Shops & Businesses Before the advent of supermarkets and the widespread ownership of cars, Whittington was a self-sufficient community. It fed, sheltered, clothed and generally looked after itself from skills found within the village. Trade Directories are a good resource for building a picture of the commercial activity in the village. The earliest Trade Directory we have - Whites 1834 - lists the following traders: Those marked 1 are in Brookhay, 2 Huddlesford, 3 Lichfield turnpike, 4 Thatchmoor, 5 Whittington hurst, 6 Williford, and the rest in Whittington village. Beard John, tailor, and assistant overseer Bearing in mind the size of Whittington, over the years other interesting trades crop up. Here are a selection: Advertisments in the Parish Magazine also indicate who was offering what. Advertisements from 1926 Parish Magazine
Advertisements from 1944 Parish Magazine Trade Directories first show the name Arnold in Whittington in 1860; Abraham Arnold, a blacksmith. His son, also Abraham, was born in Whittington in 1854. This younger Abraham appears in the 1881 census, in Whittington, a lodger with John Bridgen's family in Arnold's Yard and an unemployed baker. The 1891 census finds him married in his own home - still in Arnolds Yard - and now working as a baker. Abraham died in 1913.
By 1912 Frederick Aston had taken over Abraham Arnold's bakery business and continued to bake Whittington's bread until the 1950s. The bakehouse was behind their shop, which is now the Co-op. By the 1930s it had a flash oven burning coal, turning out a real crusty loaf, also buns, scones and cakes. And yes, Whittington people could take their Christmas turkey to cook in the bakery ovens, if it was too big to cook at home. Frederick Aston retired in about 1953, aged around 74, and the business closed.
But this was not the only bakery enterprise in Whittington. By the time of the 1881 census Henry Berks had arrived in Whittington. He is listed as a baker living at The Rock, occupying a shop. The painting below shows the shop with the green shutters. Henry died in 1893, but his wife, Mary, continued the business
1834 1850 1851 1880 Windridge Family Thomas moved the forge to Herbert Langton’s* premises where he remained until the building of Langton Crescent in 1949, at which time he moved the forge to Chapel Lane. Thomas died in 1955. *In Directories Herbert Langton described himself as wheelwright, carpenter and builder and appears in Kelly's from 1896 onwards, taking over as a wheelwright from his father, Thomas. Thomas died in 1893; Herbert died in 1914 at the comparatively young age of 50.
George Moody, wheelwright, first appears in the trade directory entries for Whittington in 1860. Harrod's 1870 directory describes him as carpenter and builder. Aged only 45, he dies in 1879, when Richard, his youngest son, is just a month old. Harriet, the widow, stays on in Whittington and the 1891 census describes her as "living on her own means" at "Moody's Buildings" It is not until 1916 that Richard Moody appears in Kelly's as a builder (although, age 22 in the 1901 census he is living in Whittington and has the profession of carpenter). He dies in 1941.
Mr Percy Pearce lived and ran his builders' business in the village for about 40 years, previously having rented a cottage at Whittington Hurst. In the mid 1920's Colonel Dyott invited him to move into the back part of the Hawthorns. The outbuildings, known by villagers as “The Forge” or, sometimes, the Scout Hut, were once the workshops and storage areas for the business. At the end of the building furthest from the road there was a forge, where brackets and hinges would be made for farmers’ gates. Carpenters’ and painters’ workshops occupied the rest of the building and on the end wall nearest the road, there was a display window filled with pots of paint and wallpaper. Mr Pearce was always ready to help DIY-ers by ordering wallpaper or cutting timber to size. Butcher - Harry Farnsworth
Harry Farnsworth's name first appeared in Trade Directories as a butcher in 1896. The shop closed after the war; Harry died in 1947. Animals were fetched from Lichfield market and driven back to Whittington on the hoof. The slaughter house was where the garage now stands and before the days of refrigerators, Mrs Farnsworth, the butcher’s wife, had to fetch ice once a week from Burton in an old Ford van to keep the meat fresh. At the Main Street end of the premises there was a small shop where you could also buy groceries, sweets and some fancy goods. One of Whittington’s long-term residents remembers: Mr Farnsworth was the butcher; his shop was a small appendage to the side of Dawson House. By today’s standards it was very basic, always scrubbed down and clean, but nothing like the sterile clinical conditions required today. Just a massive well-used solid oak butchers block upon which all meats were carved up as required, the meat available on the day hanging on large hooks to one side, with just about room for Mr Farnsworth and the customer.
Many villagers remember Mrs Leach’s shop which she ran for around 50 years until the 1970s. This description paints a vivid picture. It was the perfect village shop – wholesome scent as you entered. Mrs Leach always there behind the counter to greet you with a warm smile and ready to give you her undivided attention, ready to attend to your every need – made you feel welcome, as if you were her most valued customer. You, in turn, would treat her with the respect due to the lady (in every sense of the word) owner of the shop. Everything one needed was there from a sheet of pins, needles, cottons, wool for knitting and darning, ribbon, socks, dusters, shelves stacked with every sort of tin and packet from baked beans to Bisto. Floor space filled with sacks and baskets of this and that. Toiletries. Glass jars on the counter filled with tempting Bull’s Eyes and Pear Drops and Toffees. Sugar was carefully weighed out into stout blue paper bags. Bacon sliced to your required thickness. Wednesday was half day, but the shop was open all day Saturday. Sweetie Shops Some of Whittington’s long-term residents remember back to how, as children, they would spend some of their pocket money in the 1920s and 30s. From Mrs Alice Donnellan’s front room at No 17 Church Street, they could buy a halfpenny unwrapped Cadbury’s chocolate bar, 2 ounces of mixed sweets for a penny* or maybe a “lucky bag”. Amongst the selection in the lucky bag they might find a locust bean; these were the “locusts” eaten by John the Baptist in the Bible and come from the carob tree. Another source of supply for the children of these chocolate-tasting beans was to pinch them out from the farm animals’ feed. After Mrs Donnellan, Mrs Jane Britt used to sell sweets to children and tobacco and cigarettes to adults from a counter across her front door at No. 8 Church Street. At Woodbine Cottage Mrs Caroline Rickwood (she died in 1965) is remembered as an eccentric old lady. She was listed as a ladies' hairdresser in 1932 Kelly's and a shopkeeper in 1936 and 1940. She used to sell sweets to the school children through her front window – and she sold knitting wool and cut boys’ hair. Continuing the hairdressing tradition, a ladies’ salon was run from here after Mrs Rickwood’s time. "Maisonette" Shops In the late 60s/early 70s there was a row of 4 shops where the maisonettes are - opposite the junction of Back Lane with Main Street.
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