Midhurst Magazine. Issue 31, Spring, April 2020. The 60th year edition.
Bridget's Midhurst Meanderings By Bridget Howard
We carried small wicker baskets for fragile items.
Well now, “Shopping” - the physical act of entering a retail establishment and buying from it one or more of the goods on sale there. Do you still do this, or do you prefer to order online from the comfort of your home, paying a financial penalty to return unsuitable objects? We are witnessing a social revolution in which 'shopping' does not require shops. In the 1930's, a time which many of the town residents of Midhurst will remember, there were six butchers, four bakers, five grocers, four greengrocers, three chemists, and six sweet shops – not to mention cobblers, pubs, garages, book shops and a music shops.
In the greengrocer's, punnets of soft fruit were carefully inserted in paper bags. The baker, using tongs, placed small cakes into partitioned cardboard boxes. Loaves of bread were wrapped in white paper before being handed to us. Plenty of paper, plenty of time to chat.
Do you remember the grocer? We stood at the counter while the shop assistant wielded a length of wire with wooden handles at each end, and cut our portion of cheese from a large block. Similarly, wooden paddles squared off our butter. Few things were pre-packed. We chose our biscuits from a bank of tins with glass fronts. The cheapest were 'broken biscuits'. Sugar came in blue paper cones. We stood, but the wives of local dignitaries sat on tall chairs and discussed their needs with an attendant senior assistant. Later that day, the errand boy opened our unlocked back door and put our purchases on the kitchen table. No need to lug home the supermarket's plastic bags. No supermarkets. No plastic.
There were more shops in Midhurst's Old Town than there are today. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, at the top of Church Hill, Mr Dion L Dailey the chemist also sold tobacco and cigarettes, drawing materials, photographic goods, and mineral water! A few years earlier Mr Samuel Cowlap had the young H. G. Wells as his assistant in there. Today, a blue plaque identifies the house. Nearby, there were two boot-makers: Miss Ruth Symonds and Mr William Wonnar plied their craft beside the Midhurst Steam Bakery. On the other side of Church Hill, on the site recently occupied by Lloyds Bank, was the emporium of Morleys, a Mecca for the 12
