Village Shops
Today there is only one shop remaining in the village, which has existed for a long time, but in earlier years the village had many more.

Two of the old shops, Sarah Cherry's Cash Stores and the Bakery, are described on other pages in this website, At one time there were even two Bakeries in the village.

There is currently no Post Office in the village, the last one closing in the mid 1990s. This was sited in Lower Way opposite Cross End, the building still has a post box in the wall, although it is now painted white.

Before the Second World War this shop had been a shoe repairer's shop, and next to it (toward the Red Lion) was a garage from which lorries took milk from the village to Luton and London. At the back of the garage Mr Curtis ran a shop which sold electrical items and bicycles. Before the war a new bike could be bought here for about £3.00. This would be a great deal more at today's values, but it would seem it was the radios that were really expensive. A radio bought in 1947 cost almost £20.00 - or around five weeks wages. On the left is a copy of the receipt for a radio bought here.
A little further along Lower Way in the other direction, there was a haberdasher's shop which also sold children's clothes.
At the far end of Lower Way you will find another Old Post Office, opposite Church Lane. This was a busy shop at the beginning of the Twentieth Century right through until after the Second World War. In 1927 the Parish Council decided it was necessary to try and persuade the various tradesmen (and others!) to stop throwing their waste paper on the road outside the Church!

Reputedly, there was a third Post Office in Green End, and again a post box can be found on the road opposite the site. On very old maps there is yet another Post Office marked, in a property near the Dumcombe Arms
Horse and cart outside the old Post Office in Lower Way