Former Grocery Store (111 Bentley Avenue)

Much of the land between Bentley Avenue and Downing Street along Glenfield Road was owned by the Douglas family. Bob Douglas worked for the Harbour Board and walked every day to the ferry terminal at Birkenhead to go to work. Their home was set back from the main road and encompassed several acres, but they did little farming and only raised a small flock of chicken. When the family first moved to the area, they experimented with cattle raising and growing strawberries, but neither occupation stuck. By the 1930s, Bob had retired from the Harbour Board and worked for the Witherford family tending sheep, fixing fences, and clearing tracks. His wife died in 1933 and Maria Jericevich, who lived next door, helped to keep Douglas’s property in tidy. Nonetheless, by 1950, most of the property was covered in scrub and bush except around the house.

In the 1950s, a Mr Bentley purchased the Douglas property, built a road along the side of it, and promptly subdivided the estate. One of the new owners was a Mr Beatt, who built the first commercial structures along the top of Bentley Avenue on the east side of Glenfield Road. Speedy Estate Agents and Land Developers were responsible for erecting the buildings in 1957. The first businesses were a stationery shop, which included a small private library, the Glenfield post office, a fruit and vegetable shop, a bakery, and a haberdashery. At the corner, Morrie Davies opened the community’s first 4 Square foodmarket. The next year, it was taken over by Keith and Dawn Lawson. In more recent years, it has hosted a BNZ bank and now is home to The Vape Shed, InnField Sports Bar, and Hair Master. A chemist and dentist now occupy the 1960s addition.

Turn left and continue south down Glenfield Road.