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Haslemere Shops

When the railway came to Haslemere in 1859 the area began to earn a reputation for its unspoilt beauty. As tourists and new settlers arrived, so locals set up and expanded into new businesses, such as horse–drawn carriage hire and tea–rooms. Haslemere has sustained hundreds of independent shops and businesses. The national chain stores have largely been more recent arrivals. Woolworths came in 1951 and its Haslemere branch is said to have been the only store in Britain not to have the classic trademark red in its sign – a concession to the shop’s surroundings. The UK chain and the local store finished trading at the start of 2009. An independent, R. Miles ironmongers, holds the record for the longest continually running shop in Haslemere.

Track 16 Taking Over The Shop

Credit line: Joe Nobbs talks about taking over his family’s newsagents.

Transcription:

Interviewer: So you were in your twenties?

Interviewee: I was about 24.

Interviewer: That’s quite young to take over a business. You weren’t daunted, I suppose, because it had been in the family and you were well used to it. What did that entail? What was it like day to day? You have to get up early I guess for the papers.

Interviewee: It was a lot more relaxed and gentlemanly in those days. Papers didn’t arrive till 7 o’clock, now they arrive at 5 so it was a lot more gentlemanly and there wasn’t so much pressure. One knew everyone. I started in the shop when I was 24 and I reckon after two or three years there I probably knew 80% of the people who came through the door by name and I could say "Morning Mr so–and–so, Morning Mrs so–and–so, Morning sir" and [I] knew them all by name. But over the years things change so much, I knew some but nothing like what I used to know.

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