The Greengrocer's Shop

Way back long ago .....
After I was left with a daughter to support, I worked in a Greengrocer's Shop.

It all came about like this ....  I used to collect my maintenance from the Law Courts, notice the doorway up the sidestreet in the photo marked in red, inside it was like a Post Office - a desk with grills which were labelled alphabetically.
The door opened at 13.30hrs precisely, I usually tried to arrive about half an hour earlier as there was usually a queue of ladies waiting to collect some monetary support, and we waited outside in all weathers.  As this doorway opened onto a narrow street, the wind enjoyed unhindered travel along it and not always warmly!
Once the door opened it was a crush to get to the counter first!  Many a time, after my name was checked against the list, I was informed that no payment had been made in my name, and so I returned to the street.  This meant that I was penniless and would have to travel to my parents to ask for some money to last me until I could arrange a Social Payment.  I would have to give my name and address to the busdriver, which meant that the Bus company would send me an invoice for the fare, which then had to be paid at the Bus Garage.

King Edward VII

When I arrived at my parents house they always managed to supply me with enough money to pay for my busfares and buy some food.  I had to go and visit the local Social Services office, wait to be called and then request payment in lieu of the missing maintenance payment.  My daughter only knew that we went to the Post Office by the Park.  Years later she remembered the park, a certain statue actually, and I had to explain what had happened.
The people at the Social would reluctantly hand over enough money to keep me for the fortnight, I would go back to my parents and pay them the money I had borrowed.  This tended to happen frequently as I said.
I think that my Mother became a little tired of all the toing and froing involved, and one day when I arrived to visit, she told me she had spoken to the local Greengrocer who had a vacancy. Mother had put my name forward, spoken with Dad and they would look after my daughter while I was at work - apart from the interview it was all sorted.  I went up to the shop and spoke with the owner who appeared to think that I had accepted the position!!!

Not really!!!

These shops were local, nearly all the families in the roads around used the shops and there was quite a familial feel between the customers and shop owners.  Most of the shops were owned by families as was this one, the son lived above the shop.

Shutter down

I worked afternoons of Monday, Thursday and Friday and all day Saturday. Saturdays were a bind as the front of the shop had to be opened up, the steel shutter pushed up into ceiling, heavy and cold.  I know this was done every morning but I only worked afternoons .....

Imagine no windows, all open

Once the shutter was open, and hopefully before customers started coming in, we started to lay out the front.  it was hard in the winter but the Summers were great, lovely and cool and lots of soft fruits - until the wasps found us!!!  During the winter I wore a maxi skirt, long and woollen, keeping the wind from round my legs.  Often the 'girls' I worked with would be wearing trousers and froze, but I was lovely and warm.  I loved working in that shop, we would weigh out the produce and add up the cost in our heads. The shop was laid out so that the customers started with potatoes, carried on round the vegetables, onto the fruit and then the salad goods. By the time we arrived at the till we knew how much they had spent totalled in our heads, and it often came as a shock!!  Good Mental Arithmetic was a necessity.
On Saturdays in the summer just before closing, Mr Willis would call me to the front of the shop and ask me to 'get rid' of the soft fruit.  He left it all priced up and he said he didn't mind what I sold it for so long as I got rid of it!!!  He would then go home and leave me to it, I loved it .... shouting out the price, begging people to buy ....  About 6 o'clock he would return, moan if I hadn't sold everything and then help me close up, cash up and lock up.  When one of the ladies had to have time off, I was asked to do her shift and then ended up working full time.  Mam and Dad looked after my daughter all this time, I don't know who enjoyed it more.  I think when I left the shop to get married (again) everyone was a bit upset, me included!
They truly were the good old days!