Following on from the photo posted here, I just remembered that the Pie & Mash shop on the opposite side of the road from Lewins (Manzies) had some competition in the 1960's, when the photo was taken. About a 100 metres up from the photo towards Bricklayers Arms in the same street, there was Joyce's Pie & Mash Shop. Imagine two pie shops in the same street!
Joyce's was a a family owned shop and was the favourite P&M shop for Tommy Steele the rock and roll singer, who was born locally in Bermondsey. He was probably the first of the early rockers along with Wee Willie Harris and Terry Dene who all lived nearby. If you're thinking what's all this to do with fashion and mods.......well, Wee Willie Harris used to dye his hair all different colours long before the mod (silver spray tinting at front of parting in hair) and punk era. At the further end of this photo was The Trocette Cinema and behind that, Bermondsey Market. Opposite Joyce's was the Hartley's Jam Factory, not sure when it closed..
Much of the chrome work on the Vespa's was usually made by Vigano or Ulma in Italy and inported by a very small shop in a passageway in Soho ,Newman Passage. The owner Mr. Nannucci (spelling?) was held in high esteem by the mods who 'lived' in Soho at the clubs and he is still alive today and living on the south coast. There's a lot to be said for the choice of transport that the mods used and I know its all been detailed before. Just to add that people like Nannucci had a real 'feel' for these machines and tastefully decked them them out with some flair. The French also had their influences, and where Nannucci accessorised them, Andre Baldet set about spraying them, retaining the hallmark silver grey GS trademark with aftermarket metallic spays. Sadly few of these examples exist to date.Baldet was a real pioneer and raced vespas at the Isle Of Man rallies etc.
