Our Family Grocer.

  We were spoilt for choice regarding grocery shops in the the town. Mum shopped at Kenn & Townsley's, a small family business on Gracious Street. Mr. & Mrs. Kenn had a daughter; Vera, Mr. & Mrs. Townsley had a son; Ted, both about the same age. In due course they fell in love, married and joined the business.
  The shop was quite small with an l-shaped counter and display cabinets. Sides of bacon, wrapped in cheese-cloth, to keep the flies off, hung from hooks in the ceiling. Bacon was sliced as and when required in a choice of thickness. Large tin canisters of dry goods; tea, coffee, currants, raisins and such-like, lined floor to ceiling shelves.


 Very few dry goods were prepackaged.  They arrived in large plywood chests and were then transferred to the canisters.
  The contents were weighed out to the customer's requirement and poured onto large sheets of thick, shiny paper.  Folding them into neat, secure parcels was a work of art. Vera was an expert.
  All through the big depression years of the nineteen thirties, Kenn & Townsley's allowed their customers a certain amount of goods on tick, as long as something was paid  off each week. Money was tight all round and it was better to have something coming in regularly rather than nothing at all. Wealthier customers, who could pay their bills in full, helped the business to keep going.

   Each customer was provided with a small cash book in which to write their weekly order. Every Friday, as soon as I was old enough, I took mum's order to the shop and a young lad called Charlie delivered it to us on his carrier bike the following day.

1939 CSW Tradesmans Delivery Bike

There was always a cone shaped bag of boiled sweets, courtesy of Kenn & Townsley's with it. A lovely treat, eagerly awaited.

1960's Tradesmans Carrier Bike

  I carried on shopping there after I was married and had a young family. Frank and I had five children at that time. The youngest, Ross, was three months old when Frank, encouraged by my brothers, decided to start up in business on his own as a carpenter and joiner. He had been working for other firms and going to evening classes to learn his trade since his demob from the army after the war.
 On the strength of a fifty pound loan from my brothers, to tide us over he decided to give it a go. Kenn & Townsley's called on Frank for all their joinery work from then on.
  One day, Vera came round to see me and said that if ever there was a time when a customer had not paid a bill promptly and we were short of money, I was to send in my order as usual and settle up later. Fortunately, it was never necessary; my small amount of weekly housekeeping money was always there and I managed, but I never forgot her kind offer.
  Whenever Frank did any work for them and sent in the bill, Vera came to the house the very next day and paid it. A receipt from me was required and Vera brought one with her  complete with a tuppenny stamp stuck on it, as was usual in those days. 

The price of the stamp was deducted from the bill. Vera was a keen business woman and although more than willing to allow us lee-way, she was exact to the penny.

 It was always early morning when Vera called round, A hectic time in the Pullan household ; Julia, Cynthia and John sat at the table eating cereal, Barbara in her high chair, ditto, and Ross in his pram. Sink full of dishes, me at the cooker frying up 'eggy-bread', [gone up-market now and known as french toast I believe]. Bread dipped in beaten egg and fried  made two eggs go a long way!
  Being slightly fraught and not looking my best, I was embarrassed and rather ill at ease which must have been apparent, as one day Vera said, " I love coming round here in the morning, Eileen and seeing your children tucking into their breakfast." I didn't worry any more after that. Sadly, she and Ted never had children for some reason.
  As a pre-school toddler, whenever we went to Kenn & Townsley's, Julia made a beeline for the other side of the counter and would stand next to Ted and Vera watching their every move: so it came as no surprise when she got a Saturday job there before she left school; making up customers' orders ready for delivery.
  Money was tight all through the fifties when the children were small. Any spare cash had to be ploughed back into the business. The house-keeping money had to stretch a long way. There was very little in the kitty at the end of the week for me to rustle up a dinner for all of us. This is my recipe for my " Day Before Pay-day Dinner."
  Six pennyworth of meat bones, [hopefully including a piece of marrow bone] and a chunk of suet from the butcher. Scout around the pantry for  any stray vegetables, a couple of wobbly carrots and sticks of celery maybe, a chunk of turnip. Ah! there's a potato and an onion and ooh! half a tin of baked beans in tomato sauce; not gone mouldy!  How did they escape? they will give a bit of flavour. A few sprouts, I can shred them, and some soft tomatoes. Quite a haul!  Method:
  Put the bones in a large pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least an hour, longer if possible. Pour the stock through a strainer and return to the pan. Discard the bones. Peel, wash and chop the vegetables and throw everything into the stock; add seasoning to  taste. Simmer for twenty minutes. Thicken with a paste of flour and water and add a little gravy browning for colour.
  While the veggies are cooking make the dumplings.  Grate the suet. Eight ounces of self-raising flour, three ounces of suet, good pinch of salt. Bind together with enough water to form a dough; not too wet, not too dry, which will drop from a tablespoon into the broth to form dumplings. Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer for about twenty five minutes without removing the lid. The stew may stick to the bottom of the pan a bit but no one cares about that. All anyone cares about is, will there be enough for second helpings. The dumplings should be light and fluffy and float on the top.

  Puddings were anything I could find. Stewed fruit and custard, maybe, or semolina pudding with a dollop of jam, rice pudding, ditto.  Everyone had an equal portion, there were no second helpings. We were thin but we were healthy.
  I was quite amused to read in the paper a while ago that stock from meat bones simmered in water for a few hours with some vegetables, is the latest health drink. I think my recipe is even better and it fed seven people.