If you are in the Brockley Road near Hazeldon Road, look out for a glimpse one of Crofton Park's oldest shops.
The shop signs above the opticians on the corner have been removed, revealing an old sign underneath for Springett and Lord.
This sign dates from early in the last century, when what is now the opticians was two small shops, Nos 13 and 14 Crofton Terrace -- later renamed 376 and 378 Brockley Road.
The corner shop was Mr Charles Cox’s laundry, and between 1901 and 1919, the small shop next door was Springett and Lord’s tobacconist’s shop.
A former resident of the area, Jack Haggar, wrote to us in March 2000 of his memories of the area between 1915 and 1939. He shared this snippet about Springett and Lord ; ‘The location found itself in headline news when the proceeds of a West End jewellery robbery were traced to a tobacconists at 376 Brockley Road (Springett & Lord), and it was alleged that much of the stolen items were “stashed” in dummy cigarette packets in the shop.’
In 1919, Tyrell's took over the business. It continued as a tobacconists and Tyrell's announced their arrival with this advertisement in St Hilda's church magazine:
The shop remained a tobacconist's until the 1980s, passing through several different hands.