Does anyone have any memories of the old shops that were more than shops they were a part of everyday life in the old days.

They had different smells, foods and most of them had characters working in them as well as each shop having a character of its own.

In some, the range of products was staggering.

In most of them you could 'run up a bill' without any extra charge and often the relationship between customer and shopkeeper was special as they soon learned how to please by saving or buying in goods for the customer.

Have you any stories or memories of these, long gone places.

Happy Days!

i remember when longley shopping centre was just that coop/ coopbutchers shop gilvrays butchers mrs hicks hardware shop 2 chippies and lots more its a lot lot different now happy days indeed.

I remember Woodhouse co-op always reeked of 'off' bacon, strong cheese and kerosine. We had a couple of small beer-offs, one was Bernard Newbould's, a lovely bloke. When he served you he always said "And the next please." quite flummoxed me the first time I went into the shop, I only wanted a loaf!

Spent the first 25 years of my life living in 3 corner shops. Every time we moved it was because of compulsary purchase, but although they replaced the old buildings with new housing, they never replaced the shops.

They were run by my Nan who, looking back, (she has been dead 27 years now) was a hell of character, and must have been feared by some of the customers she 'served' - a true bossy matriarch if ever there was one - for those of you with long enough memories, think of a tiny Ena Sharples, including the hair net.

They were all grocery with alcohol licenses (to be consumed off the premises) so they were all 'beer offs', or corner shop, or named after the owner, in our case 'Nellie's'

The first shop I remember (mid 50's) had beer pumps and I vaguely recall the housewives coming in with all manner of receptacles to have a pint or two for 'the old man' waiting for him to come home.

That shop also served loose biscuits from a range of tins with glass tops arranged a bit like the pick and mix sweets nowadays. There was always a tin full of broken biscuits which were sold cheap/or given to kids if they looked like going a little stale.

We also sold butter 'loose' - it came in huge slabs and Dad used to portion it into 2 or 4 ounce packets using wooden pats - sugar was served the same way, but always in blue paper bags I recall - and of course sweets from large glass bottle - or the 'penny tray' where you could pick chews (black jacks) liqourice etc for a ha'penny or a penny.


My nan, who owned the shops, always ran 'clubs' eg christmas clubs, firework clubs. etc. - customers were given a card on which was entered the amount they were putting in each week, which they could obviously cash when the event they had been saving for came close .

The last shop we had which my Nan took over in the late 60's also used to deliver weekly orders on a saturday. My Dad and me spent all Saturday morning filling boxes with peoples orders and Saturday afternoons delivering them - mainly to the old or infirm who couldnt get out and about much although some of the orders were massive and delivered simply because people didnt have transport.

Nan did offer 'tick' ie credit, but this was very very stictly controlled - only to those who she knew really well and never beyond the next payday.

The shops all opened early (back in the 50's this was 6 o'clock to catch the workers - wanting their fags or 'somat for packin up' - and without exception did not close until 10:00 in the evening, seven days a week. the only exception being Sundays which, by law, meant Nan could only open licensing hours 12-2, 7-10.

It's testimony to another generation's work ethic that she ran those shops up until her early 80's when the family insisted she finally retire.

As to other shops I remember when I was young - the one that brings back the most memories for me for aromas was Melia's on the corner of Meadow Street and St Phillips road - incredible smell of meats - cooked and raw

Docmel

What memories you have, good on yer to share them.

Happy Days!

Docmel
you could almost have been describing my childhood.
I too was brought up in one "beer off" and one corner shop and my memories are almost identical to yours.
I recall the old ladies with a gill of beer and kids coming in with an empty bottle to be filled with beer for their parents, this bottle when filled had a paper sticker/seal placed over the stopper to show it had not been opened.
I was allowed to make myself the occasional shandy for myself from a very early age.
Must have been fairly close to your nans as we orginally were off St. Philips road on Fawcett Street.

I was born on Low Road, at Woodland View (just up the hill from Malin Bridge). The row of 12 houses - demolished in 1964 - was affectionately known as the “mucky dozen” and No 55 was Mrs Marsh’s shop. The kind-hearted Mary Marsh was a real character; a staunch Christian Scientist, she died aged 97 in 1975. She would sell you anything from Quaker oats to razor blades, from bundles of firewood to a pound of bananas, from Seidlitz powders to bottles of sterilised milk. She would allow short-term “tick” to people she knew. My godfather was a German p.o.w. from Lodge Moor camp (by the time I put in an appearance in 1948 he was a good friend of the family) and whenever I visited him in Stuttgart he would mention Mrs Marsh’s shop and how amazed he was at the range of goods that she sold. She opened long hours, but in case of urgent need you could also go to the back door when the shop was closed. Nearby on Stannington Road was Loosemore’s “beer off” shop where you could go for gill of beer or a drop of the hard stuff. Arnold Loosemore (son of a First World War V.C. hero of the same name) also sold hardware and bedding plants that he grew himself. All this seems a world away from how things are today.

i remember when longley shopping centre was just that coop/ coopbutchers shop gilvrays butchers mrs hicks hardware shop 2 chippies and lots more its a lot lot different now happy days indeed.

Also in Longley shopping centre, does anyone remember Ken Fish barber shop.
He only had comb, scissors and mechanical shears which werent very good and would tear chunks of your hair out. I can still feel the pain when I think about it.

Hi PopT,
Remember Mrs Yates sweet shop on Penistone Rd.
During the period of rationing she would make here own Easter Eggs by melting chocolate and using her own moulds, but only if you had enough coupons.
We had more coupons than money so we would give them to Mrs Yates in return for a bit of Marry-me-quick

but also remember the war rations for the O.A.Ps 2oz of everything tea butter, sugar etc the tiny little box that was pushed across the counter would not feed a mouse let alone a person for a week,we was a little better off coming from a lg family but even at that young age my heart would bleed for them.My bother & i knew where all the WILD chickens roosted so many the time we came home with a couple ,into the pot & no questions asked,with apple dumpling for pud yum yum .

Docmel
you could almost have been describing my childhood.
I too was brought up in one "beer off" and one corner shop and my memories are almost identical to yours.
I Must have been fairly close to your nans as we orginally were off St. Philips road on Fawcett Street.


We were on St Philips Road diagonally opposite the White Hart pub. I was born into that shop in 1953 and we left about 62/63 to move up to Crookesmoor Road.

We were on St Philips Road diagonally opposite the White Hart pub. I was born into that shop in 1953 and we left about 62/63 to move up to Crookesmoor Road.

A bit younger than me then Docmel, I was born in 47 and we were moved in 59 when they did the slum clearances.

We moved to a corner shop near Sharrow Lane where I lived till I married in 72

I started work in 1960 at the co.op on Bramley Park Road Handsworth and we had to remember the price of everything that we sold. No cash registers or anything to do the addition for you just a piece of paper and a pencil that used to turn purple when you licked it or which turned your overalls purple when you left it in the pocket when you washed them.We used to get sacks of sugar to weigh into bags butter to cut into 4 or 8 oz blocks, and we had to bone and slice bacon as required. no wonder when I got home on a friday night I was shattered as the bacon slicer was kept in a room upstairs and everybody used to have bacon on fridays ready for the weekend.:nod:

Does anyone have any memories of the old shops that were more than shops they were a part of everyday life in the old days.

They had different smells, foods and most of them had characters working in them as well as each shop having a character of its own.

In some, the range of products was staggering.

In most of them you could 'run up a bill' without any extra charge and often the relationship between customer and shopkeeper was special as they soon learned how to please by saving or buying in goods for the customer.

Have you any stories or memories of these, long gone places.

Happy Days!
Snap! I used to live behind/above a shop.

'' Goods may be laid away ''. I've not seen that notice for 30 years.

do any of you remember brunts little shop just off the shops on mosborough high street?
they sold parafin and hardware goods., even bonfire toffee lollies all year round!!

My goodness, yes, I remember Brunt's shop. My grandparents lived nearby, and Grandad used to send me there for paraffin - he used it in his greenhouse to keep his tomato plants warm. And the bonfire toffee lollies were delicious - haven't seen any in donkey's years...

I was born on Low Road, at Woodland View (just up the hill from Malin Bridge). The row of 12 houses - demolished in 1964 - was affectionately known as the “mucky dozen” and No 55 was Mrs Marsh’s shop. The kind-hearted Mary Marsh was a real character; a staunch Christian Scientist, she died aged 97 in 1975. She would sell you anything from Quaker oats to razor blades, from bundles of firewood to a pound of bananas, from Seidlitz powders to bottles of sterilised milk. She would allow short-term “tick” to people she knew. My godfather was a German p.o.w. from Lodge Moor camp (by the time I put in an appearance in 1948 he was a good friend of the family) and whenever I visited him in Stuttgart he would mention Mrs Marsh’s shop and how amazed he was at the range of goods that she sold. She opened long hours, but in case of urgent need you could also go to the back door when the shop was closed. Nearby on Stannington Road was Loosemore’s “beer off” shop where you could go for gill of beer or a drop of the hard stuff. Arnold Loosemore (son of a First World War V.C. hero of the same name) also sold hardware and bedding plants that he grew himself. All this seems a world away from how things are today.

you must also remember lillys corner shop on malin rd?

Yes, I remember Lilly's well - one of many corner shops that sadly are no more. In fact Malin Bridge is a shadow of its former self regarding shops - one reason being that parking is so difficult. In about 1960 there was Daubney's cafe and drink shop, a tobacconist's (they would give you empty tobacco tins to keep your dinky toys in etc.), Harley Mann's wet fish shop (with his fish & chip shop next door), a post office, newsagent, butcher's (owned by Gordon Edy - an ex-wartime bomber pilot who later bought the post office), a blacksmith, Bowater's housewares & clothes shop and even a bank (National Provincial). Now many of the shops are empty; even the convenience store round the corner closed a couple of years ago, and the post office is long gone. At least the pubs have survived - the Anvil, Yew Tree and Malin Bridge Inn.

McAteers at the corner of Tillotson road Heeley was a great shop it had everything you needed in it.I wonder if it is still there or did it get knocked down with the rest of Heeley.

My (late) father used to bring the groceries home on a Friday night in a large cardboard box, all bought across the road from his (now our) business on Barber Road, Walkley. The shop was known as Betty's and I used to help my mum empty the box (and usually make a bee-line for the Chocolate Finger biscuits).

Other shopping was done locally, which was either down in Hangingwater or up in Ranmoor (I'm somewhere in the mid-to-late 1970s here). These latter shops stayed the same for what seemed a lifetime. You knew the name of every proprietor and they knew your name.

The parade of shops, from the Bull's Head to the Ranmoor Inn was something like this:-

Harrison's - Butcher (used to have a Help the Blind plastic blind-dog where you could insert a penny into its head! And I also recall a Spastics' Society donation box).

Post Office with post pillar bang outside.

Newsagent. All these shops had stone, speckled flooring.

Co-Op (which became one of the best toy shops in Sheffield, Toy Fayre). The Co-Op had two doors and also two cashier points where you'd slip your wire basket into a tray on the end of the counter.

Chemist - which is the same today. Still has that same wonderful smell. I used to buy Horlicks sweets from here!

Grainger's - Off-licence. At some point they had a massive chest freezer in the back where you could go & buy enormous tubs of (proper) ice-cream. I've enever worked out why a beer-off would be selling ice-cream! The sign on front of the shop said 'A day without wine is like a day without sunshine'.

Broughton's delicatessen. Always had a biscuity, bready smell. My mum always went into this shop and for some reason I didn't like going in there. (That's definitely not the case today; it's West 10 wine bar!!)

Then there was Alan Howson, another butcher (my mum preferred Harrison's), Bell's fruit shop - it smelled so fresh and the staff were wonderful to me (well, even I was cute when I was young). Recall golden delicious apples being bagged up in brown bags (imperial weights of course).

My memory gets the better of me at this point but I know amongst the remaining shops there was a Midland Bank, Butler's barber shop (does he qualify as another butcher?!!). Mum used to take me and my brother to Butler's. I used to find the chair amusing which could be pedal-pumped to a suitable height. When you were let down it would spin round. There was a hatch in the floor where all the cut hair would be brushed down.

There was also a leather/cobbler's shop at the very end.

Every shop was owned by a character (no faceless wonders here) who respected your custom. They sold excellent produce, provided great service.

Those days I'm sure, are gone for good.

A bit younger than me then Docmel, I was born in 47 and we were moved in 59 when they did the slum clearances.

We moved to a corner shop near Sharrow Lane where I lived till I married in 72
Which shop would that be? I lived sharrow Lane from 53 to 70 must have been in it a few times .

Absolutely no idea what is there now but in the 60's there was a Co-Op on Sheldon Road by the Nether Edge (8/9) bus stop. I think it then became Gowers and Burgons? Then there was Orme's on the bottom left-hand corner coming down Netheredge Road with Payne's sweet shop on the opposite corner.

Which shop would that be? I lived sharrow Lane from 53 to 70 must have been in it a few times .

Wasn't exactly in Sharrow Lane but on the corner of Mackenzie Street and Langdon Street.

What about the massive infrastructure of wholesalers that supported all the little shops. The two that spring to mind are Nichols (?) and John Wraggs. Wraggs used to occupy a huge site near Devonshire Green. They supplied eggs, bacon etc., much of which was produced in the surrouding district and collected by them. The Nichol's building still stands on West Bar, I don't think anything remains of Wraggs. An army of reps would call on all the little shops and take their orders.

The abolition of RPM, really sounded the death knell for the corner shop and all that went with it.

i remember woodcocks corner shop in the square in ecclesfeild and we used to have an old co-op across the road from the indian resterant in ecclesfeild centre were the bank is now . this was late seventys

My aunt had a shop on Attercliffe Common (611 between Warden Street and Mons Street) As I recall she sold mostly sweets, or spice as she called them, and tobacco along with odds and ends such as pencils - "it is said" I nearly lost the sight in one eye from climbing up to reach them on a high shelf! My aunt said she could tell what the men folk usually wanted just by looking at them - stained moustaches meant they wanted snuff, brown teeth chewing tobacco and stained fingers cigarettes! She sold up and moved to Aston before the area was flattened. She lived to the ripe old age of 102.
When I think of smells I will never forget the smell of leather from the hours I spent with Donald Goudge the cobbler who's shop was two doors up. He sat in the back room mostly making clogs. He made a pair of green leather clogs for me when I was just a baby - about 12 months old - they are still in the family being looked after by my last surviving aunt who lives in Tinsley

Absolutely no idea what is there now but in the 60's there was a Co-Op on Sheldon Road by the Nether Edge (8/9) bus stop. I think it then became Gowers and Burgons? Then there was Orme's on the bottom left-hand corner coming down Netheredge Road with Payne's sweet shop on the opposite corner.The little co-op shop was called Krazy Kuts i worked there it was next door to gowers and burgins.

The little co-op shop was called Krazy Kuts i worked there it was next door to gowers and burgins.

What year would that be Thai, Krazy Kuts? I remember them now as two separate shops; the Co-Op and then G&B above it nearer Netheredge Road.

Does anyone remember Beck's Stores - a provisions and off-licence on Netheredge Road, certainly in the 50's and early 60's? Bob Beck was the owner, he had a swelling on his forehead. His assistants were adult twins whose name was Newbould, one of them called Eric. The shop was just above Nether Edge dance hall, on the opposite side of the road, in the days when there was a bowling green adjacent to the Brincliffe Oaks Hotel - replaced by apartments in the late 60's.

Its becoming less commonplace to be able to lay on goods, but ive been able to in quite a few shops in sheffield, still some and quite a few icreammen, the breadmen did lay ons but I haven't seen them for nearly a decade.
I would rather go to a shop run by a person for themselves rather than one run by a company.

The old Co-op at Ecclesfield used to smell of old cheese, and there was sawdust on the floor. In the Barnsley British Co-op at Station Road, Chapeltown, there was an assistant whose tongue was nearly always blue. This was because she wrote the small receipts (the ones used for working out how much 'Divi' you got) with a blue indelible pencil and put it in her mouth to wet it as it worked better that way. After all these years I still remember my Mum's Pass Numbers, as I used to go to both Co-Ops for her, on by push bike. Brightside and Carbrook was 59275 - Barnsley British was 17882.

So do I remember my Woodhouse Co-op number 78978. When I left England in '74 I still had 7/6 in my co-op book, wonder if I could still claim it 33years on?

What year would that be Thai, Krazy Kuts? I remember them now as two separate shops; the Co-Op and then G&B above it nearer Netheredge Road.

Does anyone remember Beck's Stores - a provisions and off-licence on Netheredge Road, certainly in the 50's and early 60's? Bob Beck was the owner, he had a swelling on his forehead. His assistants were adult twins whose name was Newbould, one of them called Eric. The shop was just above Nether Edge dance hall, on the opposite side of the road, in the days when there was a bowling green adjacent to the Brincliffe Oaks Hotel - replaced by apartments in the late 60's.
Itwould have been 69,then moved to larger co-op at the bottom of Ecallsall Rd .Dont remember Becks stores though.

I started work in 1960 at the co.op on Bramley Park Road Handsworth and we had to remember the price of everything that we sold. No cash registers or anything to do the addition for you just a piece of paper and a pencil that used to turn purple when you licked it or which turned your overalls purple when you left it in the pocket when you washed them.We used to get sacks of sugar to weigh into bags butter to cut into 4 or 8 oz blocks, and we had to bone and slice bacon as required. no wonder when I got home on a friday night I was shattered as the bacon slicer was kept in a room upstairs and everybody used to have bacon on fridays ready for the weekend.:nod:

Like yourself, I started work at the co-op in 1959 when we had to use our brain power. I'm sure you remember not only the sacks of sugar which we had to weigh but also the oatmeal, sago and sultanas even baking soda sometimes. Of course lard came in big blocks as well as the hundredweight casks of butter which all had to be weighed, sometimes into 2 ounces pieces for the old age pensioners. The old people were treated with respect and were walked home by the young workers if the need was there. We made our own bags from greasproof paper to weigh an ounce of tobacco or yeast.
Last but certainly not least, there were the cash carrierers that zoomed around above our heads all day long, sometimes containing unmentionables as a joke.

What about the massive infrastructure of wholesalers that supported all the little shops. The two that spring to mind are Nichols (?) and John Wraggs. Wraggs used to occupy a huge site near Devonshire Green. They supplied eggs, bacon etc., much of which was produced in the surrouding district and collected by them. The Nichol's building still stands on West Bar, I don't think anything remains of Wraggs. An army of reps would call on all the little shops and take their orders.

The abolition of RPM, really sounded the death knell for the corner shop and all that went with it.Wraggs is still going but its just the factorywhere they prepare the bacon,dont do eggs anymore.