Ideal Cars
As of July 2024, Ideal Cars are located at 62 Station Street. According to their website, they also have bases in Hucknall and Eastwood.
My Dentist and 6 Five 2s
My Dentist still occupies 62-64 Station Street. As of August 2023, the private hire taxi company, 6 Five 2s, was also at number 62. From photographs, My Dentist appears to occupy both floors of 64 and the first-floor of number 62 with the taxi company on the ground floor of number 62.
Kingsway Shoe Repairer
My Dentist have been there since at least November 2015. Prior to that, it was Station Street Dental Centre. 6 Five 2s have been there since at least March 2019. Before that, it was Kingsway Shoe Repairer.
Booth and Coupe
In the 1980s. it seems that number 62 was occupied by the estate agents, valuers and auctioneers, Booth and Coupe.
Memories of Booth and Coupe
A number of Facebook contributors recalled Booth and Coupe. For example, Bet-Bet Phillips recalled that they had had a shop on Kingsway in the fifties but that it was on this corner in the eighties. Ann Hill confirmed that Booth and Coupe were originally on Kingsway. She commented, “Mr Booth was a lovely gentleman. Trevor Coupe came to work for him from Barnes and after a few years Mr Booth made him a partner. Hence Booth and Coupe.“
A Funny Story
Christine Evans told a funny story about when she and her husband bought their first house from Booth and Coupe in 1985. She recalls, “we had been looking for a 3 bedroom property for several months but everything in our price range was either a dump or not in the area we wanted… I used to even walk round the streets looking for properties that were up for sale privately… One day whilst doing this I came across a property just gone on the market with Booth and Coupe on Forest St in Kirkby.
I wasn’t sure if it was occupied or not as had nets up so didn’t dare look through the windows but the following morning I went round to the shop to ask to view or collect the keys if empty… in those days they would just hand over the keys for empty properties and you went and viewed it on your own. Anyway someone had already took the keys so armed with the knowledge that the property was empty I went back to the house and looked through as many windows as I could.
I couldn’t believe my eyes it was not only perfect but immaculate inside so I went straight back to Booth and Coupes and told them we wanted to buy it (we being me and my husband who was at work and knew nothing about this house)… the woman in the shop said you haven’t even seen it to which I said I don’t care I have seen enough through the windows to know it’s what we have been looking for, anyway she got the paperwork out and I signed it and the house was took off the market… the people who had the keys returned them saying they too wanted to buy it and I imagine they got quite a shock to be told it was sold.
I returned later that day to collect the keys and discovered it was even more perfect than I thought and the upstairs was just as clean and well maintained as the downstairs, later when my husband came home I casually told him he had a £15,000 mortgage and took him to the house to show him what he had bought… thankfully he loved it too but in those days if he hadn’t liked it or we discovered it wasn’t as nice as I originally saw through the windows we could just change our mind no problems and not lose any money either.”
An Earlier Dentist
I am grateful to Alwyn Bowskill for pointing out that the upstairs part of this building has been a dentist since at least 1960. He recalls, “it was owned by My Bell. He took some of my baby teeth out then. I had gas, for the extractions, not a very nice experience and I remember having to wear a scarf over my mouth when I left. Mr Bell had a nickname it was Butcher Bell due to the lack of use of anaesththetic when doing fillings! He was still working in the 1980s. I’ll bet the people of Kirkby will remember him!“
Photographs Showing Bell Dentists
Memories of Bell’s Dental Surgery
Quite a number of Facebook contributors recalled the dentist Mr Bell. Geoffrey Whetton thought his initials were P J and this was confirmed by former employee Radley-Kelly Sharyn. Mr Bell had worked previously on Lowmoor Road but moved to Station Street when that part of Lowmoor Road was demolished. One contributor recalled that his receptionist was Hilary Leivers, described as a “very pretty brunette“.
Working There
In a comment on Facebook, Lynne Orrell noted that she had worked for Mr Bell’s dentist for five years in the seventies as a nurse then as a receptionist. She notes, “I loved it there“. In another Facebook comment, Radley-Kelly Sharyn noted that she had worked at the dentist and had been used on a practice leaflet to promote them. She recalled that she was on it with a little boy showing him how to brush his teeth. She thought it was around 1989/1990.
Patients
Some contributors had very positive memories of being Mr Bell’s patients. Heather Mulholland recalled that Mr Bell’s wife was called Mary who ran Mary Rhyl’s school of dancing. Heather noted that, “he was a really good Dentist, he ran a late surgery on Tuesday evening especially for those who worked and found it difficult to get time off to visit the dentist.” Su Clay noted she still had some fillings from that time.
However, some had less positive experiences, hence the nickname “Butcher Bell“. Donna Lancashire described a particularly difficult experience, “he made me scared of going to the dentist after he took my baby teeth out when he shouldn’t have, he made me really poorly and throwing up blood all down my mum’s coat and Curtis’s floor“. Gemma Lucy Rudge commented that she was “terrified of him. The taste of his nicotine fingers and whiskey breath. He once had to chase me“. A number of other Facebook contributors recalled the nickname even though they may not have gone there themselves.
Joseph Waite
In the 1940s, there was no listing for number 64 but, in 1928, the greengrocer, Joseph Waite was here.
Waites greengrocer appears on Jacques’ List of Station Street retailers circa 1920-1940 but as next-door to Madame May.
George Unwin and Edgar Coates
In 1941, George Unwin, a herbalist, was listed at number 62 and Edgar Coates, a confectioner at 62a. In 1912, George Unwin was listed as a smallwares dealer at 62 Station Street. Unwin Herbalist also appears on Jacques’ List of Station Street retailers circa 1920-1940.
Edward Holland
In 1928, Edward A Holland, an electrical engineer, was based at number 62a.
Joseph Wate
In the 1912 list of shops in Station Street, compiled by Barbara Parkin, Joseph H Wate was listed as a greengrocer at 64 Station Street.
Other Shops
Other businesses listed in this part of Station Street, by Jacques’ List of Station Street retailers circa 1920-1940, include Huskinson Pork Butcher and Quick Service Sweets.
Photographs of Unwin’s
There are photographs of George Unwin’s shop that appear in a number of books including in “Kirkby & District from Old Photographs” by Frank Ashley, Sylvia Sinfield and Gerald Lee (p67) and “Kirkby A People’s History” by Kirkby Volunteer Centre (p19 and p68).
Adverts
I am grateful to Trevor Lee to this advert for Unwin’s from 1955.
Memories of George Unwin
Edith Searson
Edith Searson, in her book(let) “I Also Remember“, recalls the shop and that he sold yeast. She thought he would do a good trade as many people baked their own bread in those days. She recalled that he used to deliver goods round the town on his bike.
Mark Ashfield
George Unwin is noted by Mark Ashfield in “Christmas Pigs and a Summer Donkey” (pp25-26). He recalls the various potions and powders for sale there. Perhaps most memorable for him were the herbal cigarettes which he smoked when “parental vigilance was relaxed“.
Ken Higham
In his article on memories of Kirkby, Ken Higham commented that, although Unwin’s was very small, “it was packed with packets and bottles of herbs of every variety. In this shop one could purchase Spanish Juice which was so solid that the only way to eat it was to take it home and snap pieces off with the hatchet or some other implement“. He continued, “he also sold liquorice root for the princely sum of two sticks for the humble penny”.
Other Memories
In a discussion on Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group, Ann Smith noted that “we used to buy Imps from there [Unwin’s] and kali ??? Rainbow sherbet, I haven’t a clue how to spell it, but it was extremely tart and we loved it.”
I was not exactly sure what the “Imps” were but they are also mentioned by Brian Turner in the book “Kirkby A People’s History” published by Kirkby Volunteer Centre (p19). He says “you bought your first cigarettes here. If you didn’t chew tobacco you had chewing wood so you’d buy so many sticks. Miners used to but Little Imps, liquorice imps to suck down the mine to keep the dust out“. Christine Evans confirmed that they were tiny little sweets and very strong. She also recalled the miners using them commenting, “I remember either my Dad having them or my husband to take down the pit“. It seems you can still buy these.
In other Facebook comments, Jake Renshaw recalled buying ten herbal cigarettes there for 6d but they “stank“. Will Graham Allcock remembered getting liquorice sticks and chewing wood from here.
Lynne Orrell recalled, “Mr Unwin was related to my Auntie, he had a parrot in a cage on the counter, I loved going in to see them both“. Isabel Timmins remembered that she “used to go in the shop for tiger nuts liquorice etc. as a child before going to the pictures at the Regent Saturday mornings“.
Decorating Work
Steve Banham recalled seeing Mr Unwin on his bike going to his decorating job. He thought this would have been in the sixties and Mr Unwin would have been about in his fifties then. I wonder if this might be referring to one of George’s sons?
Another Shop?
Will Graham Allcock recalled that Unwin’s herbalist had a shop at the bottom of Prospect Street in the late fifties. He was not sure if this was in addition to or instead of the shop in Station Street. However, he did recall that he “used to get my licqourice sticks and chewing wood from there“. He thought this would have been 1957 or 58 and that it was close to Adams chippy. Maureen Lewis also remembered the shop being there. Priscilla Cockayne also vaguely recalled this shop as she lived on Prospect Street around 1962 but she would only have been about four or five years old.
Several contributors on Facebook recalled Unwins having a shop on Lowmoor Road. These people included Chris Kidger, Ann McGarry and Dorris Shirley.
Grandad Mentions G Unwin
Grandad briefly mentions a G Unwin in his diary, in April 1943. They made a garage door together. Grandad also mentioned George’s son, John when he crashed into a Butler’s bus on Victoria Road, in September 1951, when he was on a motorbike.
Conscientious Objector
In March 1916, aged 22, George Unwin appeared before the Kirkby Tribunal asking for an exemption to military service based on conscientious objection. The application was denied.
Edgar Coates
In 1941, Edgar Coates was listed as a confectioner at 62a Station Street. I assume that the Edgar Coates here was the same as the one who had the outfitters at number 47 and presumably these are the premises which later became his showroom at number 64.
Memories of Edgar Coates
Terry Allen remembered that Edgar Coates always had wresting posters for the Festival Hall in his shop window.
Other Memories of 62-64 Station Street
In a discussion on Kirkby-in-Ashfield People Facebook Group, Ann Hill notes that there was a newsagent next to Unwin’s. From her description, I think this may have been at 62a Station Street.
Jack Knight
It seems that the newsagent in question was Jack Knight. Ann Hill expands, “he also had a shop on the other side of the road , a small shop with a strange dip in the entrance … think it was a tobacconists. It was where we all waited for various buses. 61. 84. 63. The newsagent I mentioned on the other side, was where I got off the bus. This was mid to late 60s. I remember he (the newsagent) was extremely controversial, he was so fed up of people not paying the paper bill, he put a list of names who owed him money in the window! There for all to see, named and shamed.”
Discussion of Sweet Shops
This topic generated some discussion on Kirkby-in-Ashfield Facebook Group. Christine Evans recalled “a sweet shop in one of the shops near the bus stop so I think it may have been this one I have often wondered which it could have been, I remember going in it sometime in the late 70s 77-79 for sweets so thinking it must have been Hemstocks but Quick Service rings a bell but according to your article that was much earlier, maybe there was another Quick Service in the 70s or 80s somewhere ?????” Ann Hill confirmed that it was called Quick Service and that it was owned by Jack Knight. She also recalled that Jack Knight had another shop across the road. This was recalled by others including Frank Ball.
Jack’s Sweet Shop
Bet-Bet Phillips commented that “Jack’s sweet shop was there where 61 bus stop was 84 was higher up Quick Service during the time of sweet rationing he used to get some extras and people would queue in hopes of a few extras off ration you only had three quarters of a pound each a month”.
Positive Memories
Dot Grice noted, “I used to love going in Jack Knights, every sweet you could imagine. I loved a quarter of coconut mushrooms and a quarter of chocolate chewing nuts. I can see him weighing them out now on the scales and then twisting the paper bag ends.”
Quick Service
Bobby ‘Moore’ Buxton noted that Quick Service “rings a bell with me… I remember going on a Sunday morning with my friend and her dad for sweets before catching a bus to Selston to go to her Grans for Sunday lunch…. the bus stop for the Selston bus was near the charity shop on Station Street…”
Sharon Mills wondered if the shop had been called Senior Service. She noted, “Senior Service rings a bell you me, I know that is the name of a cigarette but the shop was a tobacconist and sweets. Mum always called in there when we where waiting for the E6 bus home.” Bobby ‘Moore’ Buxton replied, “I somehow remember Senior Service too…. yes it was a tobacconist… her Dad would buy 20 Park drive in a red and white packet and we had 1/4 of sweets each…. nice childhood memories for me…. except the walk when the bus dropped us off in Selston… was one hell of a walk …we did it for years every Sunday for dinner…. Best ginger steamed pud I’ve ever had…. made it worth the walk.” Gail Allen-Turner remembered her mother buying sweets from Quick Service.
Jonathan Evans recalled that, “I used to buy the Dandy, Beano the Comet, the Sun and the Beezer from there. Each one cost 2d or 3d. Looking back, I guess that my Mum was keen to encourage my reading... I used to catch the 84 bus home from Kirkby Folly School (later renamed as Morven Park). The bus stopped right outside his shop and that explains why I bought the comics from there. The buses always ran on time. The number 61 would leave at ten past four, the number 84 at quarter past – on the dot. I can’t remember them ever being late.“
Link to Edgar Coates
Susan Gilbert recalled that Edgar Coates had a sweet shop here. Her mum used to get tickets for the wrestling at Festival Hall from there. Linda Knowles recalled that Jack Knight ran the sweet shop and that he was a friend of Edgar Coates.
Working at Jack Knights
Ken Tomlinson noted that his mother worked at Jack Knight’s for a “lot of years“. Mandy Hoult recalled working there on a Sunday while she was at school in the late seventies. She recalled that Edgar Coates owned it and she received free sweets. She also noted that her mother, Mary, worked there for many years.
Edgar and Hazel Bramwell
Lisa Harris and Gary Bramwell recalled that their grandmother Hazel Bramwell (nee Bulimore, now Forrest) had the sweet shop here with her husband Edgar from the mid-eighties to around the mid-nineties. Gary noted it was a “tobacconist and [sold] loose sweets which you got by the ounce also a good selection of boxed chocolates.” He also noted that it was behind the bus stop so very handy for passengers.
Brian Soar
A number of Facebook contributors recalled that Brian Soar had a shop at this location in the seventies. Lynne Orrell recalled that it was the kind of shop that sold everything. Christine Evans recalled the shop and going in with her mother, “it had a wooden floor and stock displayed along the sides and middle and sold all sorts of bits and bobs“. John Wag Harris recalled Brian Soar and his shop. He described it as “the 70s equivalent of a pound shop, but more like 25p at the time, little things that everyone has but don’t want to pay too much for!” He also recalled that Brian died tragically at a young age. Based on this, I think he may have been Brian Charles Soar born in 1938 and who died in 1980.
Mrs Penny’s Jaeger Shop
Some Facebook contributors recalled that Mrs Penny, who ran the Nag’s Head with her husband, had a Jaeger shop on the corner here. Janet Collins recalled this and thought it was late fifties. She noted, “also she took the parrot from the Nag because it was picking up foul language. She then opened the café on Station Street. Her son Nicholas was in my class at school and we were friends.” Joan Ware confirmed this saying the shop sold ladies’ fashions and that she thought it was early 1960 or 1961.
Keith Stevens had been a friend of the Pennys’ son Nick. He recalled that, “the parrot was in the shop to start with but had to be moved to the living room at the back because of it swearing at the customers“!!
Residents of 62 and 64 Station Street
The Unwins
In 1939, George and Eva W Unwin were living at 62 Station Street with their son John (b1929). There were potentially two other children as there are two closed records. George is listed as a herbalist and yeast dealer. No-one was living at 64 Station Street in 1939.
In 1921, Samuel Unwin was living at 62 Station Street with his sister Elizabeth Ann Unwin. Samuel’s occupation has been transcribed as retail great dealer but in fact appears to read retail yeast dealer. It seems that Samuel was George Unwin’s uncle, the brother of George’s father, John.
In 1911, George and Elizabeth Unwin were living at 62 Station Street with their two children Elizabeth Ann (b1863) and Samuel (b1874). George was a yeast dealer and Samuel was a yeast hawker. It seems as if the George Unwin, living at 64 Station Street in 1939, was the grandson of this George Unwin. In 1901, George and Elizabeth Unwin were living at 62 Station Street. He was described as a paperhanger. Samuel was also living there and he was a colliery banksman.
The Waites
In 1921, Joseph H Waite was living at 64 Station Street with his two daughters Ethel May (b1899) and Selina Ann (b1900). Joseph was described as a coal miner hewer at Bentinck Colliery and Ethel was an unemployed hosiery mender at Reed and Matlock Mills in Mansfield.
Interestingly, the second daughter was listed in the transcription as a coal miner haulage at Bentinck Colliery. However, this is a transcription error. She worked as a hosiery hand at Bleak Hills Johnson also in Mansfield which may have indeed been the same mill where her sister (had) worked. The Waites were there in 1901 and 1911. In 1911, Joseph was described as a widower and as a miner contractor ripper. In 1901, his wife Elizabeth A was still alive and living with them. Joseph was described as a greengrocer.
Living with them in 1921 was a housekeeper, Leah Clover, and a boarder John Laurence Clover, who was Leah’s son. He was working as a coal miner haulage at Bentinck Colliery. Leah Clover was the mother of grandad’s friend Willie/Billy Clover.
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