The other day I was walking through a high street in a middle size town in southern England. It really hit me then how things had changed and not for the good. Once there were shops, now there are stores. Pubs with proper names like, 'The Kings Head' or 'The Royal Oak', have gone. To be replaced by pubs with names like 'The Slug and Lettuce' or 'The Firkin Gherkin' or something.
When I first moved to my village we had this wonderful shop called 'Clokes'. A big two story place that sold everything. Down stairs was a place to buy bacon cut on a bacon slicer, home cooked ham by the quarter and cheeses you could smell a half mile away. Up stairs you could buy all the stuff you needed for making jams and pickles and all of your haberdashery needs. Today we have a trendy wine bar called the 'Cloke Room'. Progress!!
When I first moved to my village we had this wonderful shop called 'Clokes'. A big two story place that sold everything. Down stairs was a place to buy bacon cut on a bacon slicer, home cooked ham by the quarter and cheeses you could smell a half mile away. Up stairs you could buy all the stuff you needed for making jams and pickles and all of your haberdashery needs. Today we have a trendy wine bar called the 'Cloke Room'. Progress!!
The 'Cloke Room ' in Borough Green, Kent.
In the following pages I have tried to capture things as they were. For those of you of that certain age a handkerchief might be handy.