Memories are made of this

Mrs. Britchford

I married at Wellingborough Registry Office when I was 24 and I wore a nice suit. I did not have a honeymoon at the time, as we could not afford it. I came to live in Finedon as my husband was Finedon born and bred and he had worked in Finedon as a clicker.

I like the peace and quiet of Finedon, it is a nice place to live and I would much sooner live here than Wellingborough. There are lots of new faces now what with new people coming to live here and others passing on. It is sad when small shops such as Andrews in Allen Road are forced to close. I remember when Mr. White who ran the fish shop in Allen Road then there was Mr. Cooper the barbers shop in Irthlingborough Road and Mr. Bonham who had the general store on the corner of Allen Road. Then there was the shoe shop called Russons in Mulso Road and also the shoe shop on the A6. Down the High Street there was Warner Brothers the bakery and Mona’s the cake shop, Tuppenies the pub and another pub, which is now the Tudor Gate. There were the Co-op butchers and grocers and also Moiseys near Finedon Infant School and she sold ice cream and sweets.

I remember Finedon parade and there would be a dance and a torchlight parade around Finedon at night .Both my children were born at Isebrook Hospital and I stopped there for about a week. I remember the Doctor at Finedon was Doctor Bell and I felt that he was a good doctor. The doctor’s surgery was on Wellingborough Road next door to the all day supermarket. I recall that it was an old fashioned place and everyone would have to sit on a bench that went all the way round the waiting room, which was situated in the front room. We would all sit patiently and wait our turn and the system seemed to work. I do get fed up with roads being dug up now but that is happening everywhere.
Mary Tyler I was born in 1937 in Kettering at 62 The Oval and I was one of seven brothers and sisters; I am the fifth. I attended Rockingham Road Girls School but started school at Hawthorn Road. I went on to work at Kettering Coop Grocery Department, which was on Boddington Road.

I met my husband to be at Kettering fair. We knew one another for eighteen months and we eventually got married at Kettering Registry Office when I was eighteen in 1955.We moved to 8 Rock Road in 1955 and we lived with Gordon’s parents for three and a half years .Gordon did National Service in Germany. He worked at the local mines then later worked as a Night Watchman for Whitworths. His mum, Lucy Ellen, used to work at Loakes and later at Gammidges as a machinist.

Then we moved to our present house in Well Street. There were derelict houses opposite us. We were quite close to Shitn Alley. I have no idea why it was called that name. A stream flowed close to the house and then down into Bell Hill.

We went on to have three children. Sue was born in 1955; Jane in 1960 and Timmy in1968 and they all began their schooling in Finedon. When the children were older I went to work at Tower Boot in 1964 where I was a beader. I worked there until they closed when William Pearson was the boss. It was a nice friendly place to work. I finished in 1969 due to ill health. For quite some years I did moccasin stitching for Nutts on Wellingborough Road and also the same for Gammidges. All our children live in Finedon and we also have six grandchildren four boys and two girls. I used to love and go for walks. For a way of spending my free time I love to knit and also embroider. We loved to go for our holidays to Snetisham.

My own family has been my life and I have been extremely happy to be part of that.

I miss the fact that we had lovely shops like Popes, which sold Men’s and Ladies Clothes. Maggie Chapman sold sweets. Jim Bowles had a bike shop and also a wood yard. David used to sell fruit and vegetables and then there was Dingy Underwood then an entry and big plot of land and then the old post office. There was Brudenalls the shoe shop and Warner’s the cake shop. There also used to be a shoe menders shop and then Mr. Clarke the chemist where Nationwide is now also Britchfords and Plackets Yard.