Bill's binns

These came from the Crown Lane archive and I presume they are from Bill Warden's side of the family.



Spectacle case only, no matching glasses. He actually used it to store cufflinks. The optician is H.W. Freeman of Sidcup. According to Collett Opticians website "In 1897 Mr HW Freeman, a jeweller/optician set up a business at 103 Main Road, Sidcup. James Collett purchased the practice in 1942". http://www.collettopticians.co.uk/history.html
Collett is still at this address.

Pince-nez with case from Hudson Howard, 3 Bridge Street, Walsall. A Google search reveals that Hudson Howard subsequently became part of Dolland & Aitchison. That company now has two stores in Walsall, but neither is in Bridge Street. Further Google searches for this address link it to Formal Affair, a wedding hire business http://www.thelocalweb.net/index/VSP/tlw_47031.htm

Goldliner Bookmakers http://www.finder.co.uk/walsall/Bookmakers

Golden Sun TCM Ltd (restaurant) http://www.bview.co.uk/listing/2325491/Golden-Sun-TCM-Ltd-in-WS1

Google does not currently have a Streetview for this area, so I cannot verify these details short of actually going there.

So I cannot date these precisely. Nor do I know of any family connection with Walsall.

Bill Warden's vehicles

That looks like Chislehurst Common in the background. I think the picture was taken in Morley Road. I would imagine that one of the ladies is Bill's wife Connie. The lady in the sidecar looks a bit like the one in the sea in the "Bill and Connie Warden?" post.

You can't see the driver very clearly, but I'm sure it must be Bill Warden. I think the car is by the garages at the south east of Crown Lane. I remember Bill buying a car in the early 1960s and that is where he kept it.

Update - 24 May 2009. Dating the pictures.

According to a table downloaded from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/johnstonrh/a30a35/regnos/index.htm#FILEDOWN

The registration prefix KK shown on the motorcycle was used in Kent between June 1922 and April 1924. JJ on the car was used in London between November 1932 and March 1933.

On the back of the motorcycle picture is written "Licence No 422X164". This corresponds to the one-page document issued by Kent County Council. An example is pictured in the entry "Bill Warden's driving licences". The earliest I have was issued in May 1924 and the latest expired in May 1931. There is then a hiatus of seven years until May 1938, when the first booklet style licence appears.

Both the vehicles appear to be in very good condition, so I imagine they were new (or at least newly acquired) when the pictures were taken.

Bill Warden's driving licences

This is the earliest of Bill's driving licences that I have. There are more in similar style up to 1930/31. It shows how long Bill had lived at Crown Lane.





And this is the more recent type. This was renewed by stick the new licence on top of the old one. The earliest one here was dated May 1938. By October 1968, Bill would have been 78 years old and probably decided it was time to give up driving.