Our Meetings

We were treated to a nostalgic review of popular shops in Swindon this month – what a treat! John begun his talk with a reminder that everyone went shopping in the town centre on a Saturday morning. He told us that most people would walk into town or (if they were monied) they would get the tram. We then saw a photo of one of the first buses that ran to the town centre after the trams stopped in 1929 – a motorised charabanc. John told us that back in those days you could get everything from the Co-op. We then had a little bit of history on the two different societies which operated in Swindon from the mid-1800s and John showed us a picture of the Co-op on Fleet Street, which was a proper department store with a well-known restaurant - but was located in a stripped-out row of terraced houses. We then saw a photo of a long a queue of people waiting to get their dividends. Then it was another Co-op in Swindon, this time on Cheney Manor Road (which is now a Tesco Express). John also showed us an electric delivery van which took over from the horse-drawn delivery. We then moved onto bakeries and John told us about Grays. The first one opened in Bridge Street in 1919 and by 1950 there were seven shops, eight vans and 120 people working shifts across 24 hours a day. Grays was especially famous for its Lardy Cake. However, all the shops closed leaving just the one in Devizes Road, and that closed in 1976. John showed us a photo of that shop, which was approximately opposite Blaylocks. Then it was onto Deacons; the main place where Swindonians would by their jewellery (well, those who could afford it of course!). The first shop was opened in Wood Street by George Deacon in 1848, after he was able to borrow £700 from his father. George’s nephew Hubert then joined company and won the timing contract for the Midland & South West Junction Railway and the contract for the four clock faces on the Corn Exchange. Hubert also bought land and built Deacon Street as well as opening a shop in Fleet Street and winning the contract for the Town Hall clock. We then saw a photo of the frontage of the Wood Street premises. John also mentioned that there was a jeweller called James Walker next to Woolworths as well as the Cottell Brothers shop, also on Regent Street. John then told us that the only place for coal and flowers was Day’s, whose office was opposite Woolworths on Regent Street. We were then treated to some photos of the inside of Arthur Day’s coal office. It was then on to toys and models, which were bought from The Spot in Regent Street and Hobbies Corner in Fleet Street. Although The Spot was listed as a cycle distributor in all its branding, John said they didn’t really sell much in the way of bikes and were mostly know for Dinky Toys and Meccano. We saw two pictures of The Spot in all it’s glory, one from the 1940s and a later one (following a modernising re-brand) in the 1960s. We then moved onto fish – and everyone would buy their fish from Mac Fisheries which was just next door to The Spot (and both were opposite Woolworths in Regent Street) and we were shown both external and internal photos of this one. They were a national chain of fishmongers, unlike Wallis Bros. who were famous in Swindon as a retail fishmonger and wholesaler. The fish for Wallis Bros. came on the train fresh from Grimsby; they had several shops of their own in Swindon including one in Cromwell Street. Our next retailers were purveyors of furniture and in Swindon that could only mean Normans. However, John enlightened us that it was actually begun by George Wallis – the owner of Wallis Bros.! Normans was simply a new brand to differentiate it from the well-known fishmongers. Normans had a no-quibble guarantee and could be bought on cash or hire purchase, so they were a popular choice for both Swindonians and for the Royal Family (hence they held a Royal Warrant). With few easy options to get rid of old furniture Normans would take old items in part-exchange, but they were then overwhelmed with second-hand items, so established another brand in 1962 to sell it through – Bernards, based in Bridge Street. Normans had a three-storey shop in the Brunel Plaza from it’s opening in the 1970s until 1994; they then moved down to Bridge Street. Normans eventually closed in 2002 and staff from Normans then started up Manor Furniture. Whilst John was telling us about this history, we were shown photos of the Normans shop in Cromwell Street and then the interior of Bernards. We also saw a map of the Brunel Plaza showing the many retailers such as Boots, Sainsburys and Normans, and then interior and exterior photos of the latter. Then it was a photo of the Bridge Street premises with Stead & Simpson on the opposite corner. A real slice of nostalgia in those photos. Another popular furniture retailer in Swindon was Gilberts in Old Town. William Gilbert was originally a cabinetmaker from Marlborough and set up his first shop on Belle Vue Road near to the old Swindon Advertiser office. In 1875 he bought the house and shop in Newport Street that we are all familiar with now, and his son John took over the business in 1900. John Gilbert convinced Swindon Corporation Tramways to name the last stop on the line in Old Town “Gilberts Furnishings”, even though it wasn’t necessarily that close to the stop! John then showed us an engraving of a Gilbert advert. Finally, we had Spillers, which began life down in Bridge Street and then moved up to Bath Terrace (where we would now find Blaylocks) and we were shown an engraving of this shop in an advert from 1844-5. They then moved to Victoria Road where they stayed until they closed in 2003. We then moved speedily through other retailers, including Kane’s for bikes and a number of other national retailers such as Liptons and B&Q and then we got to Limmex, which was opened by Samuel Limmex. Welding and soldering could be carried out in store here, which made it different to other ironmongers in town. The last owner of the shop before it closed in 2000 was Roy Stevens. Other ironmongers included J. Lott & Sons on Temple Street and Keogh’s which was on Bridge Street. Burtons was also mentioned for suits, as well as GW Clothiers and Morse’s. We then had some photos of McIlroys, because we couldn’t have a talk about shops in Swindon without mentioning this long-lamented stalwart of the town centre. We had several photos of the interior including the famous staircase too. We then concluded with a few retailing anomalies beginning with a photo and brief reminder about the “shop that time forgot” – Brain’s on Manchester Road. Edna Brain shut up shop in the 1970s when her husband died and it then stayed exactly as it was for the next 30 or so years, until she died in 2003. Finally, a photo of the Fleet Street Market, which was also popular with town centre shoppers in the 1980s and 90s, having been established by Dougie Grant – he bought the Co-op and Sir Daniel’s Arms buildings and knocked them down for this exact purpose! Many thanks to John for this nostalgic look at shopping in Swindon. Kelly Blake - March 2025