I remember that site as Palace Motors - and establishment that morphed into a car auction establishment with a very dodgy reputation indeed.
I have an idea that there had one been a fleapit Cinema called the 'Palace' on that site, but perhaps I've got that wrong. It was well gone by the time I arrived on the scene.
No different sites, image 1952 directory, for those who can't see it. Palace Cinema next to Trinity Methodist Church, corner of Canterbury Rd. Bob Simisters, corner of Nelson St.
Last edited by bert1; 12th Jun 202210:24am.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
I used to live in Nelson Rd In the 50s and I can assure you that Bob Simisters shop was on the corner. The Palace cinema which I used to go to was was further down New Chester rd towards Bedford rd
From what I remember of Palace Autos it occupied a site between Canterbury Road and Nelson Rod - they are only 50 metres apart I think Simisters had that site before them.
The palace cinema had long gone before I arrived in the area but I assumed from the name that it had been the original building on the site.
Electric Palace Theatre/Palace Autos/Autosafe/Rock Ferry Car Auctions etc was on the north side of Canterbury Road on the site of the old Methodist (Trinity) Chapel. There was a fair sized carpark on the southern side of the building adjoining Canterbury Road.
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
I vaguely recall a motorcycle establishment somewhere along there, presumably Simisters. Did that occupy the same site for a while or was it elsewhere?
I can't remember exactly where it was but I bought my first 'motorised transport' from him, a Lambretta LD150, in 1955, the year they came out. He had already registered it FCM55, presumably for publicity and this is the number in the advert, though it's not very distinct. It cost £140, I think, plus extras, screen, spare wheel and panniers. Happy days! Does the first floor frontage give a clue to the building?
I noticed this enquiry and can give you a great deal of information about Bob Simister Motorcycles, as I worked there in 1965/66. The company was run by Bob Simister, a very kindly, true gentleman, his son Rob and Rob's fiance Lyd (Lydia?). - I was a very junior trainee and I never appreciated the kindness the family gave to their staff. The business occupied a large converted corner Victorian house, (544? New Chester Road) over 4 floors, plus a cellar, small workshop at the back and there was a separate workshop, further up Nelson Road, behind the pub and a prefab storage building, filled with old British bikes, at the end of Nelson Road. The showroom had all the current bikes and scooters on sale - Triumph, Norton, Velocette, AJS, Matchless, Lambretta - new and used. There was also a showroom on the other corner of Nelson Road, with Sidecars and outfits. Saturdays were always busy, bikers coming from all over the north west and I had to run up and down all the flights of stairs, getting parts for these sadly unreliable bikes. The Japanese bikes, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, had only recently arrived in the UK and unfortunately, the supporters of all the old British bikes were reluctant to buy these newcomers, despite their vastly superior build quality, reliability and technical features. I never kept in touch with Simister's after I left and gather that the business gradually faded - I have no idea when the buildings were demolished, now it's just rows of identical houses - maybe there's tons of old British bike spares buried there..... similar to the classic BMC car parts which were buried in a pit at Victor Horsmans Speke showroom.....but that's another story!
