Forum Topic

Clothier and outfitter FH Rowse.

Does anyone remember a store called FH Rowse in Ealing? Where was it located? And what became of it please?  Thanks.

Gerry Tan ● 4466d25 Comments

"Wonder what all this will do the demographics of London."My guess it will continue in the direction it has been heading - a mix of older and wealthier people with younger workers renting and council tenants.Averagely paid people looking to buy a property or start a family will not be able to afford to stay. Sad really.

John Walker ● 4463d

100%

Penny Crocker ● 4463d

I think it's a tragedy that the people that educate our children, work in the shops, have the 'normal' jobs in the local council and elsewhere in the borough will not be able to afford to live in the area in which they work. It damages the sense of community which is still present in many parts of Ealing.

Sam Salisbury ● 4463d

Wonder what all this will do the demographics of London.

Penny Crocker ● 4463d

No one on a 'normal' salary can afford prices in Ealing.When houses on the W7/W13 border are now selling for over £1,000,000 what hope is there?The good news is that you don't have to move out very far to get reasonable prices. My daughter gets married next year. She is in the process of buying a lovely little three-bedroom house near Iver (twenty minutes by car and with the mainline into Paddington)for less than the price of a one-bed 'shoebox' in Ealing. Her mortgage will be less than renting a flat in Ealing and, while rates are low, is perfectly affordable on her 'normal' salary. Most lenders will now pick up the legal fees (she only had to pay for the full survey) and if you stay below £250,000 there is no stamp duty.

Nigel Brooks ● 4463d

...in case you thought I couldn't add up

Penny Crocker ● 4463d

I beg to differ Tony - :).I left school in 1978 with 3 A levels and 9 O levels. I was offered 8 jobs in various industries and took a management training scheme (side by side with graduates) at the Bank of England. They wouldn't entertain even interviewing me these days.  I did a degree once I'd started work on day release but it was for my own enjoyment rather than necessity. Re houses - a one bed flat in Ealing is a minimum of £250k which would mean he needs at least 10% deposit and a mortgage of £240k !! Needs a mean salary to get that. Average age of 1st time buyers is now well over 30 (37?) and is creeping up year on year.

Penny Crocker ● 4463d

Yes, he will.Things always look grim in the moment but the passage of time will show that this was not necessarily the case.My daughter is currently looking for work having graduated form Oxford University with a good degree. She and her mum are fond of advising me just how much more difficult things are now than when I was young.So I checked (I can be a b*gger like that :-) ).In my day (I graduated in 1980) it was more difficult for young people to get a job than it is now.It was also very difficult to afford a house as well - but we did it.

Tony Colliver ● 4463d

West Ealing was much nicer then and was a very good alternative to Ealing Broadway so in that way, it has deteriorated.However, in general terms, I prefer living now but I consider myself a lucky generation - no wars, full employment, the NHS, good grammar school education. I look at my teenager now and wonder if he'll ever know the luxury of relatively secure employment and will he ever be able to buy a house (or even a flat !).

Penny Crocker ● 4465d

"Funny, taking about early closing. I came back from Germany not so long ago and most shops close at 1pm on Saturday and are virtually all are closed on Sundays. No-one complains about not being able to shop on Sunday and it's 'family day'."My missus was fuming when we went to Lille a few years back. She'd planned to 'hit the shops' on the Sunday afternoon but they were all shut. I was delighted as we went to the zoo instead :-)

John Walker ● 4466d

Early closing is something I don't remember, is it better they are open later?Germans have more bank holidays, shorter working hours and more holidays than we do.

Bernadette Clover ● 4466d

If anything west Ealing was busier as it had the footfall into M&S, Woolworths, Rowses and BHS.Funny, taking about early closing. I came back from Germany not so long ago and most shops close at 1pm on Saturday and are virtually all are closed on Sundays. No-one complains about not being able to shop on Sunday and it's 'family day'.

Nigel Brooks ● 4466d

Yes, shops shut earlier other than the odd newsagent or Wavy Line type general store. Most shops only did a half day on a Wednesday as well.

John Walker ● 4466d

OK that's interesting.Were all the shops shut by 6 in the 70's?  When did that start changing?Was West Ealing always as busy as it is now or have the number of people around increased?

Bernadette Clover ● 4466d

I was just a nipper in the 70s but do remember F.H.Rowse and John Saunders. I think it would be hard to argue that West Ealing is a better shopping destination now than it was back then when it had a good range of shops and was a solid 'middle class' area, though perhaps at the lower end of that spectrum. West Ealing never really recovered when M&S shut and has been in slow decline ever since. I think the main difference now is that comparatively there are more less well off people. Also, women, still the main shoppers, are much more mobile now and are more likely to head off to Westfield or Richmond etc to shop for non essentials. My mum didn't pass her driving test until the mid/late 70s and I still remember her having one of those trolley baskets to walk up to the shops. My dad hardly ever set foot in a shop other than the local newsagent to buy cigarettes.

John Walker ● 4466d

The world went 'colour' (at least the telly did) in 1968.Three channels? I'm old enough to remember BBC2 launching in, I think, 1964.I look now at the vast array of channels and actually think that it was better with three as there was a hell of a lot of 'original' programming with far fewer repeats. I rarely watched ITV (as it was) save for the sports programming and I still give it scant regard.The great advantage of the sheer number of channels now is 'catch-up' TV but I guess that I could do that on my computer anyway - no, I am no Luddite and worked in high-tech for years but the 'choice' of programming now is, IMHO, overkill (unless you want to watch endless repeats of Top Gear or Lovejoy) :-).

Nigel Brooks ● 4466d

Whilst I can see the charm of these old aerial wire express paying contraptions and 3 TV channels (before the world was colour), serious question to those who did live in the "olden days" of the 1970's, is it better now?

Bernadette Clover ● 4466d

I liked the old aerial wire express paying contraption - also it always stocked old fashioned 'long Johns' in pure wool - not your man-made fibre stuff.

Gerry Tan ● 4466d

Wonderful shop. Had a fabulous haberdashery (for my mum) and a great camera concession (for me).Also had a great toy department and one of those amazing aerial wire things to take the cash to the cash office.It featured in the film Carry on Constable which has been discussed here previously.

Nigel Brooks ● 4466d

How did we survive, I wonder ?

Pat Kingham ● 4466d

It was terrible Bernadette - we hardly managed to stay alive.

Penny Crocker ● 4466d

I wasn't around in the 70's, but have seen it on the TV, those days looked grim, apparently there were only 3 channels and they finished at midnight, pubs closed in the afternoon and the binmen went on strike.There is no shortage of places to get hair cut in Ealing now.

Bernadette Clover ● 4466d

It also had a ladies hairdressing salon. It was one of many such stores in Ealing, all sadly gone now.

Pat Kingham ● 4466d

It was just like 'Are you being served'. It disappeared in the late 70s I think and it was to the east of where Wilkinsons is now. My mother used to buy a lot of my clothes there when I was a child as it had a 'Ladybird' section. Also had a largeish cafeteria I seem to recall.

Penny Crocker ● 4466d

west Ealing

David P Archer ● 4466d