Serving The Trade Back In The Day

[JonSnell]

Originally Posted by dazzlevision

Telerection?

Telerection was a Weymouth based company that made aerials and supplied riggers with lashing kits for chimney stacks and component parts.
I worked there for almost a week, back in the 60s and walked out.
The working conditions were chronic.

[Mike Phelan]

Originally Posted by ms660

No problem, yes Mazels and those on Shude Hill and around Ancoats I remember too.

Lawrence.

I remember all these as well - there was also New Cross Radio at the bottom of Oldham Road.
I often went to K R Whiston (Exchange and Mart catalogue with "Have you seen my cat?") which had many things that never reached the printed catalogue. It was an absolutely spotless premises, and they did actually have a cat!

[ms660]

Originally Posted by radiograham

I first went in new cross radio and globe radio mazels etc in about 1973 dont remember Fred G3MAX but did go to a shop in levenshulme about 1978 so that might have been him,bought a rs deluxe output transformer for about 3 quid. Graham.

The location of Freds at Levenshulme was where the International Mini Market is in this link:

https://goo.gl/maps/KUSQaszmGjFKc9u57

I bought stuff from there as well as the old shop on Ancoats.

Lawrence.

[ms660]

Originally Posted by Mike Phelan

I remember all these as well - there was also New Cross Radio at the bottom of Oldham Road.
I often went to K R Whiston (Exchange and Mart catalogue with "Have you seen my cat?") which had many things that never reached the printed catalogue. It was an absolutely spotless premises, and they did actually have a cat!

I remember going to New Cross Radio, just round the corner on Ancoats is the Express Building.

Lawrence.

[Graham G3ZVT]

There was also a components shop mainly serving the university students. Spectron Electronics 7 Oldfield Road Salford 5, near the war memorial.

[Station X]

It would be better if bygone radio shops were discussed in this thread:-

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=93489

[ms660]

The old photo shows Rumbelows in Fore Street, Redruth where I worked as a bench tech. the workshop was on the 1st floor where the window is above the shop, saw the Queen from there going up Fore Street in the royal buggie, have to say that of all the places I worked at in the R&TV trade that place was the worst, couldn't wait to get out of there.

The building still stands.

Lawrence.

[ms660]

14 Lloyd Street, Altrincham was the site of Yeoman & Russell where I worked, Bill Yeoman and Derek Russell had both worked at the same same place I had worked at some years earlier (White & Swales) The workshop and office was on the first floor above the shop and the window looked out onto Lloyd Street, you can see that in the link, the shop now being The Zip Yard, looked out of that window a few times, the service managers desk was near the window:

https://goo.gl/maps/tt5WwYd9LiiU9mfi8

Not many left to go now.

Lawrence.

[ms660]

Most of this appeared in another thread but I've included it in this thread because I've now included an extra link showing the shop premises in Hale as it is today, also trying to keep everything under one roof as it were so far as the places I worked at:

Progress House, Cecil Road, Hale, Cheshire, some years later and still intact, not a lot's changed except for the occupiers and type of business, back in the day it was HQ for White & Swales who I worked for for a number of years which was a reasonable sized outfit back then, the ground floor front was reception, the flat roof buildings to the left were for new stock deliveries and the garage, the garage employed two full time mechanics to service the firms fleet of vehicles, the R&TV workshop was out the back, upstairs above reception was the boss's offices Noel White and Peter J Swales (He of Altrincham FC and Man. City fame) I used to have to go to the shops to buy P.J. some cigarettes if he had ran out...Players Weights, when we all used to pile into his office at pay negotiation time he would hand out the Players Weights...."Thanks Mr. Swales they're very nice".....Cough, splutter etc:

https://goo.gl/maps/qtDDNhS1WXZ5MJQt8

https://staging.bpsfamilylaw.co.uk/bps-family-law-hale/

Further on back behind Progress House was the Hale branch shop on Ashley Road, there's an old advert in the link below, no prizes for guessing who they were main agents for, we were took over by Thorn when I worked there, lot's of 800, 850, 900, 950, 1400, 2000 etc chassis and anything in between back then, I worked in the workshop and also did outside service, covering most areas at different times in South Manchester to Mid Cheshire, they were a good firm to work for.

In the link below you can see the old Hale shop premises shown as Vito's Pizza Kitchen:

https://goo.gl/maps/Qi9YG876H8JgiqaN7

Nearly done...!

Lawrence.

[ms660]

I'm including this one because technically it was another company I worked for, the name was Radio Television Retail Ltd, also known as RTR, in fact the vehicles were sign written as such, for me it started at White & Swales towards the end, the boss told us all one day that in future we'll be known as RTR, the signage on the vans was changed to that when we were there, then a short time after that we were all moved to a depot on an industrial estate in Sharston near Wythenshaw, at that depot were lots of other techs. that had worked for Fred Dawes and couple of other firms, it was quite a large operation, it was headed by Jack Cook and the service manager was Jim Geoghan who by chance I came to meet again several years later at Cornwall College where he was then teaching.

The area around Leestone Road where the RTR service depot was has changed a lot since I was there, looking at sat. and street view there's not a great deal I can recognize but I've included a street view link anyways:

https://goo.gl/maps/2aQJL9ZqWy7HR7VU8

There were a lot of service techs. based there back then.

Only a couple to go (I think)!

Lawrence.

[ms660]

ETS (Electrical & TV Services) Helston was a medium sized independent R & TV firm in Cornwall, originally when I worked there the HQ including the service dept. was in the Angle Yard at the end of Tyacke Road in Helston, the 1st link shows the buildings in 2016, when I first started there the workshop was in the buildings to the left, later on the workshop moved to the ground floor of the building on the far right then later it was moved up to the 1st floor......:

https://goo.gl/maps/ETDDkRJRBK9ZAu7EA

.....Then later on everything (lock stock and barrel) was moved to a unit on the Water-Ma-Trout industrial estate which was on the outskirts of town, known by us as Water M'Garden. The building as of 2009, the workshops were on the other side (out of view):

https://goo.gl/maps/88aVGBoWs7k8SGUQ7

Lawrence.

[dazzlevision]

Originally Posted by JonSnell

Telerection was a Weymouth based company that made aerials and supplied riggers with lashing kits for chimney stacks and component parts.

Telerection Ltd, 12 Suffolk Parade, Cheltenham, Glos (in 1950 & 51). In 1954 and 55 Antenna Works, St Pauls, Cheltenham. Maker of TV aerials.
In 1959, they relocated to Antenna Works, Lynch Lane, Weymouth, Dorset.

By 1964, it was Telerection Products, and a member of the Radio Rentals group – also making leg kits for TV’s, radiograms, etc.

Following their takeover of Radio Rentals, it became part of the Thorn group and also provided aerials to be sold under the “Mazda” brand (by 1972).

[dave walsh]

I used to go to Mazel's for 1/4" tape and 78's in the sixties but lacked enough money really. I think they lasted until the early eighties. I remember the shops in Shudehill at the top of the street that is now at the side of the Arndale centre, beyond the point where it is crossed by the Metro line these days! I found New Cross Radio much later, across the way from a tiny one room pub on Oldham Road. When I went there you could see into another room with all the best gear screened off but not on immediate sale! I never found out why? Before the Arndale was built there was an enclosed area with shops-Cromford Court-including one that specialised in 78's. You had to know how to get into the Court, it wasn't obvious. A couple of decades later there was another specialist 78 shop in Stockport Shopping Centre. Those photos of the London Road Fire Station area [p1*] are are great Lawrence. There was a CH4 Documentary that revealed Firemen and their families lived in the building when it first opened.

Dave W

[ms660]

Sony of Canada/Gendis, 855 West Broadway, Vancouver was the mail address, when I worked there the frontage for the Vancouver head office and service dept. etc consisted of all of the building where the shops are shown in the link are (Uniform Central No. 855, the one up for lease No. 853 and New Century Fashion No. 851):

https://goo.gl/maps/UHzTiaR5ERojyg146

There was a full size basement below where new stock was stored before distribution.

We were an international bunch there as you can see from the enclosed photo I took of the service techs. Korea, Japan, Fiji, Soviet Union, Uganda, Vietnam, some were in effect refugees.

A Sony/Gendis advert:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...264879332).jpg

Lawrence.

[ms660]

I only worked there on the odd day off from my other employment but I thought I would include it anyways...

...47a Pendarves Street, Camborne was the location of KTV (Kingston Television) They sold amongst other stuff second hand reconditioned TV's as well as taking in repairs, the shop front was narrow as was the shop inside, however it extended quite away at the back where the service dept. and general store room was.

In the link below it was where the bridal shop is:

https://goo.gl/maps/og9p9eremVQyTfor9

I think that's it for the R & TV firms I worked for...Phew!

I found it good to see that most of the premises have survived in one form or another.

Lawrence.

[LyntonP]

Originally Posted by ms660

Got to reminiscing with the family the other day about the firms I worked for in the trade, I tried to find some old photos of the various premises but there's not a lot available, however a lot of the buildings etc have survived in one form or another.

Fred Dawes, Manchester, this was the 1st place I worked at in the trade, the HQ, main workshops, stores, offices etc was on Granby Row, just round the corner was the main shop on London Road and more or less opposite the HQ was the garage for servicing the fleet of vehicles, the only old photo so far is in the link below, the HQ/workshops building is on the left, the view is looking along South Pump Street towards Fairfield Street showing part of the Fire Station (no comments on the bike please):

https://www.***********/photos/mrpb27...n/photostream/

Today the same site is occupied by a more recent building, Fairfield House, this shot is from 2008 if you rotate the view you can still see the single story garage building (now gone) and opposite that is a three storey building which was the the rear of the London Road shop premises, it was comprised of more offices, new stock control, new stock servicing and new stock deliveries:

https://goo.gl/maps/EaGmLuKM4woUfxBz7

The London Road shop building in 2021, it was a large shop:

https://goo.gl/maps/q8bNXwdXzKKPmKnU7

Later I managed to get a transfer to another Fred Dawes workshop which was a bit closer to home.

Lawrence.

Out of interest your second photo shows some of the buildings that belonged to UMIST. Chandos Hall, Maths, Engineering etc. When UMIST amalgamated with The University of Manchester I had to survey all these buildings listing all the plant, water systems pressure vessels etc and then write all the planned maintenance regimes, legionella control, and insurance inspections for them. Interesting work.
Lynton

[ms660]

Originally Posted by LyntonP

Out of interest your second photo shows some of the buildings that belonged to UMIST. Chandos Hall, Maths, Engineering etc. When UMIST amalgamated with The University of Manchester I had to survey all these buildings listing all the plant, water systems pressure vessels etc and then write all the planned maintenance regimes, legionella control, and insurance inspections for them. Interesting work.
Lynton

I remember the UMIST Barnes Wallis building.

Lawrence.

[peterpixel]

Back around 1970 I was asked to assist Manchester University tv service with the video coverage of the opening of the maths building mentioned by Lynton and I am pretty sure it's the tower shown in the photograph. The camera covering the long shot of the building was some distance away therefore using a long cable run and a line equaliser. We had problems with ringing showing up as vertical striations on the picture. After lots of twiddling with controls a passing tech pointed out that we were trying to eradicate the vertical moldings in the concrete panels of the then modern design. A runner was dispatched to confirm this and it was as described. Much laughter ensued. Peter.

[ms660]

So far as I know the two in the first street view link are the Barnes-Wallis building (other side of the viaduct) and the Chandos building which is the Granby Row side of the viaduct just past the end of what was the old Fred Dawes garage building, that Chandos building (Chandos Hall) and the old Fred Dawes garage building are no longer.

Lawrence.

[SiriusHardware]

Telefusion

My second employer, although I worked only for the division which made / maintained warden call systems. I'm not sure they had much to do with the TV service / rental division, which I do also remember as a brand with the red sunburst (?) logo.

The warden call / door entry side of things was taken over by Shorrock (of Blackburn) while I was still there and they in turn were acquired by Chubb, I think, quite some time after I left.