Stephen Pomeroy

Elm Grove is where Conan Doyle set up his doctor's practice; the premises later became a corsetry. Flats are now built on the site. My Auntie Margaret worked down this road at Telephone House. I remember Knight & Lee and traipsing round there with my Mum. I remember looking at King Penguin books in Foster's on Grove Road South. These books listing premises and their owners over time are very interesting if you are an 'I remember' kind of person.

There are some great stories here of people looking back at their working lives in Portsmouth. There's Edna who worked at Airspeed. I Iiked working at Airspeed, because there was not a lot of work to do' (page 2). Then there was fishmonger Chris - 'Dad brought 16 of us up in the fish trade' (page 3). Mr D.Darlington was the rewind boy at the Palace cinema - and so much more.

I bought a lot of books at no. 13 Marmion Road, Academy Books, including a copy of the King Penguin, Egyptian paintings. '35', the man said. 35p. Not bad I thought. I spent some time at no. 96, Jennings, philatelist. Betterwear Products were just a few doors away. The Betterwear man often came knocking on our door with his latest brushes to sell.