Shops we have lost and that we miss.

They`re called scraps round here, and they ask if you want some on your chips, no charge.

POGS Are scrumps bits of batter left over from frying fish? One of the chip shops in Chester used to give them away free if you were buying a portion of chips or anything else on the menu. I am racking my brains to remember what we called them.

Dorsetpent, I agree about Borders, I really miss them, we still have a Waterstones and I certainly wouldn't want them to disappear because then we would only have W H Smith's for books and I really hate them for so many reasons.

Thanks for the tip, Shysal. I do just the same on Ebay, especially when I can't be bothered going to bed. Other mail order purchases tend to be made after 11pm - Landsend, Hotter, M&S on line... Only bargains, mind you...

P.S

I don't really miss a shop particularly but do any of you remember asking the chip shop for 1/2p worth of 'scrumps' with your chips.

Definately C&A.

kITTY
When I was pregnant we were so hard up I needed a new coat. I sourced one big enough for the 'bulge' but I had to sell 5 gold rings to afford it. I went into a jewellers in Charles Street, Leicester, was it Balls? They gave me £29 and I crossed straight over the road to buy the coat in C&A's.

The next week I stood and cried outside the jewellers, one of my rings was in the window for £25 and 2 others for £20. The coat lasted for years however.

anno , if the Didcot shop closes there is one in Abingdon, not too far away. Mason's is quite cramped but has a good range of yarns as well as furnishing fabrics in one shop, and in another street they have two neighbouring shops selling fabrics and haberdashery in one and trimmings and craft items in the other. I know of no other similar business in the area.
When I used to make all our clothes there was a Gordon Thoday in Oxford which I missed terribly when it closed.
I also miss Woolies and have resorted to ebay for all odds and ends. Unfortunately I have become a bit addicted I think, buying little items several times a week.

I think it is a shame that all the little old shops , suppose hardware stores,. are vanishing.

.[fhummm]

Ariadne , on a similiar theme , we needed 5amp fuse wire for our very old house , could we get it no chance .

When we were in Birmingham few weeks back went to the market and lo and behold . 60p for a card of it .

Great .

There is an amazing store down here (five minutes away) called the Value Store (yes, those of you in North Devon will know!) which fulfils a little of the Woolworths' criteria - loads of absolute tat but worth wading through for the odd gem.

But Woolworths was the store I turned to when moving into new quarters in a new town and finding I needed more curtain hooks, a sink drainer, some stick on hooks etc. etc.

Soon there won't be any individual shops at all - and a bit later there won't be any town centres at all - but WE the customers will be to blame, I'm afraid

And the only cafés left will just be americanised clones too, and our restaurants too. Sad.

We had a small Woolies in our Market Place (it's now Primark!!) and, momentarily, the other day I decided to go there for some lametta.

Fashion was Chelsea Girl and Lewis Separates.
Mum bought all her undies in Ethel Austin.
I miss Littlewoods- I used to get my wool there. Timothy Whites is also missed.
I think Wilkinsons has taken the place of Woollies though its not the same. Saturdays, pocket money and Woollies are inextricably linked.
What about Brentford Nylons and the brushed nylon sheets? Oh, the static!!

Although the pound shops fill a part of Woolworth's niche, it's been a hard act to follow. In the suburb where I used to live, about three miles away, there was a superb wool shop where you could buy everything you needed for knitting. It's long gone now, although I'd have said it did a good trade. Nowadays, when I go to visit the family in Didcot, I go to the lovely little (very cramped) wool shop if I need anything. I dread the day it disappears. In this town we had a first rate whole-foods shop until the owner retired and her daughter decided to sell on line. Which reminds me, Julian Graves has left a big gap in the market for dried fruit, spices and other baking/cooking ingredients. I don't think the supermarkets fill that gap adequately.

Yes I miss C&A. The last one I visited was in Belgium ? Leuven.
Woolworths without a doubt.

Haberdashery and Fabric shops are very few and far between. There is an Abakhan fabrics about 10 miles away from me. (?Local to the North West)
Excellent for fabric, wools patterns, haberdashery and crafts stuff.

In the the next small town there is an Asian run local hardware shop, the sort that sells nearly everything that householders need. Including the Christmas decorations. They hold a good basic range of sewing threads and other sewing needs, and you can buy on Sundays. They fill the niche Woolworths once had. Before that there was no such stuff for miles about.

Both that and Abakhan fabrics, are Asian run. Perhaps this says something about those who understand shop keeping. Work out what sort of basic stuff people need locally and provide it at all hours. Us Britons who used to do the shopkeeping seem to have forgotten the art.

There once was a chain of shops called Spoils which had seconds of household stuff and storage containers. I still have my red enamel tea and sugar canisters with cork tops that I must have bought getting on for 30 years ago. There was a branch in the Trafford Centre when it first opened but it soon disappeared.

Woolworth's definitely, especially at this time of year.

jeni I meant in Nailsea.

Can still get this in Swansea market.

Sook I remember tub butter in Llanelli market. Lovely stuff.

Wool etc in clevedon. But I agree you have to go to Bristol for fabric.

In my nearest town it's impossible to buy haberdashery,wool,fabrics also paper,card and office supplies.Yet there are plans afoot to open yet another supermarket 'Lidl'.although we already have Tesco,Waitrose,Budgen.
-and six charity shops !

Sook my bags are packed, sold the house and moving to Northwest for Pearl drops and Sherbet Lemons! You are lucky to be close to such shops, there was a shop near me that tried that but did not last and had to close, I was outraged ha ha

CHEELU Traditional sweet shops seem to be making a come back in the Northwest and Midlands. We have one in each of the three main shopping areas selling old time favourites such as Pear Drops, Pineapple Cubes and Sherbet Lemons to name but a few.

Simpsons of Piccadilly - inspiration for Are You Being Served? - my first experience of work, in my school holiday in 1952... I was supposedly a messenger, but in between errands I was allowed to sell gents' neckties - Gerard Hoffnung said he wanted a velvet bow tie - I had to say sorry, no can do. It was a fascinating experience, even if I did have to wear a stiff collar all day...