National betting business Ladbrokes has occupied premises in Brigg Market Place, close to the County Bridge, for some years now.
But back in the 1970s, when the pictures below were taken, another leading High Street name occupied the shop - electrical goods giant Currys.
The shopfront sign reminds us that in addition to radios, TVs, vacuum cleaners, fridges and other 'white goods' it also dealt in cycles, which was something we'd forgotten.
The archway that once gave vehicular and pedestrian access to the Spring's preserves factory - a major local employer - has long gone. We think it was damaged by a lorry.
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| Currys shop in Brigg town centre (above and below) during the 1970s. Images from the Ken Fisher Collection. |
Just round the corner from Currys (to the right of the archway in the above view) was the E.H. Smith and Sons ironmongery shop.
This picture shows cyclists outside Smith's Market Place premises during the 1920s or 1930s.
Note the 'Public Bar' sign on the right directing drinkers to the Woolpack Hotel.
Had some of the riders popped in for a refreshing pint on a sunny day while enjoying a ride?
This print was among others in our family collection but we can't spot any relatives.
In Smith's front window is a wonderful array of spades and metal buckets.
The cyclists are the original Brigg Wheelers, Nige.
ReplyDeleteTaken in 1936.....so some folks could still be about...
I recall the late Chris Gunney saying at a meeting in about 2003, when a group calling themselves the, 'Brigg Wheelers' were seeking funding to create a skate-park (now at Leisure Centre) that the original Wheelers were a cycle club; I got the impression that he could have been a past member.
ReplyDeleteThis was the same era when Voluntary Action North Lincs (VANL) also sought a donation from the same committee - Brigg Market Town Initiative - to create a Brigg Newsletter.
I was at the meeting and argued that since the aim of the proposed Newsletter was to both promote Brigg and to be informative that it should be a newsletter for Brigg & district as the town had a gravitation retail pull further afield than just Brigg.
The Newsletter evolved into 'About Brigg's and for the last 12 years, or so, Brigg Matters....a magazine for Brigg and district.
However, I am still approached by folks who question why BM contains features/articles from outside the town.
The answer is simple: the notion of Brigg and district was incorporated into the magazine's Constitution way back in 2003.....and how can we promote Brigg if we only inform ourselves?
Electrical goods from the 1970s: cassette recorder...record player..colour tv's were just evolving for folks and it was still possible to buy valves for older radio and tv sets...and I recall buying the missus a portable hair-dryer...ladies wore a plastic bag on head to which a tube was attached and the heater-blower was worn like an over-the-shoulder handbag.
ReplyDeleteIt was often advertised showing ladies wearing a hair-dryer whilst undertaking household chores!
Apologise...it's Chris Gunnee, not Gunney
ReplyDelete