If you popped along to the blog last week, you'll have read about some of the history of Chesterton House. You might remember mention of William Warner?
I am very pleased to introduce you to Yvonne, a descendant of the Warner family, who has very kindly agreed to write a guest post for this blog!
Below, you can read about Yvonne's family, and life at Warner's Corner, an iconic Loughborough shop, that many of you will remember! Hopefully, Yvonne's pictures and photographs will stir up some memories for you, too!
Thank you, Yvonne, for this super family history, and the accompanying photos!
So, why not read on and ...
Meet me on the corner - Warner's Corner!
Churchgate, Loughborough 1908-1984
Family memories, by Yvonne
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| Warner's Corner shop, Fennel Street / Church Gate |
When my grandfather,
Alfred Stanley Warner (Alf) died in 1982, I realised that I didn`t know anything
about his early life, or indeed how the family business started. This led me to
the challenge of tracing my family tree, and the history of the “Warner’s
Corner” business too.
It was my great-grandfather who began the business. William Warner was born in Albert Street,
Loughborough in 1867, son of Alfred, a brushmaker. At the age of 13, William
was working in one of the town`s many hosiery (socks and stockings) factories
as a “hosiery hand”, but he eventually became a carpenter by trade. When Alf
was born (Ibstock, 1895), William was a craftsman making carved wooden moulds
for “fancy” bricks, produced by the Ibstock Brick Company. In his spare time, he
seems to have doing a bit of wheeling and dealing, selling various articles
such as cutlery and bicycles! Obviously, a lucrative activity, as William
eventually had enough funds to buy four cottages at Glenfield. The sale of
these cottages in the early 1900s (paid for in gold according to the family
story) enabled him to buy his first retail property in Loughborough.
“Warner`s Remnant And
Hosiery Shop” was at 23, Churchgate from 1908, on the corner with Fennel Street.
The building no longer exists, as it was demolished in the 1920s street
widening scheme. Clearly, this new business venture flourished, as by 1912
William was classed as a “Draper and Hosier”, a draper being a retailer or
wholesaler of cloth, usually clothing. He had also moved – across the road to
the opposite corner - to number 24, Churchgate.
This larger property had a
yard at the back, shared with numbers 25 and 26, as well as better living accommodation
for William, his wife Clara, and their 4 children.
This
photograph was taken in the yard behind 24 and 25 Churchgate. Access to number
26 is through the gate. I`m assuming it dates from approximately 1914, when at
the outbreak of World War 1, Alf volunteered for the Leicestershire Regiment.
The Warner family here are Alf, Joe (on the horse who was used pull a small
cart to transport goods)) and Kitty. William and Clara are seated, with Hilda
on her father`s knee.
After being demobbed, Alf
joined his father William in the business and it was registered in 1919 as “W. Warner
and Son”, with the registered address being at Fennel Street.
I haven`t been able to find
out exactly when the manufacturing side of the business began, but by 1921
William had become a “Wholesale and Retailer Hosier and Draper”. The wholesale
business involved buying rolls of fabric, mainly interlock cotton (a knitted
fabric, with some stretch) or wool for the making of underwear, socks, and
stockings. Using wooden or thick card pattern pieces, the garment pieces were
cut out by William and in later years, Alf.
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| Wooden sock board |
The garments were made up by
machinists in a workshop, which was at William`s new home at 2, Rectory Place.
This became the registered address of the business too.
 |
| Chesterton House |
William moved here in 1920.
This lovely, large Georgian building was certainly a step up from living over
the shop- and a long way from growing up in Albert Street! Not only did this
provide an impressive home, but at the back of the house was a long two-storey
wing which had formerly been a classroom, then a billiard room, and provided space
for cutting and machine rooms.
Also in this year, Alf married
Florence Hipwell and they lived over the shop for a while. They later moved out
to a house with a garden for their three children, Nora, Bill (my dad) and Stan.
The living accommodation then became storage rooms for the shop and the manufacturing
stock.
Both the retail and wholesale
businesses continued to develop during the 1920s, with the establishment of
Warner`s Pinnacle Hose in 1926, revealing that the manufacturing side of the
business was really established.
Another interesting snippet
came to light when a former shop assistant wrote in to the Loughborough Echo to
say that, as a fourteen-year-old, she started work in Warner`s Corner. She
stated that a lot of the stock was seconds, very good, and cheap. The opening
hours at that time were: Monday to Friday, 8.45a.m. to 7p.m. but open until
9p.m. on a Saturday. It is good to know that she thought of her time at Warner’s
as “happy days”.
William had somehow discovered
another outlet for goods – on Chester Market. (I have no idea why Chester!) My
Aunt Nora recalled being excited at being allowed to go with Alf, when she was
about seven years old. They would drive up on a Friday night with the van
“chock-o-block” with all types of underwear. They would stay in the same `B and
B` each week, ready for an early start on their three market stalls.
They usually sold most of the stock too! When my parents passed away, we found
four ledgers covering various dates between 1930 and 1952. The Cashbook (1936),
indicates that the Chester sales were certainly very profitable, but also shows
a variety of customers across the area who bought Warner’s products.
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| Ledgers |
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| Cashbook entries for 1936 |
As well as selling Warner’s
own brand of goods, the shop also sold a whole range of clothing and household
textiles, many coming from Towles Factory on Nottingham Road. However, it was
interesting to see in the 1930s` cashbooks the names of wholesale companies
from places such as Nottingham, Leeds, and Manchester, who I can remember were still
our suppliers in the 60s, 70s, and into the 80s.
Changes in the business came
in the late 1930s. Firstly, in 1937 William died.
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| Gravestone of William and Clara in the old part of Loughborough Cemetery |
He had not only become a
successful businessman, but had been a town councillor for the Storer Ward, and
associated with the Loughborough Chamber of Trade for many years.
Next, the outbreak of war in
1939 inevitably brought disruption to the business; the sales at Chester Market
dried up, but the two businesses survived despite the strict clothing
rationing. In 1940 the name of the business was altered to “W. Warner & Sons”,
as Alf`s brother Joe was now running the business with him. In 1947 it became a Limited Company.
The registered address was
still Rectory Place, where Clara continued to reside until her death in 1953,
when Stan, Kay and family moved in.
Sometime
after World War 2 both of Alf`s sons became partners in the family firm. Bill
became the accountant, whilst Stan was the firm`s salesman. Both served in the
shop whenever required. The next major business change that I have come across
was in 1955 when the wholesale side was re-registered as the Carillon
Manufacturing Company and the address is now given as 35B, Pinfold Gate.
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| Invoice for the wholesale business, 1970s |
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| A transfer for socks or stockings |
However, at some point
(another unanswered question!) – certainly by 1952, the family had acquired 24,
25 and 26 Churchgate, so they owned the block of buildings from Unity House on
Fennel Street to the White Hart pub on Churchgate, as these two photographs
illustrate.
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| Warner's Corner showing Fennel Street / Church Gate entrance. and 24-26 Church Gate |
The shop had been known by the
nickname “Warner`s Corner” for many years. The family story is that William
Warner was a shareholder and member of the Conservative Club in Baxter gate. He
always stood in the same place at the bar which became known as “Warner`s
corner”, and this was gradually applied to the shop too. The name firmly stuck
to such an extent that, by the 1950s, the shop bill headings were now “Warner`s
Corner”, and the name was emblazoned on the building.
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| Shop receipt pad from about the 1970s |
Now we come to my era! As a
child of the 1950/1960s, I loved going to the shop. My siblings and I would go through
the shop and “over the way” (across the yard) to find our dad, Bill, in his upstairs
office in Number 26, overlooking Lemyngton Street. We would pass through a
couple of small, dark rooms with dusty windows, filled mainly with floor-to-ceiling wooden racking. On these shelves were cardboard boxes or mysterious
parcels wrapped up in brown paper. (Fabric!) More paper-wrapped, tall bolts of
fabric stood in another room. There were many spooky nooks and crannies to hide
in!
When I was twelve I was allowed
to work in the shop on Saturday mornings - how grown up I felt! This meant
serving customers; self-service never made it into Warner`s Corner. The shop
was full of wooden shelves and assorted-sized cardboard boxes. The lids usually
had copious amounts of Sellotape around the edges, due to being pulled off the
shelves so often. Handwritten labels adorned the boxes, telling of their
contents. There were wide, sturdy wooden counters, with brass yardsticks
attached. Over half the counters would be covered with items, such as piles of men’s
jumpers or shallow baskets with smaller seasonal items. In the autumn, the
dreaded dozens of gloves would arrive; each pair had to be sewn together by
hand before putting in the basket!
As a girl, I had always
thought that the shop was very old-fashioned; it always reminded me of
something out of a Charles Dickens` tale, but discovering that the more mature
ladies still wore corsets was something of a surprise! (I could fit you for a lace back corset
with under belt, no problem!) Excuse me for being indelicate here, but who knew
that women didn`t wear pants, but briefs or pantees (mid-thigh), or even
knickers baggy to the knee)! Who remembers the baggy, bottle green girls P.E. briefs, complete with a pocket for a hankie?
The 1960s bought in the age of
easily-washed-and-dried manmade fabrics, and Warners kept up with the trend,
now making underwear with these new fabrics alongside the traditional ones. I
recall that a good seller were the men`s wool and polypropylene vests and “long
johns”. However, the best seller at this time was the Ladies` Nylon Pantalettes
- bottle green, royal blue, or maroon with lace trim at the knee. We were quite
often waiting for another batch to be collected from the Pinfold Gate machine
shop.
Celanese knickers (thick silky
fabric) also had their day. Apparently, my youngest sister can remember one
quiet afternoon trying these on over her clothes and dancing round the shop!
Well really…
We sold so many shiny `Tricel`
cardigans, as well as nylon shirts, blouses, and nightwear. I remember later
the advent of crimplene pinafore dresses and “slacks” (trousers). New stock had
pride of place hanging up in the windows, which were changed every Monday. No
fancy mannequins, just straightforward displays of what was on offer, protected
by the trademark yellow blinds. These were essential to stop the sun from
fading the garments.
As well as family members from
each generation serving in the shop, there were also loyal, long-serving staff
members both in the shop and on the manufacturing side. But inevitably times
changed; the manufacturing gradually shrank to two upstairs rooms over the
shop. I have a memory of Alf upstairs, still cutting fabric well into old age,
with the largest pair of scissors I have ever seen, while two elderly
machinists were busy in the other room. That side of the business closed down
on their retirement. Following the death of Alf and Stan, Bill kept the retail business
going until his retirement and the shop finally closed in 1984.
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Editor's note:
I believe after Warner's Corner shop closed, it became the Left-Legged Pineapple for quite some years, although I can't quite remember if this was immediately after Warner's shop closed. Since the Left-Legged Pineapple has left, the shop is now an estate agents.
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About Yvonne!
Yvonne was born in Loughborough - like many of her generation, in Radmoor Road Nursing Home! However, she grew up in a small village nearby,
and went to school in West Bridgford. Yvonne moved to Loughborough after her marriage, and has bought up her children here, as well as having worked in the
town.
This is Yvonne's first venture into
formally recording information about her family history, and she hopes to use this piece as a prelude and springboard to
writing down the history that she has of both her parents` families. Yvonne will share this not only with her grandchildren, but any interested extended family.
Here's hoping Yvonne has more stories she can share with us, too!
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posted by lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for typos which are all mine!
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