Unfortunately I remember the shops before Churchill Square
Simmo, was it just like the streets/buildings still there to the west e.g. around the Robin Hood pub area?
Going by the photos, it does.
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Can anyone remember the shops in the old Churchill Square?
- Thread starter Doc Lynam
- Start date
Simmo, was it just like the streets/buildings still there to the west e.g. around the Robin Hood pub area?
Going by the photos, it does.
I remember Intersport and the perpetual "closing down sale"!
yea right. eddie the eagle edwards signed postcard of himself for me there always closing down bloody place.in the early 80 s i remember the tesco s home and ware as well the toys bit was down in the bottom my brother bought a rubixs cube from there.feel old now.
SIMMO SAYS
Well-known member
When I used to frequent the place everyone wore bowler hats and had enormous mustaches
I remember Intersport and the perpetual "closing down sale"!
yea right. eddie the eagle edwards signed postcard of himself for me there always closing down bloody place.in the early 80 s i remember the tesco s home and ware as well the toys bit was down in the bottom my brother bought a rubixs cube from there.feel old now.
RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)
New member
I spent many many saturdays with my mum in the old Churchill square shopping centre as a child. As boring and grey as the place was for a child I have fond memories of the place ( mainly me staring through the window of Rumbelows in eager anticipation of Albion score updates). Although near the end of its existence, the old Churchill square was a f***ing depressing place to visit. All that was left was a shabby looking habitat and a near empty Tesco that you could only enter down a dilapidated old escalator. But at the time, the knackered Churchill square was a microcosm of Brighton as a whole, the town was run down and on its knees. The investment and modernisation of the place started late 90's and became the vibrant and fashionable place we know now about the same time I moved to Essex.
Thanks a lot Brighton
Thanks a lot Brighton
Captain Sensible
Well-known member
Soft centre, saved and saved and saved for a commodore Amiga. £415.99 back in 1989. I mean thats serious money even now and I was 13!
Soft centre was also the place where I bought football manager for the CBK 64 in 1986. It changed my life.
I also always thought the massive Tesco would have made a brilliant nightclub.
Soft centre was also the place where I bought football manager for the CBK 64 in 1986. It changed my life.
I also always thought the massive Tesco would have made a brilliant nightclub.
I remember buying computer games in Softcentre, and school uniform in the shop next door. There was a shop upstairs from there where I got my first leather jacket.
Someone eluded to Dunne Stores previously. This was indeed a cheap version of M&S with similar styling/branding. It was a late addition to the old Churchill Square and I think it was upstairs where Bejam & Sainsburys used to be. This was different to Dunn & Co, which sold suits.
I also remember a large card shop at the back on the right near Tesco. Was it called Hallmark? I could be wrong.
I think there was a Visionhire (or similar) TV rental shop on the top level near Fortes. I think my Dad bought his first VCR in there - an ex-rental Panasonic toploader with wired remote control.
How about Capital Cameras? Again a more recent store in the old Churchill Square. A few of my mates got Saturday jobs in there around 1988. They did cameras, computers, stereos, etc. It was opposite the back of BHS.
The car park up the ramp was the GPO car park. My Dad always used to park there, probably because it was cheap. They would ask you how long you were going to be on the way in, and you paid accordingly. He probably lied!
Moving up Western Road, there used to be a shop called Games Centre. It had green signage and I think it was where KFC is now. It had board games upstairs, and models and handheld electronic games downstairs. There was always a small counter with kids crowded round playing Donkey Kong and Snoopy Tennis. I think between being that and KFC, it was a burger bar called McCluskeys or something similar. It was light blue and white. Does anyone else remember this?
Also In Western Road was a large shop called Owen Owen which later became Greens. Possibly where the original Primark store was? I also remember a large shop further up called Johnson Bros which sold carpets downstairs.
Someone eluded to Dunne Stores previously. This was indeed a cheap version of M&S with similar styling/branding. It was a late addition to the old Churchill Square and I think it was upstairs where Bejam & Sainsburys used to be. This was different to Dunn & Co, which sold suits.
I also remember a large card shop at the back on the right near Tesco. Was it called Hallmark? I could be wrong.
I think there was a Visionhire (or similar) TV rental shop on the top level near Fortes. I think my Dad bought his first VCR in there - an ex-rental Panasonic toploader with wired remote control.
How about Capital Cameras? Again a more recent store in the old Churchill Square. A few of my mates got Saturday jobs in there around 1988. They did cameras, computers, stereos, etc. It was opposite the back of BHS.
The car park up the ramp was the GPO car park. My Dad always used to park there, probably because it was cheap. They would ask you how long you were going to be on the way in, and you paid accordingly. He probably lied!
Moving up Western Road, there used to be a shop called Games Centre. It had green signage and I think it was where KFC is now. It had board games upstairs, and models and handheld electronic games downstairs. There was always a small counter with kids crowded round playing Donkey Kong and Snoopy Tennis. I think between being that and KFC, it was a burger bar called McCluskeys or something similar. It was light blue and white. Does anyone else remember this?
Also In Western Road was a large shop called Owen Owen which later became Greens. Possibly where the original Primark store was? I also remember a large shop further up called Johnson Bros which sold carpets downstairs.
I remember Intersport and the perpetual "closing down sale"!
Bought my wedding dress in Solitaire for £29. My friend, who got married about the same time, paid £500 for hers.
I don't remember a Co-Op in Churchill Square. Where was it?
Not in Churchill Square. That was in what is now the Odeon.
Saw Jackie Pallo wrestle there.
What wishing well?
Yep. Miss Selfridge stretched from front to back, coffee shop downstairs, and there was an upstairs as well. Best boutique in town.
Western Road (pre-Churchill Square) before road widening
Western Road (pre-Churchill Square) after road widening
Western Road (pre-Churchill Square) after road widening
Old Churchill Square (how most of us remember it in its final days - deserted)
Doesn't it all seem narrow in the "olden days"? Doesn't it seem bleak in the "swinging sixties"?
basque seagull
Active member
- Oct 21, 2012
- 367
Remember devising plans to get all the money out of the wishing well....it was near the bus stop.....
Still there, but engarged.
Cian
Well-known member
This Dunnes possibly? They are effectively a cheap attempt at M&S, even had a "St. Bernard" brand to copy St. Michael.
Never knew they went that far south in the UK if it was then, most of their stores are in Scotland and oop north.
I made a mistake. You're talking of Beatties, where Costa Coffee is now (not the one next to M&S, but the other one). Thought you were talking of the model shop down Cranbourne Street.
Yes, I think her name was Eve...could be mistaken. She's still around as I saw her in town a couple of months ago - not dancing and no see through clothes, happily. Someone told me that she used to have a high -powered job in London but had some kind of breakdown, hence her eccentric behaviour on a blanket or towel.
Twas in that Fortes that I 'popped the question' to my missus back in 1979 over a cuppa. Our 33rd anniversary coming up soon!