Northwich residents reminisce about changing high street

Thanks to the Northwich Townscape Project, which includes a series of audio recordings of residents sharing their memories of how the town has changed, a genuine treasure-trove of memories has been preserved.

While the disappearance of department store such as Coombs, Bratt and Evans, and Jacksons, is long-lamented, along with high street staples such as Woolworth and Marks and Spencer, it’s been suggested the town’s hospitality scene is thriving, and is better now than it ever was.

Some residents remember a time when you could take a bus from one end of the high street to the other, and another recalls the old bus terminus, now Farmfoods, which she says was where ‘she probably discovered boys’.

Cllr Olwyn Dean said the bus terminus was where she 'discovered boys' (Image: Rose Hurley)

Cllr Olwyn Dean, who grew up in Wincham and now lives in Rudheath, said: “Northwich has always been a market town, and it’s a shame in a way so many shops are closing now.

“It’s just a sign of the times, sadly, but we move on. It’s good to see the town filling up with things which are useful. I don’t care how many coffee shops we have - if they’re operating, then there’s a need for them.

“Cafés were a rarity when I was little. There was one next to the old bus terminus, long since gone, which had the best toasted teacakes ever.

Woolworths was a cornerstone of Northwich's High Street for 82 years (Image: Rose Hurley)

“While you were waiting for them, they had sugar cubes on the table, which were an open invitation to a four-year-old. These are the things which stick in your mind.

“As far as shops go, everyone remembers Woolworths. I used to work there actually, when I was 16.

“I always aimed to be on the make-up counter, but I seemed always to end up on pet food. But I learned to use a till and things, so it was a good experience.

“It was always busy. Even if people didn’t intend to buy anything, they used to use it as a cut though. They’s come in the back door and go out the front, and inevitably they’d buy something on the way though.”

Jim Stanley, a retired teacher who’s lived in Northwich all his life, said: "The Salty Dog, on High Street, used to be a Marks and Spencer, back when it was known as the Penny Bazaar.

Marks and Spencer on High Street, once known as 'the penny bazaar', served the town for 110 years (Image: Rose Hurley)

"I remember coming along there in a double decker bus. That’s hard to imagine now.  

"I’ve always loved the building on the corner of Apple Market Street, which used to be the District Bank, but way back, was very posh French hat shop. There are photos of it being jacked up because of subsidence.

"What’s now the Barclays banks I remember being a Boots. It was a modern building in the 1960s, and as a child in the 60s, you wanted the town to be modern.

"When it was built, I thought 'wow. It’s a modern world’. It looks very dated now.

Bratts was the last of Northwich's independent department stores to disappear, back in 2021 (Image: Rose Hurley)

"I think Northwich now has a better café, pub, and restaurant scene than ever before. Years ago, if you wanted to come into town for a meal in the evening, you just couldn’t. There was absolutely nowhere.

"The pubs here were basically ale houses – not somewhere you’d take your wife or girlfriend."

Barbara Fallows said: “As a child, I remember Coombs, as it had very extensive window displays.

“They stuck out in front of the shop itself, and they were really quite posh, though perhaps not quite as upmarket as Bratt and Evans.

“I must have been inside, but funnily enough, I don’t remember what it was like. I think I was just so overawed with the outside.

“My sister went to work there for about two weeks. I remember she had to dress quite formally, so her cardigan had to be washed every weekend, which was quite a business.

"We weren’t exactly poor, but we didn’t have money to throw around. No wonder she didn't stay very long."