7:40am Saturday 4th September 2010
By Mike Didymus
A much-loved greengrocer who spent years delivering fruit and veg on his horse and cart has died of a heart attack aged 76.
Gordon Boxall spent six decades working out of the shop his family opened in Lower Addiscombe Road in 1829, making deliveries throughout Addiscombe, West Wickham and Addington with a succession of trusty steeds.
A fixture of Surrey Street market over the years, the hugely popular figure also exhibited horses across the country before he was badly injured when a car crashed through the front of his store in 1986.
His daughter Shannon Boxall, who lives in Shirley, said: “He was such a character, and everyone in the neighbourhood and at Surrey Street used to know him.
“He handed over the business to my sister about 10 years ago, but he still carried on - he used to tell her what to do and couldn’t let go.
“All our family were greengrocers and florists, it’s a very old family tradition and it’s all he’d ever known.
“He loved horses and only stopped using the horse and cart in about 1972 when his mum died, because he needed to spend more time in the shop.
“He was forever losing his keys though, and he used to say to us ‘you didn’t have this problem with a horse and cart’.”
Miss Boxall said her father learnt the trade while helping his dad Ted deliver produce while bombs rained on Croydon during the Blitz.
She said: “He was only 12 at the most, and he had the fruit and veg scoop on his head because he thought it would protect him from the bombs.
“People used to ask them into their air-raid shelters while they were on their rounds, but he used to say no and would stay with the horses because they were frightened.
“It didn’t matter that the bombs were dropping, they still went out to their customers.
“They had to make a living, but they were more worried about the horses than they were about themselves.”
Mr Boxall moved to Eastbourne with his new partner in 1999, but still made twice-weekly trips to Croydon to visit the shop.
He died at home of a heart attack on August 20 while watching television in his front room.
The funeral is due to be held at Croydon Parish Church on September 6, before Mr Boxall is taken by Rowland Brothers International to be buried with his wife Maureen at Bandon Hill Cemetery, Wallington.
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