Banstead Village

Banstead Village

This colour-tinted postcard, postmarked 31 December 1906, is of the eastern end of Banstead High Street, and local males of various ages seem captivated by the relatively unusual sight of a photographer. We see, on the left (and to the left of the horse manure in the street!), a man resting on his bicycle, and behind him are two parked cycles leaning on the fence. In the centre is a bowler-hatted man resting on his horse-driven cart, and beside him holding the reins is a boy of perhaps 10 or 12.
Behind this is a covered cart advertising Hovis Bread, and in the distance, watching the cameraman at work, is another boy. On the right of the postcard, behind the wall, is the Tonge emporium – a family grocery business and sub-post office owned by James Tonge until his death in 1908. The business was taken over by his wife Betsy, who ran it until she died in 1924.