)
The building which operates as Riverside Veterinary Surgery, on the corner of Scotter Road, operated as a butcher for much of its life. In 1912 the premises were listed as being run by butcher William Marsh. By 1916 it was run by a Charles Langham who continued in the same business until the late 1930s. During the War years Albert Seeley was proprietor. Sidney Carpenter continued the business during the 1950s and early 1960s. D. Haines continued to run the butcher’s shop in the late 1960s, and in the 1970’s it became Jack Grant Racing, a Turf Accountant (Betting shop) run by J. Fergusson.
The floor above the shop became the Bishopstoke Doctor’s Surgery with Dr. Boyle, Dr. Bond and Dr. Gibson, and more recently, My Dentist, dental surgery until they moved to Market Street in Eastleigh.
The first record of this shop at 52 Hamilton Road, on the corner of Scotter Road, was in 1903 when it was run by Miss M. Pointin. This photo shows the shop in 1912, run by the Eastleigh & District Co-Operative Society, before they moved to the corner of Spring Lane and Hamilton Road (Where Moody’s was) from 1926 to mid-1960s. Stanley Winkworth owned the shop from 1950 to 1970, then Tom O’Brien when he moved from his first paper shop on the corner of Spring Lane and Hamilton Road. (where Clip Joint the hairdressers were located)
This shop, whilst having a succession of owners, is the only shop in Bishopstoke to continually trade in the same type of business since it first opened over 120 years ago. Now the business is called Family Shopper.
This photo shows Tom O’Brien’s newsagents shop and Hudson’s grocery shop, on the corner of Hamilton Road and Scotter Road, taken in 1981. (the window decorations in Hudson’s may have been for the Royal Wedding). Bananas were 18p lb. and Dutch tomatoes 20p lb.
There have been different shops on this corner of Hamilton Road over the years. A ‘Spar’ shop, and Camm’s stores set the trend in the 60’s for various fruit and veg shops, such as Hudson’s ‘All Fresh’, and Anne’s Pantry in the 1970’s. Later the shop changed use, becoming Way Ahead, a Unisex hairdressing salon, then Top Dog Groomers, and today the “Hair, Nails & Beauty Salon”.
At the bottom of Sedgwick Road, in what was once Upper Scotter Road, there was a green corrugated iron building with more workshops behind. Many different businesses operated from this site. Originally it was an iron foundry, but over the years has supported Box Makers, Builders, and Engineering Works in the 60’s, and the 70’s. In this photo, it operated as Oak Motors, a vehicle repair workshop.
Manor Farmhouse is an old farm dating back to Bishopstoke’s Manorial days. The farmyard and barns of Manor Farm were replaced by Devine Gardens which was developed in the 1980s. Devine Gardens now leads to a very old cottage which is called Manor Farmhouse. This house was probably once a farm cottage, in the farmyard. The Victorian Manor Farmhouse was the other side of the road and far grander, where Manor Farm Close is today. The brick-built long barn, alongside Fair Oak Road and barns of Manor Farm, were used by the Club Packing Company, in the 1960s and 1970s for a potato packaging business, known locally as “the Spud Factory”. In later years, the farm owned by the Dunford family of Stoke Park Farm, at the top of Bishopstoke, used Manor Farm to grow winter feed for their dairy cattle. Stoke Park Farm was referred to as Top Farm, whilst Manor Farm was known locally as Bottom Farm.
Along Fair Oak Road, opposite Underwood Road, there were three shops. On the left was a sweet shop called “The Candy Box” owned by Keith Benson. In the middle was a Grocers owned by Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds and on the right, a wool and haberdashery shop owned by Mr. and Mrs. Angus. These three shops were converted to become a Convenience store. Over the years it has operated as Sperrings, Circle K, Alldays, the Co-Op, and today it’s a Nisa local. On the right is a Ladies hairdresser, originally built in 1953, and called Renee’s. Over the years the Ladies Hairdressers has been called Shock Cuts in 2009, Aleisha’s in 2011, Spiritual in 2014, “Scissor Magic”, and today it’s called “This Salon”, and has the same owner as a shop in Spring Lane, called That Salon.
Further along towards Fair Oak, on the old Fair Oak Road towards Whalesmead, is the Welcome Inn. Pictured on the left is a matchbox cover of the Welcome Inn, when it was run by Beryl and Darrel. What is now the front door of the pub used to be the door to the small Off-License.
Opposite the Welcome Inn on the corner of West Horton Lane and Fair Oak Road, where Nine Elms Court now stands, was Moody’s Garage. It was one of the last garages in the area to be able to dispense 4-star petrol. When I first started driving, I always filled my car, once a week, with 4 gallons of petrol which cost 4 shillings a gallon. They even had a petrol pump attendant, who would come out and put the petrol in your car for you.
When one of our son’s was born, a student midwife, who was in nurses lodgings at The Mount Hospital, crashed her car through the fence at the bottom of the lane at Bow Lake. She got a lift and arrived at Winchester Hospital a little frazzled in the early hours of the morning. After our son was born, I gave her a lift back to Bishopstoke, called in to apologies to Richard Morris, who’s cows had apparently escaped from the field, and then called at Moody’s to ask if they could get her car out of the field, and check it over to make sure it was safe to drive, explaining that she had just helped to deliver our son. They said come back in an hour. When we returned, they had collected her car, checked it over, and refused to take any payment. An example of old-fashioned customer care, which has never been forgotten.
Next to Moody’s, a row of shops had been created in the late 1950s to serve the new housing estate at Whalesmead. The first shop was Wellstead and Daly, which was a general store, much like the old “corner shop” concept which covered community needs for everyday food items. There was a time in the 1960s when home made beer and wine became a popular hobby, and the shop held a good stock for the home brew maker.
Next door was Whalesmead Post Office, which also traded as a newsagent and tobacconist. This picture was taken in 2009 when it was owned by Mr. Townsend. Today the two shops have been combined, and now trade as Whalesmead Post Office, still offering all the commodities that both shops had offered previously.
Next to the Post Office was Renham’s Cycle Shop, where Advanced Exterior Plastics is today. This photo shows Fred Renham and his son Christopher, presenting a new bike to a young girl, who had her bike stolen just after she had it for her birthday. Again, an example of old-fashioned customer care and community support. When Mr. Renham retired, the business was sold and became Boneshakers, which continued trading as a bicycle shop, run by Kip Knell, a Bishopstoke lad. In the 1950s, 60s and beyond it always seemed that everybody owned a bicycle. Parents rode them to work, and children rode them to school. So many people owned bicycles, they supported three businesses in Bishopstoke. As well as Renham’s, there was Thomas Scrivener at 12, Spring Lane and Frank Meaton at 133, Fair Oak Road. You could get your bike repaired at any of these shops, or trade it in for a bigger or better model. Many a lad would save money from a part time job to upgrade their bike, the ultimate model being a racing bike to impress the girls. Oh – how times have changed.
Next to Renham’s was a Chinese Takeaway run by Mr. & Mrs. Lam. The Lam’s sold the business to Mandy and Kevin, a young Chinese couple, who had taken on Paul’ Fish and Chip Shop, and it was renamed The Golden Jade. The Market Garden which was run by Norman Nias and his wife as a greengrocer and florist business from 1999 until 2010. Previously, the shop, also a greengrocer and florists, had been called Food for Thought. From 2010 it became an Indian and Bangladeshi takeaway, called A Touch of Spice and remains so today.
For a long time, the Fish and Chip Shop on the corner of Whalesmead Road was known as Paul’s Fish Bar. It has also been known as Eric’s Fish and Chips, and today it is called Vic’s Fish Bar. Both Allen and I salivate over our memory of the faggots, chips, mushy peas, with gravy that they used to sell at Paul’s, you can’t buy food like that nowadays.
Back to Riverside. This photo shows the area by the old Mill. When this picture was taken, No’s 1 and 2 Riverside were a bicycle shop, run by Alfred Dunford from 1907 until the 1920s. In the mid-1920s, the two shops became separate businesses. No 1, on the corner became a Domestic Stores, run by Alfred Flake until the early 1930s when it was taken over by Harry Andrews as an Ironmongers. No 2 became a Dairy and continued in this use, under a succession of owners, until at least 1939.
This is a picture of Alfred Dunford outside the entrance to his shop, and the sign above the window says cycle maker.
After Alfred Dunford, No 1 Riverside, became “Flakes Domestic Stores, it was really an Ironmongers owned by Alfred James Flake, from the 1920s, as this picture illustrates. The shop remained an Ironmongers from 1935 to the 1960’s, owned by Harry Andrew’s, who also took over No 2 in the mid-1950s to expand his Ironmongers business. David Moody took over the Ironmongers and hardware shop, at No 1 Riverside, until 1970. The shop then became a Launderette in the 70’s before becoming a Chinese take-away in 1973, originally called “Jo’s” then “The River Kwai ” and today “Tasty House”.
The shop at No 2 Riverside, became Riverside Dairy until 1939. Pictured is Herbert Butler who ran the business in 1912. The dairy premises were owned, in 1926 by Charles David Blakeman, then George Wilson in 1931 and later by Frederick Baker from 1935 to 1939.
Marsh and Son were Drapers, who ran No 2 Riverside, in the 1960’s after they had moved from previous premises in Church Road. Marshes sold everything from wool to buttons. Children’s and women’s clothing, as well as underwear. Mr. Marsh would also order special clothing, if you had an occasion. Some families have recalled that we used to pay Mr. Marsh a pound a week, which he collected every Friday, like a rent man. He also delivered clothes to your door from a van! Apparently, he was a real businessman, who never missed the opportunity for a sale. In the 1980s No 2 Riverside became Riverside Video and Game Hire, catering for home entertainment with what was then very new technology. How many of us forgot to rewind your tapes back to the start, before they were returned? After Riverside Video, the shop became a tea shop for a short while and then Clip Joint Hairdressers.
Clip Joint shared part of their premises with a tattoo parlour called Tainted Souls. A tattoo parlour now operates from the premises outright and now trades under the name Seven Sins Tattoo Studio.
A Picture of Bishopstoke Shopping Centre taken in 2009 captured on Google Street View.
No 3 Riverside was a Butchers shop for over a Hundred years, in the early 1900’s it was owned by James Boyt as you can see in these old photographs. Mr. Punker came to Bishopstoke in 1917 from Alresford where he had previously owned a butcher’s shop and became the new owner. He had two daughters and two sons (Joe and Fred) who continued in the business until June 1967. The business was then taken over by A.R. Griffiths in the 70’s and later, L.J. Smith. Les Smith traded here for over 30 years. The Butchers shop has now moved to Eastleigh, but Les still owns the premises, which now trades as Smith’s Bakery, which sells bread, cakes, and pies etc. To us older residents, this shop was always known as Punkers as the Punker family had traded here for fifty years. Members of the Punker family still live in the village.
Next to the butchers, at no 4 Riverside, there was a dairy and greengrocers shop run by Matthew Bacon. (with a name like Bacon, perhaps he should have been a butcher, not a greengrocer). Miss Malpas ran the premises from the mid-1920s until the mid-1940s. James Farley was the occupant from the mid-1950s until the 1960s. The shop became Bryant’s better bread in the early1970’s, and in 1975, it became a bakers called Crusty Cottage. Who remembers when the internal wall was removed, and you could walk between the two shops? Today the shop is an Indian takeaway called Kashmir Tandoori and has been so since 1989.
Next door at No 5 was another Grocers shop run by George Fryer from 1907 until the 1930’s. (perhaps he should have run a fish & chip shop). In the 1930s the business was acquired by Mrs. Gladys Richens who ran it as grocers until the 1940s.
In the early 1950s the shop became Frank Wainwright and Son – Chemists, and it remains as a Chemists to the present day.
This picture of the Post Office was taken in 1906, just after it first opened. William George Maffey, was the first Postmaster in the new Post Office when he moved from the old Post Office across the road in Riverside. He remained Postmaster until around 1930. In 1931 Ernest Arthur Harwood Swash became Postmaster until Frederick Bishop took over in 1935.
This is a picture of Bishopstoke Post Office taken in 2011. Pat and Megan Bage ran the Post Office from 1981-1999. When they retired, they passed the business to their daughter Carol, who with her husband Rob Collins ran the post office for another 16 years.
This photo from the Southern Daily Echo shows Carol Collins with family and customers, who were invited in for drinks to mark the closure of the Post Office in 2015.
Bishopstoke Wines was where Ruhi’s Premier Convenience Store is today, next to the old Post Office in Spring Lane. Originally opening as Chandler’s Wine, according to Carolyn Lawler, when her father took over the business, it was a tiny shop opening only lunchtimes and evenings. He extended the shop by removing walls to incorporate a backroom. Later when Waller’s, the grocery store next door, became available, her father expanded his business and removed the dividing wall between the two shops, which now opened from 9.00am to 10.00pm and was called Bishopstoke Wines and Provisions. Carolyn is pictured with her father in the shop.
When the old Tin Chapel in Spring Lane was demolished in the 1950s, the new shopping precinct in Spring Lane incorporated a Fish and Chip Shop, as well as a Grocery Store and Off-Licence. Smart’s Fried Fish Shop opened in the new shop, having relocated from No 10 Riverside. This shop was for many years known as Nick’s Fish Bar, run by a Greek Cypriot family, and is now Mike’s Fish and Chips. Mike’s, in 2024 was highly placed in the National Fish and Chip Awards. These premises have remained almost unchanged in appearance, as a traditional fish and chip shop, despite the explosion of fast food and other specialist food outlets that are now common throughout the village.
In February 1912 a public meeting was held in the Parish Hall, Bishopstoke, to consider starting a Working Men’s Social Club in the village. Mr Whitman was elected Chairman, and Mr Cook, Secretary for the meeting. A discussion first took place on the subject, when many spoke in favour and some against, among the latter being Mr. Stagg, who owned the Bakery in Church Road. It was, however, decided by a large majority to form a club, and the fee was fixed at 2shillings per year. These two cottages in Spring Lane, known as the “Hollies” became the Bishopstoke Working men’s club in September 1912, which is still operating today, 123 years later.
The top picture is of, probably, the first committee of “The Club” and was taken in the back garden of “The Hollies” around 1912. The bottom picture shows Members of the Committee, outside the front door of “The Club”, thought to be from the 1920s.
Within the first year of operation, the club membership had grown to 560. Family involvement was an important feature of the club’s activities and, as early as 1919, several charabancs transported members to Cheddar Caves for the first Annual Members’ Outing. The bottom picture shows members of “Bishopstoke Working Men’s Club” enjoying a social event in the back garden. The club was a men only establishment as can be seen from this picture. In the early days, the ladies in the background would only have been allowed to be there to serve the food and drink.
In 1927, the club committee invested in two houses in Scotter Road giving them extra land between Spring Lane and Scotter Road. This allowed the establishment of a club garden where summer concerts, fruit, flower, and vegetable shows, and sports days were held, as well as providing play areas for the children. As can be seen from this picture, social events became more of a family occasion with woman and children now participating. Today this area is the car park at the rear of the premises.
This is the appearance of Bishopstoke Working Men’s Club today, a rather bland 1960s architectural frontage, of what had once been relatively attractive Victorian cottages, where my great grandfather once lived.
Spring Lane in the 1960’s (this photo must have been taken about 1960, as the old cottages on the left, were demolished in the mid 1960’s to make way for the flats that are there today). When this picture was taken, the cottage to the left of picture was the National Provincial Bank.
Next door to “The Hollies”, William Frederick Palmer had established a bakery at 12 Spring Lane in 1907 and remained in business there until around 1920. The shop is still there and is now a hairdresser. The horse and baker’s cart are stood in what is now the approach to Springhill Care Repairs.
In the early 1920s this shop, was a wet fish shop, called “Silver Fish, owned by the Brickell family, then it was taken on by John Head, who ran it as a butcher in the late 1920s. In the mid-1930s John Pratt set up a fish and chip shop, but by the late 1930s a Mr. Gibbons established a cycle shop on the premises, and this was continued by Albert Savage in the mid-1940s. Thomas Scrivener took over the cycle shop in the 1950s and the premises remained as a bicycle shop into the 1970s.
In Tom Scrivener’s Day, either side of the door into the shop, there were petrol pumps. This was in the 1950s when standards were different to today and it was quite common for petrol pumps to be sited by the side of the road. Smoking was part of everyday life and people would pass by without worrying about petrol fumes igniting. If a car stopped to get petrol, the hose, which was connected to the top of the petrol pump, was dragged across the pavement. It was perfectly normal for pedestrians to either duck under the hose or walk into the road to get past, whilst still smoking! The petrol pumps can be seen in this picture.
After the cycle shop, it became Miniscope, a babywear and wool shop. Later, the shop became Ann-Gee’s, one of the many lady’s hairdressers in Bishopstoke and alongside the Workingmen’s club is access to “Springhill” vehicle repairs workshop behind. Next-door at 14 Spring Lane, there was originally a dress maker, owned by Mrs. Annie McGrath in 1911. Today it’s Touch health and beauty salon. Hayden Rowe printers were above the shop at one time. Touch is still there today, and next door, at No 12, is now “That Salon” hairdressers.
Dave Moody’s Ironmonger and Hardware shop was originally at No 1, Riverside in the 1960’s, before he moved to the old Co-Op building at 24, Spring Lane in 1970. The business retained its name through a succession of owners. Pictured is Jim Waterman, owner of Moody’s, shortly before closure in 2006. Jim had managed the shop for 23 years. Dennis Bodrum spent the whole of his working life serving the Bishopstoke community as an assistant to a succession of owners, Dave Moody, Ted Stevens and Jim Waterman.
This shop pictured at 1 Hamilton Road was established in 1907 by Alfred Turner. It was run by him and his wife Emily as a confectioners/tobacconist until the late 1940s. R.W. Gillingham had the shop in the 1950s and during the 1960s it was run by Tom O’Brien as a Newsagents, tobacconist & sweet shop. It later became one of the many hairdressers in the village and was known as Clip Joint and Heiress before, more recently, becoming the offices of Adam Hurst, a building and construction company.
At No 32, Spring Lane, Frank Browning established a boot makers and shoe repair business in 1907. This business was taken over by Thomas Mullock in 1930 who ran it until the mid-1960s, apparently, all the machinery in the shop was run by belts from an overhead line shaft, powered by a gas engine, which stood in the corner. There is an anomaly with the address. After a previous talk, his grandson advised that he lived few doors away at no 36. The only records we can access is Kelly’s directory that lists him living and running his business at No 32 from 1931 until at least 1964. We will have to wait until census records for the 50’s and 60’s are available to make certain. What seems ironic for a cobbler is that he had a wooden leg. We have been told by his grandson that he lost his leg after his bike wheels got stuck in a tram line in Manchester, and he got crushed under a Steam Lorry. This picture shows the shoe shop in Spring Lane, with Tom Mullock, as a young man, outside his shop with his daughter, Hilda. The shop no longer exists.
No 36 spring Lane was a general store and grocers run by Charles Gibson from 1926 to 1954, by H Ainscough around 1960, and A.F. Loader from 1964.
This is a photo from Carolyn Lawler, (nee Loader) shows Carolyn outside her parent’s shop, number 36, Spring Lane in the 1960’s. There is no longer a shop at this address.
In front of 82 Spring Lane, my old family home, by the side of the road was a wheelwrights (blacksmiths) workshop and stable. You can still see iron rings in the old retaining wall where the horses were tied whilst they waited to be shod. In the 1880s one of the cottages pictured was occupied by a Mr. Boyes the blacksmith, his wife Fanny and their son Archibald. In August 1883, Mr. Thomas Boyes, Blacksmith of Bishopstoke, was summoned before Southampton County Bench by the police for furious driving in Leigh Road, Eastleigh. The Police sergeant said that the man was driving at 12 m.p.h. and would not stop when he called out to him. Witnesses, in Court, said he was not driving at more than 8 or 9 m.p.h. Thomas Boyes was found guilty and fined 10 shillings. Next door at no 86, is a house called the Old Bakery. Although the house is known as the Old Bakery, the bakery was housed in an outbuilding behind the main house. This building was originally used as a laundry, to provide a service to the grand houses of Bishopstoke. Fine linen, in the 1800s, was an expensive commodity, and this outbuilding still has iron bars set into the inside of the window frames to deter intruders.
The first shop in Riverside was a post office around 1850. As well as a post office, it was a grocer, and general store. The last person to run the post office and general store was William Maffey, before he moved to the new post office in Spring Lane, when it was built in 1906.
By the 1940s, Harry Densley owned Densley’s Fish and chip shop which later became Cameron’s. Peter and Wyn Pellerade owned Smart’s Fish Saloon from 1952 to the early 1960s, before they moved to the new shopping precinct in Spring Lane. The shop and the adjacent cottages were then demolished to make room for the flats that grace Spring Lane today. A lasting childhood memory was the large birdcage to the side of the shop which was full of Budgerigar’s. Birds like these became very popular in the 1950s and were kept as exotic pets in many family homes at the time.
The Anchor Inn is the site of the oldest public house in Bishopstoke. It was first mentioned in the Rate Books of 1794, but the present building was rebuilt in 1892. It had many functions beside serving beer and spirits. It was home to the Bishopstoke Manor Court of Presentments, (the settling of disputes between individuals and manorial offences) A Coroners Court and a Mortuary. The Inn also hosted meetings of the Vestry of St Mary’s Church, and in later years was the meeting place for the Royal Ancient Order of Buffalo’s, who were a charitable body, structured on similar lines to the Masonic Orders. The Anchor Inn was closed in the 1980s, and today the premises have been converted into flats. Records show the landlord of the pub in 1855 was Charles Bishop, who was also the village plumber. In the 1850s and 1860s the landlord, Stephen Wheeler, also operated as a coal merchant from the stable and barn which has been demolished, but is now rebuilt as The Anchor Surgery.
The old Anchor Inn, a Strong & Co of Romsey Public House, was a very popular “watering hole” with strong social support, as this picture from the 1920s shows, as patrons gather for a club outing.
Views of the interior of the Anchor. Apparently, the dart boards were made of wood, and the landlord would leave them to soak in the river opposite overnight. When the premises were converted into flats, part of the accommodation became Doctor Patels Surgery. Dr Patel was a very popular doctor in Bishopstoke from 1982 to 2005 and many of his patients remember him fondly.
Also at Riverside, near to the Anchor, stands the Angler’s Inn which is still trading today. There has been an inn on this site for over 200 years as the Angler’s first appeared on a map published in 1824. The pub was once known as the “Annie Miles” named after the no-nonsense landlady, who owned the pub from 1895 -1910. As you can see from the next photo, the building has had some major alterations over the years.
The Anglers is steeped in history, and allegedly, has spirits of a different kind. It has, supposedly, a friendly resident ghost known to wander the bars in a long flowing skirt. Rumoured to be “old Annie”. However, we don’t want to tell tales “out of school” but when time is called, some of the regulars have been known to mention “old Annie” to the barmaids, when one of their mates is making the lights flicker with the light switch.
Alfred George Stagg was 24 years old when he started his bakery business at 25 Church Road in 1895 and ran it until the mid-1920s. Arthur Last took over the shop for a few years until it was acquired by Cecil George, who operated as a bakers and grocers throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. George’s is where my mother went for her groceries twice a week. I remember it as quite a dark interior with what seemed like high wooden counters and a strange mix of smells from spices and vegetables, yet the welcome on entering was always cordial and friendly for the time, although it would be considered a little formal by to-days standards.
Two shops were created at 25b Church Road. Mr. Charles Marsh, ran a draper’s business here, until around 1950 before he moved further up Church Road, and later to lower Bishopstoke at “Riverside.” The shop on the left became a gent’s hairdressers, owned by Graham Taylor, who was famous for his “pudding basin” cut. None of us teenagers, in the 1960s, would go near the place. This picture was taken celebrating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The shop on the right of the doorway became Amey’s Laundry in 1954 and Una Star Laundry around 1960 until there was again a change of use to a ladies-outfitters in 1964, when it was run by Mrs. Wells.
The main shop, at 25 Church Road, continued to be a Grocers into the 1970s, whilst the shops next door operated as ladies-outfitters, dry cleaners, and wool/haberdashery business. In the 1970’s, all the shops were acquired by the Hampshire Association for the Care of the Blind. The Charity was re-named Open Sight in 2007 and the old shops/offices replaced with a purpose designed building. The old cottages facing Church Road are still there.
This shop, at 39 Church Road, on the corner of St Margaret’s Road was run by Miss Dopson from the mid-1910s to the early 1930s. Although listed as a confectioner, it operated as a general store and continued to do so under different proprietors into the 1970s. Until changes in retailing in the 1970s, with the development of Supermarkets, corner shops like this were the lifeblood of the community.
The house next to the Corner Shop was converted into a small shop, probably sometime in the 1940s. Charles Marsh moved a few yards up the road from 25b Church Road in the mid-1950s to occupy 41 Church Road where the business name was changed to Marsh and Son. They remained there until around the late 1950s when they moved to Riverside. This shop then became a newsagents, tobacconist and sweet shop run by Philip Alexander. This shop well was very popular with children stocking up with sweets on the way to school. It was also very tiny and cramped, even for a small child. It was taken over by F.V. and M. Oakley around the mid-1960s, and again by W. Freeman around 1970.
Small Corner shops fell out of popularity. The two shops were converted into one shop and became a “Mace” Convenience store called “Greens”, before being sold and the shop converted back to two houses.
Opposite the old schools, a track running eastwards, north of St Mary’s church, led to the Longmead Brickworks. The houses in Longmead Avenue and Edward Avenue were built using bricks from these brickworks. As the houses were built, and the clay exhausted, the brickworks moved further east. At one time Longmead Brickworks occupied the north of the Longmead Estate, from Stoke Park Road to Burrow Hill allotments, and from Church Road to Stoke Park woods.
These pictures were taken in 1948, and show a storage hut on the site, where Rogers Road joins Edward Avenue. The bus is not in service; it is being used as a storage shed. The bottom picture shows the brick kiln behind the houses in Drake Road.
Opposite the entrance to the Mount is Longmead Avenue, which was built on the site of the old brickworks. After the building of Longmead Avenue, the site of the Longmead Arms had remained as waste ground. Planning approval for the Longmead Arms was granted in the mid 1930’s, but it was not built until after WW2. According to an old Bishopstoke resident, who lived nearby, the first landlord of the pub was a retired army officer with a loud, braying slightly upper-class accent and an over-bearing manner to match. Both he and his wife thought they were a cut above the local working-class population, and he treated all his regulars as if they were ‘other ranks’ – so was not very popular. The Greene King pub was put up for sale in 2009. There were no buyers, so the building was boarded up and finally demolished to make way for housing.
Next to the Longmead Arms was Longmead Post Office and General Stores which is first recorded as trading in 1939. It was run, for many years, by Reg and June Howe. In the mid-1950s there were two separate shops, the post office / general shop and the butchers next door. Reg Howe was a butcher and sometime after they had taken over the post office, they also took over the butcher’s shop which Reg ran, while his wife June ran the post office and general shop side. Then later the two shops were amalgamated, and the butcher’s shop was no more. The Longmead post office and shop closed in 2008.
Customers, neighbours, and friends gathered to bid June Howe farewell, and a special cake was baked to honour the occasion. The closure of this shop also marked social change in the community. When corner shops were popular, households did not have a refrigerator, or freezer, and fresh food had to be purchased every few days and then carried home in bags by hand. In the 1950s there was still rationing. Vegetables and fruit were generally what was in season, and what was grown locally, although exotic fruits like oranges and bananas eventually became available. As a lifelong Bishopstoke resident I have seen a huge increase in population, yet there are far less shops in the village now than there were over 70 years ago. Despite the expansion of housing to the north of our community, the nearest local shops are now located around Riverside and convenience stores, open all hours, have replaced the more personal service provided by the owners of small corner shops. Nowadays, people drive to major shopping centres further afield for their provisions, or more recently, order on-line for home delivery. Relying on seasonal products is a thing of the past, as produce is now sourced and distributed world-wide.
Just passed the old Bishopstoke Schools is The Mount, a grand Victorian House, now developed by Anchor, as Bishopstoke Park, a residential community for people seeking care and independent living in their later years. (If they can afford it)
Whilst in years gone by, The Mount was a grand residential estate. In the 1920s it became a TB clinic, and later still a local NHS Hospital. In 1972, Itchen Mead Hostel was built in the grounds to accommodate adults with learning difficulties. A factory had been established on the site, that employed adults with disabilities as early as the mid-1940s, and these adults were employed by a company called MountToys. later called Mount Industries when they expanded into making school furniture, and furniture of a more general nature. The business moved to Barton Park Industrial Estate and has now ceased trading.
The windmill has the caption Mechanical Mill by Mountoys of Bishopstoke in Hampshire. Exhibited in the Children’s Section of the Britain Can Make It Exhibition of 1946.
The Itchen Mead Hostel closed in 1997, due to structural problems with the building.
Number 82 Church Road was once a Greengrocers shop run by Harvey Collyer and his wife Charlotte. They sold the shop and, with their daughter Marjorie, sailed on “The Titanic” in April1912 for a new life in America. Charlotte and Marjorie survived and returned to Bishopstoke. Harvey’s body was never found. Charlotte remarried and is buried in St Mary’s Cemetery. From 1926 the shop was an Off Licence owned by Bertie Burden. In 1948, it was owned by Percy Chandler, before Chandler’s Wine moved to new premises in Spring Lane. In more recent times, the shop became a Unisex Hair Salon, called House of Hair, but this has now closed, and the shop currently remains empty.
The village blacksmith is a thing of the past, yet for many centuries the “Smithy” was an essential part of village life. Stoke Common had its own Smithy, in Stoke Common Road, opposite the Foresters Arms. For many years, this business was run by the Woodford family. John Woodford is listed as the blacksmith in1887, Arthur Woodford from 1912 and Basil Woodford from 1946 until well into the 1950s. The gates to St. Mary’s Church were made by the Woodford’s at the Stoke Common Smithy. Arthur Woodford and his wife Sally are pictured together. The picture top shows him outside his forge in Stoke Common Road with a young lad, possibly his son Basil, on horseback. The middle picture is the forge at Hedge End. It is from the same period and is believed to be very similar in appearance to the premises in Stoke common.
The Foresters Arms was built around 1850 by Henry Twynam as a beer house. In 1887, the landlord Arthur Locke added a grocer’s shop behind the pub. Jack Dunn held a long tenure, as landlord, from the 1920s until around 1950, when Charles Bird took over.
This is a picture of the Foresters Arms Darts Team, probably taken in the 1920s. The legend from the back of picture has been recreated, unfortunately, the picture also carried the news that young Richard Dunn, seen on the right of the picture, was killed in the Second World War.
This is another picture of the Foresters Arms Darts Team, taken in 1935. The Landlord, Jack Dunn, is centre of picture, back row. Notice the Hants and Dorset Bus timetable on the wall of The Forester’s and the people inside craning their necks to get a look at what is going on outside. I remember in my youth that the no 49 Hants and Dorset bus would come from Eastleigh, stopping at “The Mill”, Riverside, then opposite the Memorial Hall, again in Church Road, on the corner by St Margaret’s Road, by The Mount, at the top of the hill, and the service would terminate at The Forester’s. The bus would then reverse from Church Road into Stoke Common Road and wait outside the pub for passengers, before trundling off on the return journey back down Church Road. Allegedly, passengers would have to wait for the bus driver to finish his pint, before catching the last bus home.
I can remember that in the 1960s there was an off licence, just inside the main entrance in this picture. The Off-Licence was small and well screened, Ideal for a young lad to be able to get alcohol and cigarettes from an obliging landlord without being seen by the other patrons, so rumour had it. Although, of course, I would never have done such a thing myself!!!
The bars in the Foresters were typical for pubs of this era. These were drinking establishments, where food was limited to a packet of Smith’s plain crisps, with a twist of salt in a blue bag. In later years, the menu was extended, and you could delight in Salt and Vinegar or Cheese and Onion flavoured crisps as well. Often the bar would accommodate local characters, one of whom I recall would take his wife’s dog for a walk every evening. The walk always culminated in the bar, where the dog would take a rest under his master’s bar stool, looking at the bar clock. Every evening at eight o’clock precisely, the mutt would rise from its prone position, growl, bark and cause general mayhem until his master drank up and left the pub. Clever dog, but perhaps to give credit where it’s due, I should say clever wife.
Sadly, this old watering hole from my youth has ceased trading. The building has been refurbished and is now a private residence.
Stoke Park Farm has been a working farm for centuries. The earliest record we have of the farm is illustrated on a map dating from 1613. More recently, since the 1960s, it was owned by the Dunford family who also owned Manor Farm. They ran a herd of dairy cattle, and for a time had their own dairy which provided milk locally. Both farms have been recently acquired by Eastleigh Council, who have developed a policy of rewilding for both sites. I am sure that those of a political persuasion will now take the opportunity to extol the virtues of regenerating wildlife. As an old country lad, I can assure them it was already there, although for many different reasons it was far more abundant then, when I was a child.
During my lifetime, Bishopstoke was an agricultural community, and Eastleigh was an industrial town, and most people in Bishopstoke worked on the railway or in one of the other large factories in Eastleigh, and everybody rode a bicycle to and from work. Eastleigh is no longer an industrial town, and people from Bishopstoke now commute further afield by car to mainly administrative, retail, or support services jobs. Very few people seem to be employed locally to make or grow anything anymore.
I can remember Barton Farm, now part of Chickenhall Industrial Estate, and when the sports fields at The Hub, along Bishopstoke Road, were fields for grazing cattle.
The fields south of Bishopstoke Road, once part of Breach Farm, are now also owned by Eastleigh Council, for “wildlife” development.
Whale’s Farm and Weavill’s Farm were developed for housing in the 1950s, and recently the fields south of the Whalesmead estate, part of West Horton Farm, which have been in the ownership of the Lavington family for centuries, are now earmarked for major housing development, between West Horton Lane and Allington Lane.
Holt, or Hoe Farm, along Fair Oak Road, became the Itchen Vale Housing Estate when a new road, Alan Drayton Way, was created.
As a child, I can remember cows at the back of my garden in Spring Lane, grazing the fields of Longmead Farm, before it was developed for housing in the 1950s.
Areas of Breach Farm, north of The Mount, have been developed for housing. The farmhouse has now been demolished, and in the 1960s and 1970s the fields were subject to large scale gravel extraction, although they have since been restored. There is still some farming activity here.
When I was born in 1949, Bishopstoke was still an agricultural community. Most of the working farmland has now disappeared, and there can be no denying that there was, and is pressure, to provide housing. Our way of life has changed. Politicians of all persuasions have for decades prioritised a policy of housing development, and Bishopstoke, in my lifetime, is an example of how these policies have worked in practice. Shops, Pubs and Businesses need to evolve to meet the demands of the population, and Bishopstoke today, with a far larger population has fewer Shops, Pubs, and Businesses to meet local demand, because we now have different priorities and opportunities from when I was a child. Hopefully, this talk has illustrated some of the changes that have taken place over the years.
Chris Humby MSc January 2026
Bibliography
Published and unpublished papers and articles by Bishopstoke History Society Members
Kelly’s Directories
Family Archives
Private Collections
Hampshire Records Office
Eastleigh & District Local History Society