Changing face of a town’s high street
In 30 years time we’ll no doubt be reminiscing about how you could walk into West Malling and get yourself waxed, tanned, shorn and massaged to within an inch of your life in no fewer than 15 hair and beauty establishments.
Or at least some of us will. Others will be interested to see how the high street has continued to evolve – that’s if we, and it, haven’t been destroyed by nuclear war, AI robots or estate agents.
It’s no secret that the face of the UK high street in general is changing, but while the market town has managed to stay thriving over the decades, its shops and businesses would be almost unrecognisable to a time traveller arriving from the 70s, 80s or even 90s.
Back then, if you were heading into the town for some shiny new nails it was because you were building a shed, and if you’d broken a nail in the process, well you could get some super glue while you were in town.
We asked West Malling’s shoppers to take a trip down memory lane – or high street – and recall their favourite stores.
“When I was a child you could buy everything in West Malling,” said Ann Adams, who recalled trips with her aunt to get home-made ice cream from the tea room by the bus stop.
“I have never liked ice cream but theirs was coffee flavoured and was delicious.
“There were, I believe, four grocers and a wet fish shop next to a greengrocer’s opposite the library.
“There was also a toy shop near the library. On the corner of Swan Street was Baldocks and on the opposite corner was a lovely baker’s.”
Alongside several other shops she recalled two hardware shops, including one in the shop next to Tesco.
“It was really dark inside and smelled wonderful,” she added. “They had all these cabinets with drawers full of screws, nails, nuts and bolts.
“Others had hammers, screwdrivers saws etc. Just before Guy Fawkes night they would clear out some of these drawers and put fireworks in.” The name Baldocks crops up time and again as one of the town’s most missed shops, which is no surprise considering the business served West Malling for 140 years until it shut in 2019. Perhaps it’s also down to its former prominent position on the corner of Swan Street and the High Street, but for many it was almost a focal point of thetownuntilitmovedtoa smaller site off the High Street in 2004.
For Paul Chapman it was somewhere “you could get a ‘pair’ of sun-bleached DMs for half price”, and for many others it was offered a useful and vast stock of practical clothing – including one Ringo Starr of the Beatles, who popped in for some jeans when the band filmed part of their Magical Mystery Tour in the village in 1967.
That same year The Beatles also visited another fondly remembered shop – AL Briggs general stores, where the Therapy Rooms can be seen today.
Last year, June Briggs, wife of former owner Tony, said the shop had once been seen as a vital resource for villagers,
especially on a Sunday, and on one occasion it had been a vital resource for Bond girl Honor Blackman, when she needed some cigarettes. “I thought ‘she looks familiar,’” recalled June. “I said ‘you look just like Honor Blackman’ and she said ‘I am’. I remember she had a smoker’s voice.”
June herself ranks Essentials as one of her favourite old shops, adding: “They sold anything and everything”, while others also miss Martin’s newsagents, which closed in 2019.
Another West Malling shopper Tim Macey remembered the Bow Window sweet shop in Swan Street – ironically now occupied by a dentist – and another sweet shop, the Cabin, in the present day jewellers.
He also recalled the Town Newsagency, now the Rain Grill kebab shop, where he sat on his dad’s shoulders and watched as the Beatles filmed at the site.
He added: “Smiths sporting goods and hairdressers started in Swan Street where Rose’s
cafe is and then moved to the High Street where Hungry Guest now is. Opposite the library was a chip shop called I think Abbnets – they had a sitdown area to eat in but I can’t remember the exact building.” Marie Bumstead recalled Viners’ old shop next to the funeral directors, adding: “[They] sold sewing and knitting supplies, household linen etc on one side and gentlemen’s outfitters on the other.
“It became the hunting and fishing shop and the kitchen shop. Across the road where Simon Miller is now on the corner was a wonderful baker’s.
“The cake display in the window used to make your mouth water. We were only allowed an iced bun on special occasions.”
She also remembered: “There was the wet fish shop where we would be sent to get a large bit of cod for mum to fry on a Friday with home-made chips. “The butcher’s – where Down Swan Street is now – they made the best sausages. Would bring them all back in the blink of an eye.”
Several others including Patrick King said Vye’s grocer was one of the best shops, located where Desh restaurant can be found today.
“I recall Huntley & Palmer tins of broken biscuits and blue bags of sugar as well as a wide range of groceries,” said Patrick.
“I used to cycle from East Malling to deliver my mum’s shopping list which would then be delivered – Ocado is nothing new.
“Also two doors away, a butcher, one of two in West Malling the other being in Swan Street. Robinson’s cycle shop was the first shop as one entered the arcade.”
The former presence of two butchers is something also mentioned time and again by those who miss the old high street, although some have varying memories of visits there.
“Proper butcher’s, sawdust on the floor, rabbits hanging on the rack in window,” recalled Trish Bowman. “When I was a toddler, my mum took me in there. We were the last customers of the day, so the butcher pulled the shutter down to stop people coming in.
“This terrified me and it took a year for me to go into any shops after this.”
Of course, times and tastes change, which means the bell was bound to toll at one time or another for all these fondly remembered shops, not least for the Old Clock Shop, which was finally wound up in 2019 after 43 years of trading.
The Old Clock Shop continues to trade online, but whether or not these types of independent, unique shops can make a comeback, only time will tell.
‘We were the last customers of the day, so the butcher pulled the shutter down to stop people coming in. This terrified me and it took a year formetogointoany shops after this’