Nostalgia with Margaret Watson: Poem paints vivid picture of town’s past


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.
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Hide AdWe 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?