Early Closing
This photo of a fabric shop on Petticoat Lane is from the wonderful book "Shutting Up Shop" by photographer John Londei which is a beautiful but very sad time capsule of the traditional small British shop. Sadly these little oasis of local, individual English character are vanishing and being replaced by chains and megastores.
There was a Chemist shop just like this round the corner from us when I was a kid with wooden shelves and glass cabinets laden with rows of powders, potions, syrups in heavy brown bottles, and Lucozade wrapped in orange cellophane. Apart from the chemist we had a butcher, a greengrocer, a proper old sweet shop, a haberdasher, a grocer, and even a cobbler. They're all closed now and my mum does her shopping at a big Waitrose. Peter's Fish and Chips was still there last time I looked though, going strong (I hope) after what must be more than 30 years in business.
I wrote about shops like this in the very first post on this blog and much as I try to avoid going the old fogey, "things were better in my day, lad" route sometimes I can't help it (anyway, they were better).
Not an entirely relevant song, but close enough.
Download: Portobello Road - Cat Stevens (mp3)
More photos here.
4 Comments:
Funny you should mention Lucozade in the orange cellophane - we were talking about that the other day, I'd quite forgotten about the wrapper. Strange how Lucozade is now the elixir of the professional sportsman and the uber fit. On the rare occasion that I have a sip of it I'm transported to being 8 years old and in bed off school with some non specific complaint, explained in a letter to the school by my Mam as 'Sorry Michael wasn't at school yesterday but he was a bit off it'. Some wonderful shops there, not many left like that around our way now. A real shame. Cheers.
This looks an excellent book maybe you should try a post on pie & mash and name check Chris Clunn's superb photographsin Eels Pie and Mash from the Museum Of London.
Cooke's in Shepherds Bush was where my name brought s home takeaway pies and liquor every Friday.
Lovely nostalgia, Lee. Forgive me for being picky, but isn't the plural of 'oasis' 'oases'?
Where I grew up in Hertfordshire, our nearby village had a baker, a butcher who made his own sausages, and a traditional grocery (owned by the parents of Chris White, who was later The Zombies' bass player). Everyone delivered - the milkman came by horse and cart. There was even a wheelwright, who must have been one of the last in England, and the other nearby village had a sawmill. There were a lot more pubs in those days too.
Now I live in Hong Kong, which is going through the same process of losing its old traditional shops and crafts as the megachains swallow up everything. Sad.
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