Simpkin & James staff recollections
THE appeal in Looking Back, for former employees of Loughborough’s iconic Simpkin & James store, has resulted in a great response; the differing recollections also reflecting how the store developed over time.
First to reply was Brian Hanford who worked there in his teens, from 1957 to 1959, in the Market Street goods received and despatch “warehouse”.
He remembers having to lower large cheeses and crates of beer into the cellar, through a trapdoor in the floor.
Sides of bacon would go up on a hoist to the first floor “Cold Room”.
Brian also commented that the delivery vans were garaged in the nearby Angel Yard, close to the entrance of Wills & Hepworth, later Ladybird books.
The manager at the time, Mr Harold Houghton, also kept his open top Jaguar car there. Brian further recalls that he and his pal, Johnny Watts, had to sweep out the shop before it opened on Monday mornings and would take a handful of sweets as a perk.
As one of the younger employees, Brian did little driving, but he does remember once reversing one of the vans into the office door in the Angel yard. This was relayed by his superior, Mr Denslow, to Mr Houghton who was not well pleased!
Graham Hallam said that his Uncle Nev worked at the store as a delivery man, and also a counter assistant, from the mid fifties until it closed.
Nev particularly recalls Harry Atkin on the Bacon Counter, Charlie Camp on the Fruit Counter and Ted Denham in Despatch.
The deputy manager to Mr Houghton was Monty Douglas and one of the other delivery drivers was Keith Danvers.
Mrs Margaret Wade was just 17 when she started at Simpkin & James, and worked there from 1950 to 1955 in the accounts department, which was
situated next to the area where orders were made up, about half way down on the right hand side.
Her main other memories are of entering the front door from the Market place, with the coffee grinding to the right, a flower display in the middle and the bacon slicer to the left.
Doreen Fletcher worked in Simpkin and James despatch in her 20s, from 1968 until the store closed in 1971.
She has a vivid memory of the counter staff at that time.
In addition to those already mentioned, Doreen recalls the manager, Mr Douglas, Frank Harding in the Wine Department, Irene Kershaw and Flo Booth in the cheese department and Margaret Ost on confectionery.
Doreen also adds that the head of despatch was Mr Denham and that two of the workers there, were Flo Jeffreys and Flo Hallam.
Colin Roberts, who worked at the store from 1959, when he was 15, until 1967, described the layout of the shopping area, as one came through the main entrance from the Market Place.
On the right was an ornate spiral staircase to the first floor and also down to the cellar.
In front of that, was the tea, coffee and grocery counter, with its wonderful aromas, followed by a lift to the first floor and then the wine counter.
In the centre was the cake counter followed by the sweets and confectionery counter.
To the left were the bacon and cooked meat counters and then the dairy products counter, including many cheeses, all backing on to the Market Street window displays.
The fruit and vegetable area, including flowers, was at the far end of the store, close to the Market Street entrance.
Finally, Alan Richardson was in touch to say that he worked for Simpkin and James from 1958 until 1963 undertaking various deliveries to houses around the area.
He said that the store had four vans, and that he would often deliver wine to titled and well-to-do people, including the Moseleys of Knightthorpe Hall.
He would also collect fruit and vegetables from Kingston Hall and Bread from the bakery on Welford Road in Leicester.
Alan remembers fondly that, at the end of the working day, the girls from the store would often make him sandwiches with ham off the bone. Inside the store itself,
Alan particularly recalls the overhead pulley system for carrying cash and the elegant mahogany coloured counters.
Mike Jones of Loughborough Reminiscence Group, who made the original request, said that the responses were a great help and painted a vivid picture of what Loughborough’s favourite high class store was like in its heyday.