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Old 14th Aug 2020, 4:44 pm   #501
electronicskip
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

I can't remember the name of the shop itself, but it was in George Street behind Gloucester Green bus station by the cinema in Oxford.
Used to go in most weeks as I worked just up the way from it but it was basically an Army surplus shop selling ex Army radio sets, crystals, cables, anything army related components ex MOD and tons of other stuff.
Bought quite a few Army radio sets from it costing me about £5 each as I recall ,but this was in the late 70's early 80's .
Maybe someone can put a name to the place?
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Old 14th Aug 2020, 4:55 pm   #502
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I cant remember the name of the shop itself , but it was in George Street behind Gloucester Green bus station by the cinema in Oxford.
Used to go in most weeks as i worked just up the way from it but it was basically an Army surplus shop selling ex Army radio sets ,crystals ,cables, anything army related components ex MOD and tons of other stuff.
Bought quite a few Army radio sets from it costing me about £5 each as i recall ,but this was in the late 70s early 80s .
Maybe someone can put a name to the place?
It was WS Surplus Supplies Ltd. I used to call in there when in Oxford.

On the other side of the street was Westwoods, which sold electronic components - run by a Mr (Leslie?) Westwood, who also owned the wholesale business downstairs - Duval.

Last edited by dazzlevision; 14th Aug 2020 at 5:01 pm.
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Old 15th Aug 2020, 5:34 pm   #503
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Default Re: Traders still in existence

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Originally Posted by John M0GLN View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reelman View Post
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Originally Posted by John M0GLN View Post

There was also Milligans halfway up Brownlow Hill from Lime St, I bought an RF24 unit from them c1960.

John
In 1969 we stayed at pokey Little B/B in Mount Pleasant, Liverpool run by a Mr Roberts for a week or so prior to moving to Formby. On walking down the hill towards town there was a tiny shop on the corner. It must have been physically very close to Milligan’s but I don’t think it was the same shop, in which case I am disappointed that I missed Milligan’s when it was so close! Perhaps it is just my memory........ Presumably Milligan’s is the shop mentioned in post #22.

Peter
I've just had a walk up Brownlow Hill thanks to Google Maps Streetview and other than the RC Cathedral recognise nothing, I then searched Google for Milligans and amazingly found this which I have attached, it's from,
'Livepool Picture book' on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolPi...7875773967336/

John
The picture may have come from post #11 at http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/sho...seen-Liverpool The picture was dated September 1970. One can see that Milligan's were having a closing down sale due to demolition.

Enlarging it shows that the side street was Harford Street. Looking at a map of Liverpool from the 1950's at old-maps.co.uk, shows that Milligan's was at 37A Mount Pleasant, not on Brownlow Hill. The 37A in the picture was the address. Harford Street ran from Mount Pleasant through to Brownlow Hill. It no longer exists and has been replaced by the Mount Pleasant multi-storey car park.

Milligan's was on the north side of Mount Pleasant and almost exactly due north of the junction with Benson Street on the south side.

From post #22: "Another was a triangular shaped shop at the fork where Brownlow Hill meets Mount Pleasant." This is about 150 yards from 37A Mount Pleasant. The shape of the shop indicates that it was not Milligan's as it was in 1970.

73 John

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Old 16th Aug 2020, 12:35 pm   #504
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Default Re: Traders still in existence

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Originally Posted by John M0GLN View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reelman View Post

In 1969 we stayed at pokey Little B/B in Mount Pleasant, Liverpool run by a Mr Roberts for a week or so prior to moving to Formby. On walking down the hill towards town there was a tiny shop on the corner. It must have been physically very close to Milligan’s but I don’t think it was the same shop, in which case I am disappointed that I missed Milligan’s when it was so close! Perhaps it is just my memory........ Presumably Milligan’s is the shop mentioned in post #22.

Peter
I've just had a walk up Brownlow Hill thanks to Google Maps Streetview and other than the RC Cathedral recognise nothing, I then searched Google for Milligans and amazingly found this which I have attached, it's from,
'Livepool Picture book' on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolPi...7875773967336/

John
The picture may have come from post #11 at http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/sho...seen-Liverpool The picture was dated September 1970. One can see that Milligan's were having a closing down sale due to demolition.

Enlarging it shows that the side street was Harford Street. Looking at a map of Liverpool from the 1950's at old-maps.co.uk, shows that Milligan's was at 37A Mount Pleasant, not on Brownlow Hill. The 37A in the picture was the address. Harford Street ran from Mount Pleasant through to Brownlow Hill. It no longer exists and has been replaced by the Mount Pleasant multi-storey car park.

Milligan's was on the north side of Mount Pleasant and almost exactly due north of the junction with Benson Street on the south side.

From post #22: "Another was a triangular shaped shop at the fork where Brownlow Hill meets Mount Pleasant." This is about 150 yards from 37A Mount Pleasant. The shape of the shop indicates that it was not Milligan's as it was in 1970.

73 John

Very well spotted John,

Both the Harford St sign and the street corner angles, it was definitely Milligans I went to and now I know it was in Mount Pleasant not Brownlow Hill, strange the same mistake is shown on the Facebook page.

John
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Old 16th Aug 2020, 1:21 pm   #505
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Thanks for the detective work John, nice to have confirmation that my memories from 50 years ago are accurate on the location of Milligan’s! We left Formby in 1971.
Spent some time looking through the pictures at the location shown before and managed to find this one, should bring back som memories....
Peter
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Old 16th Aug 2020, 3:05 pm   #506
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Thanks for the detective work John, nice to have confirmation that my memories from 50 years ago are accurate on the location of Milligan’s! We left Formby in 1971.
Spent some time looking through the pictures at the location shown before and managed to find this one, should bring back som memories....
Peter
I do remember Super Radio on Whitechapel as well as Milligans and doing a search for the former found this,
http://www.radiomuseum.co.uk/aboutme.html
and quoting from it,

" In Liverpool there was "Super Radio" which had a small shop in Whitechapel and a large old house in the suburbs in Rathbone Road which I recall was surrounded by a veritable mountain of stuff that was being systematically broken up for its copper content. I recall wobbling home on my bike with all sorts of goodies which I tried to get working ("18 sets", "19 sets", SCR522s etc.). There was also a shop in Brownlow Hill which dealt in similar stuff and I remember staggering home with a T1154 from there"

so this unnamed Brownlow Hill shop may be the other one you mention in post #496

John
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Old 16th Aug 2020, 5:36 pm   #507
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

From post #22: "Another was a triangular shaped shop at the fork where Brownlow Hill meets Mount Pleasant." This is about 150 yards from 37A Mount Pleasant. (Milligan’s)
So this is what we have left to identify now..... anyone remember?

Peter
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Old 16th Aug 2020, 7:51 pm   #508
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

All these wonderful places which I didn't know about in their era and never visited. All those tempting adverts in WW PW and SWM beautifully preserved at American Radio History.

The photos of the shop windows are pure torture.

I'm going to have to get that time machine off of the round tuit pile.

David
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Old 17th Aug 2020, 9:05 am   #509
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reelman View Post
From post #22: "Another was a triangular shaped shop at the fork where Brownlow Hill meets Mount Pleasant." This is about 150 yards from 37A Mount Pleasant. (Milligan’s)
So this is what we have left to identify now..... anyone remember?

Peter
Apologies if bit off topic!

I remember the triangular building from the 1960 - 1961 period when it was a very dingy establishment called the Corner Club. A mate of mine from work was a barman in late evenings there and a crowd of us would go each Friday. Often got a discount; The music was pure 60's of course.
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Old 17th Aug 2020, 10:39 am   #510
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

I remember quite a big exWD shop in Wolverhampton in the '50s, also one in Hastings, does anyone else remember these?

Peter
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Old 17th Aug 2020, 4:09 pm   #511
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For Wolverhampton, does http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/arti...ops/Radios.htm ring any bells, specifically Waltons? BTW Waltons was also mentioned in posts #272 and #343 in this thread.

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Old 19th Aug 2020, 3:36 am   #512
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For surplus stores in Wolverhampton, see posts #'s 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 21, 22 272, 275 and 343 in this thread

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Old 19th Aug 2020, 11:46 pm   #513
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

Quote:
Originally Posted by rontech View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reelman View Post
From post #22: "Another was a triangular shaped shop at the fork where Brownlow Hill meets Mount Pleasant." This is about 150 yards from 37A Mount Pleasant. (Milligan’s)
So this is what we have left to identify now..... anyone remember?

Peter
Apologies if bit off topic!

I remember the triangular building from the 1960 - 1961 period when it was a very dingy establishment called the Corner Club. A mate of mine from work was a barman in late evenings there and a crowd of us would go each Friday. Often got a discount; The music was pure 60's of course.
Seeing that picture of Milligan's makes me wonder if I misplaced it in my original message (#22).
Can't be sure though... 55 years ago...
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Old 20th Aug 2020, 8:55 am   #514
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Originally Posted by m0cemdave View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by rontech View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reelman View Post
From post #22: "Another was a triangular shaped shop at the fork where Brownlow Hill meets Mount Pleasant." This is about 150 yards from 37A Mount Pleasant. (Milligan’s)
So this is what we have left to identify now..... anyone remember?

Peter
Apologies if bit off topic!

I remember the triangular building from the 1960 - 1961 period when it was a very dingy establishment called the Corner Club. A mate of mine from work was a barman in late evenings there and a crowd of us would go each Friday. Often got a discount; The music was pure 60's of course.
Seeing that picture of Milligan's makes me wonder if I misplaced it in my original message (#22).
Can't be sure though... 55 years ago...
I checked on the pic of Milligan's to which you refer. The building is the one I recall but in 1961 there was no shop frontage just a nondescript black painted door.
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Old 22nd Sep 2020, 3:05 pm   #515
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I worked in Dartmouth Square at the end of the 1980's, and Willetts was on the road back to the M5 Jct 1, on the left hand side
I believe that's still called High Street way past Dartmouth Square right up to the M5 Dave. Did Stan Willetts' have a shop in New Street as well, possibly his original premises? I used to buy horribly expensive transistors and resistors and stuff from them in the late 1960's. Couldn't afford their transformers so they had to be salvaged. There is a Stan Willetts electrical and hardware shop shown on the web in Queen's Square - lots of changes recently but may still be there. Martin
Stan Willets had two shops in the Midlands, the one in West Bromwich and the one next to the Old Crown and Cushion in Perry Barr.

i bought my first CB from there in 1982, £49 for a Harvard 403, I was was about 14 back then, it was the start of my addiction to radio LOL.

There may have been more but they're the only two that I know of.
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Old 22nd Sep 2020, 3:52 pm   #516
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All these wonderful places which I didn't know about in their era and never visited. All those tempting adverts in WW PW and SWM beautifully preserved at American Radio History.

The photos of the shop windows are pure torture.

I'm going to have to get that time machine off of the round tuit pile.

David
Don’t suppose anyone has a photo of “Jobstocks” in Walthamstow? Now that was a shop window to drool over!

Have you noticed that over the years shop windows with displays of their wares have almost disappeared? When I worked at Curry’s customers could not enter the shop without walking past the window displays which were in a “funnel” shape.

Peter
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Old 22nd Sep 2020, 5:00 pm   #517
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Default Re: Bygone radio traders

On the subject of Brum, I once bought an AVO CT38 valve voltmeter from

Amateur Electronics (G3FIK)
Alum Rock Road
Alum Rock
Birmingham.

Mail order from an ad in SWM

A memorable address and I wondered if it had anything to do with the disappointing white stuff in my chemistry set that never did anything much as far as I could tell.

David
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Old 22nd Sep 2020, 5:57 pm   #518
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Hi David,

I used to live fairly close to Alum Rock, and I was told that the stuff
was found somewhere around there, although I haven't a clue where.

We had a piece of it which looked like a greyish opaque crystal, and it
was used to rub on your face if you cut yourself shaving. It stung like hell
but was very effective in stopping the bleeding. Commercially it
was (and still is I think) sold as a styptic pencil for the same purpose.
A rectractable rod of it was fixed in a dispenser, rather like a lipstick.

I met Ken Perfect (G3FIK) on several occasions many years ago, and
I used to shoot at an army range which was right opposite the shop.
Local amateurs referred to it as The Rock Shop.

Kind regards
Dave G0ELJ
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Old 22nd Sep 2020, 8:53 pm   #519
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Ref #515, I got to know Stan Willets probably mid to late '80s. I had a load of new Grundig stuff from him, Accessories not parts. Never really got anything from it, but a load of black shelves from stereo system "updates", loads of simple cassette carry cases (I removed leather straps, burned the rest) - He gave it all to me, provided I took it all!
I also bought some rechargeable batteries units for the Grundig top end portables, and suitable for my NordMende Globetrotter. Problem was, I could not get a peep out of them. Tried charging ant high voltage with current limit and various other ways, but they remained quite dead.
However, he asked me if I could modify some Ex NAFFI German stereo V2000 system recorders for UK use.
He just wanted one doing, with instructions on how, so I charged him loadsa cash. He always seemed to be soberley dressed in black, so we referred to him as "The Undertaker". A decent guy though.
Les.
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Old 7th Jan 2021, 8:46 pm   #520
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Does anyone else remember Miss Taylor in King Street, Huddersfield, and before that with her father in Macaulay Street?

Taylors (available) Ltd

I've always wondered about that (available) bit.

David
Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I was discussing Taylors with a friend last night, so I did a Google and here I am.

I lived in Huddersfield in the mid to late 1960s and visited Taylors regularly. I recall my first visit vividly, I went into the shop and all I saw was a beautiful pair of legs behind a cupboard door, then she turned back to the counter and I was shocked to see they belonged to an older lady (I was in my teens so anyone over 30 was old!) Someone on here mentioned she was a model, that I can believe.

Mr Taylor was meticulous but very slow, I recall being served once and as he started to write out the receipt I said I didn't need a receipt, but he still went ahead "as it's the only way I can keep my books straight".

I moved to Sheffield in 1968, but Bardwells wasn't the same. Taylors was the sort of shop we'll never see again.
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