229 - Victoria Wines
and various greengrocers


The Victoria Wine outlet was a high profile Church Road shop in its day. In the late 1960s Victoria Wine -Tylers Ltd (then part of the Allied Breweries group) was one of Britains largest high street wine chains. The Company had numerous shops throughout Bristol and the Redfield branch at No.229 was right at the heart of Church Road.

The actual building was part of a rank constructed in the late 19th Century, at a time when Redfield and St George were rapidly expanding. In 1900 Mr Samuel Stone was established at this location, trading as a general shopkeeper. By 1918 J.C. Kilmister, undertakers were using the shop. This firm also operated from Queen Anne Road, Barton Hill. Ten years later history records that Mr Ernie Jones had moved into No.229; he was a pork butcher. At the end of the 1930s Mr Jones had vacated the shop and the firm of E. A. Mitchell Limited took over.

Picture E.A. Mitchell's business was wine and spirits and soon their Church Road shop became a familiar part of the Road's shopping landscape. At the end of the 1950s, E.A. Mitchell Ltd was acquired by the Victoria Wine Co. Ltd and the Church Road shop was renamed. The late '60s and the early 1970s saw the popularity of wine increase markedly. It was notable that the Tesco store just along Church Road had a wine section from its earliest days.

By the mid 1970s, No.229 was known as The Wine Market. It seems that Wine Market Ltd was an associated company of the Victoria Wine Co. When did The Wine Market close on Church Road? It is not clear but probably c1982. From this point onwards the shop became associated with the sale of fruit and vegetables.

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When the Wine Market closed, Stokes moved their fruit and vegetable store from 126 Church Road (next to Windmill's Newsagents) into 229 Church Road. At that time Stokes had a number of shops in Bristol and Bath.

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Around 1995, Rogers & Harris, who were also greengrocers, relocated to No.229 from 207 Church Road which was next to Moreton's the butchers. Rogers and Harris had traded at 207 since the early 1960s.

Picture Picture






A new decade and a new greengrocers arrived at No.229. This was Stella's Fruit & Veg, they moved in during 2004.

Picture In 2010 another greengrocers called Dig In took over 229 Church Road but it too closed in 2016.




Picture
2005: STELLA'S fruit and veg, the fourth shop from the right.


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