Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
I was just thinking about what our town has in terms of shops at the moment compared with what we used to have back in the 60's to 70's .
A lot of it is based on what a child rates as important to them at that age .
We were lucky that there was an old bakehouse less than a hundred yards from our infant's and junior schools. The shop sold sweets and penny buns . Sometimes we were lucky enough to get freshly baked ones which were still warm . The bakehouse was located next to the bus station . Directly opposite was the best cinema in our town . The Gaumont, it later became the Odeon and then Classic before becoming Gold Diggers night club . The other cinema was the Astoria which was located at the other side of the Great Western Railway embankment which cut through the town. That wasn't my side of the town in those days .
Most kids in those days knew of all the toy shops . We had Woolworths in the centre of the town , just up from them was a saddlers which sold Matchbox toys . In the early days they were as the name suggests matchbox size. They had a display stand with all the models on show . They shop also sold guns and fishing gear and smelled of leather . They also sold guns,fishing tackle, licenses and maggots . The next shop up from there heading towards school on the right hand side was a sports shop. They sold guns, sports clothing and weapons , cricket bats and tennis rackets. They also sold plastic kits and balsa wood flying models and engines .
The next shop up sold railway models . I think they mainly sold Hornby and Dinky models. I didn't go into that shop often . I think I preferred Corgi toys which was sold in the next shop up . It was an old Elizabethan timber framed building run by 2 old ladies. I think they also sold Britain's toys and also sweets . This was the shop where we would buy rolls of caps for our guns .
Opposite the toy shop was a big furniture shop . Upstairs was the toy section . They sold Triang model railways , Scalextric and Spot On model cars . I almost had a Scalextric set for Christmas but I didn't like the look of the car's , instead I opted for a Spot On road set which I soon got bored with .
The next shop up from there was the last that end of town and was a motorcycle shop and garage . It was my limit of territory in those days . Opposite from Woolies was Curry's, in those days they also sold cycles . Down the high street from Curry's was the Co-op, In those days it had a butchers shop tacked on the side , it also sold toys upstairs at Christmas . I can still remember my mum's membership number !
There were other shops in between the shops mentioned , Boots , the International super market, shoe shops , several banks , a wet fish shop, a fruit and veg shop, a couple of butchers,a haberdashery and a couple of clothes shops . There were a couple of newsagents , quite a few pubs and a couple of cafés one of which sold really good home made ice cream . In those days I didn't know of any cycle shops , they were at the other end of town .
The only shop which remains in the town now is Boots and several banks . Everything else has been replaced by modern stuff .
A lot of it is based on what a child rates as important to them at that age .
We were lucky that there was an old bakehouse less than a hundred yards from our infant's and junior schools. The shop sold sweets and penny buns . Sometimes we were lucky enough to get freshly baked ones which were still warm . The bakehouse was located next to the bus station . Directly opposite was the best cinema in our town . The Gaumont, it later became the Odeon and then Classic before becoming Gold Diggers night club . The other cinema was the Astoria which was located at the other side of the Great Western Railway embankment which cut through the town. That wasn't my side of the town in those days .
Most kids in those days knew of all the toy shops . We had Woolworths in the centre of the town , just up from them was a saddlers which sold Matchbox toys . In the early days they were as the name suggests matchbox size. They had a display stand with all the models on show . They shop also sold guns and fishing gear and smelled of leather . They also sold guns,fishing tackle, licenses and maggots . The next shop up from there heading towards school on the right hand side was a sports shop. They sold guns, sports clothing and weapons , cricket bats and tennis rackets. They also sold plastic kits and balsa wood flying models and engines .
The next shop up sold railway models . I think they mainly sold Hornby and Dinky models. I didn't go into that shop often . I think I preferred Corgi toys which was sold in the next shop up . It was an old Elizabethan timber framed building run by 2 old ladies. I think they also sold Britain's toys and also sweets . This was the shop where we would buy rolls of caps for our guns .
Opposite the toy shop was a big furniture shop . Upstairs was the toy section . They sold Triang model railways , Scalextric and Spot On model cars . I almost had a Scalextric set for Christmas but I didn't like the look of the car's , instead I opted for a Spot On road set which I soon got bored with .
The next shop up from there was the last that end of town and was a motorcycle shop and garage . It was my limit of territory in those days . Opposite from Woolies was Curry's, in those days they also sold cycles . Down the high street from Curry's was the Co-op, In those days it had a butchers shop tacked on the side , it also sold toys upstairs at Christmas . I can still remember my mum's membership number !
There were other shops in between the shops mentioned , Boots , the International super market, shoe shops , several banks , a wet fish shop, a fruit and veg shop, a couple of butchers,a haberdashery and a couple of clothes shops . There were a couple of newsagents , quite a few pubs and a couple of cafés one of which sold really good home made ice cream . In those days I didn't know of any cycle shops , they were at the other end of town .
The only shop which remains in the town now is Boots and several banks . Everything else has been replaced by modern stuff .
Such establisments are now almost non existent. 
