Tag Archives: Shops

Eileen Smith: Shops 1920s, 1930s

In the town there were 27 shops, 1 fish and chip shop on the corner of South Street and Tennyson Road, 1 garage in Quay Street ( now the Pharmacy),  4 pubs and hotels and 2 chimney sweeps, Mr. Chambers and Mr. Holloway. There were 4 grocers shops – one in Station Road, Mr. Cook’s – later Mr. Burt’s -, one now called Sixpenny Corner owned by Mr. Barnett, Harry Mills in the Square, and Higginbothams. There were coupons given with Bourneville Cocoa and such like. My mother collected enough to get me a wooden pencil box at the Sixpenny Corner shop.
If you took an egg with you when you went to Batchelor’s for chips, they’d cook that for you too. Eileen Smith nee Lansdowne b 1921

Shops: Square 1930s with Harwoods van

Shops: Square 1930s with Harwoods van

Phil Kelsey, Palma Ault, Shops: St James Street. 1940s

Mrs  Brown’s was next to the chapel; she was a little old lady. She had this little front room and she sold all sorts of things, from buttons, to needles, to thread, to postcards, a proper little haberdashery turn out.
She used to shuffle through.  You went in, she was never there. Of course, some of them…, one nipper in particular, he used to get in there. He got caught in the end, rifling. She never had much money there ever, but there was always a bit of change in the till. Phil Kelsey b 1920

Mrs  Brown’s shop opposite the Church in St. James Street, sold cotton, tape and dolls with a china head and soft body.  She was always dressed in black and sold apples from her garden in the autumn.  Palma Ault nee Holloway 1927

Pat Burt: Shops, Station Road, Mr. Burt’s 1980s

Burt’s shop had 2 owners before Mr. Burt.    When we were early teenage, Mrs Cook kept the Station Road grocers, followed by Mr and Mrs Hannaford, followed by Mr Burt who moved here in 1949 ( his funeral  was 2 weeks ago, just short of his 100th).   It was through his brother, Jack (Mr. Burt in the Square) that he came down from London. Jack told him there was a business going  – he was doing greengrocery  on the mainland so he moved here.
Burt’s used to deliver out in the country, to Thorley.
Pat Burt nee Adams b 1929

Mr. Burt, outside Burts Station Rd

Mr. dudley Burt, outside Burts Station Rd:photo Christine Woodhead

We used to get a big bag of sweeties from Mr. Burt for 1d.
Janice Perkins nee Pomroy 1943

 

Jean Tiffin: Shops, Glasspool’s High Street, 1960s

 

My first job when I left school was at the Chemist (now Black Rock Insurance ) on the corner of South Street and the High Street.  In the morning the first thing I had to do was to clean the brass – brass door handles and brass scales.

On the wall were big sliding cupboards with alphabetical drawers –  A for Aspirin and R for Rennies. There were lovely glass display cupboards with glass tops, doors to the window displays and two big shaped bottles with green and red liquid in them. The door to the Dispensary was a glass- etched saloon type.

There was a nearly life- size cardboard cut out Kodak girl – we had a new one each year.

Glasspool's photo envelope

Glasspool’s photo envelope

Effie and I served in the shop wearing white ‘Alexandra’ overalls, and Mr Glasspool had a grey coat. We made tea in the dispensary and took it in turn to buy the biscuits.

The medicine bottles were kept in the air raid shelter in the garden and if it rained, water dripped off the light. We had a choice of colours to put with the bath crystals.

We sold Scholl sandals and shoe dye so I used to dye my sandals different colours to make them special. Jean Tiffin nee Ault b 1948

Blanche Kennard: Shops, High Street, and buses 1950s 1970s

Bus in High Street 1970s : photo John Golding

Bus in High Street 1970s : photo John Golding

The buses used to pass so close to the shop door at Higginbothams. One day when I was just paying for something at the counter, I let go of Colin’s hand, – he was only about 3 –  to get my money out, and he ran to the door. It was open and the bus was going past. I just grabbed him in time. Oh, it did give me a scare.
Blanche Kennard nee Dore b 1923

Pauline Harwood, Shops, High Street, Higginbothams 1940s

Mr Higginbotham the draper, he had a wooden leg.  If my grandmother was coming to tea, my Mum used to say, ‘I haven’t got a clean tablecloth. Go up Higgies and get one’, because they weren’t much.  We used to buy underwear up there and all sorts of things.  We used to go in the left to the drapery part, and there would be nobody there. Suddenly you would hear thump, thump, thump as he walked across. Pauline Harwood nee Hatch b 1930

 

Advertisement for Higginbothams

Advertisement for Higginbothams

Pat Burt, Annette Haynes, Shops, Higginbothams 1950s

Higginbotham's now Marlborough House, dentists.

Higginbotham’s now Marlborough House, dentist’s.

Then there was Higginbothams shop; half was a drapers and half was a grocers.  He had a wooden leg, Mr Higginbotham the draper, Tim’s grandfather.  I used to go in there and buy cotton. You could buy material, all sorts, it was amazing what they kept in there.   Higginbothams was up the top where the dentist is now, in Marlborough House.
Pat Burt nee Adams and Annette Haynes nee Holloway b 1929

 

Pauline Hatch, Palma Holloway, Shops, High Street, Westons, 1950s

It was awful if your radio was packing up. W e used to go to Weston’s and get our accumulator. They didn’t charge much and if you were lucky you had two, so you took one out and put the other in.  We used to listen to ‘Take it from Here’ and things like that.
Pauline Harwood nee Hatch b 1930

When our accumulators were charged up at Weston’s shop, they were put on the shelf  waiting to be collected. You had to put your name on them. Palma Ault nee Holloway

Brian Pomroy, Shops: High Street, Westons 1950s

After Harwoods you had Pack and Cullifords, then Malcolm Mallett in Ablitts Butchers. Hopkins had a little café, then Whitewoods, then next door was George Weston. George did everything there, bikes, radios, paraffin. On a Friday we used to carry our batteries to George’s shop to get them charged up so we could listen to ‘Dick Barton Special Agent’ on a Saturday.  We didn’t have electricity, only gas.
Brian Pomroy b 1937

Margaret Lawry: Shops, High Street, Ablitt’s 1960s

Ablitt's the Butchers, High Street

Ablitt’s the Butchers, 1990s photo from Jane Blake

I worked at Ablitts on Saturday mornings and in the summer holidays in the 60s.    Mollie and Malcolm Mallett owned the business. Jim Smith, the butcher, and Phyl Hardy the cashier worked there too.  Jim always used to call you ‘My Gal.’ Vertically next to photo)

I used to cut up meat and make mince in a big mincing machine, and make sausages. Depending on which sausages we were making, I used to cut up various pieces of pork or beef and add secret ingredients and mix it all up by hand in a big metal bowl. With one hand I then put it in the machine and pushed it through with a wooden plunger, and caught it in the skin with my other hand.  I then plaited up the sausages and hoped 8 sausages weighed 1lb.

I used to deliver meat around the town carrying a big wicker basket, and remember a lovely housebound lady always gave me 6d tip.  I also delivered to Longs Wharf and Yew Trees when it was a hotel.  Mollie delivered meat by van out in the country.

Jim used to put sawdust on the butcher’s block at the end of the day and scrub it with a metal brush. That made a lovely noise and it would look like new again.

I always went home with sawdust on my shoes as the floor was covered in it, but Mum was used to it as Dad was a carpenter, and she’d worked in Ablitts when she left school in 1936.
M.S. b 1949