W H Smith's station bookstalls

[1978]

I grew up in another northern city where our local suburban station had a branch of W H Smith's selling newspapers, tobacco, and had a subscription library until at least the mid-1960s. They delivered papers locally.

 

There was a similar kiosk at Dore & Totley in the 1930s and it can be seen in the postcard at the bottom left of this webpage; http://www.fodats.net/html/history.html

 

Postcards were bought by travellers to send home to confirm arrival, phones being a very rare object in most homes, and very expensive to use even if installed.

 

Can anyone remember using the Smith's at Dore &Totley? What was it like? Did any of the other suburban stations have a similar kiosk?

 

Maybe old directories can confirm how long they survived?

[Person6]

My memories of the Sheffield suburban stations are dim but in the early 1960's I remember them as rather bleak places and can't remember any on the Midland Line south of Sheffield having functioning news stalls but I may be wrong. I remember the goods office at Beauchief station being open and the coal merchants at Millhouses but little else other than the booking offices. I still have a number of railway locomotive postcards bought at various W.H. Smith kiosks around the country in the sixties.