You can still rely on Brigg's Thursday market for a bargain. The stall outside the Black Bull, on Wrawby Street, will very efficiently fit a new watch battery, test it and set your timepiece to the correct GMT for just a couple of quid. No queuing, either.
There's a lot to be said for efficient personal service from a small trader in this era of big shops and superstores where cheaper prices don't necessarily result in an old-fashioned approach to meeting customers' requirements.
Talking of which, older Brigg Blog followers may well remember the long-established Bell's Furnishers, which closed its shop in the Market Place for the very last time in March 1983. Can it really be that long ago?
It was the first step on the road to retirement for Jack and Marjorie Thompson. The shop had been open for 20 years but the business had been trading in Brigg for more than 60 - initially from a site in Manley Gardens and then on Bridge Street.
It was set up by Mrs Thompson's father, Arthur Bell, after he came out of the army at the end of the 1914-18 war and he ran it with the help of wife Mary.
Mrs Thompson joined her father in the business after the death of her mother and latterly shared ownership with her sister, Betty Faulding, of Goxhill. But it was Mrs Thompson and husband Jack, of Eastfield Road, who ran it day-to-day.
Closure of the Market Place shop resulted in the stock being moved to the outlet in Bridge Street, Mrs Thompson promising to carry on in business a little longer, her husband then being 69.
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2 comments:
A nice timely story about A Bell, Nige.
Do we expect to be furnished with another any second?
I'll keep watch as you shop around for compelling tales of everyday and yesterday, Brigg folk.
My first job was with Bells as a Saturday boy . This involved fetching and carrying small items in the shop and going out in the removal lorry on deliverys .
I was hitch hiking back to Brigg from Broughton one day when Jack offered me a lift and by the time we got to Brigg he offered me the job too. The one golden rule that had to be observed when on house removals was always pack the kettle and teapot last and always unpack the kettle and teapot first at the destination.
Each Saturday started with a cup of tea followed by varying numbers of tea breaks . Jack and Marjorie were excellent people to work for and the delivery drivers were in the same mould.
Yes Nigel it was a long time ago as I was still at school .
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