Joinery & Timber-West Green Road

JOINERY & TIMBER' - WEST GREEN ROAD -
FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN & CORONATION YEARS

j0155501.jpg (4182 bytes)

PE03310_.jpg (17505 bytes)

The following photographs have been kindly sent to us by Ellis Rees, the Great Grandson of Bob Banyard who was the original owner of the 'Joinery & Timber' shop in West Green Road..

The photographs capture the time of the 'Festival of Britain' in 1951 as the shop window display has models of the main attractions at the Festival site on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. The later pictures show the preparations being made along West Green Road for the 'Queen's Coronation' in 1953. These photographs are really quite captivating as they show those carefree days before the advent of heavy traffic and 'Health & Safety' regulations. Can you imagine the uproar were people today allowed to use such rickety old equipment to suspend banners from railway Bridges and in the face of oncoming traffic ?

Also note the prices of Excursions by rail to Newcastle, Bradford and Skegness etc !

Older residents of the West Green Road area may remember a character called 'Stocky' who would sell newspapers in the evenings from the doorway of 'Joinery & Timber. His cries of 'STAR-NEWS-STANDARD' would echo along West Green Road as he plied his trade. On Saturday night's there would be queues of customers waiting for 'Stocky' to appear running up West Green Road with the Classified editions of the newspapers that had the days Football & Racing results.


Bob Banyard	Shop Front - Festival of Britain 1951	Window Display -Festival of Britain

Shop Display - Rawlplugs	Anthony Banyard-Model Royal Yacht Britannia	Shop Front - 1951

Shop Front -Coronation 1953	Wallpaper & Paint Shop - Corner Braemar Road	Shop Worker Anthony Banyard - Grandfather of Ellis Rees

Seven Sisters Station-Coronation 1953	Seven Sisters Station -Coronation 1953 Prices of Excursions- Bradford 23/6d - Newcastle 30/- and Skegness 16/6d	Seven Sisters Station West Green Road at Night-Coronation 1953

Ellis Rees is very proud of his late Great Grandfathers shop. He has fond memories of the shop which was one of the first DIY style shops in Tottenham. Ellis is still using tools today that were handed down from his Great grandfather. Established in the early post-war years it was the go to shop for professional builders and local DIY enthusiasts alike.

The photo of Bob Banyard (Above) was from his time in the AFS, during the blitz. Ellis also writes that he was also involved in the secret mission to build gliders, for the D-Day landings and that his granddad has a piece of the ply, which he used to make the handle for a tote-box, for his hobbies. I still have it!

We now know that he would have worked for Harris Lebus & Co who were a very large furniture manufacturer located in Ferry Lane near Tottenham Hale. Throughout WW2 they were secretly manufacturing airframes and components for the 'Mosquito' Bomber and later they produced airframes for the Horsa and Hotspur gliders that were used during the D-Day landings. Clearly this was critical war-work and they would need top-class carpenters and woodworkers. Skilled craftsman like Bob Banyard would have been in high demand.

Ellis Rees also informs us that his Great Grandfather, Bob Banyard, had once built a boat in his workshop (Out the back of the shop) that had to be brought out sideways on a cradle. Another illustration of his woodworking skills.

The shop was later to be sold to John Blythe who continued to serve the needs of those early DIY enthusiasts in Tottenham. Please refer to the story of 'Joinery & Timber' and it's operation in later years by clicking HERE

Prepared by Alan Swain - Oct 2010

Website page redesigned Dec 2025