Hair Bear Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Some years ago there used to be a uniform surplus store somewhere in or near Hackney, a huge place looked like a victorian warehouse in a no-through side street. Anyone know where it was - or still is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oats and barley Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 [got anymore clues sounds a bit like the warehouse in new north road. south side of the canal. putting it in hackney full of surplus for many years belonged to one of the prominent dealers:undecided: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oats and barley Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 you have me thinking now there was also a surplus warehouse in a cul de sac next to angel station islington off city road:undecided: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 you have me thinking now there was also a surplus warehouse in a cul de sac next to angel station islington off city road:undecided: Quartermasters (at the Angel)? Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward53 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 The one in Islington was indeed QMs At The Angel, a cross between a militaria shop and a surplus store, sadly long gone (as are two of the staff :-(). I reckon that's the one you are thinking of as it fits the description perfectly. The old style surplus store is an endangered species and there can't be many left in London. I recall seeing one in Hackney with jackets etc hanging outside, but IIRC that was on a main shopping street not a side road. That was long ago and I very much doubt that's still there, or if it is, that they have anything of any great age. Shermans in Vallance Road, Whitechapel, had loads of interesting stock but I'm going back a good 25 years, and this is its sad fate. Those wonderful musty old places with "junk" stacked tantalisingly on high shelves or in tea chests were plundered years ago. Finding an undiscovered surplus warehouse piled high when in funds is every collector's dream, but highly unlikely to happen now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hair Bear Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 I'll have a look at the map later' see if the road names link up with what I remember. I'm sure the road it was on ran east-west with the entrance at the east end - the shop would have been on the north side of the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattie Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Quartermasters at the Angle ,Torrens Street the building is still there . Formally known as Military Marine ,York Ave Sidcup, Kent. Spent a lot of time rumedging through all those old tea chests . Just nearby in Upper Street was Call to Arms owned by Chris Farlow always a good source of WW2 US Army kit. Happy Days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I agree...such places now are nothing but a distant memory ...They weren't confined only to the cities either....We had 2 in our area...... Jacky Roberts 'dump' housed in a disused colliery baths where you could buy anything from an ex army sledge hammer to a complete socket set to a wardrobe or a table or a pair of boots or an entire uniform from any of the 3 services ....Up in our local 'big city' of Gloucester was Woods Army and Navy stores a veritable emporium of uniforms from the First World War to the present day ...cotton khaki army trouser were the staggering amount of .50p a pair ! mind you ....that was in 1978 now all long gone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hair Bear Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thanks for the input, looks like it was Torrens St. As they all seem to be disappearing my next question, and the reason for asking, is where would I get some black police uniform/parade trousers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oats and barley Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 when i had my gt200 the place to go was drummond st for a genuine us parka there was some excellent little surplus shops then a bigger shop opened on the corner with hampstead road handy for me i worked for w e humpherys serving up spares for vincents HRD remember them:shocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arvp57 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Some years ago there used to be a uniform surplus store somewhere in or near Hackney, a huge place looked like a victorian warehouse in a no-through side street. Anyone know where it was - or still is? Was it Tenco Textiles? Amherst Road, E8 area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Tenco was the one in Hackney. Bought quite a bit of stuff from them. Loved Quartermasters and that old Stuart they had in the yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzaw Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 used to love going down to the QMs at Angels and was good friends with Mike Ross and his (late) brother Badger (who had a M3 Lee (or was it a Grant?) tank) in the 70s. almost anything could be bought there and regret not buying a working US WW2 flamthrower on weekend when I visited, it was about £25 then Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Another good one was Laurence Corner, all I can recollect was that it was north of the river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward53 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 used to love going down to the QMs at Angels and was good friends with Mike Ross and his (late) brother Badger (who had a M3 Lee (or was it a Grant?) tank) in the 70s. almost anything could be bought there and regret not buying a working US WW2 flamthrower on weekend when I visited, it was about £25 then Gary Mike Ross is no longer with us but I believe Badger is alive - at least I hope so. Also departed are Mick Boniface (car accident many years ago) and Baz Thomas who worked there part time (died a couple of years back from long-standing health problems). I believe Dave Humphreys moved to France. Danny ran Flak in Kensington Market for a while and I think he is still around, though I don't know where or what he's doing. My info came from Baz who I kept in touch with after he finished there, so hopefully it's excusable if it's a bit out of date. QMs was a great store, and if you gained their confidence they'd allow you to roam around the top floors and pick out what you liked. Nobody knew that the days of such places were numbered. Happy Times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Another good one was Laurence Corner, all I can recollect was that it was north of the river. Drummond St, N1 I think. Parallel to (and North of) Euston road. Bought far too much (and at the same time Not Enough) stuff from their "Boffin Shop" across the road. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roajeep Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Don't forget Badges and Equipment at the bottom of The Strand. Suppose they're long gone as well. I guess all these old favourites died out and now it's just the dealers who have stalls at shows like W+P and at a completely different price level. DavidH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Lawrence Corner was near to Kings Cross/Euston.........an amazing place back in the early 80s.........British WW2 DR helmet liners complete and new for £2 and cammo WW2 windproof trousers for a fiver, new............by 1980 they'd sold the last of their WW2 Denisons tho for £25 a piece..........almost opposite, in the same back street, was a suplus shop that was run by two old ladies.........we always suspected relatives of Silverman's ! Sold lots of technical stuff, instruments, electric parts, etc............... As for QM at the Angel, great place........upstairs were rooms full of old tat including WW1 trench caps, helmets, etc..............Dave Humphries was there at the time but sadly went into hibernation after the old place closed for redevelopment and he sadly continued trading by ripping a few people off including me by taking money but never producing the goods.........I'm still seeking him out nearly 35 years later and I will find him.............:-D Flak was a great place, in Kensington market back in 83..............Denisons a plenty as was DPM.........sadly, closed down as some of the gear was seemingly still property of HM Forces so raided on more than one occasion............! Lol...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward53 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Now that you mention it I do seem to recall DH disappearing and various people wanting to find him. It was a long time ago, it didn't affect me, I had more important things to remember both then and now and I've completely forgotten what if anything I heard. Badges and Equipment was one of the first stores to go, must have been in the early to mid 80s. I remember those piles of camo windproof trousers at Laurence Corner. At the time trousers were cheap and plentiful but there were very few smocks anywhere. L Corner also had quite a bit of 08, 14 and Slade Wallace equipment in their basement. Dave? who ran the place was a decent guy and would allow collectors to ferret around. At the time I had no interest in post 1918 kit so don't know what other goodies there might have been. The little shop opposite was indeed an outlet for Silvermans, selling mainly electrical equipment but also some militaria. The last old-style surplus goldmine to go that I know of was Anscombes in S Wimbledon. The old git who ran it had piles of 08 and 14 patt equipment and even some odd WW1 boots in the basement, but he was very moody and you could trek down and either come away with a bonanza or get curtly dismissed. He definitely enjoyed his hold over collectors, but his son had no interest and sold the shop and contents after the old man died some time in the 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisakarney Posted August 19, 2020 Share Posted August 19, 2020 On 3/8/2015 at 11:24 PM, oats and barley said: [got anymore clues sounds a bit like the warehouse in new north road. south side of the canal. putting it in hackney full of surplus for many years belonged to one of the prominent dealers:undecided: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian B Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I used to Go to quartermasters at the Angel.It was a Fascinating place as a Kid with all the Clothing and Equipment that they had there.I bought an M43 Jacket there.and I remember the wonderful Suplus Smell as you walked in.They sometimes had their Jeep parked outside and I think it was a Grant Tank in a Yard to the side.I used to go to Anscombes in Merton The proprietor was always quite misersble there.He had another store that his Son Ran in London Road near the Elephant and Castle. He used to sell British WW2 Helmets for £2 each..I later bought most of my Stuff from Blunderbuss Antiques at their shop in a Thayer Street london.They had lots of rare Ww2 items and I spent a considerable amount of money their over the years.It was Great having all these shops around when I was Growing up..Sadly they are all gone now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Henry du Bora in Aldershot was my local. In 1978 I bought an unissued 1960 pattern combat jacket from them for a few quid. Wore it on and off for 30 years until it fell apart. Looking at the price of them now, I’m feeling a bit gutted...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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