Tuesday, September 24, 2019

BRIGG WOOL: ONLINE THREAD PROMPTS MEMORIES OF TOWN SHOPS


The launch of Brigg Wool Shop in the Market Place - view details through this link - set us thinking about similar ventures in the past.
We have a vague childhood memory from the 1960s of being taken on a shopping trip that included calling at a small shop on Cross Street that sold wool and other items.
We think it may have been located in premises, long since demolished, that occupied part of the land behind what's now Curiosities (see picture above).
Some senior followers of Brigg Blog may recall the old Cross Street shop in question and be able to confirm our recollection.
This set us thinking about other shops of the past.
Who remembers Cordock's? Selling sweets, ice cream and other items, it was near the Monument roundabout, next to Sass's garage. However, the shop premises were knocked down many years ago.
We've also lost what for years was Ernie Robinson's Grammar School Road convenience store, next to the chippie on the corner of Preston Drive (thankfully the takeaway is still trading today).
Also on Grammar School Road, two well-known shops were converted to dwellings.
Jack Clark's tuck shop and newsagency was later run by Phil Hughes - 'Hughes for News' - Maud's and Paper Lincs at various times.
Bowen's shop and bakery sold fresh bread - including small 'penny' loaves made for schoolchildren - plus cream cakes and pies, and stocked bottles of locally-made pop in crates, sweets, milk and a selection of groceries. It was very busy on Saturday mornings when people called in to collect their bread orders. There was a larger Bowen's shop on Wrawby Street.
Midway along Glebe Road, the Co-op once had a shop. This notable retailer has opened a number of stores across North Lincolnshire in recent years - including Hibaldstow, Scawby and Broughton - but has yet to return to Brigg as a retailer. The former Glebe Road store is now occupied by a pre-school.
Button's convenience shop, on Bridge Street, is now a domestic residence, and the same goes for Gwen's Bargain Shop, whose name speaks for itself in terms of what it offered.
It's also some years now since Alan and Carl Capp repaired the last TV in their shop on Albert Street. In the early 1980s they were quick to meet growing local demand for video recorders. Wise folk opted for VHS format rather than Betamax!


The newly-opened Brigg Wool Shop (centre).

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