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1877 - Tribute to Kennedy's Sausages (and Pies) - 2007 by Alan Edwards |
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PERSONAL MEMORIES OF KENNEDY'S |
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The South London Press newspaper, dated Friday 25th January 2008 edition had an excellent article written by Lindsay Burns, promoting this Kennedy's Tribute website. Listed below are your "Kennedy's" personal memories with the most recent at the top of the page. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this website page. |
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Please send your Kennedy's memories for addiing to this page to alan dot c dot edwards at btinternet dot com |
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Roger Wood writes ........ I'm part way through Sandi Toksvig's book "Between the Stops" in which she talks about the various passengers and views from a London number 12 bus. Not only is it also part biography but historical and that is where the connection is regarding Kennedy's sausages. The bus route begins in East Dulwich where she lives and also where I lived for 18 months when I first married in 1965 --- and that was the reason for reading it. Excellent too! It was quite something to come across the mention of Kennedy's, as I remember them and didn't think anyone else did. I was born in Kent and spent my first 12 years in Bromley (my Mums hometown) and Kennedy's was there in Market Square. I loved going in there as it didn't smell like any other shop and everything looked so good. It was early 1950's so money was scarce and very carefully spent. Occasionally Mum and I would drop in there and get, obviously sausages or pies but the other thing I fell in love with was fruit pies. Right up to this day (I'm 77) I've never come across any as good as those, the pastry was light to eat (and kids can be very dismissive of boring old pastry), but the thing I remember most was that they were packed with proper real fruit. There was no huge cavity inside, the fruit filled the whole pie. Sausages were good, the pies were fine, but nothing came close to those fruit pies. There were various fruits and various combinations, but any were fine by me. In 1956 when I was 12 we moved to where Dad grew up, Catford, and thank goodness in the main shopping area of Rushey Green there was a Kennedy's, so normal service was resumed --- and do you know, those pies were just as fantastic there. Once into my teens I had pocket money which meant that I didn't have to wait for Mum to decide about pies and took charge myself. I bought them when ever I was near the shop and my pocket allowed. Well thank you Sandi for stirring that up and thank you Alan for your interesting website and listening to my praises right here. ______________________________________________________________________ Graham Martin writes ....... I have just found your website and it is brilliant. Thank you for the photos, details and reminiscing on Kennedy's sausages. I think in our family the favourite items were the Chipolata Sausages and the Christmas puddings. I wonder if you can provide me with any details that you have on the following people of my family, such as where and what they did, how many years they were with Kennedy's etc:- - Walter Martin (my Grandad) who used to live at 104 Shenley Road, Camberwell, SE5. I think he worked at 84/86 Peckham Road Branch. We used to visit him most Friday nights. - Auntie Vi (one of my Aunties) we visited the Isle of Wight one year and went to the Brown's Golf Course and had a lovely ice cream. - Vi's husband - George - Uncle Tucker - Uncle Wally Thank you so much for the website. Stay safe and take care Regards, Graham Martin. Graham would appreciate any information and has kindly supplied his email address ..... g_t_martin@yahoo.co.uk ______________________________________________________________________ Del Barnes writes along with 6 nostalgic
photos, please see below for the photos. My Father Stanley Barnes ( ne Barnacle, name change in 1968 ) was the Manager of the Streatham Branch for 40 years, myself and my 3 elder brothers were all brought up on Kennedys produce ( which we all loved ) I was born in 1957 and the family ( subsidised holiday ) to the IOW, staying at Hawkesworth House in Sandown was enjoyed by my family prior to my arrival on the scene, I grew up looking forward to this annual holiday for 2 weeks each summer and it only stopped when my Parents decided to broaden their horizons by going abroad from the early 70.s, until then my Parents had holidayed on the IOW from the 50.s onwards. Yes the Housekeeper was a Mrs Randall and the Cook was Auntie Vi, who took over all the duties when Mrs Randall stepped down. I can remember them both very well after all these years. We did enjoy free rides on the canoe lake, which was run by a chap called Dickie, who was in the German Army during the second world war, but stayed on and married a local Lady. Also Browns Golf Course and Browns ice cream which was made in the factory beside the course was owned by Kennedys and here.s a little known fact, the course was designed and built by Alex Kennedy after the War to accommodate the only Golf Pro from the IOW. I have attached some pictures showing my
Dad within the Streatham Shop and some pictures of Rear Garden of
Hawkesworth House, the Canoe Lake and the Golf Course.
My Dad 1937. Kennedys Streatham Shop. My Dad and the staff 1962. Kennedys Streatham Shop. Note the Xmas cakes on the shelf !
______________________________________________________________________ Fred Flower writes, Like a number of your other contributors, I have only just discovered this site. I must congratulate you on putting together such a wealth of information. I grew up on the Sumner Estate in Sumner Road, so our nearest branch was the one in Peckham High Street, near to the fire station. We always had their pork sausages. They didn’t shrink or spit when being cooked – not like today’s bread filled lumps. On leaving school I worked at the headquarters of the AEU whose offices were at 110 Peckham Road and I was always tasked with getting the sausages on my way home to lunch. In 1957 after I served my National Service I returned to work at the AEU and continued to buy the sausages but as I had lost a lot of weight during my time in the Army, I needed to bulk up, so I then started eating a slice Kennedy’s pork pie most days. I soon put on the pounds and even after I got married and moved to Stratford in East London, any trip to visit my parents who still lived in Peckham, was always via Kennedy’s to take them some sausages. I remember the manager of that branch, but can’t recall his name. He was the living example of good, healthy eating with a complexion and shape to prove it. To use that expression ‘They don’t make them like that any more’. ______________________________________________________________________
Vic Tout and myself had a very interesting conversation on the phone, Vic started working at Kennedy's factory when he was 20 years old and continued for over 50 years. He has many happy memories of his days at Kennedy's, he had retired before the final closure of all remaining Kennedys shops and factory in December 2007. Vic and his Wife Irene have very happy memories of the holidays they spent at Sandown on the Isle of Wight where they took their children away for two weeks, Kennedy's paid for all travel expenses, including train and ferry fares from Waterloo to Sandown via Portsmouth. Staying at Hawksworth House and enjoying the Pitch and Putt Golf, boating lake and Brown's Ice Creams. Looking back at the tragic railway disaster at Lewisham on the 4th December 1957 where 90 lives were lost and 109 detained in hospital. Vic recalled that Kennedy's supplied Sausage Rolls and Pies to the rescuers. He said that there were around 50 to 60 staff working at the factory. There were many staff with the surname of Martin. Upstairs was the bakehouse where savoury and fruit pies were made and baked, they also made swiss rolls for some time. The Christmas Puddings sold in traditional china basins were very popular and production would start around October. Downstairs was where the preparation of the Pork, Bacon and sausage making took place. I asked him if he could remember the days before the modern white delivery vans, he said the old vans were blue with gold lettering. ______________________________________________________________________ Pauline Lee nee Roos writes, I have just come across your tribute page to Kennedy's. Wow what a trip down memory lane it was. I even discovered a picture of my Aunts best friend Gladys Craden. What I wanted to tell you was that both my grandfathers Leonard Roos and Arthur Winslow were managers of Kennedy branches. Croydon and 301 New Cross road respectively. My grandmother Maud Winslow also worked in the New Cross shop until Granddads death around 1959/60. However she continued to live above the shop until the late 70,s erarly 80,s. I myself along with my Mother and Father lived there after Granddads death. My own Father Ronald Roos also worked for Kennedy's and did become manager of the Brixton branch, living above it as he and Mum had divorced by then. I Believe it may well of been my father who Paul Estathiou spoke of when he was a milkman and the then manager cooked him a full breakfast. It is the sort of thing my Dad would have done, and I know Dad was at Brixton after my own son was born in Sep 1977 as I remember taking him to visit Dad. Sadly Dad passed away in 1984, never actually reaching retirement age. His dad Leonard passed in 1979 aged 91, My Nan Maud Winslow passed away in 1988 aged 92. My Aunty (Dads Sis) is aged 90 and when I visit her later this week I am going to take my laptop and show her your wonderful site, hopefully she will have some photographic record or other memories to pass on. Like a lot of the Kennedy children I to have fond memories of Hawksworth house , Browns ice cream etc, oh happy days, thank you for the trip down memory lane.
Pauline Lee nee Roos. My thanks to Pauline Lee nee Roos’s Daughter for locating the address of Kennedy’s at 46 Atlantic Road, Brixton ! ______________________________________________________________________ Rachel Hardy writes, I am writing to you as I recently came across your web page for the Kennedy Sausage company while conducting some research into the heritage of the area. Your website has such lovely stories and anecdotes that really bring to life a history of Peckham and South London more generally. I'm currently looking into the history of the buildings on Peckham Road as part of a project for the South London Gallery and it's archives. As you probably already know the gallery was built in 1891 and I'm really interested to find out more information about buildings and business from around the same era. With this is mind I wanted to try and see if there were any of the Kennedy family still around London who I might be able to speak with. It would just be great to have more information on the buildings they used for their headquarters and factory and I thought you might be able to point me in the right direction to reach them? I understand this might not be possible but any information you have or if you were in contact with anyone from the family / business it would be great to ask a couple of questions. Rachael Harlow Programme Assistant SOUTH LONDON GALLERY 65-67 Peckham Road London SE5 8UH T: +44 (0)20 7703 6120 ______________________________________________________________________ John Nimmo writes I can remember George Smith who worked in the bake house in the factory. I worked downstairs in the factory as the bread boy then worked my way up to the butchers department. George made our wedding cake three tiers, back in 1971 I was 21 at the time . We also went over to the Isle of Wight on a couple of occasions. Looking back you do not realise how lucky we were and what a good company to work for. I myself retire next March I'll be 65 I can remember the following people have you heard from any of them Dave and Vic Tout - Martin and Wally Tucker - George Brown - Big Nat - Michael Simmons his mum used to do the cooking - Alan can't remember his surname. ______________________________________________________________________ Rob, at Higg's Butcher's, Chilslehurst Kent wrote Last June I opened a butchers in Chislehurst Kent. Working for me I have David Reed. Who worked at Kennedy's for 47 years . We have a sausage that is as close as you will ever taste to the famous Kennedy's Hope to see you soon, Regards, Rob. Higgs Butchers www.higgsbutchers.co.uk ______________________________________________________________________ Steve Haylock writes, I have only just found this website about Kennedy's. Both my Mum and Grandmother have worked for Kennedy's and I started to search for information after my Mum recently died. Just before she passed away, she told me the story of when she originally met my Dad. Mum worked in the shop in Walworth Road in the 1930's through to the end of the war. My Dad used to work for Dunn & Co the gents outfitters and he used to come into the shop to buy his lunch or get something to take home in the evening. Romance blossomed from there it seems. They married in 1940 and Kennedy's made their wedding cake. When reading through the memories on the website, I was taken aback to see the references in a couple of items concerning the Kennedy holiday premises in Sandown, in particular where it mentions 'Auntie Randy'. Auntie Randy, the housekeeper was my Grandmother. To answer Ian Waller's query in his article, Randy was indeed Mrs Randall. This now leads me into providing more information about Hawksworth House in St John's Road, Sandown. My memories of this are a bit hazy as I was very young at the time, the period in question being the fifties into around 1960/61 time. However my eldest Sister has also come up with information as she remembers more than me. Because of the link to Kennedy's with my Mum being an ex employee and my Grandmother being housekeeper at Hawksworth, we often popped in when she was working there. We always had our summer holiday in Sandown and usually stayed B&B or Self Catering around the corner. As we were not Kennedy's employees, we could not stay at Hawksworth. We remember our Gran's assistant 'Auntie Vi' and her husband George. I personally being so young, thought of her as a true Auntie which of course she was not!! My sister remembers going back to Sandown in 1976 and Auntie Vi was still there although our Gran had long since retired. We probably popped into Hawksworth most days when on holiday as sometimes Gran used to 'unofficially' give us some meals. We remember the big kitchen and the wood block worktops and as already mentioned in the tribute, recall the Mum's drying up after meals. My sister also recalls Auntie Vi lighting up the water heaters (geezers?) in the laundry room in the morning and recalls the old sinks and wringer in there. We also recall the laundry room being to the left of the bungalows (4 we think) at the bottom of the garden with it's lovely fruit trees. Going back to the 1920's, my sister recalls my Mum saying that at summer holiday time, the Kennedy's used to take her over to the Island, from Peckham, so that she could be with her Mum for the holiday. So my Mum obviously spent many summers at Hawksworth. In Ian Waller's comments, he mentions about getting free canoe rides and possibly golf. I remember many visits to the boating lake and to Brown's for golf and I do recall that some of these visits seemed to be free of charge!! We also remember a chap called 'Ginger' who used to do a lot of maintenance on the golf course and boating lake. I'm not sure whether the free boating and golf came from him? Although he worked for Kennedy's he lived locally in Sandown, possibly No 1 Cross Street. My sister recalls his real name as being Walter Webb. Does anyone know more? I also clearly remember going on the golf course most days and picking out your Iron and putter which were in racks around the internal wall of the clubhouse. I also remember the barrel outside where you put your scorecard after playing in the hope of another free round. Brown's golf course was opened by Henry Cotton and when the 14 hole extension was built in 1933 it was opened by Henry Cotton again together with another golfer Joe Kirkwood. My Grandmother back in the 1970's, gave me a piece of paper which she had signed by both golfers, the date being July 11th 1933. My sister also has some photographs. The Kennedy's were present at my Grandmother's funeral in 1980. We seem to recall that there were three in attendance and one we are sure was Lorna Kennedy. Employer's don't exist like this today, and neither do quality products!! ______________________________________________________________________ Hazel Clifford from Wainscott, Kent writes, I have just found your website on Kennedy's; it brought so many memories back to me. I grew up in the area of Walworth Road and every week my mum would buy something from Kennedy's, whether it was sausages, potted paste, brawn (which was never a favourite of mine!) or their breakfast sausage, (which I loved - I can find nothing which tastes even remotely like that lovely sandwich filling). I retired in 2009 but when I was working in central London (prior to Kennedy's closure) I would get a bus over to the Walworth Road shop and buy 10 pounds or so of their pork sausages, keep them in the fridge at work and then get them home by commuter coach! (we have lived in Kent for nearly 40 years). We used to buy Kennedy's sausages at every opportunity, shopping in Bromley, West Wickham etc. Oh how we miss their flavour, we can find nothing which comes remotely close to the flavour of those lovely sausages! Oh happy memories!. ______________________________________________________________________ Ian Waller from Leeds writes, Wow this brings back memories from the 1960's. I remember Hawksworth House very well as my Father, Bill Waller, had the honour of resolutely delivering the superb Kennedys Sausage and all other products to their shops for many years as did his good pal Bert Gardner, Bert's brother-in law, Peter Creffield, worked in the Peckham factory, all now sadly departed and missed. I think Peter Creffield made the bread that ended up as breadcrumbs in the sausages. Dad and Bert had driven London trams and buses in South London prior to joining Kennedy's, was pretty cool being on a bus your Dad was driving and pretending his conductor had taken your fare if anyone asked. Hawksworth House was then run by two ladies "Randy" (Mrs Randall I think), the housekeeper, and her assistant Vi whose husband ran the Ice Cream factory in the summer.I think he, and/or Vi, made the Christmas puddings back in Peckham in the autumn/winter. They were known as "Aunty" Vi and "Aunty" Randy to us kids. Randy was a formidable woman to us kids, but had a heart of gold, and would chase us out of the laundry room in the garden, our play area on wet days. Their cooking was superb and I remember all the female "guests" mucking in with washing up after each meal. The then Kennedy brothers were very good employers and I believe these holidays were even free on occasion for loyal staff including train and ferry fares from Waterloo to Sandown. The journey itself was an adventure for us kids, train to Portsmouth, paddle steamer to Ryde Harbour, steam train to Sandown, taxi To Hawksworth House. I remember on one occasion we drove there from London and Dad's Ford Anglia got trashed on our first day, it turned out that the the guy that was to blame for the accident was the son of another Kennedy's employee on the "island", and the Kennedy brothers paid to hire a car for the rest of our holiday.Hawksworth House also had a beach hut at Sandown and everyone would go down there for most of the day when it was fine. One particular day I always remember was when the kids were taken into the Ice Cream factory by Vi's husband, kid nirvana, and I was amazed that they boiled it! Browns served a mean cream doughnut in the cafe and of course us "Kennedy" kids could usually wangle a free canoe or paddle boat on the boating lake, a round of golf was more "difficult". As a kid in London I used to go out with Dad delivering to the shops in his blue "Kennedy's" van with sliding side passenger / driver doors. But once or twice a week in summer it was off to Waterloo Station to send food, Kennedy's of course, down to Sandown by rail. I also remember going to London docks with Dad to pick up corned beef and on one occasion a wooden barrel of pale ale for that years Christmas puddings. Saturdays were the best day of the week when Dad arrived home laden with brown paper carrier bags laden with Sausages, Pies, Ham etc, I think he paid for them !!!! (staff rate of course). I know that Dad was very reluctant to leave the firm in 1970 and only did so in order to try to improve the family quality of life by moving to Suffolk. I now live near York but was mortified to find out about the demise of Kennedy's and have signed the "plaque" thing as has my brother. (ed: please see my comments in italics below) I will be very pleased to hear from anyone that remembers Dad and will see if I can find any old pics of the Isle of Wight or whatever. Alan Edwards comments........Get Kennedy's Sausages a BLUE PLAQUE on the 305 Walworth Road, Southwark, Grade 2 listed branch of Kennedy's. Just email vote4icons@southwark.co.uk and put "Kennedy's Sausages" as the subject. ______________________________________________________________________ Colin Smith writes, Just thought I would let you know that I, my brother and sister were brought up on Kennedy's produce, as my dad George Smith worked at Kennedy's from 1940 - 1991 when he retired, and he is one of the few who know the recipe of their sausages. Originally my dad worked downstairs in the butchers but later in his career he moved up to the bakehouse and was the bakehouse foreman up until he retired in 1991. My mum also worked at Kennedy's up until they got married. I also worked there for some extra pocket money in the school holidays. And yes all Kennedy's produce was very tasty and my favourite was their sausage rolls, when my dad retired we still found time to go to the Bromley shop to stock up on sausage rolls and sausages. Don't know if you are aware but Kennedy's also had a very large house in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, with chalets in the grounds, where the staff could take their summer holidays and we had some good times there with other members of staff. My dad is still around and has lots of memories of Kennedy's. I also attach a photo of the Sausage Linkers which was taken around 1945, names are from Top Row, Left to Right, Irene Smith, Doreen Quire, Dolly Petch, June ?, Bottom Row, Left to Right, Charlie Jacobs, Helen Carden, Daisy Barnes, Joan (Bunny) Tokley, Gladys Carden. THE SAUSAGE LINKERS photo is shown below.
______________________________________________________________________ Peter Burrell writes, On 22nd December 2007 we staggered away from the Bromley High Street Kennedy's shop with 'half a hundredweight' of pork sausages, knowing that these were the last ones we would have. Last evening (17 July 2008) we ate the last of these - having rationed ourselves to one Kennedy's meal per week since December! I 'Googled' "Kennedy's sausages" and found your superb website, which is now on my Favourites list! Well done for keeping the memories alive - pity there's not a 'tasti-web' yet! Has anyone found a sausage maker to come anywhere near the Kennedy's taste? If so, I think ex-customers should be told! Alan Edwards replies, I don't know if you have tried KORKERS Sausages, they are made in Rolvenden in Kent. We used to buy them from our local Milkman. JONES DAIRY, PURLEY but as like everything else, the Dairy was taken over, firstly by Unigate several years ago, then Unigate was taken over by Dairy Crest and neither of those milkmen sold the sausages. Then a few months ago we were in a Garden Centre at POLHILL, near Knockholt, between Bromley and Sevenoaks in Kent and there was a whole freezer filled with an assortment of Korkers Sausages and Sausage meat. They have a similar texture and look to them and also taste almost as good, but that is our opinion, they are certainly the next best thing to Kennedys that we have found....so far. I have the name and address of Korkers if anyone is interested. KORKER SAUSAGES, BRANN'S DRIVE, HIGH STREET, ROLVENDEN, KENT, TN17 4LN. Tel: 01580 241307 ______________________________________________________________________ Anthony Warren writes, I do appreciate your tribute to Kennedys in your web pages. Well done, and very interesting. As lifelong consumers of those wonderful sausages were are very sad the business has closed. I suppose the family aren't interested and the buildings are worth a lot of dosh? But what have they done with the recipes? Do you know anything about any aftermath of the closure? Is there a campaign to re-establish the product? I for one would join it! ______________________________________________________________________ Eva Vladyka writes, It is amazing website with lovely pictures and sad memories of the Kennedy's departed business. My name is Eva Vladyka and I am second year student at Camberwell College of the Arts. I am not one of those lucky ones who could tried some of the beloved sausages but I think it is a big loss not to have butchers shops with such a character and originality. I am not big fan of supermarkets and online shopping so I decided that my last college project will be an installation piece to pay a tribute to the Kennedy's business and other departed small shops.In the website there is a list of the shops with some missing dates. For example when the Catford shop got closed and others as well. It would be a big help for me to have some more information about these dates. Please if anyone can help me, send me an email on this address gera1@centrum.cz Thanks a lot. ______________________________________________________________________ Brian Stanton writes, What a fantastic page, as to add to the other memories my grandfather John James Banfill used to work for Kennedy's (Peckham) he installed some plumbing and even installed and or serviced the ovens etc. My grandfather was born in 1901 and died in 1977. I think, so my Mum says that George Kennedy or Mr Kennedy (don't know if this may have been the original Mr Kennedy, too old maybe ??) came to his funeral, I was only a baby at the time, but everybody knew who this gentleman was. But yes as like everyone else you just cant find a banger like em or a shop like them, our favourite were the chipo's you just cant beat or find the taste anywhere. I remember as a baby my Mum mashing em down for me etc, no wonder im bigger than my Mum now :-) Sausage rolls and the sausage meat and xmas puddings at xmas were fantastic as well as the sausage meat for sarnies etc'. We did stock up but all gone now.... The site is great but sad at the same time, its a shame because they still seemed to be doing a roaring trade in the shops (there always seemed to be someone in there) Wonder if anybody has any recipes ????. If I was in the Butchers game I would make a bid for this etc. It's great to see somebody has taken the trouble to put this on the web. Good on you Alan !!!! .Thanks for the memories Kennedy's. Please re-open. ______________________________________________________________________ Julia Todd writes, I've just 'found' your tribute to Kennedy's Sausages website. Well actually I got the link from a newspaper article that someone sent me. I am the grand-daughter of John and Mary Ann Kennedy, who founded the business in 1877. Although I wasn't closely involved with the running of the business, I did work in the office there one summer in the late 1960s, so know a bit about it. Alex Kennedy Limited had 15 shops when I worked there. 14 are listed on your website, and the other one was at New Cross. Sorry, I have no idea what it's address was. The Rye Lane shops were at numbers 85 and 140. These were owned by John Kennedy Ltd. ______________________________________________________________________ Matthew Pavey writes, I was working at Bromley 1 (Market Sq) branch at closure on the 27 Oct and took some pics and also at Bromley 2 (11 High St) and have one pic of staff in the back room. Thought you might want the Bromley 1 pics as it was their flagship branch and you dont have much on your site for this branch. I worked for Kennedys on and off from Jan 1992 to the end working every branch except the two at Peckham. I forgot to mention that there were originally 2 Kennedy chains. A Kennedy and J Kennedy each with their own shops and factorys. It was family rivallry. Kennedy sausages only date back to 1904 having originally been trading in game and meat. J Kennedy can be seen on Camberwell branch although in later years this was an A.Kennedy shop. Kennedys also had fish shops one of which the signage can be seen on page 56 of the book Memories of Bromley and situated at 29 High St. Bromley. It may be worth you researching at Biggin Hill Airport as there is apparently a plaque to thank Kennedys for their food contributions during World War 2. The last of the genuine J Kennedy shops was Peckham Rye and took supplies from the A Kennedy factory. From memory the Peckham Road factory shop closed around 1993ish, Brixton I'm told went during the 1981 riots. Rye Lane branch which was J Kennedys I never saw or worked in but was closed around late 90s and Streatham at a similar time. There was a branch in Orpington which went in the 70s and I cant remember if it was Catford or Lewisham that had a branch bombed during the war. Penge branch was the only one with modern doors and front window frames as a car drove in around 1989ish time. I remember working at Penge shop during 1992 when an old fella about 90ish was telling me how he helped lay the lovely tiled floor as a teenage apprentice. ______________________________________________________________________ Kathy Cook writes, My great Grandmother started the family business in the 1890s by selling home made pies from her home front room. As it has always been a part of my life for a very long time I was also upset to see its demise. Unfortunately there were many factors that caused its closure, one being that there was nobody coming up in the family that was willing to take over. The present management did not wish to sell off to outsiders. As everyone else has already said they have no equal & will be particularly missed at Christmas time, along with their brilliant Christmas puddings! I liked your photo of the sausages cooking together with sound effects!. Kennedys was run as 2 separate concerns ?J. Kennedy & A. Kennedy. They sold exactly the same produce, the shops all looked exactly the same, but had been set up by 2 brothers in competition many years ago. The J. Kennedy side actually folded after my Fathers death in 1974. A. Kennedy has been run by my cousins. Both factories were in Peckham. I have been talking to various relatives & have confirmed a few more facts about Kennedys for you. ______________________________________________________________________ Kathy Cook adds You were right about one of the shops being bombed, it was the one at 166 Lewisham High Street . The other shops belonging to J. Kennedy Ltd were ; 85 & 140 Rye Lane Peckham - 20 Westow Hill Upper Norwood - 128 Rushey Green Catford - 1A Woolwich New Road - 278 High Street Orpington - In approximately 1897 there was a shop in Dartmouth Road Forest Hill that was only open for about 4 years. There were also 2 mobile shops for about 2 to 3 years in the 60s. A Kennedy Ltd had shops until recently in; Bromley Market Square and Bromley South - Beckenham High Street - Penge High Street - West Wickham High Street - Croydon - South Norwood - Camberwell Green - Walworth Road and Deptford. Other shops that were closed quite a long time ago were Peckham Rd.- New Cross - Brixton & Streatham. The other Kennedy factory (J.K.) was at Harders Road, Peckham. ______________________________________________________________________ Wayne Obee writes, Kennedys Sausages, 280 High St, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 1DY closed on the 24th March 2007 at 4pm. I don't mind you including my email address, so if there are any customers who wish to get in touch with me then they are more than welcome to as I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to all of them.. Wayne Obee branch Manager from June 2001 to March 2007. Lisa Foulds assistant Manager from December 2000 to March 2007. This is Wayne's wmail address : sausageboy1981@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________________________ Simon Evans writes, What a shock to only find out today that kennedys were no more. They were a staple when we were children, and as I was in the area it was my intention to pick up some sausages and some of their awesome pies... but alas they are no more. Is their any hope that someone out there worked in the factory, and can actually reveal their recipes so as we could try and attempt to recreate these gastronomic wonders, or if not indeed sell them 'home made'? ______________________________________________________________________ Ashton Foster writes, Just seen your Kennedy's Sausages page......Good on you!! My WHOLE family eats Kennedy's ...... 3 Generations worth....And we will for the next few months from the ones we have stored in the freezer!! Its a shame that I'm only 22 years old, and didnt get more time to eat them!!!!! I'm just hoping that the new place opening up in Bromley will be making some sausages in the back.......But I'm not holding my breath........Anyways, keep up the good work. KENNEDY'S FOREVER!!! ______________________________________________________________________ Tony Darby writes, I must admit to filling half my freezer with pork pies during their last few weeks trading. I should have enough for a year at two a month. Someone I know suggests putting some on Ebay, but I like the taste too much. ______________________________________________________________________ Alan Townsend writes, My wife and I were reminiscing about Kennedy produce today, we shopped at the Beckenham and Bromley branches, and knowing they had closed wondered if one could buy their products on the Internet, hence I came across your interesting and memory provoking website. My absolute favourite was the Kennedy pork pie; I have travelled the country and, indeed, the world and have never found a pork pie to match this succulent, spicy, moist, flavoursome and non-fatty pie. A little bit of my life was taken away from me when Kennedy closed - a bit like pie and mash shops that are today hard to find. ______________________________________________________________________ Malcolm Edwards writes, What a sad day, I must admit when I found the news out when visiting Bromley it brought a tear to my eye. Having been a fan since a baby this has been devastating news. But my family did celebrate this Christmas with the turkey stuffed with Kennedy's fabulous sausage meet, delicious. Also to add to the tales of woe no more saveloys and their truly wonderful Breakfast Sausage. Have you any other images of the Deptford High Shop it looks so sad as this was a pristine vibrant shop when I was a child and along with the brilliant market stalls, David Greggs and the most to die for bakers formed a huge list of memories of my childhood. I must thank you for setting up your website and do you think there is any chances of obtaining their recipes. ______________________________________________________________________ Pat Stevens writes, Enjoyed your pictures. Who would have thought you could get emotional over a sausage but my family were very sad at their departure. I think I felt even worse as I remember queuing up at their Deptford and New Cross Gate Shops when I was a teenager in the 1950's. and I felt very nostalgic about the 'good old days'. You had to go to different shops for different types of food, instead of under all one roof in the supermarkets nowadays. I believe the food was better then, certainly the sausages were. When I discovered the Kennedy shops were closing I posted the information on my football website and their were pages and pages of members' angst. I went to the West Wickham shop a couple of days before the final closure and stocked up the freezer. The queue was quite long and many people were buying large quantities and they also were very sad at the closure. One guy parted the queue to take photos of the stocked window. We thought he may have been from a local paper but he told us that the pics were purely for his own personal use. I wish I had thought to take my camera with me in order to savour happy memories. Pat(ricia) Stevens. ______________________________________________________________________ Chris Meredith, writes, I have been into your Kennedy's website, very mouthwatering especially the last breakfast! Like you I shall very much miss the shops. My first memory of the firm was the shop near Bromley South, when changing trains on my way home I used to nip up to the High Street to buy a box of broken biscuits! That was in the early seventies. Later when I moved to Streatham in 1973 I often bought some of their fine sausages for my evening meal and have continued to use their shops until the very final day on 22nd Dec last when I bought some pork sausages to store in the freezer. I shall include your website amongst my Favourites, when I feel the urge to get the gastric juices going I shall go in and have another look at the last breakfast!! ______________________________________________________________________ Paul Estathiou, writes, I was stunned to see the whole remaining chain of Kennedy's shut down, as I only found out on Xmas Eve when I visited the Walworth shop only to find it closed down. I remember as a boy in the early 60s being regularly sent by my Mum to by half a pound of her favourite pork chipolatas from the shop in Atlantic Road Brixton. Between 1978-81 I worked as a milkman for Express Dairies and delivered to the same shop in Atlantic Road where the Manager, who lived above the shop always had a full cooked breakfast waiting for me when I arrived a 6.00 each morning. It was one of their few shops that actually sold milk as well. I also delivered to the shop at the top of Railton Road in Herne Hill. In recent years we have regularly enjoyed their beef sausages and steak pies so we'll have to go a long way to find anything of comparable quality. It's truly the end of an era! Well done for putting this website up! |
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Website by Alan Edwards |
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