Mansfield Building Society
“Now”, the Mansfield Building Society occupies 48 Station Street. They have been there since at least October 2008.
Marsden’s Grocers
In 1941, there was another grocer at number 48, J D Marsden Ltd. It was also a Post Office. P. Office Bailey/Marsden Grocer appears on Jacques’ List of Station Street retailers circa 1920-1940.
Memories of 48 Station Street
Mark Ashfield
Mark Ashfield describes this as the Post Office in “Christmas Pigs and a Summer Donkey” (p25). He identifies the postmaster as Jim Bailey saying that he “wore rimless sunglasses (kept from straying too far by a tiny chain fastened to the earpiece) and was quicksilver in his movements. dexterously stamping among other things sixpenny postal orders for hopeful entries in the lately-introduced football pools.”
Edith Searson
Edith Searson, in her book(let) “I Also Remember“, describes how she applied to Mr Bailey for a job. She was told that she was too old! This was because she was a week over 16 and, apparently, for this job, she had to be under 16. She noted that she had finished school at 13 so had no special qualifications but she understood from Mr Bailey that age was the only issue. Also, she recalled that Mr Bailey was helped in the Post Office by his sister, Mrs Hepworth. She notes, “I regarded her with awe, as I seem to remember she had a gold tooth! I can’t be sure of this detail, remember please, I was only a child, 68 years ago.“
Ken Higham
In his article on memories of Kirkby, Ken Higham commented that the Post Office was just below Wilbourn’s and was run by Mr Bailey and his two sons. He noted that he could still recall “a couple of postmen from the 20s, a Mr Tree and Harry Truepenny, who delivered the mail in Nuncargate twice daily, come rain or shine“.
James Toon Bailey
I believe Jim Bailey’s full name was James Toon Bailey. He was born in 1887. Interestingly, according to the 1901 census, he was living with William Henry Wightman and was described as his step-son. His mother, Elizabeth, was William Henry’s second wife. His father, Elizabeth’s first husband, was also called James Toon. The younger James Toon Bailey had two sisters living with him in 1901 Alice (b1889) and Helen (Nellie) (b1893). Alice is the Mrs Hepworth referred to above as she married Harold S Hepworth in 1911. James Toon Bailey married Nellie Elizabeth Thorpe in 1906. In 1911, he and Nellie were living with her parents at the Musters Arms in Annesley, where her father John was landlord. James Toon Bailey applied for an exemption from military service to Kirkby Tribunal.
Memories of Baileys
Charles Reynard, in commenting on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group, recalled that Baileys had a pet shop, “As young lads my brother and l bred mice and hamsters. We sold the youngsters to a number of pet shops locally. One such shop was Baileys which stood next to the Trustees Savings Bank. Later the bank bought the pet shop and thus extended their modernised premises. The Bailey’s already had a second pet shop in Hucknall and continued their business from there. The loss of the pet shop meant we were no longer able to pinch a dog biscuit from the sacks outside the shop. Chewing a dog biscuit made the wait for either the number 61 or 84 bus decidedly more acceptable.”
Initially, I was not sure if this Baileys related to James Toon Bailey. The description of the location seemed more in keeping with the other side of Station Street where Lloyds Bank was (#37). Wightman’s were there and there is a family link between the Baileys and the Wightmans. Anyway, I found an advert on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group which shows that H C Bailey’s pet shop was at 41 Station Street. I am not sure if H C Bailey was related to James Toon Bailey
Other Memories
In a Facebook comment, Paul Scriven referred to the Farrands/Marsdens “set up” noting that it was “probably the 1st self service store in Kirkby early 60s. I worked 10 years for them on leaving school in shops all over Notts and Derbys. The last of their stores in Kirkby was Savemore up the precinct. Anyone remember them? Large supermarket (in them days).”
Frank Ball commented that, in the late fifties, Marsdens was a “normal” groceries store. He notes, “my brother George started there on leaving school, delivery boy on bike. I used to be sent from school to have a loaf sliced on the Bacon Slicer for the Teachers’ breaks.“
John Wag Harris noted, ” I remember Marsden’s the grocers, Brian Ward one of my boyhood friends was a delivery lad there, they had a big heavy bike with a big square frame over the front wheel in which the groceries for delivery went in. I didn’t have a bike at the time, so Brian let me use his own bike, & then I followed him around Kirkby helping him do the deliveries… how times have changed! This was in the late 50s“.
Vernons
There is a photo showing Vernons Price Down at this location. In a comment on Facebook, Paul Scriven notes that Vernons were “quite rare” and that he worked as relief in most of them over a period of ten years. They were part of Marsdens/Farrands. They closed a few Marsdens stores that were not doing so well. Vernons at other locations included Queen Street, Mansfield and Derbyshire Lane, Hucknall.
First Supermarket in Kirkby?
In a Facebook discussion about Cresswell’s, Margaret Hollingsworth thought it had been the first supermarket in Kirkby. However, Chris Kidger thought this was Vernon’s. She had started working here in 1963. Steve Kirk noted that he did grocery deliveries for Vernons “on the delivery bike after school in ’63 and in a van on Saturday morning“.
Kirkbys
Based on an advert in the 1971 Free Press, posted by Alwyn Bowskill on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group, it seems that washing machine and cleaner retailers and suppliers, Kirkbys, were based at 48 Station Street. From the advert, they were also Rediffusion agents.
Mentioned in Grandad’s Diaries
Grandad mentioned using them for television repairs from 1961 although in the diaries it looks like Kirklys. They also repaired grandma and grandad’s Thor washer in 1961 and Florrie Booth’s Hoover vacuum cleaner the same year. According to that diary entry, they were based on Kingsway.
Remembered as Kirby’s
Most People Remembered it as Kirby’s
I started a discussion on Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group by asking if anyone had heard of a TV repair shop called Kirklys or Kirklees. Contributors to this and subsequent discussions thought the name was Kirbys, Kirkbys or Kirklees. The view of most contributors was that the name was Kirbys. Such contributors included Steve Banham, Philip Barber, Gordon Beet, Jennifer Colledge, Stephen Dowsing, Christine Evans, Maureen Gill, Val Hallsworth, Philip Hill, Michael Hurt, Jenny Keeling, Linda Knowles, Barbara Parkin, Helen Potter, Douglas John Rawlings, Cheryl Shevlin, John Turner, Olive Ward and Paul Wileman.
Specific Examples
Jennifer Colledge commented that “it always sounded like we was saying Kirkbys, but it was Kirbys.” Gordon Beet was definite that it was Kirby’s as he knew Arthur Reece. He recalled that he “had a Toyota Corona in royal blue that I used to service and look after“. Olive Ward explained that “I remember my mum going in the shop for a belt for the hoover and he put the part in a paper bag with Kirbys electrical printed on it found the bag a few years ago when cleaning out her house after she passed I’m not sure if it now might be in a box in my loft I will look when I have time”. Philip Barber noted that, up until about 16 years ago, he had had Parkers TV shop on Kingsway. They used to do business with Arthur Reece until he retired and “we always referred to him as Kirbys“.
Kirby, The Brand
Christine Evans recalled that there had been a sign in the window saying “Kirby” but they did sell the very upmarket Kirby vacuum cleaners in the seventies. “I remember my sister buying one, I was so impressed as it was advertised as being able to do all kinds of things even blow up balloons… although why ever you needed such a feature in a vacuum cleaner I don’t know“. She continued that she distinctly remembered the sign and wondered if “people think of the shop as Kirbys because of the sign but maybe it wasn’t the owners name but just a sign saying they sold the Kirby products, not many electrical shops did sell them as they were very expensive“. Bob Reed appears to be referring to this brand when noting that “Kirkbys made good, strong, almost industrial quality vacuum cleaners, as well as washing machines!”
General Memories of the Shop
Olive Ward recalled that it was a “brilliant little shop back in the day my mum was always going in there he did test washing machines vacuum cleaners really anything electrical really lovely people him and his wife.” In a separate discussion, she noted that the shop was “not super tidy but a organised mess he always knew where to find things“. Helen Potter recalled buying her first washing machine there, “it was a Servis cost a fortune back in the day. Lasted for years“.
Phil Nock recalled it as Arthur Reece’s washer repair business. He “used to install washing machine plumbing for him at new customers’ houses”.
Remembered as Kirkby’s
However, some recalled it as Kirkbys. For example, Phil Nock recalled that it was a washing machine repair shop, that it was run by Arthur Reece and it was on the corner of Station Street and Tennyson Street. He knew because he put plumbing in for the washing machines Arthur sold in the early nineties. Pam Breedon commented that it was definitely Kirkbys saying “it was on the corner of the one way street, I had my first automatic washing machine from there“. Others who recalled it as Kirkby’s included Ray Jepson. Frank Ball shared an advert for washing machine repairs which clearly named the firm as Kirkbys and located it at 44 Kingsway. The discussion noted that Kirkbys later moved to Station Street.
Arthur and Gwen Reece
Whatever the name was, it does not seem to have been based on the owner’s name which, as identified earlier, was Reece. In a Facebook comment, Ann Hill noted that Arthur and Gwen Reece ran it and that Arthur had been an ex-pro-footballer from years ago. I did find some biographical information for Arthur Reece. He was born on 21 February 1926 and he died in 2011. He married Gwendoline M Stanley. I did not find much about him as a footballer except a news article from 1966 which referred to an Arthur Reece signing for Teversal from Kirkby. If this was him, he would have been 40 at the time.
So, Kirby’s or Kirkby’s?
The collective memory is strongly in favour of Kirby’s but the only documentary evidence (two adverts and an entry in the telephone directory) is for Kirkby’s. How can this be explained?
Pronunciation
It is possible that the name was spelled Kirkby but pronounced Kirby. This seems unlikely to me given that people from Kirkby have to often explain that the second “k” is sounded unlike in the case of Kirkby in Merseyside.
Kirby as a Brand
Another possible explanation is based on the fact that the shop sold Kirby brand vacuum cleaners and washing machines. If this brand were displayed prominently, as suggested by Christine Evans, it is possible that people referred to the shop by that brand name. There are other examples of that happening in Kirkby including in reference to both Jaeger and Clarks. On balance this seems most plausible to me.
Documents are Wrong
While this might be possible in the case of a single document, e.g. the address is wrongly recorded in the 1971 phone book. However, it seems unlikely that the name could be wrong in three separate documents.
Name Changed Over Time
It is possible that the name changed over time, e.g. being Kirby but known as Kirkby. So, the name was changed.
Rationale for the Name
There may also be a question over why the shop had the name it did. While some assumed this related to the owner’s name, this appears not to be the case as the owner was Arthur Reece. If it was Kirby’s perhaps it was a reference to the brand. The name Kirkby’s would presumably be justified on a geographical basis.
Sports and Fishing Shop
In the discussion about this shop, Rachael Taylor Williams noted that this shop had once been a sports and fishing shop. Jonny Parsons also recalled it being a sports shop. Linda Knowles thought it was run by Johnny Taylor and that it was after Kirkby’s/Kirby’s closed and immediately before Mansfield Building Society moved in. Rachael Taylor Williams then confirmed that the shop had been run by John and Margaret Taylor, her parents, and that it changed to the Building Society after their shop closed.
Residents of 48 Station Street
1939
In 1939, no-one was listed as living at 48 Station Street.
The Baileys
In 1921, James Toon and Nellie Elizabeth Bailey were living at 48 Station Street with their three sons, Eric Toon (b1908), John James Toon (b1909) and Clarence Toon (b1914). However, all the Toons have been transcribed as Soon. James Toon was listed as Sub Postmaster in the Post Office employed by the Postmaster General.
The Kings
In 1911, Frederick and Annie King were living at 48 Station Street with their four children, Winifred Maude (b1889), Frederick Charles (b1893), Hilda May (b1896) and Doris (b1898). Frederick Snr was a tailor and the junior Frederick was his assistant. The Kings were also there in 1901. An older daughter, Ethel (b1885) was also listed. Frederick King was listed as a tailor in the 1899 Kelly’s Directory and in a 1912 list of shops in Station Street compiled by Barbara Parkin.
