Timothy Whites

I know there was a Timothy Whites centrally in Watford High Street but did it used to be in lower High Street where Ketts was, and before that a Boots store? This would have been in the late 50s to early mid 60s I think.
Gerry

This page was added on 06/04/2017.

Comments about this page

  • I got married and moved to Garston in 1974 and bought a food mixer with liquidiser and stand from Timothy Whites. The liquidiser part of it and the stand have long gone but the mixer and bowl I still have and works perfectly, branded with a tw logo.
    I remember the store well and bought several household items there to set up home.

    By Derek Stafford-smith (15/07/2019)
  • Re Jeremy Prior’s story: in the early 1940s I was also an “escalator-runner” at Boots, the domed building at the corner of Queens Road and the High Street, the only place in town with an escalator at that time. The usual method was to go up the escalator to the top, then turn round and run down it. The treads on the steps must have been a loose fit, because when you ran down them they rattled and made a fearful racket, which would bring an irate member of staff to the top to look down to see what was happening. You got to the bottom and beat it quick out of the shop. Life had a bit of healthy fun in those days.

    Timothy White, the chemist, was just north of Cawdells – see the caption to photo 81 in “Watford, a Pictorial History” by Dennis F Edwards, 1992 (not expensive second hand, a nice record of the earlier Watford). Pictured also on the front cover and page 8, with the name readable, in “Memories of Watford”, sponsor BRE, 1999, also available cheaply.

    By George Dickinson (15/06/2018)
  • As a child I remember going on the Christmas train to see Santa in Timothy whites this would have been the first half of the sixties

    By Thomas (03/12/2017)
  • I have come across two photos of the of the opening of the Boots store which I think would be the one at the corner of Queens Road and High St. My mother worked there and you can just about see her in one of the photos which I am going to offer to Watford Museum.

    By Gillian Brown (21/08/2017)
  • I recall a Timothy, Whites & Taylors shop also along St. Albans Road, North Watford on the Christ Church side of the road.

    By Christine Partridge (nee Sharman) (12/05/2017)
  • Funnily enough, I was just trying to remember where on Watford High Street Timothy Whites was. I bought a set of 18 glasses there in the early 80s, and still have three of them.

    My recollection was that it was a bit further down than Market Street, so it may have been the Queens Road corner site then.

    By John Winters (30/04/2017)
  • A further correction – I have tried to edit the comment above but couldn’t find out how! Recently discovered archive photos reminded me that Timothy Whites was just next door to Cawdells Department Store in the centre of the High Street almost opposite the end of Market Street. Cawdells main shop had a small haberdashery in an adjoining shop to their main store. Then just next to that was Timothy Whites in a large shop (Northern Side of Cawdells) So I was completely wrong about it being down on the corner of Queens Road. Sorry. Hope this clears that one up.

    By Jeremy Prior (19/04/2017)
  • I think your guess is right. Back in the mid 1950s the Boots chemist store was on the corner of Queens Road at the junction with the High Street. They had a wooden-treads escalator that was narrow and only went up so when leaving the top floor you had to come down stairs. My brother and I as well as occasional friends would lark about and try running down the up escalator during a quiet moment. This made quite a noise and we managed to reach the bottom running very fast against the rising stairway. Eventually the manager caught us and turfed us out of the shop! We had to stop doing it and soon after we were happy to play on the new aluminium escalators at London Airport Central Building before it became Heathrow. I think Timothy Whites took over the Queens Road corner site and Boots then moved to a bigger place newly built on an old Hotel site on the corner of Market Street opposite Findlaters. I can’t remember when Timothy Whites folded and closed for good. Probably find it on Wiki !

    By Jeremy Prior (07/04/2017)

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