Christine writes in verse of the Dewsbury she remembers, and many people will identify with what she has to say. This is why I am delighted to hand over this week’s nostalgia page to her because I know what she has written will ring true for so many Dewsbury people. We all remember with great affection the names of all the shops she mentions – the old as well as the new. Thank you Christine for reminding us.. Remembering Dewsbury Do you remember the Dewsbury of long ago? Of all the shops we used to know The town we knew in days gone by We look at now and simply sigh For a coat or a hat a skirt or a blouse There was Paige’s, Johnny Modes or London House Birtles and Bickers remember those The Co-op and Harvey’s that posh folk chose You got wedding stationery from Carlisle printers And if you needed boots for those long hard winters Freeman Hardy and Willis or Bunny’s would do Stylo’s or Simpson’s you had Hiltons too Redman’s food was all sold loose With ample choice from which to choose They sold everything for you to bake Dried fruit and nuts for your Christmas cake Drivers and Meadows and Farrands too Lovely shops that everyone knew The pile of butter went higher and higher And cheese was cut with a long thin wire Hagenbach’s cream puffs were one of the best Dempster Listers eccles cakes beat all the rest Anns Pantry’s trifles and Silvios bread Halfords for cakes when you wanted to wed You had loads of places to buy your meat Clarks tomato sausage was hard to beat Cross’s are still there to this very day Millions of pies eaten along the way Worfexes toy shop was a child’s delight And who could forget the wonderful sight Of Santa at Christmas at J and B’s store Going in through the window instead of the door Jim Brown’s and Diss‘s, Hudson’s and Thornes Heughan’s chemist would treat your corns There was Burtons tailors to buy menswear Cornells, Wards furniture no longer there Caddy’s ice cream really took the crown It was an ice cream of great reknown What a sad day when it went away Still talked about to this very day Marks and Spencer and Woolworths always fitted the bill Then there was Hodgsons up Daisy Hill Mum bought mint bits from Talk of the Town Dad went to tripe stall and wofted it down Dewsbury market was famous, you could buy anything there Remember Arry Arry with his household ware Johnsons toffee and fudge set in a tray A quarter of that really made your day The Majestic became the Rex, the Regal Essoldo Five picture houses if you wanted to go Playhouse, Pioneers and Tudor made up the five Or you could go to the Empire and see acts live But nothing ever stays the same And when old shops closed new ones came There was Auty’s for records and Strawberry Fayre Banana Joes and Maxicuts you got everything there Spectrum sold cards and unusual things Gales for hats, and for shoes there was Simms Clintons sold cards for that special day Buds and Blossoms made flowers in a lovely nosegay Peels chemist and Bon Marche have both now gone Though Baileys café goes on and on H Samuels have gone and sold their last ring And the tills at Chatters no longer ching Famous Army Stores, Watson’s and Ethel Austin The list goes on and its quite a sin That when shops close now no new ones come Shopping in Dewsbury is no longer fun Wakefield seems to have got things right Their Trinity Walk is quite a sight And with the White Rose a few miles away Has Dewsbury really had its day All shopping centres now look just the same And maybe that’s a bit of a shame But at least they bring jobs and help towns grow What will happen to Dewsbury I really don’t know Do we need a Mary Portas to come to our town Before any more of our traders leave town What’s Dewsbury’s future what is its fate Something has to be done or is it too late?