Blue Gems Chinese Restaurant

It must have been one of the earliest Chinese restaurants in England outside of Chinatown. There was another called the Man Fah in St Anne's Road, Harrow.

Pretty exotic living at the time.

I was a frequent visitor to the Man Fah. It was owned by a charming man named Paul, I gave him a lift in my car to his home in nearby Vaughan Road on a couple of occasions. Never got a free meal, though!!

One thing that was very popular in the early days of Chinese restaurants was the crispy meat ball. It was about the size of a scotch egg and was composed of a filling of minced mystery meat (probably pork), with a batter covering. I have not seen them for years and years. My guess is that they may have disappeared off the menu because, as they were so large, they weren't always cooked through, with predictable results.

The Chu Chin Chow (as it had later become in my day) was staffed by two guys called Peter and Lee. I can't remember now which one was the boss.

I have very early memories when the premises (pre Blue Gems) was a kind of old fashioned Viennese cafe with waiters in dark jackets. If it wasn't there, then it was in one of the other premises in that parade. I was very young indeed then, so it's a bit hazy.

I think there was also an Achille Serre dry cleaners and a shop called Lawley's, which sold chinaware. Further along there was a bit of a poncey ladies hairdresser's shop called 'Duval'. I think that was also a baker's - probably a Spurrier's or similar.

Opposite was a gramophone shop called Heggarty's, which also sold records. It was the kind of place that was staffed by men wearing brown warehouse coats.

There was another shop called Astora, which was a ladies outfitters that sold a lot of stuff that would not have been out of place in Barbara Cartland's wardrobe.

I think that there was also a gent's outfitters called Leonard Lyle, which also sold uniforms for local schools.

There was also a Danny Shop, which as I recall, was an early version of a Halford's shop.

I can just about remember visiting the Odeon cinema, but I have clearer memories of the Northwick Tearooms next door, which survived the demolition of the Odeon by several years.

The dress shop was actually called Astoria. My dear Mum was a frequent visitor there (much to my Dad's chagrin!). Danny motorist shops were indeed an early version of Halfords, many towns in the south had a branch. Although I didn't live in Kenton, I dated a girl for quite a few years who lived in Draycott Avenue.