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Sharing our memories of Heald Green
Last Updated 19th Jan 2025
252 and 254 Finney Lane
By Helen Morgan
First Published on Facebook 03/07/2024
Last Updated 19/01/2025
Both units have had many different businesses since 1938 and were numbered differently until the 1960s
These two shops were built later than those around them. There was nothing there in 1935 but by 1938 businesses were trading.
142A/252 Finney Lane
Fig. 1 142A/252 Finney Lane 22.06.2024
© Helen Morgan
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1
This shop was R T Holmes cycle dealer by 1938.
"A bike shop which sold bicycles but, probably because of the war, it was empty for a while before my mother and aunt opened it up about 1948/9 as a shoe shop, for about 10 years.”
- Anne Rushton, Linkline memories for St Catherine’s Church
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The 1939 register has some redaction but shows Glyn E Pollock doing unpaid domestic duties at 142A. In 1938, a Mr Willson Pollock was a salesman for the grocers next door and lived at the back of the shop.
The electoral register of 1946, has Glyn and Harold Atkinson listed at 142A. By 1947 Glyn was living alone until she was joined in 1950 by Leslie Pollock. In 1951 they moved next door and were listed as “living above” number 142 (above John Williams).
By 1960 a Gladys Pollock was there alone at 142. I am assuming these people lived in the flat above or at the back of an empty bike shop or a thriving shoe shop. After Anne’s relatives shoe shop closed, the unit became Fourway Dyers and Cleaners Ltd. In the 1960 trade directories the number had changed to 252 Finney Lane.
There were no directories at the Stockport Heritage Library for 1969 and I could not find it in 1970. I am therefore assuming it closed within those two years.
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Fig. 2 From the Jagla family who lived at Bill’s Bakery next door to Gees. Mid-1960s.
© Janet Woolf
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Fig. 3 How it looked in the 1960s
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By 1971, Erica’s for gowns and ladies’ accessories was here with Vicki’s next door.
"There used to be two clothes shops. One was called Vicki and the other Erica. They were owned by the same people. They were next to Bill’s, our shop, with the passageway in between. Previously there was one called Gees which sold haberdashery.”
- Irene Jagla, Facebook 2021
"The shop was called Erica’s. I am sure it was where Sols is now. I used to love shopping there.”
- Margaret Broxton, Facebook 2022
Fig. 4 Contact magazine Summer 1971
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By 1979 the shop was Toggs run by Mary Frost.
"My mum owned Toggs from around 1979-84. It was where Sols is now and sold ladies and gents clothing. ”
- Steven Frost, Facebook 2021
"I bought some lovely dresses from there in my nightclubbing days.”
- Melanie Lightfoot, Facebook 2021
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Fig. 5 Mary Frost outside Toggs 1979
© Steven Frost
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Toggs became Fashion Fayre by 1986 and Carizma by the end of 1988.
Fig. 6 Advert from the Rose Queen programme of 1988.
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Fig. 7 Taken from Ian Ashworth’s house in 1986. Fashion Fayre can just be seen.
© Ian Ashworth
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There is no Terence Paul Hairdressing Salon yet, as you can see a van parked down the side of what would still be Liptons supermarket, although not for much longer.
Fig. 8 Stockport Times 11.11.1993
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Around 1995 the unit briefly became Jackson’s Supper Bar and then in 1997 Sol’s, under the ownership of Michael Solomonides.
Who better than Heald Green’s very own Ben Wright to give a review on the food.
Fig. 9 Sols review © Ben Wright
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In November 2024, the business was taken over by Theo’s from Handforth. They set about updating the shop frontage with new windows and doors. In December the new window signage was completed. This confirmed once and for all that the reputable name of Sol’s would continue under the new ownership.
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Fig. 10 Taken November 2024
© Ben Wright
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Fig. 11 Business as usual. 29.11.2024
© H Morgan
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Fig. 12 Taken 7.12.2024
© Ben Wright
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142B/252A Finney Lane
Above 142A was 142B. By 1946 this was Norman Kay hairdressers. In the electoral register of 1951, Norman is listed at 142A. By 1960 he was listed at 142B. By 1965 his adverts became 252A.
Fig. 13 St Catherines Outlook Magazine December 1965
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Unusually he was open on a Wednesday afternoon, when many other shops shut, but closed on a Saturday afternoon.
"I used to get my haircut there and had a rare treat of a shampoo and set on my wedding day.”
- Marilyn Connolly, Facebook 2022
"Mr Kay the hairdresser where I got a trim age 6 onwards. Every chair had curtains around it, like a hospital bed. Mum gave me a threepenny bit to tip the “girl” who swept up, saying you NEVER tip a proprietor!”
- Monica Montgomery, Facebook 2021
By 1973 this had become Anita’s hairdresser until c.1980 when it became Marsha’s until 1991.
Fig. 14 Contact magazine Autumn 1973
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"My mum bought the shop above Sols from a lady called Anita. Mum was in there in the 80s for around 10 years. Then she moved to near Tescos in the 90s.”
- Michelle Crompton, Facebook 2022
There may have been something after Marsha’s, when it moved along Finney Lane. However Flight Deck Aviation Emporium were on Wilmslow Road up until 1998 and then by June 1999 they were in 252A.
Fig. 15 Heald Green Festival Programme June 1999
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"Over the top of Sols was a shop called Flightdeck owned by Dave Fairbotham. It sold binoculars, aviation books and aircraft radios.”
- David Downs, Facebook 2021
I now have to rely on Google maps to tell the last part of this story up to the present day. By April 2009 Cheshire Hair Removal and Beauty Clinic were up there and were still there in October 2012.
Fig. 16 April 2009
© Google Maps
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Fig. 17 October 2012
© Google Maps
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By April 2015 until 2018 Urban Market/Niche/422 were there.
Then in 2019 to the present day there is Liquid Financial Services Ltd.
Fig. 18 April 2015
© Google Maps
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Fig. 19 November 2024
© H Morgan
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144A/254 Finney Lane
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Fig. 20 Taken 22.6.2024
© H Morgan
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The 1939 register shows Harry Owen as a shopkeeper (drapery). He was born in 1892. His wife Elizabeth, born in 1897, was a draper. There was also Annie Roberts, born 1899, who listed her job as a jam preserver. On the electoral register for 1946, 144A is listed with Harry and Elizabeth Owen on it. They lived there up until 1960.
Fig. 21 Advert from the Ratepayers’ Review magazine
September 1947 © Ratepayers' Association
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Fig. 22 Advert St Catherine’s dedication booklet of 1956
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Fig. 23 Owen's 1952
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By 1960 the business became Gees, another drapers, run by the Glaisher family until c.1970. The number changed to 254 Finney Lane. Its ownership name changed over the decade, but the Gee name was incorporated into the title. (Gees Cheadle Ltd Drapers, L J Gee, L&J Ltd Drapers).
"On the other side of us was Gees haberdashery shop, owned by the very wealthy Glaisher family. I got hair ribbons from there and Bear brand stockings. We used the stocking boxes to catch wasps in, spreading jam inside as bait. They also owned the Fourways dry cleaners next door to them. When their daughter was 21, she got a sports car and a gold watch. They used to pass on their old clothes as “hand me downs” to us. They used to go on holiday to Spain and bring back Spanish dolls and castanets. They disappeared overnight in the mid-60s and there was a piece in the evening news about them and their garment factory that had burnt down.”
- Janet Woolf, nee Jagla from Bill’s Bakery. In conversation 2022
Fig. 24 Gees 1967
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Fig. 25 Contact magazine advert
June 1963
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By 1971 Vicki’s was here as a men’s and children’s outfitters. With Erica’s next door they worked hand in hand to supply clothes for all the family and were owned by the same people.
Both moved on in 1979 and this unit became Bobby’s of Bramhall, a haberdashery shop. They sold fabric, threads and trimmings.
However, in the 1980s through a door inside the shop to the left, was a video rental shop. I was a member there and think it was called Star video! They regularly supported the community by giving prizes for the raffle on the annual Ratepayer’s trips away.
In the early 1980s, Samuel Rains and Sons Estate Agents, were based on Outwood Drive and took the business decision to move over the road and became Reeds Rains here.
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Fig. 26 Photo courtesy of Cath Charlett, seen here on the left.
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"We didn’t have a uniform as such, so we did our own to look professional. We also had the Halifax Building Society here.”
- Cath Charlett, in conversation 2024
However, by 1988 Prudential Property Services took over for a short while. In the Wilmslow Express Advertiser, they were selling a semi-detached on East Avenue for £38,950!!
Fig. 27 In their Prudential uniforms.
© Cath Charlett
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At this time there was no Building Society.
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By the early 1990s the Rains family returned and it became Reeds Rains again. Eventually the signage was updated to their distinctive blue and the Vernon Building Society was there. This business stayed for many, many years not disappearing from our high street until 2019.
Fig. 28 © Google Maps 2009
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Fig. 29 © Google Maps 2019
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Today we have Café on the Lane that opened by 2021 and was originally just inside the unit. In good weather, chairs and tables were moved outside onto the pavement. Then this area was enclosed with a steel frame , perspex roof and plastic sides that could be rolled up or down, depending on the weather.
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Fig. 30 Taken 16.11.2022
© Ben Henderson
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Fig. 31 Taken 16.11.2022
© Ben Henderson
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The day after, refurbishment began to make the outside area a permanent fixture.
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Fig. 32 Taken 22.6.2024
© Helen Morgan
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When the BBC North West Tonight programme came to the village to visit St Ann’s Hospice in 2021, they also filmed inside the café. Zafira Solomonides, the owner, pointed out to the presenter, Owain Wyn Evans, all the family memorabilia adorning the walls. I took photos of them in June 2024.
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Stained glass from her sister’s house
Fig. 33 Taken June 2024
© Helen Morgan
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From her Cypriot heritage came her grandmother’s bread proving bowls and an ornamental rail from her mother’s wardrobe.
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Fig. 34 Taken June 2024
© Helen Morgan
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Fig. 35 Taken June 2024
© Helen Morgan
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254A Finney Lane
In 2008, the Hale Natural Health Clinic began trading here, above the shops through an entrance on the side of the passageway.Founded originally in Hale by Nicholas Roche. It was a clinic for alternative medicine. Although the sign still remains, the business moved to High Peak, Derbyshire at the start of 2023.
Once again thank you for everyone’s help and input into this. It is very much appreciated.
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