Until the 1800s Kings Road and New Kings Road were exclusively used as private roads by the kings and queens of England. Ordinary citizens wishing to travel  to Parsons Green and beyond had to use Fulham Road.

By the start of the 20th Century as travellers switched from horse drawn to motorised vehicles and traffic volumes substancially increased, the need to improve New Kings Road became apparent. New Kings Road was resurfaced and widened in 1929 at the junction with Harwood Road. Measures to improve traffic flows in more recent times have included the diversion of the Fulham Broadway bound number 11 bus into Waterford Road from its former route into Harwood Road. Many of us returning from Chelsea or Central London prefered to take the number 22 bus as it left us nearer to Wandsworth Bridge Road.

New Kings Road stretches from Waterford Road in the east and merges with Fulham Road near Putney Bridge in the west- a distance of about one and a half miles.  Much of the road is bordered by Eelbrook Common and there many varieties of trees, providing colour and shade. It also has splendid examples of late Victorian/early Edwardian housing and architecture, including the Duke of Cumberland public house and South Fulham Constitutional Club buildings.

Sands End residents regularly cross New Kings Road when accessing or leaving Eelbrook Common- a popular thoroughfare to and from Fulham Broadway. The familiar clock which was originally above Rayner's opticians is still there, although the shop below it is now called Harvey Jones (2007). And there are still many shops on both sides of the Road, although most have changed hands over the years.

The 1970 Post Office Directory listed the following shops between Bagleys Lane and Wandsworth Bridge Road:

Russell Hill & Fabert & Co Newsagents, Greig Launderette, Tesco Supermarket, Thresher's Wine Merchants, Rayner & Keeler Opticians (formerly George Spiller), Green's Pharmacy, Shell's Bakery, Telestar TV Rentals, Unwin's Off Licence.

                              1970s                                                                                          2007

The businesses on the Eelbrook side in 1970 (starting near the corner of Harwood Road) were:

Britannic Employment Agency, Brinsley Insurance Brokers, Shell Greengrocers (formerly Joseph Childs), King's Butchers, Ceglowski & Walczak grocers, Wons Cafe (formerly Patelou's) and Roberts ladies Hairdressers (formerly Lesley's).

Erica Gregory nee Morris, who lived nearby, remembers the newsagents/sweet shop on the corner of Bagleys Lane and New Kings Road.

"It was run by an Armenian or Macedonian man called Alex. We all loved him and he was still there in the early 80s when I visited to show my children where I grew up. He remembered us all and was pleased that I had married a Gregory as he said that was a name from his home country."

Isabel Czucha, a schoolgirl during the early 1970s, worked in the shop all day on Saturdays and on Sunday mornings for which she was paid £3 a week. Isabel says it was called Fabert and the owner Alec was "quite a character."

Isabel Czucha photographed at Fabert during 1970s.

"He would literally jump over the counter to confront anyone he suspected of shop lifting. He had a stick or club to defend himself with. I think he moved into a house near the Duke of Cumberland when he retired. I don't know if he is still alive."

Madeleine Lyons nee Williams and her sister, who lived in Pearscroft Court, both had paper rounds there. "We had to be in the shop at 6 a.m. and got 10 shillings (50p) a week."

Francis Czucha, whose family lived off Wandsworth Bridge Road, says his father used to visit the Polish delicatessen on the Eelbrook side of New Kings Road:

"He'd buy a 'ring of Polish sausage' from there once a week and it would last us a few days. We also had an uncut loaf to make sandwiches, gerkins and a delicious blackberry jam which were sold under the Polish trade name Krakus."

Erica Gregory worked in the 'Polish shop' in the mid sixties during school holidays and on Saturdays; "I remember the owner gave me some Polish Pure Spirit as a gift - I was 16 or 17 but he said I was not to tell him my age!"