Leisure Time Slots and The Tanning Centre
Now, on the corner of Morley Street and Station Street, at number 60 Station Street is Leisure Time Slots. Upstairs and stretching across to number 58 is the Tanning Centre. They have both been there since at least October 2008 but, some time before August 2021, Leisure Time Slots changes its name from just Leisure Time.
Wilbourn’s
Wilbourn’s was a very longstanding Kirkby business. Based on an article in CHAD in October 1975, Edward Wilbourn started his grocery business and bakehouse in 1889. However, in the article below, David Drew states that the business started in 1898. According to the 1898 Kelly’s Directory, Edward Wilbourn was a grocer; a provision, wine, spirit, ale and porter merchant; a bottler; and a hardware dealer.
In 1912 and in the 1928 Kelly’s Directory, Edward Wilbourn was simply identified as a grocer. The location was given as 58-60 Station Street.
There was an almost identical entry in the 1941 Kelly’s Directory.
Wilbourns Wines/Grocer appears on Jacques’ List of Station Street retailers circa 1920-1940.
Wilbourns were still there in the 1980s. They had two entries in the notice for window spotting – one for wine and another for a garden centre catering for all garden and pet needs. This garden centre was on the corner of Station Street and Ellis Street.
Adverts for Wilbourns
I have a number of other adverts for Wilbourns between 1950 and 1976.
Advert for both Wilbourn’s shops which appeared in St Wilfrid’s parish magazine in 1967 from Annesley OC Heritage Extra Facebook page
Article About Wilbourn’s
I am grateful to Alwyn Bowskill for posting an article about Wilbourn’s on the Kirkby Living Memory Facebook Group. As noted there, it was originally posted on the Annesley OC Heritage Extra Facebook page. Interestingly, the article was written by David Drew who is not a relative as far as I know! It has a strong focus on John Walton and his fine wine business.
Memories of Wilbourn’s
Mark Ashfield
The shop was noted by Mark Ashfield in “Christmas Pigs and a Summer Donkey” (p25) as being for the discriminating palate. He continues, “Wilbourns, established 100 years, could invariably offer a delicacy to delight the epicure. This long-standing business changed with the times and yet, in a commendable way linking the past, offered excellence in food, and a range of wines as comprehensive as could be found in the county”. According to Mark Ashfield, Wilbourn’s ventured into horticulture at a later date and their base for this was what had been Dr Waller’s house. Indeed, the horticulture side of the business continued to operate until at least 2011.
Edith Searson
In her booklet “I Also Remember“, Edith Searson describes Wilbourne’s as “the town’s leading grocery shop“. She explains that it was started by Edward Wilbourne in 1889. He was assisted by his daughter Carrie who married Ernest Walton. They continued to run the business. Edith Searson recalled that they were assisted by two young men Clarence Wharmby and Harold Redfin. Clarence used to staff the shop and Harold made deliveries. She recalls going to the shop with her mother during the war and sometimes being offered a tin of fruit from under the counter. In the eighties, at the time Edith Searson was writing, the business was managed by John Walton, Edward Wilbourn’s grandson. I have collected some information on the Waltons from censuses.
Ken Higham
In his article on memories of Kirkby, Ken Higham commented that Wilbourn’s was a huge shop in comparison to others and it was a particularly imposing sigth at Christmas. He noted, “the huge windows were filled with all the foodtuffs that are always associated with the festive season.” He also noted that Wilbourn’s employed young lads to do deliveries on traditional bikes. They could be seen “whizzing around the Kirkby streets until 8 or even 9 o’clock so that no customer was short of groceries“. .
Other Memories
Many Facebook contributors had memories of Wilbourn’s.
A Well-Stocked Grocers
Frank Ball noted that it was “probably the best stocked grocers in Kirkby, the left hand door of shop was groceries, the right hand door, the wine shop“.
Smell the Coffee
Chris Kidger noted that what she remembered from Wilbourns was the smell of fresh ground coffee. Paul Duggan, Ann Hill and Darren Allcock agreed with Ann commenting, “as soon as I see or hear Wilbournes mentioned…. that is all I can smell… Ground coffee.” Darren remembered, “I used to love going in there with my mum I loved smelling the fresh ground coffee“.
Ceri Peat recalled going in there in the seventies and “they used to weigh it [coffee] out into brown paper bags.”
Other Smells
John Hickman recalled helping his grandfather with some work in Wilbourn’s cellar. He noted, “the smell was amazing, a mixture of old wine and spirits.” John’s grandfather and grandmother ran C Kalynycz, the electrical shop, at 42 Station Street.
Fine Wines
Richard Evans noted that Wilbourns was perhaps the only place in Kirkby that sold fine wines as the buyer in the seventies and eighties had trained at Fortnum and Mason’s. He also commented that “they had a photograph in the shop taken circa 1900 where they were selling stuff that only the wealthy would have been able to buy.” The point about fine wine seems to be confirmed by Mike Peat who noted that Frank Wilbourn was “one of only four Masters of Wine in the country. This is a global organisation which was very prodigious at the time and quite difficult to get into. There is now only one listed Master of Wine in the UK.”
Glasses Hire
Ceri Peat recalled that her father hired glasses from there for her wedding reception which was held in St Wilfrid’s Church Hall in 1974.
A “Posh” Place
Christine Evans recalled that “Wilbournes wine shop was a lovely shop and seemed a very posh place to visit to me as a young bride in the 80s. I used to go in some weekends and treat us to a bottle of wine to have with our Saturday evening meal and we thought we was quite posh having wine… as the usual tipple for our generation was lager. In Wilbournes there was also a fridge stocked with loose butter and cheese that they had weighed and priced up and I would sometimes buy those too.“
Sherry in a Barrel
Heath Linacre noted, “my grandmother, Hannah Linacre, used to send us to the aforementioned Wilbourns armed with an empty bottle and asked to get it re-filled ‘from the barrel’ of sherry that they had amongst others. Apparently it was cheaper to buy from the barrel and yes, we were all under age“. Darren Allcock recalled that his mother always bought a barrel of sherry from Wilbourns for Christmas.
Exotic Spirits
In a direct message, Alwyn Bowskill noted that, “Wilbourn’s used to sell some exotic spirits back in my youth. We loved trying different ones for example tequila, sambuca and polish spirit.“
Other Christmas Drinks
Other people recalled buying other drinks for Christmas at Wilbourns. For example, Steve Hufton commented that his father used to buy Mansfield Bitter Kegs from Wilbourns for Christmas.
Delivering Christmas Leaflets
Yvonne Johnston recalled that a friend’s parents used to deliver the Christmas booklet for Wilbourn’s wines, spirits etc. She used to go along to help, “those drives in Ravenshead seemed enormous to someone only 6/7 years old“.
Harold Redfin
Harold Redfin, mentioned by Edith Searson, was my great uncle on my father’s side. He was the younger brother of my paternal grandmother, Alice, whose maiden name was Redfin (or Redfearn), see Chapter 58. He was born on 27 October 1903. In 1911, he was living with Alice and other family members at 16 Prospect Street. He married Florence Eames in 1927. They had two children, Derek H (b1932) and Hazel B (b1934). In 1939, Harold was living at 39 Byron Street with Florence and presumably their two children, although their records are closed. Earlier, according to the 1930 and 1931 electoral registers, he and Florence had lived at 43 Byron Street. In 1939, his work was described as a Lorry Driver – Warehouseman.
Harold Redfin in the 1921 Census
The 1921 census is particularly informative. Harold, who was now 17, was living with his father, John, who was described as a widower. Harold’s mother, Mary, had died in 1917. Harold’s two oldest siblings, John (b1896) and Annie Lydia (b1897) were not living there but other siblings were including Mary Elizabeth (b1901), Albert (b1906), Ivy Maud (or Maria) (b1909), May (b1912) and Doris (b1914). Also living with the family was James Hurst, John Redfin’s father-in-law. My grandmother, Alice, was also living there. At this point, she was married to her first husband, see Chapter 58, who here is identified as Charlie Randal. He was described as an Engine Fitter/Engine Labourer. Their first daughter, Eva May, my father’s sister, was living with them.
Confirmation That My Great Uncle Worked for Wilbourn’s
Harold’s father was working as a coal miner, getter and Harold’s brother, Albert, was working as a coal miner above ground. Harold himself was identified as a grocer’s assistant and salesman. His employer was definitively identified as E Wilbourn Grocer. His place of work was given as Station Street.
Family Trees
Harold appears in the Redfin family tree I have put together. I have also compiled a family tree for the Hurst family..
Harold’s Sudden Death
According to Edith Searson’s account, “one day, when Harold was delivering his orders, he was found slumped un his vehicle. He was found to be dead. It was a sad occasion for his many friends“. Based on death records, this was in 1956. I was not previously aware of the suddenness, or the circumstances, of his death. I never knew him as he died four years before I was born.
Photographs of Wilbourn’s
There are photographs of Wilbourn’s shop and horses in the book “Kirkby & District from Old Photographs” by Frank Ashley, Sylvia Sinfield and Gerald Lee (p43 and p70). The photograph on p43 also appears on the front cover of Nottinghamshire County Council’s book “Kirkby-in-Ashfield: A Pictorial View 1889-1989”, in “Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Old Picture Postcards” by Bill Clay-Dove (#34), on the Our Nottinghamshire community history website and on the Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group.
The Wilbourns and the Waltons
Based on the article in CHAD in October 1975, Edward Wilbourn died in 1935 and the business was taken on by his daughter, Carrie, and her husband, Ernest Walton. In 1953, their son John Walton took the business on and he was still running it at the time the article was written. He recognised the shop as a “shopping centre and the main hub of the town“.
Kirkby Tribunal
Edward Wilbourn appeared before Kirkby Tribunal, in May and July 1916, asking for an exemption to military service for his employee George White. He argued that if Mr White was drafted, his business would have to close. The Tribunal granted an initial two months exemption. However, the Military Representative objected and said he would appeal. When the Tribunal heard his case again, in July, they granted him a final exemption of one month.
It seems that Wilbourn’s stayed open and relied on boys below military age, such as my great uncle Harold Redfin.
Headstart
I am grateful to Elizabeth Staniland on Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group for noting that she worked at a hairdressers, Headstart, above Wilbourn’s at 60A Station Street in late seventies/early eighties.
In a Facebook comment, Christine Evans recalled going to the hairdresser’s upstairs saying, “after my disaster in Madam Mays I started going there for my perms which Elizabeth Staniland did and whilst Madam Mays turned out to be the best perm I ever had because it lasted so long despite me trying to wash it out when I got home the perms Elizabeth did were the best I ever had as she did them how I wanted them.”
Bet-Bet Phillips recalled the hairdresser saying, “upstairs over Wilborns was a hairdressers in 70s. I used to go when I worked at Cresswells. At Christmas Eve she opened about 6 o’clock and tea or sherry and mince pies was there while you were under the dryer. When she left a friend of mines relation took it on.”
Michael Bowskill recalled that Pamela Adams had owned the hairdressers before it was owned by his sister Janet Bowskill. He notes that, “after Pam there was a lovely lady worked there Mrs Crossing“. Janet Bowskill commented that she had worked on Saturdays at Mary Clarke’s which was the hairdresser above Wilbourn’s in the late sixties/early seventies.
Residents of 60 Station Street
The Waltons
In 1939, Ernest R and Carrie Watson were recorded as living at 56-60 Station Street with their two sons Edward (b1920) and Eric (b1921). There is also one closed record and I wonder if this refers to John Walton. Ernest was the manager of a grocers, wine and spirits. Edward and Eric were both articled clerks to chartered accountants.
They were also listed in the 1921 census as living at 58 Station Street. Ernest’s middle name is given as Reuben and there is confirmation that he was working for E Wilbourn (transcribed Wilbourne) in Station Street.
The Wilbourns
In 1911, Edward and Sarah Anne Wilbourn were living at 58-60 Station Street with their daughter Carrie (b1895). Edward was listed as a grocer and provision dealer. Both Sarah Anne and Carrie assisted in the business.
Edward and Sarah Anne were listed as living at 58 and 60 Station Street in 1901 but their name has been transcribed as Welbourn. Living with them was Ruth H Whittaker, a general nurse. Perhaps surprisingly, six-year old Carrie was not listed there. She was with her grandmother, Emma Wilbourn, at 44 Sherwood Street. Emma was described as a widowed ironmonger. I presume that Sarah Anne was sick and Carrie had gone to stay with her grandmother.
Edward Wilbourn
Edward Wilbourn was born in around 1869 and died in 1935. In 1921, he and his wife Sarah Anne were living at “Wenthorpe” in Welbeck Street. He and Sarah Ann Green married on 1 May 1893 at St Mary Magdalene Church in Hucknall. Sarah Ann was born in around 1863 and she died in 1942. I have not yet located her in the 1939 Register.