This is Queen Square in the very heart of Liverpool, where my dad's family, who ran Fruit and Veg shops (Parkinson's on Broadgreen Road and at nearby Broadgreen station, to those of you who might remember), used to arrive early in the morning toselect the best items. I was taken there by my dad several times in 1962 and 1963, and remember the shouting, bustling, joking, the clatter of the carts and the roaring of the wagons and the smell- the stench of old cabbage, the sweet heady aroma of ripe fruit- and the tramlines in the cobbles. But it was all to change. My dad took a new job in June 1963 and so we never went there again. In 1966, a new Fruit and Veg depot was opened out on the road to the motorway, and in 1967, the last of the merchants at Queen Square moved out, and a vital, unique part of city life vanished for good. In 1969 the square, boarded up and abandoned, was bulldozed to make way for... well, it was never made clear what was meant to go there. Eventually, it became a car park, and, finally, in 1999, a hotel and restaurant area. This short home movie is of Queen square in the late 1950s, and it looked pretty much the same when I was there five years later.
Grandmother and Grandfather both worked for "Fitzies" for pretty much their entire working lives moving from Queen Sq. to Edge Lane in the mid 60's. Kathleen and John Foster.
I worked for P&T Fitzpatrick from 1949 till 1957 not counting my National service in RAF 1952-4. The video brought back memories and I recognised a dark haired guy with a white apron in the video as a porter that worked with us as Joe Head a porter in the flower dept. of Fitzpatrick's.
My brother was Terry Fitzpatrick who worked there the last member of the family to join the company. He left later to go in RAF. Sadly died in 2019. He loved working in the Square - had lots of good stories to tell
This is Queen Square in the very heart of Liverpool, where my dad's family, who ran Fruit and Veg shops (Parkinson's on Broadgreen Road and at nearby Broadgreen station, to those of you who might remember), used to arrive early in the morning toselect the best items. I was taken there by my dad several times in 1962 and 1963, and remember the shouting, bustling, joking, the clatter of the carts and the roaring of the wagons and the smell- the stench of old cabbage, the sweet heady aroma of ripe fruit- and the tramlines in the cobbles. But it was all to change. My dad took a new job in June 1963 and so we never went there again. In 1966, a new Fruit and Veg depot was opened out on the road to the motorway, and in 1967, the last of the merchants at Queen Square moved out, and a vital, unique part of city life vanished for good. In 1969 the square, boarded up and abandoned, was bulldozed to make way for... well, it was never made clear what was meant to go there. Eventually, it became a car park, and, finally, in 1999, a hotel and restaurant area. This short home movie is of Queen square in the late 1950s, and it looked pretty much the same when I was there five years later.
I worked for Fitzpatricks in 1966 for a short time and your video brought back memories.
ReplyDeleteGrandmother and Grandfather both worked for "Fitzies" for pretty much their entire working lives moving from Queen Sq. to Edge Lane in the mid 60's. Kathleen and John Foster.
ReplyDeleteI worked for P&T Fitzpatrick from 1949 till 1957 not counting my National service in RAF 1952-4. The video brought back memories and I recognised a dark haired guy with a white apron in the video as a porter that worked with us as Joe Head a porter in the flower dept. of Fitzpatrick's.
ReplyDeleteMy brother was Terry Fitzpatrick who worked there the last member of the family to join the company. He left later to go in RAF. Sadly died in 2019. He loved working in the Square - had lots of good stories to tell
ReplyDelete