204 Mill Road

History of 204 Mill Road

In 2003 Mrs J Cassidy sent her reminiscences about Romsey Town to the Museum.

We moved to Romsey Town with our parents in about 1937/8. There were four girls in our family, and my father opened a shoe shop at 204 Mill Road, later moving to a larger shop on the corner of Cockburn Street.

My eldest sister went to Coleridge School. I went to Romsey School, my younger sister went first to Sedley then Romsey and the youngest of all went to Sedley when she was five.

Romsey Town in those days was quite self-supporting in everyday goods. I remember two or three greengrocers, bakers, Webbs toy shop, Hunts jewellers and repairer, wool and embroidery shops, a milliner, sweet shops, always as now a post office, so unless you wanted clothes, like coats or costumes etc, we didn’t really have to go into town.

During World War II my father was in the ARP and Home Guard. He built a large dug-out with bunk beds in it so we all slept there at night, as if the the air raid siren went, my mother couldn’t wake us all up.

The larger shop my father took over after the war as it was a small munitions factory during the war, I recall ladies sitting at tables in there making some kind of metals etc. I was never quite sure what and still being at school I didn’t take a lot of interest at the time. When they moved out, and my father took it over, he let the small shop he had, although we continued to live behind it as a family.

1962

E & W J Whitrid, youths’ and gents’ outfitters

William J Whitrid