A view of the east side of the south end of the High Street is The Royal Hotel, no. 78 (1740-1962), Stockton Town Hall (built 1735 extended 1744), Wilsons shop no. 75 and Goodsons shop, no. 47 (c1890-1899). An advertisement for Old Irish Whisky can be seen on the front part of a steam tram. This photograph was taken c1890.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
The Wilson’s drapers and outfitters store in the centre of the photograph is shown as a ‘single’ storefront and facade with it’s shop-sign high up towards the roof parapet. Over the years this store (one of a small group owned by the Wilson family in the North East) gradually expanded into the adjacent properties. During the 1930s, a smart art-deco style, full-height facade was erected to their new department store on the site, which was still in place when demolition began for the Castlegate Centre in the mid 1960’s. I am still in contact with David Wilson, grandson of the founders, who has lived in New York since 1963 and works as an important designer of architectural stained-glass.
Those canopies were around well into the 1960’s on many shops and were complicated affairs.
They were a type of roller blind which folded away into a box at the top of the window and appeared to came as a complete installation.
A shop worker would come out with a long pole and engage a hook into an eye on the front of the box then pull it out. There were iron arms screwed to the side of the window and as the blind came down the arms slid up a rod and the final act was to push the arm further up the rod with the same pole until it locked thus stretching the canvas. If it rained or say a shower they would lower the stretching arm a little as you would slacken guy ropes on a tent, they had it all worked out. Waiting for a bus we would often stand under the shop canopy to keep dry in the rain which meant we would be looking at the goods on display so it worked well both ways. It was of course to stop bleaching, sweet shops displayed in their windows and your box of Christmas chocolates often tasted as if they had been in the window a year or so otherwise.
Saturdays in the market were a wonderful adventure for us lads, the bustle of the crowds who came in from the surrounding area in bus loads, the calls of the stallholders a lot of whom we knew as they were local market gardeners, the fizzing of those big gas lamps and although money was short there was always a buzz. Were we happier with our lot back then, I do know places like the Metro Centre put an end to the market as we all knew it.
In those days there was a bye law that stated that the canopies had to be a certain distance up from the floor. I don’t know what it was, but me being nearly 6’4″ would often catch my head on them!
Street markets lost a lot of their excitement and attraction when most Councils stopped ‘the pitching (shouting of goods for sale ) by auction or special offer. The reason for this was the adjacent stall holders complained that the audience stood around the pitchers stall and blocked their stall, and no one could see their display or was prepared to push a way through to them. The last time I saw any pitching being performed on Stockton Market would be around 1957 when two guys from Leeds stood alongside the Market Cross and auctioned toys. They became regulars and stood Stockton market for maybe 7 years. I think I can still recall some of their spiel..
“These toys are straight from the factory, (holding them up) they are so new they have never been exposed to gaslights, fanlights or Israelites, who’ll bid me 5/- for this brand new train set … “
This appears to be Stockton High Street ‘under sail’! The canvas sun-awning, or ‘canopies’ of the shops, project an incredible distance over the pavement areas, mainly in an effort to prevent ‘bleaching’ of window-displayed stock or ‘spoiling’ of fresh foodstuffs. A keen weather-eye must have had to be maintained by the staff, just in case a strong wind built up. The cost and necessity of such prolific installations, maybe seems to indicate that the weather was in fact, ‘sunnier’ way back then?