E Coles, Ladies' Outfitter, 37 Brook Street, Raunds

A Memory of Raunds.

The house on the left is the one in which I was born. It had a shop underneath and a living/dining area on the ground floor and bedrooms and a bathroom and living room upstairs. The living room provided an excellent vantage point to view all the proceedings at the Methodist Chapel opposite. Never a wedding was missed and Mum would lower the shop blinds when a funeral was in progress. Our mother had the premises built in 1933-34. Next door were Ernest and Hilda Putt who had a hairdressing business. Their grandson Graham Holloway was born there, he used to visit and we would play together in the yard or across the littte rickety bridge which joined a strip of vegetable garden to their property. We were allowed to help ourselves to mint to make mint sauce for the lamb on Sunday! Mother was assisted in the shop by her younger sister (my aunt), Hilda Coles who was chiefly responsible for buying at the London fashion houses. On many occasions I went with her by steam train from Wellingborough. Hilda had been a police woman at Bow Street during the war so knew London well - sometimes it seemed as if she still thought she was on her beat as we marched miles from fashion house to fashion house, seldom taking a bus or tube! However patience was rewarded if time allowed with a knickerbocker glory at Bourne and Hollingsworths. Dresses and coats were bought with the customer in mind and certainly no two ladies in Raunds in those days had the same dress! Nylon stockings were strictly 'under the counter' and for sale to regular customers only! I am referring now of course to the 1950s. Although I have not been to Raunds for a good many years I believe most of these houses still stand. We lived there untill moving to Primrose Hill in 1958. The shop eventually closed in 1971.