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The Cross Keys, the Chemist's and James's Shop on Bream High Street.

Cross Keys Bream (36k)

This card was sent to Paul's parents from Bream on 12th July 1951. James Sweet Shop is first on the left. then a Cobbler's shop before ths Cross Keys. Veronica Howell kindly added the following comment (June 2006): "I believe the lady on the right of the picture with the pushchair is my mother Kathleen Baker with my brother Bill who was born in 1947. It may have been in circulation quite a while before it was spotted and sent to Paul Morgan's parents .I have lost this photograph but I remember being shown this by my mother. By the way the dog was called Spot".

Dave Willetts added (May 2010): "... As already noted the first shop on the left is Clarice James confectionary shop. The next gable-ended building with awning is The District Boot Stores which was a shoe repair and bootmaking shop owned by my grandfather Arnold Willetts. This closed in 1950 but the building remained intact until recently. To its right can be seen the frontage of Acrefield the detached house my grandfather built in 1911 for £275, followed by the Cross Keys. On the opposite side of the road the nearest white sided building is the chemists at that time run by Turners and the adjacent building with three upstairs windows is Ben Baths bakers shop. The large hipped roof building on the corner of Whitecroft road is the Coop".

Tim Humphries added (February 2012): "... I remember when Mr. Mrs. Baron ran the chemist. Just behind Spot you can see the steps leading up to Tony Page's barbers shop*. Just below the Cross Keys was Robinson's butchers shop. Just beyond the Co-op you can see the gable window of Roy Adam's house. He ran an electrical business. In the far distance, the very light coloured house belonged to Sid Niblett a monumental mason".

* Tony Page finally closed his barber's shop here in 2011. Does anyone recall when Tony started cutting hair here?.

David Willetts added (August 2020): "... Tony Page was certainly cutting my hair by 1960, and appeared to have been doing so for some time".

Stuart Peachey added (February 2022): "...As I remember Ben Bath's bakery was double shop with a general stores as well run by his wife and Cissy Cook one of her 12 children. The monumental masons was in fact the building above the white house in the distance. This is now my partners house and we keep excavating broken tombstones in the garden. The workshop building is still there. people still occasionally try to order tombstones on the basis that they bought their last one there".

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