Albert Road's H&E King - the Southsea sweet shop that stayed open for theatre-goers and late-night drinkers

And one in particular may hold a fond place in the memory - the H&E King sweet shop that used to stand there.

It was a classic traditional sweet shop, but with a difference - it used to open to cater for visitors to the Kings and, by extension, for drinkers in Albert Road, making it one of the few areas of the country where you could enjoy a few pints and then get a bag of sherbet lemons to enjoy for the walk home.

Ray King, who took over the family business, died in July 2016, and people lined Southsea’s Albert Road to see off his hearse as it made its way to Portchester Crematorium. He was 87, and died in the flat above the shop. Speaking at the time, Andy Searson, who led the service, said: “He was a very pleasant man. He had a small but very valued circle of friends, but at the same time he was one of the most well-known men in Portsmouth.”

His family had owned the shop for more than a century. It had been a newsagents until Ray’s mother died and he turned into a sweet shop. The family – Ray’s mum and dad plus his twin brother Jeffrey – originally lived in Locksway Road, before moving to the flat above the shop.

During the funeral service memories were shared about Ray’s love of draughts, of trips to the Good Companion pub in Milton, and of the love of his life Marian, who died after they had been together 20 years. It ended with the theme tune from Dad’s Army - a little joke about Ray’s love of telling stories from the war.