Oaklands Local Shops

The green line defines the farm field sold for development at Winches.  It just comes within the city boundary redefined in 1913, although the farm buildings themselves remained in the rural district.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

The former farm field now developed as Wynchlands Crescent and the shops lining Hatfield Road.
The western end of the Crescent has been renamed Wynches Farm Drive and now leads to a
new estate built on the remaining fields of the little farm. The road end of the former farm lane
has now disappeared under part of Glenbower House.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

 More traditionally known as Wynchlands, Winchlands Parade is the row of shops at Oaklands which arrived on the scene as a result of the opening up of the eastern borders of St Albans in the 1920s.  Hill End Farm had been swallowed up by Hill End Mental Asylum in 1896, but surplus land from the farm came on the market in 1920 and plots were offered for sale along the southern side of Hatfield Road from the proximity of  Ashley Road eastwards as far as the track to Butterwick Farm (adjacent to Homebase store).

Meanwhile, on the north side of Hatfield Road lay the diminutive Winches Farm – no more than three fields, a farm homestead and a couple of outbuildings.  The background of these developments was the extension of the city boundary in 1913.  Previously the city extended only to The Crown, but the new marker was pushed out as far as Winches (although I have never discovered the actual marker post it should be in the location marked with the red arrow on the annotated map above).

The above four images illustrate the Parade and semi-detached homes beyond, taken c2010.

The Winches field adjacent to Hatfield Road – and next to the triangular entrance to the little farm – lay higher than the road, a topographical feature still visible today, where the shop fronts and pavement are at the front of the field level, the original slope towards the road now in the form of up to four steps – the parking bays at the lowest, adjacent to the road.  Not that the bays are used as intended; vehicles are parked at right angles and with front or rear wheels at a higher level.  When the Parade was still young and before the main road was fully made up at its current width, there was a strip of rough grass in front of the footpath.

The parade consists of twelve semi-detached buildings; most of the shops being at the west end with homes further east.  The exception being the General Store on the eastern corner of Wynchlands Crescent.  While the houses are strictly semi-detached properties with genuine spaces between them, the first six pairs are connected as if terraces, having enclosed and arched sideways between them, with the western side flats extending over the covered way.

Since twelve is a substantial number for purely local shops, would the parade have included a smattering of specialist retailers not found elsewhere in Fleetville?  The answer to this question is rather more muddled than might be imagined for a newly completed estate. The 1930 Kelly's directory is the first to name the new coming occupants of the houses, and it is not until 1934 that the shop occupiers begin to trickle in and are named – and for many of the addresses no trade is  added, perhaps indicating the properties began as residences.  In fact, a butcher (399), an engineer (401), a tailor (413), a general store (417) and corner store (447) were the only shops identified before 1946.  However, during the 1950s and 60s the choice for shoppers widened. In 1960 there was:

399 W Jones, butcher

401 H Cocks, engineer (changing to J Adams, fruiterer in 1966)

403 A greengrocer

405 E Adams, footwear

407 Oaklands Fisheries

409 Mrs Hemmingway, confectioner

411 Ladies hairdresser

413 Milliner and wools

415 Selina Gowns

417 Wine store

419 Upholstery, later Oaklands Electric

421 Oaklands Electric

447 Grocer

At the same time opposite the parade on the south side of the road was a house conversion (444) into a general store and sub-Post Office. 

The parade therefore offered a wide range of merchandise, the clear omissions would have been an ironmonger, baker and a chemist, for which a longer walk or short bus ride to Fleetville would have been required.

The western end of the Parade in 1964.  The left house (after the former Bunch of Cherries PH
sign) had been occupied by electrician Mr H G Cocks, who later moved his business to number 401,
the building with the hipped roof.  Mr Cocks's house has now been replaced by Glenbower Court.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

The basic bus stop of 1964 now has a shelter.  It was also the period before the convenience of
customer car parking.  Potential customers were also welcomed by sun blinds.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

At the end of the Parade and houses is the literal corner shop.  All of the windows in 1964, 
including the smaller window probably part of the original domestic accommodation, were used
for display.  Today, the main windows are covered by enticing marketing for products sold
inside and the forecourt is more cluttered than shown here.  The posting box has now been
moved from its 1964 location on the south side of the road where the sub-post office had been.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

Today, numbers 419 and 421 are no longer shops, having been converted into residences, and most of the "useful locals" have disappeared altogether, those roles being maintained solely by Oaklands Stores at the eastern end.  Even the former store and sub-post office is now converted into a branch of J J Burgess, Funeral Directors.

So, the recent line-up for the parade is Hair Extensions, a men's hairdresser, Plumbing & Bathrooms, a house agency, a fish & chip shop, a bargain shop, a recently closed blinds shop, a flooring supplier, an oriental takeaway and a wine shop.  The parade is now supporting a considerably larger numbers of homes along Hatfield Road from Ryecroft Court to Wynches Farm Drive, Austen Way and Marconi Way.  No wonder the car parks at larger more centralised stores are regularly busy.

Early photographs and recollections of the Parade and its environs would be especially welcome: saoee@me.com

Update 28 Aug 2022:

Boundary posts for the 1913 city extension are extant at Sandpit Lane (near Damson Way)  and Hill End Lane (between Nightingale Lane and Frobisher Road), but it seems illogical that such a post would not have been fixed at the Hatfield Road location, this being where the boundary crosses by far the most important road leaving the district.  It is therefore likely that one had existed but has since been removed.  Does any reader have knowledge of a 1913 post here?

Above I have suggested that the Parade did not include an ironmonger's shop, but this seems not to be the case.  A former resident from the early days of the Parade recalls the detached building (397), which was occupied by Mr Cocks – which Kelly's Directory refers to as "Engineer", in practice operated as an ironmonger's shop.

Central Drive shops

Central Drive crosses the picture from left to right, with Hazelwood Drive and Woodland Drive intersecting to the left and right respectively.  Central Drive shops are in the centre, to the left of the six blocks of Irene Stebbings House.  Until the shops appeared the land was an informal green space where children played.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

Corner shops in the suburbs have always remained popular despite the near universality of supermarkets.  In the early postwar years their owners fought hard against the branded stores, as of course did the small independent hardware shops and butchers in the side streets and residential corners.  Somehow many of them survived with new owners willing to commit to even greater hours and seven day trading.

One of many corner shops in Fleetville, this one being Bransons at the junction of Harlesden and Burnham roads.
COURTESY THE GORDON JAMES COLLECTION

St Albans City Council also committed to serving its tenants on the many residential estates which were considered to be remote from essential shopping locations; blocks of three, four or five lock-up shops with separate flats or maisonettes above, appeared in locations such as St Stephens Avenue, Bricket Wood, Cell Barnes Lane and Central Drive.  These developments came about in the late 50s and early 60s, and were intended to bring opportunities for essential purchases without leaving home for the city centre.  We must remember that car ownership was still relatively low, refrigerators and freezers were nowhere near universal and modest kitchen dimensions often precluded space for generous storage.

The Newgates Cottages.  The left house included a general store during the 1950s and 1960s.

St Albans Co-operative Society invested in several mobile shops to take its products to where
people lived.
COURTESY GORDON JAMES COLLECTION

The nineteen thirties and early post war estates rarely came neatly packaged with extra facilities; just houses.  The Beaumonts estate, begun in 1930, required tenants and owners to walk either to Fleetville or to Wynchlands Parade, although a general store had opened in one of the Newgates Cottages in Sandpit Lane, at one time run by the Sanders and Dench families.  Various vans and old coaches were pressed into service as travelling shops, and the Co-operative Society purchased specially designed mobile shop vehicles which pulled off the road for a couple of hours weekly.  A fish van arrived on occasions.  While we could be served today by the home delivery vehicles of all of the major supermarkets, this is not new; we  were well served by bakers, grocers and milk. Oh, and regular jingly visits were made by an ice cream van. However, there is no doubt the Council's proposal to make use of land in Central Drive to bring retail closer to people was a huge attraction.

Recent images of Central Drive shops.  Unfortunately, no images could be found of the shops
in their early days.

Five such shops opened in 1960, which, on the whole, could be classed as useful; the Council determined the classes of retail which could be traded.  Unfortunately I could not locate a photo of the Central Drive shops early in their life.

Number 13: Greengrocer, first Bonella and then Watson;

Number 15: Grocery, first Home & Colonial, then Hilkene and S&V Stores;

Number 17: Newsagent & confectionery, Mr Bates;

Number 19: Wools, (Gayes), changing to a ladies' hairdresser (Kay)

Number 21: Ironmongery, first Mr S Wrightson, and later by Mr Barrington.

The ironmongery later changed trade; Mr J Patience took over the lease and traded successfully as a butcher.  His customers often came from further afield than the local estate – and of course the name had been well known for butchery on the east side of St Albans since Fleetville itself began.

Returning to Central Drive in recent years I was keen to discover whether the essential nature of the local shops had survived.  Using a rough-and-ready checklist on potential purchases, I intended to seek out some carrots, a tin of peas and loaf of bread, a newspaper and chocolate bar, and a shelf bracket and spare battery.  None of these is available here today.  Instead, we have a cafe, a photographic studio, an off-licence, and no fewer than two hair dresser/stylists.  There used to be a quiet conversational buzz in front of the units; the greengrocer also sold postage stamps; in the period before mobile phones and before most homes had landline phones a public phone kiosk was located to the right of the fifth shop.  But you can at least  still post a letter on the pavement pillar box.

Today, of course, The Quadrant is not far distant and does offer a significantly wider choice.  And it is still possible to walk to Wynchlands Parade or Fleetville, the latter containing a very large supermarket!