MEMORIES OF PARKIN’S IRONMONGERS
My father A.R.Parkin opened the shop in a small room on the corner of Bank Street in 1908, following training at Fred Verity/s in Vicar Lane Leeds and, over the years, he and later John and I gradually bought adjoining properties until the business occupied the whole block.
During my father’s absence in the army in the first world war, the business was run by his mother (my grandmother) C.C.Parkin who lived on the premises with her husband J.F.Parkin who had retired from his own business, Star Mineral waters works. Many years later I recall an old man coming into the shop and telling me that he used to buy pop in cod bottles from my grandfather for 1/- per dozen and he sold them for 1½d each. I have a calendar from the Star Mineral Water Works for 1901 showing a coloured picture of a foxhunt the calendar bears the name “J F Parkin. Castleford. High Class Mineral Water Manufacturer”. The ironmongery business suffered during father’s absence but at least it did survive and he was able to pick up the pieces on his return.
My earliest recollections are of going to the shop to earn pocket money during school holidays. The staff at the time included John Whitehead (known as John at the shop, as opposed to brother John), who was still there when we closed down in 1977. John used to light our bonfires on November 5th and I was most impressed by his ability to bend a 6” nail gripping it in his handkerchief in both hands. Another staff member was Rose Braddock who was in charge of the office and gave many years very loyal service. Also on the staff was Edna Stonell who worked in the office and used to accompany me to Woodhead’s dentists in Bank Street where she held my hand whilst I was receiving treatment and also Mr Beardsmore, who consumed copious quantities of tea and fancied that he was the boss.
The shop closed on Wednesday afternoons and my father often took me to Leeds to order or collect stock for the shop. I recall going to Brown Brothers Barracloughs and Wilson and Mathiesons, who were regular suppliers. I usually worked at the shop for most of the school holidays for the princely sum of 10/- per week. The work was quite hard and included serving on the counter, cleaning the windows, removing the wooden shutters each morning and replacing them at closing time. I also had to put out a lot of goods on the pavement including dustbins, buckets, household steps, barrows and other items with the intention of attracting the attention of passers by. The wall behind the counter had shelves containing strong cardboard boxes with a sample of the contents fastened on the front. The shop had a very distinct smell of all the multiplicity of items stocked and I am reminded of it when in Ironmongers shops. We sold calcium carbide bike lamps on which a bright light was produced by setting a drip of water on to the calcium carbide producing acetylene gas. We also sold gas mantles and paraffin to householders who had no electricity supply. The name A R Parkin was to be seen all over town on Manhole covers and coal chute covers, also on the old Yorkshire kitchen ranges.
During the second war father faced a lot of restrictions. Licences were required for many of the goods that we sold. I remember that if we had an enquiry for barbed wire or wire netting, we had to tell the customer to write to the West Riding Agricultural Executive Committee at Harrogate for a licence. Tradesmen used to operate a barter system and I remember my father exchanging hardware for sausages with Mr Matthews a butcher in Smawthorne Lane. The A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) organisation operated on the top floor of our building, watching for incendiary bombs. Father was very soft-hearted and accepted goods in payment for accounts and I remember him bringing home a set of bowls and an ice cream maker amongst other things.
Harry Pickersgill, our locksmith, who ran the workshop was a wizard with anything mechanical, he was often called out to let people into their houses when they lost their keys. When I bought my first motorbike in 1949, a 1936 B.S.A. 250 cc side-valve machine, Harry stripped it down in the workshop and re-assembled it in as-new condition in time for my 16th birthday. Len Pearson was also in the workshop, he had what was called sleepy sickness and would often fall asleep whilst filing keys.
Father never bought a car unless he could improve it considerably. He and Harry used to work on vehicles until the early hours. We had a Buick straight-eight Canadian car (AFY 550) on which my father and Harry Pickersgill disconnected four cylinders during the war years to save petrol. We had an identical wrecked car in a field next to Simpson’s garage as a source of spares. I understand that my father used to hire out model T Ford cars at one time, he also once assembled crystal sets (early radio sets) which were powered by glass rechargeable batteries.
My father suffered ill-health for years and, not long after he died in 1948, Harry Pickersgill was working late in the evening in the workshop, which was dark except for the bench where he was working, and he looked up and “saw” my father in a dark corner, apparently watching him (as he had often done in the past). This shocked Harry so much that he promptly packed up for the night and went home.
In the workshop we overhauled lawnmowers, repaired locks, cut all types of keys and reconditioned safes. In the main shop we sold ironmongery and builders merchants goods. The next section was the household shop where we sold crockery, glassware, cutlery, etc. On the corner of Bradley Street was the Plumbers Merchants department where we sold bathroom suites, kitchen furniture, central heating equipment, copper pipes and fittings. Across the road we had a yard where we stocked calor gas, sanitary fittings, manhole covers, rainwater pipes etc. Our fireplace showroom was further up Bank Street on the opposite side where we displayed room fireplaces and kitchen ranges and stocked parts for these. We also opened a branch in Pontefract. At one time we sold approximately 700 room fireplaces and 200 kitchen ranges per year. We also had a large yard along Savile Road where we stored the fireplaces, sinks, firebacks and corrugated asbestos and galvanised roofing sheets. Our staff numbered 35 at one time and when we finally closed I had to make 25 redundant.
Brother John worked at the shop before the Second World War and, after demob; he took a more active part. My father was in poor health by this time, he suffered from chronic bronchitis and had often to use a special inhaler mask to help him breathe. John took charge and made a lot of improvements to the business including buying adjoining properties to increase the size of the business and the range of items stocked.
It had always been understood that I would join the family firm and I left school shortly after my father’s death and worked at the shop full time. It was decided that I would benefit from some training in a different firm, just as my father had done, so I worked for two years for J & H. Smiths in the Headrow, Leeds. I spent many lunch hours looking covetously at new B.S.A. motorcycles in the windows of Watson & Cairns and Triumph motorcycles at Messrs Jenkins. Alas, I never owned a motorbike younger than myself. After two years national service in the R.A.F. I returned to the fold in 1954 and we opened a plumbing department in the Bradley Street premises, which I ran with the help of Mrs Kitty Lisle.
John and I entered a formal partnership, which lasted until we formed a limited company in 1966. John was in charge of the ironmongery; household goods and builders’ merchants’ side and I ran the fireplace, central heating and plumbers’ merchants. I specialised in central heating and designed over 700 heating systems, mostly using solid fuel.
The pattern of trade changed and we decided to separate the trade and retail business by making the Bank Street shop retail only and the Bradley Street showroom became the trade counter for sales to the builders, plumbers and joiners. This meant that we could close the trade counter on Saturdays and the retail counter on Wednesdays. The household shop became the fireplace showroom.
During the last few years of trading we were threatened with closure by the county council who were determined to drive a road right through our property. We bought extra land next to our storage yard on Savile Road and had plans passed to build splendid new premises to house the whole business. Unfortunately the council would not come up with sufficient compensation for us to go ahead without the bank owning most of the building.
John sadly passed away quite suddenly in May 1975, following a long illness and a big operation, and I was faced with the task of running the whole business. We had always covered for each other at holiday times and during illness, but John had a major role in the running of the firm. He was partway through various projects and was suddenly not there to consult about them. I remember facing each day with great trepidation in case anything cropped up which I could not handle.
Despite the difficulties I managed to soldier on for two more years, and began to enjoy the extra responsibility, but unfortunately the county council would not go away and I had no alternative but to hold a closing down sale and make our staff of 25 redundant. I managed to help many of them to obtain alternative employment. I sold the yard opposite to Allinsons Flour mills and the Savile Road yard and land to Woodlock Bros builders and W Phipps Fish Merchants. We finally closed down on Christmas Eve 1977;almost 70 years after my father opened the little shop on the corner. We held an auction of all the remaining stock and fixtures in early January 1978 and the premises were empty and echoing. I had a final look round the building in which my father had lived with his parents, to which he took his bride in 1920 and in which my brother John and sister Mary were born. It was truly the end of an era. My family had served the town for 70 years and it was a very sad ending.