The Irene Woodhams Diaries
The
shops and entertainment of yesteryear
This article is extracted and adapted from the many diaries of 83 year old
Irene Woodham who has lived in Folkestone since 1946. She gave a very successful
reading of this and other memories at the literary festival 2007.
In 1946 Folkestone was not without entertainment. Firstly, there was the
wonderful Pleasure Gardens Theatre, which still hosted a variety of events.
However, it had seen better days and only managed to survive until the early
1960’s. It was eventually demolished to become initially the Orion insurance and
now is occupied by the Police Station – this latter and the former Theatre could
be said to attract ‘characters’!
Next there was, and still is, the Leas Club. At one time it was home, for
several years, to the Arthur Brough Players, whose plays and performances I very
much enjoyed throughout.
I also enjoyed the entertainment and dancing at the Leas Cliff Hall, but I also
remember the Majestic Hotel on Sandgate Road as a favourite, but sadly it’s now
shops, offices and a laundry mat.
I recall an evening at the old Star and Garter home that was hosted by the
Police Federation. It was a huge treat to have so many eligible men on the dance
floor after the austere war years; but the lovely old house in Sandgate has now
been eclipsed by the Saga Building.
My favourite building was, The Marina near to the water lifts on the sea front,
which was razed to the ground many years ago to make way for a car park. The
quickest way down to Marine Parade from the Leas was via the steps and paths
from the top of the Road of Remembrance.
The Marina’s ground floor was on one level- a swimming pool like a fish tank on
the middle level- you could watch the swimmers, and the top floor was for
dancing and opened onto the Leas. Wonderful!
As for the seafront area, I think the loss of the bathing pool and the boating
pool heralded the demise of Folkestone as a holiday resort, as many visitors do
not appear to be aware that there is a Sports Centre at the back of the town.
However, all the usually well attended outdoor pool needed was a roof.
There were four cinemas in the town at one time. The Odeon on Sandgate Road had
a lounge bar upstairs and was a very popular venue. It is now Boots though. In
Guildhall Street there was the Playhouse, now the Red Cross furniture store, and
the Savoy was on Grace Hill- latterly the Metronome but now closed awaiting
apparently Health Authority use.
The Central cinema, now replaced by flats, used to offer reduced prices to those
people prepared to ‘sit up in the gods’ and on Tuesday nights, regular couples
included my and I and Jimmy Rowland’s of the Rock shop fame along with his
girlfriend, later wife. We felt like an old married couple beside them.
Now the old Town hall is also a cinema- the Silver Screen. It has replaced the
others and needs your support!!
Turning to the many small shops that existed back then and well into the 1960’s,
it was quite a walk into the town from East Cliff, where we then lived.
There were no buses in the early days, so I did the easy bit down to the Harbour
for fish, then slowly up the Old High Street where there was another fish shop
half way up. Further up a nice cake and Bakery existed and the Rock shop at the
top selling penny bags of rock. I used to tell my mother off for buying them for
my children! There was also Lipton’s the Tea people.
Round into Rendevous Street there was a very nice department store, Plummer
Roddis. I queued up there at 5am on the day it re-opened after the war and was
able to buy a carpet. Everything was still rationed in the aftermath of WW2. As
you moved into Sandgate Road there was a Marks & Spencer’s store on the left,
now Wilkinson’s, and then further up was an old fashioned Sainsbury’s.
Finally there used to be a family store called Upton’s. Here I also queued up at
5 am for a lovely tea service, but as Bobby’s became Debenham’s and extended, it
incorporated Upton’s.
I hope readers will have enjoyed my musings on the town’s facilities of
yesteryear. Now we watch to see what inevitable changes the vast new shopping
mall will bring.
Compiled by Ray Duff
Article from Go Folkestone Newsletter March 2008
