Keith Cullis - Shop in The Broadway, Laindon.

Many will remember Pelham’s shop in The Broadway, Laindon.

Records show that Mrs Pelham’s husband Abraham (Albert) died  in 1946 aged 59. The Basildon Development Corporation’s 1949 survey shows that Pelham’s shop was owned by Mr Clifford at that time of the survey, although Mrs Pelham stayed on until the late fifties when another lady ran the shop for a while. Keith Cullis then bought the shop and it became known as ‘Keith’s’. In the first photo below, he is pictured outside the shop, sweeping at the front door.

I have just noticed on the same photo, on the shop next door, below the name ‘Dangerfield’s’ are the words ‘Prop. Keith’s’. Did Keith own both shops I wonder?

Sadly Keith passed away early in 2018 but his wife Margaret came along to the 23rd February 2019 Memory Day and brought a few photos with her.

Margaret’s Grandparents were the Hollowbread family who at one time lived in Southfields Cottages. Her mother Winifred married Richard Morton in 1936. The family later moved to No 7 King Edward Road. Margaret Morton married Keith Cullis in 1959.

When the Laindon Shopping Centre was built, Keith moved his business there but eventually sold it to Martins Newsagents. Keith and Margaret then moved to Romford and later Clacton.

Does anybody recognise the paperboy in the second photo?  We would really be interested to know who he was.

Lastly a photo of a float from the 1968 Basildon Carnival advertising ‘Keith’s Laindon shop.

The Broadway, Laindon. 1963
Keith Cullis and a paperboy.
Basildon Carnival 1968.

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  • Does anyone remember Betty Andrews who worked with Keith Cullis at his shop in High Road, Laindon, Eeex in 1967?

    By Mel lake (13/01/2020)
  • I worked at S.B. Youngs Off License, High Road, Laindon, Essex in 1967 when I knew Betty Andrews of 78 Devonshire Road. Does anyone remember that shop?

    By Mel Lake (02/01/2020)
  • So sad to hear about Keith Cullis, a great guy. We travelled to West Ham football ground together back in 1967, a good time.

    By Mel Lake (31/12/2019)
  • It was mentioned here in the article that another lady took on Pelhams before Keith became owner. I clearly remember that my friend Jimmy Bird’s mother, Rose, worked in the shop for quite a long time before becoming very ill. Rose died after being in considerable pain, even when working in the shop, I think it must have been around 1962. I only know this because my mother, Jean, was often in the shop talking to Rose as they were friends and we only lived just across the way in Nichol Road. Keith was a chirpy character and different in every way to the previous resident Mrs Pelham. Keith changed the shop around so that he served on the left as you entered the shop rather than appearing from the back as Mrs Pelham did. How times changed, both Pelhams and Dangerfields were very basic inside. You could buy a cold drink for one penny from Mrs Pelham, very welcome on those hot summer days in the late 1950s. Fascinating to recall those happy times.

    By Richard Haines (13/05/2019)
  • Yes, Keith was Sheila’s brother, Sheila lives in Dorset. There were twelve of us, I am Sandra born in 1946.

    By Sandra Harris (09/03/2019)
  • Great photos. Me and my friend Jane Briton were always in Keith’s sweetshop. I remember him very well.

    By Judy Webb (25/02/2019)
  • You could be right Alan. Keith did have a sister called Sheila, born 1935, two years older than himself.

    By Nina Humphrey(née Burton) (25/02/2019)
  • I cannot remember Keith Cullis although, from the photograph, he looks awfully familiar. Perhaps I knew him by sight. Was he a relative of Sheila Cullis, the glamorous heart throb of every lusty Laindon lad of that era? There was also a Kenny Dangerfield connected in some way to that store.

    By Alan Davies (25/02/2019)
  • Thanks for adding this information Nina!
    I can confirm that my dad (Keith Cullis) did own both ‘Keiths’ and Dangerfields. He later sold Dangerfields to ‘Peters’ the hairdressers, who then sold the plot to Ashton timber yard, who remained there and also took on the old ‘Keiths’ site until fairly recently before the houses were built. Dad also worked at Weedons Newsagent (roughly where the carpet shop is now), before becoming manager at Boons, another Newsagent (near Hiawatha). Hope your article and photos stir memories for people who remember him and the shops.

    Editor:- Thank you Kevin. It was very nice to meet you all on Saturday.

    By Kevin Cullis (24/02/2019)

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