A former builders’ yard, The Galleria site in South Woodford has been in Madeleine McCarthy’s family since 1963
Records show that in the 1920s, 180–182 George Lane was listed as ‘Land and Stables’. It later became a builders’ yard and was purchased by my father, Stanley Kimmings, in 1963 for his building business, WJ Kimmings & Son. He had worked in the business and inherited it upon my grandfather’s death.
The builder’s yard was accessed by a central walkway with an office and workshops on one side and a covered storage yard on the other. There were two shops fronting the pavement, one on either side of the entrance to the yard. The shop to the left was Dennis & Whitehead, an electrical repair shop, Ben Whitehead being my father’s brother-in-law. On the right was a card shop. To one side of the site was the Congregational Church, built in 1886 and demolished in 1982, and which is now M&S. On the other side was Abridge Engineering, then a VW garage, and which is now The Slug and Lettuce.
Dennis & Whitehead had a shop which would be very much in vogue today. In an era now where we are much more conscious of recycling and ‘make do and mend’, it offered a great service for the repair of small appliances such as toasters and kettles. One wall was covered with pigeon holes for dozens of different types of valves, which people often purchased in those days. Sadly, shops such as this went out of fashion with the advent of the throwaway society, and it closed for good in 2004.
I inherited the site from my father, who died in 1981, and later the property was redeveloped into The Galleria, a mall with a central walkway, comprising of 13 units, predominantly retail. It opened in 1992 while the country was going through a deep recession. Two of the shops have frontages onto George Lane, as before.
In 2004, I looked into the possibility of opening up the back of The Galleria to connect with the Sainsbury’s car park, but British Land own a thin strip of land between the two sites and nothing was progressed, but I plan to look into this again.
After having gone through a challenging period during the pandemic, The Galleria is now undergoing a resurgence, with improvements to the building, a new management team and exciting new businesses moving in, as well as retaining some tenants who have been there for many years. Among the range of shops are a barbers, hair and beauty, flower shop, café (currently being refurbished under new ownership with an upgraded outside decking area), a cake shop, takeaway food outlet and an eco-friendly re-use and refill shop. So, take a wander through The Galleria and discover what is on offer in this hidden gem.
The Galleria is located at 180–182 George Lane, South Woodford, E18 1AY.
