Olive oil on the shells of Wortley’s tortoises
ROSIE Smith wrote in with some marvellous recollections of Wortley’s pet store saying: “I remember Wortley’s pets and fishing tackle shop as I spent 23 wonderful years there.
“We made all our own wild bird food, rabbit food and hamster food.
“Mr Dennis Wortley formulated his own ground bait for fishing and called it Soarcloud.
“I can still remember what went into it as I was allowed to make it. This was made in a big mixer upstairs in the barn and then it came down through a machine and we weighed it out by a lever operated by foot.
“In spring the tortoises would arrive and we would bath then all then oil the shells with olive oil, some would arrive with tics which we removed with tweezers.
“I bought a tortoise and called it Fred, a rabbit called Frisky and a canary called Canny.
“We had a cellar where we kept the maggots in big fridges and a machine we called ‘Marmaduke the Magnificent Maggot Machine’ which sieved the sawdust out of the maggots.
“Occasionally if it had been a warm night the maggots would escape and be all over the cellar. A customer came in for some maggots one day I opened his tin and it was full of flies, and fly all over the shop.
“One Friday I was taking the worms down into the cellar and broke a bone in my foot, next day I started my holiday on crutches, as luck had it we were only going fishing so I did rest but still did a bit of fishing.
“I could write a book about the time I spent there and it was a very sad day when we closed in August 1992.
“The shop then became an undertakers and is now part of the Loughborough bypass.”
Mick Hudson, 76, lived in nearby James Yard when he was very young and said he remembered the shop well, especially the metal containers at the back filled with goldfish, which were too tempting for his family’s pet cat, who used to do a spot of fishing with his paws.
Mick went on to say that the cat wasn’t the only one to help himself to the livestock, his dad, who Mick described as a right old one: “Helped himself to the rabbits for the pot.”
He added that his dad Ernie was a proper character, who worked for Moss’ builders and helped build the Carillon tower. He was also a boxer and liked to spend a bit of time at the Fox pub.
Mick described his home in James Yard, one the old courtyards off Baxter Gate, which has long since pulled down, which stood where the new inner relief road now runs, on the opposite side to the old Odeon cinema (now Beacon Bingo).
Mick said that their cottage which was lit with gas mantles was: “Horrible. There was no heat, no bathroom.”
But despite the discomfort there Mick says they had great fun and used to hide in the straw bales at Wortley’s yard.
Another person who remembers Wortley’s is Marion Mickle- burgh, 73, who says she had a tortoise (Suzie) from there when she was a little girl.
She also said that when their dog (also called Suzie) had puppies they took two of them to be sold at Wortley’s.
She said they put them in the front window and in the five minutes it took Marion to take a little walk round the block. They were sold and the family received five shillings for them.
Sue Marston, 75, also remembers a visit to Wortley’s: “They had old fashioned boxes and one had this big adder snake in it.”
The family always got their goldfish from the shop.
Have you any memories of Wortley’s?
Did you live in any of the old courtyards off Baxter gate?
If so please tell us what was it like to live there. Perhaps you photos
• Please contact Andy Rush at Looking Back. Telephone 01509 635802 E-mail
andy.rush@trinitymirror.com