Memories of Bearmans' Father Christmas and grotto in Leytonstone

Not too long ago high street Christmas shopping was the norm for everyone before online shopping - and mail order before that - came along, and Leytonstone’s High Road was one of the borough’s most popular shopping streets. Its jewel in the crown was Bearmans department store, remembered and loved by many who worked and shopped there.

As ‘the store with the personal touch’ and ‘the House of Value’ it was a shopping staple for many families, with around 50 departments offering a multitude of goods including household furnishings, hardware, clothing, fancy goods, toys and jewellery. But to generations of children it was extra special in the festive season with its amazing toy department and impressive model train display, and of course, Father Christmas and grotto.

Father Christmas travelled along the streets in his sleigh on the way to his Bearmans grotto, decorated with different themes throughout the years. People who visited as children recall magical memories of a sleigh ride with plywood reindeers before entering the grotto (The North Pole), and in later years this was accompanied by an atmospheric neon/ light screen show. For at least one Christmas the sleigh ride was in the form of a gondola ride, complete with gondola girls, and back in the 1930s there were ‘trips to the North Pole by Submarine’.

Bearmans captured on an old postcard

Bearmans pictured on an old postcard

Bearmans stood at 829-837 High Road (there is a commemorative Waltham Forest heritage plaque on the Matalan store there) and was a memorable part of a shopping day out for decades.

The department store was established in 1898 by 27-year-old Essex draper Frank Bearman who purchased part of a former vicarage site for a shop. Leytonstone was an interesting choice of location as at that time there were relatively few shops and Leytonstone itself was then rather small. Happily, Frank’s decision proved to be a good one, as the business flourished and expansion and redesign followed.

The Edwardian building of c.1910 was impressive. Its design was inspired by London’s fancy shopping arcades, particularly the use of glass in the roof and shop frontages which allowed ample light inside without the need for artificial lighting. The subsequent addition of a lower ground level provided yet more retail space, and the 1957 extension in Kirkdale Road included an escalator - apparently the first store-installed one outside London.

Bearmans pictured in the early 20th century

The department store pictured in the early 20th century

In 1962 Bearmans was sold to the London Cooperative Society by Frank Bearman’s sons who had decided not to continue the family business after their father died in 1956. It retained the name, although times were changing, and department stores began to be regarded as old-fashioned. This together with added competition from other shopping destinations and increased traffic along High Road made Bearmans a less attractive shopping destination and shopper numbers declined by the 1980s. It closed in 1983 and was subsequently demolished.

An advert for the department store

An advertisement at Leytonstone Station

A sad end for a building that in its heyday attracted customers from all over east London as well as those living nearby. Children were taken there for school uniforms, party clothes and trimmings for dancing costumes, often followed by a visit to the store’s tearoom. But the highlight of the year was undoubtedly to see Father Christmas and the magical grotto.

Karen Averby is a seaside-loving historian and research consultant specialising in researching histories and stories of buildings, people and places. She researches house histories for private clients and collaborates in community heritage projects (karenaverby.co.uk). She is also director of Archangel Heritage Ltd, an historical research consultancy providing research services for the commercial heritage sector (archangelheritage.co.uk). Also found on Twitter @karenaverby and @archaheritage