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Hillsborough Shops Of The Past

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Old editions of Kelly’s Directory can often bring back memories, especially of long-gone shops that we remember from childhood. My own recollections of the shops in Hillsborough (between Hillsborough Corner and the park) go back to the mid-1950s, and a chance discovery of a 1973 directory at a car boot sale made interesting reading. Here is a scan of the relevant section. By this time, some of the shops that did good business in the 1960s had gone, for example Moule’s pikelet shop (with old Mr Moule pouring the mixture on to the hotplate in the front window, while Mrs Moule served customers) and Garnett’s barber shop with its hard seats, and the stuffed pike in the glass case.

 

I doubt if many forummers will remember the 1920s, but here is a scan from the 1925 directory:

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/twigmore/MiddlewoodRoad1925.jpg

 

“Ernest Garnett, hair dresser” was there - he must have retired in the mid-1960s. The tripe shop at the corner of Brier Street is mentioned - this must have closed at about the same time. The post office was in Middlewood Road, with “Miss Nelly Moorhouse, sub-postmistress” - the office moved to a new building on Hillsborough Road in 1961. Next door to the P.O. in 1925 was Joseph Kay, newsagent. His two daughters Clarice and Marion, mentioned in the 1973 directory, never married and they ran the businesss until they retired in the late 1970s.

Edited by nikki-red

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From the 1973 listing - Funks are still there as are Woolies and I think Harben's clothes for women are still trading or have very recently closed.

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Oh and Parker's the Jewellers and Boots the chemist........

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From the 1973 listing - Funks are still there as are Woolies and I think Harben's clothes for women are still trading or have very recently closed.

 

Yes - Harben's took over Wallis's next door and became a double-width shop that seemed to thive - it might still be there, if not it must have recently closed as you wrote. Barclays Bank is also still there (perhaps surprisingly, as bank branches are closing all over the place and it is quite a small one) and the pet shop is still at No 61 - not sure if it's still Huttons.

 

Parker's jewellers seem to go on for ever, unlike Parker's mens outfitters next door as shown in 1973 (the two were brothers).

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Yes, the pet shop is still there, but unsure of name. Interesting to note the number of fishmongers in 1925 - there are two listed - neither of which is JH,Mann who were at Malin Bridge at that time I think.

Note also the number of butchers in 1925 - seven! My favourite butchers also not listed - Pearson brothers - their shop was initially on Holme Lane when I first came to Hillsborough in 1986 and must have moved to its present site only a couple of years later.

 

The bloody supermarkets have got a lot to answer for.......

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What was the name of the Opticians, who had the barometer in their window, is it still there?

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What was the name of the Opticians, who had the barometer in their window, is it still there?

That was Mrs Greaves at No 88 - the large, oak-framed barometer isn't there now; it was quite a Hillsborough "landmark"!

 

Halibut - I just got back from a visit to the Co-Op (which is open today!!) so I had a look for Harben's - it isn't there now and the two units are again separate. No 27 is apparently empty, and No 29 is another ladies' clothes shop.

Mann's Hillsborough fish shop was in Bradfield Road, near the traffic lights. The business was built up by Harley Mann - a wet fish shop at Malin Bridge with a fish & chip shop next door. Harley Mann was well-liked and respected; when he died aged 71 in 1993, Wadsley Church was full to overflowing for his funeral.

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gosh this thread is a blast from the past i used to work in wallis's shoe shop as a saturday girl, but when i was little i used to shop with my mum in hillsborough and we used to go to a fruit shop half of it was a fruit shop and half was a wonderful sweet shop it was opposite woolworths i think where the opticians is and i cant remember the name does anyone else remember this?

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That was Mrs Greaves at No 88 - the large, oak-framed barometer isn't there now; it was quite a Hillsborough "landmark"!

 

Halibut - I just got back from a visit to the Co-Op (which is open today!!) so I had a look for Harben's - it isn't there now and the two units are again separate. No 27 is apparently empty, and No 29 is another ladies' clothes shop.

Mann's Hillsborough fish shop was in Bradfield Road, near the traffic lights.

 

When was that, Hillsboro? I've seen the print of the old shop at Malin Bridge, but they're on Hillsboro Place presently.

The business was built up by Harley Mann - a wet fish shop at Malin Bridge with a fish & chip shop next door. Harley Mann was well-liked and respected; when he died aged 71 in 1993, Wadsley Church was full to overflowing for his funeral.

 

That doesn't surprise me - one of the things I love about Manns even now is the quality of their customer service and that old - fashioned politeness and good manners with which they deal with you.

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When was that, Hillsboro? I've seen the print of the old shop at Malin Bridge, but they're on Hillsboro Place.

 

Mann's shop was at 187 Bradfield Road (where William Hills betting shop is now) from the 1950s onwards. At that time the fish shop at 7 Hillsborough Road (next to the 1961+ post office) was Clayton's. I remember Claytons well - they also sold poultry and in about 1962 I saw my first "Rotiss-o-Mat" chicken spit-roaster outside the shop. Clayton's shop in Hillsborough Road was taken over by Mann's in 1990 and they moved from Bradfield Road. A bit of quick Googling produced this short history of the firm: http://home.btconnect.com/jhmann/history.htm

 

I'm sure that the closure of the Hillsborough Road post office must have affected Mann's business, as far less people walked past, but it's good to know that we still have an independent fishmonger in Hillsborough.

 

In the 1960s we used to buy most of our fish at Hastings' as it was nearer where we lived at the bottom of Dykes Hall Road, but my mum always sent me to Mann's for anything special such as plaice or halibut. Ernest Hastings must have enjoyed driving his van - he used to get up in the early hours, drive over to Grimsby, buy fish straight off the trawlers and drive back in time to open up the shop!

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when i was little i used to shop with my mum in hillsborough and we used to go to a fruit shop half of it was a fruit shop and half was a wonderful sweet shop it was opposite woolworths i think where the opticians is and i cant remember the name does anyone else remember this?

 

Yes - this was Hibberds. The left-hand half was Hibberds sweets and the right-hand half was Sykes fruit & veg., though I think it was all the same firm. The sweet shop closed in the early 1970s and the fruit shop remained as Sykes, until Mr Sykes retired in the 1980s.

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