Haywards Closes

Patricia Cook is selling her shop Haywards in Wayte Street, Cosham after 65 years and started working there when she was 15 years old.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Patricia Cook.

00:02 Patricia, tell me where we are and what is going to be happening here.

00:07 I'm now 80 and I've decided to finish with my business.

00:12 And I'm now getting rid of all my stock and I'm going to retire.

00:21 I've been here for 65 years.

00:24 And tell me where we are?

00:26 I'm at Hayworth's 18 Wake Street.

00:30 So tell me some of the memories you've had here over those 65 years.

00:35 When I left school, my dad decided that he would have to start running a shop.

00:42 And there was nobody else to run it but me.

00:45 So I left school immediately.

00:47 And the next day I was in charge of a shop.

00:51 And it was years of me, not long after the war, trying to sell things that people did in their spare time.

01:00 And a lot of the ladies didn't go to work at all, so they spent their time making things, painting.

01:06 I did art, painting and cane making things and making their own teddies.

01:14 Then I went on to being a fish and tackle shop.

01:17 And I did fish and tackle for about 20 years.

01:20 Radworms and maggots and everything.

01:23 And then I started being a second hand shop.

01:29 Which was very busy and I did that for maybe 40 years.

01:35 Tell me what you'll miss about the shop.

01:39 I'll miss meeting and talking to people.

01:42 Because I've always had someone to talk to. And being at home, just my husband, there won't be a mountain of nice people to talk to.

01:50 They're very kind, helping people. And everybody's always wanted to help me.

01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]