The Last Saturday Girl

Tilly’s family have a generations-long link with the store. Can it really be time to say goodbye?

Tilly Tomkins took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy door of the Woolworths store. Her ears pricked up as she heard Bing Crosby singing her favourite Christmas song, White Christmas, and she gave a large grin. It had been her great-grandmother Ruby’s favourite song.

Tilly loved this time of year. Today was a special day in her life, too, as it was the first time she had a proper job – albeit a Saturday job. Today she would be working a full day in Woolworths and that meant bringing home a wage – which in her home would mean a lot at the moment.

Tilly headed to a door marked “staff only” and climbed the stairs to the manager’s office where she’d had her interview. Knocking on the door she felt butterflies start to stir as a voice called out, “come in.”

“Hello, Tilly, come in and take a seat,” the manager, Liz Billington said with a warm smile. “Welcome to Woolworths. Sadly your employment with us will be a short one…”

“But why?” Tilly asked as her dreams of being able to treat her mum and dad, and little brother began to fade. “Was something wrong with my references?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing to do with you,” she reassured the young girl. “Sadly, early in the new year the Erith store will close its doors for good.” Tilly was horrified. “I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t believe Woolworths is closing.”

Liz Billington smiled at the young girl. “I agree, it will be a sad time but we haven’t lost yet and I plan to do all I can to find work for my staff. We still have this Christmas and we must make it a really special one for our customers as well as the staff.”

“Do you still want me to work here until the store closes?”

“Good grief, of course I do. In fact I was hoping you could help me with a little project? It seems silly to train you to work on a counter for little over a month. There again you may be needed to help out on the Christmas counter if things get busy. I have a feeling some of my staff will be leaving early if they find new jobs.”

“Won’t they wait for their redundancy payments?” Tilly asked before slapping her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry I spoke out of turn. It’s just that my dad was made redundant and I’ve heard a lot about the process. It can be rather depressing,” she added, looking sad.

Liz gave the girl a sympathetic look. At the age of sixteen Tilly should be going out and having fun, but like so many youngsters these days she was wearing the mantle of responsibility as part of a family where redundancy had struck.

“Let me find you an overall so you don’t get your clothes dirty, then we can get started,” she said as she looked up at the old clock on the wall. “Mind you, I could do with a cup of tea first.”

She picked up her telephone and dialled a number. “Hazel, would you put

In a CORNER she uncovered a STIRRUP PUMP and a GALVANISED bucket

tea for two on a tray, and perhaps a couple of sticky buns? My new assistant will pop in and collect them,” she said, giving Tilly a crafty wink. “I shouldn’t really but I can’t resist a bun.” She grinned as she stood up and went to a cupboard to pull out an overall.

It was then that Tilly noticed Miss Billington was expecting.

Liz saw her notice and patted her tummy. “My first child. That’s why I thought you could help with my little project as I’d get into all kinds of trouble at home if I started climbing ladders and exerting myself.”

“I’ll help all I can,” Tilly said, remembering what it was like when her

mum was expecting her brother, Josh. “Shall I go and fetch the tea tray first?”

Liz agreed and told her where to find the staff canteen.

Tilly wiped the crumbs from her mouth before following Miss Billington up a small flight of stairs to a room under the eaves of the store. A single light bulb swung from the wooden rafters, picking out old boxes that looked as if they’d been stored there since the day Woolworths took over the building in the 1930s.

“What I would like you to do is to go through all of this and pull out anything that relates to the history of Woolworths. You may think I’m being rather silly but I’d hate for anything to go to the tip that may just be important.”

Tilly’s eyes shone. “Oh, I’d love to sort this all out. My dad has told me a lot about the old town and how special it used to be, so to be able to go through all of this will be interesting. Thank you for giving me the opportunity,” she added hastily in case Miss Billington thought she wasn’t taking the task seriously.

“Then I’ll leave you to it. Don’t forget to go for your tea and lunch breaks and come in and tell me how you’re getting on. I just wish I had the time to help you,” she added before leaving Tilly to her work.

Tilly worked steadily, pulling open boxes and carrying piles of newspaper cuttings and old photographs down to the room she’d been allocated. In one corner under the eaves she uncovered a stirrup pump and old galvanised bucket. This must have been used during the war, she thought as she recalled reading of such things in her history books.

World War Two held a fascination for her as the town, being close to the River Thames, had suffered during the Blitz. She looked at the stirrup pump as an idea came into her head…

So I thought we could have a special display of what happened to this store during the war?” she said tentatively as Miss Billington looked at the folder of information Tilly had taken to show her.

“The staff even held a Christmas party for the old soldiers. I found an article cut out of the Erith Observer that tells more about it,” she said, passing the yellowing page to Liz. “Do you think we could perhaps have a party for the old soldiers in the style of that time?”

“Gosh, wouldn’t that be fun,” Liz said. “You have certainly worked hard, Tilly, and I like how you have put different eras into different folders and box files.”

“I’m enjoying it. In fact it made

me think that perhaps I could use some of this for my exam project? I want to be a librarian, and work helping children understand the history of the area.”

Tilly hadn’t seen her dad so animated in a long time. “Look love, you can just about see your Great-Granny Ruby on this photograph and here’s Great-Aunt Sarah,” he said, passing a magnifying glass so she could peer at the cutting.

“You say your manager’s name is Billington? Look at this,” he said, passing another newspaper cutting to Tilly, who had pulled out a notebook to jot down what he’d said. The contents of the file she’d taken home was spread all over the table and her dad had read much of the paperwork before placing it in piles.

“It says here that the then manager of Woolies, Mrs Betty Billington, gave birth to a daughter in the store when they were accidentally locked in and was helped by Great Aunt Sarah and two other ladies. I must show this to my Miss Billington.”

Tilly couldn’t wait until she next went into work. She found a note on her desk asking her to report to Miss Billington.

“Ah, Tilly, I’ve been busy since you last came into work,” Liz Billington said with a smile. “We’re going to have that party.” “And invite old soldiers?” Tilly beamed. Liz chuckled. “No, I thought instead we could invite all the people from the old folks’ home. We could hold it in the canteen, as there’s a piano, and perhaps have a singsong and a Father Christmas. I’ll ask current staff to help out as well.” Tilly clapped her hands in delight. “We could ask the local newspaper to come along and take photographs.” “I’ll add it to the list,” Liz said. “I hope you don’t mind but I took the folder home with the wartime articles in it. My dad gave me information on people in some of the photographs and he found something interesting about someone with your surname,” she added shyly.

Tilly slid the article across the table and watched as Liz read the words before hooting with laughter. “That was my grandmother Charlotte’s entrance into the world. I’d heard the story but didn’t believe it. I must make a copy of this.”

“What’s even more fascinating is that it was Betty Billington’s best friend, my Great Auntie Sarah – or it great-great auntie – who helped deliver the baby.”

“Well, I do think that must make us relatives of some kind even if by friendship.” Liz smiled at Tilly. “Now let’s see what you can unearth today.”

The day of the party dawned clear and bright as Tilly stepped carefully through the thin layer of snow on the pavement outside the Woolworths store. She hoped the snow would continue.

As she stood listening to the carol singers in the square she felt as though

She WATCHED as Liz READ the cutting before HOOTING with LAUGHTER

she was stepping back in time to when the town was full of old buildings and shops and wasn’t the concrete jungle that locals called it today. Thankfully, there was still an underlying spirit of the old days and she was proud to be part of it.

“Hurry up, love. You don’t want your Father Christmas freezing to death out here, do you?” her dad said as he joined her carrying a large pillow that would be stuffed up his costume.

“Thanks for offering to help out, Dad,” she said slipping an arm through his as they entered the store and made their way to the canteen where party preparations were in full swing.

Liz Billington had offered her dad some work helping to clear the store in the New Year, which had put a smile on his face. But for today, he was entertaining guests on the piano before playing Father Christmas.

“I’ll leave you to it,” she said, hurrying up the now-familiar stairs to the attic room. Little remained of the boxes and junk she’d sorted.

Opening the last small box, she pulled out a photograph in its new frame. The print had been carefully cleaned by a man in the photographers up the road. She’d purchased a new frame from the store. A group of women smiled at the camera, arms around each other. On the back of the photo had been four names–Betty, Sarah, Freda and Maisie.

She wondered who Freda and Maisie were but hopefully, when Liz unwrapped her gift she would show the older members at the party and they would be able to make suggestions. What she did know was that these ladies in their oldfashioned Woolworths uniforms standing with their boss were true friends.

She quickly wrapped the gift and started to hurry downstairs but stopped as she heard whispers. They didn’t come from downstairs, where her dad was playing Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye on the piano.

The whispers turned into voices. She could hear a group of women laughing and talking close by. One had a cockney voice, while another sounded as though she came from Birmingham. A posh voice was chuckling politely while the fourth was explaining how to use a stirrup pump.

Tilly crept towards the door, confident the four voices were the women in the photograph. She knew that even if there would no longer be a Woolworths in every high street, the memories and friendships formed would continue forever. She’d loved her short time as a Woolworths Saturday Girl… even if she was the very last.