About us

The shopping centre was new, only finished a few months before we opened. It was quite small. The largest shop was a Foodland supermarket, and there was also a café, a butcher, a fish and chip shop and a hairdresser.

The doctors' surgery was meant to be part of the new centre, but it postponed its opening until March 1979, and even then it was only part time. Business was very slow for the first 12 months.

Some of our suppliers saw Byford as the country, and we had trouble getting goods from many companies. It wasn't uncommon to be told their deliveries only went as far as Armadale.

We did get good support from the locals. Many Byford people had been waiting a long time for a pharmacy and were happy to support us just to help keep it open.

Byford in those days was a small residential area, some farmland (mainly dairy) and the Byford trotting complex. The population was probably about 2,000, and it's no exaggeration to say most people knew each other.

The shops were the typical general stores you still see in some country towns. Directly opposite the centre was a petrol station and general store, which is still there today. On our side of the road, the main general store later became the newsagent and post office, before it moved and the area was redeveloped. The site of the Byford Tavern was originally a garage, and later a veterinary supply shop.

Behind the shops was the railway line, and beyond that a farm with lots of cattle. I spent many a quiet afternoon watching the cattle on that farm. I still miss that Byford era.

— Keith Chapman, founder