Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Cirencester, Gloucestershire


A substantial world

Having in 1848 got the job of running book stalls on the stations of the London & North-Western Railway, W H Smith have a claim to be England’s first retail chain. Their move on to the High Streets of Britain came rather later – there was a major expansion at the end of the Victorian period, some further growth in the first decade of the 20th century, and a series of outstanding shop makeovers between the two world wars.

By this time Smith’s were well known for their combination of news, books, stationery, and other sales, together with lending libraries at some stores, and their shops stood out. Window frames in light oak and careful decorative details (including even distinctive rainwater goods) were their hallmarks, along with this lovely newsboy hanging sign. There are still a few of these signs around. This is one I pass regularly, a small landmark in the Cotswold town of Cirencester. Peter Ashley, chronicler of Unmitigated England, spotted another at Hull’s poetically named Paragon station.

So many of the telling details of Smith’s interwar shops have vanished. A number bore literary quotations in ornamental lettering. A favourite was Shakespeare’s line from Titus Andronicus, ‘Come and take choice of all my library,’ and in my infancy my local W H Smith shop was emblazoned with Wordsworth: ‘Dreams, Books are each a World and Books we know are a substantial World both pure and good.’ Amen to that.

14 comments:

Sue Hayton said...

Lovely! A friend, who was a Smiths Company Secretary, has written a timeline of WHS with lots of pictures of shops. Let me know if you'd like details

Love the blog

Best wishes
Sue

Philip Wilkinson said...

Sue: Many thanks for your appreciative comment. I'd be very interested in this timeline. Can you either post details here, or email me by clicking on 'VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE' in the 'ABOUT ME' box in the right-hand column of this blog. When you get to the complete profile, there's an email button.

bazza said...

I think it's rather sad that I can't think of WH Smiths as a choice of bookshop anymore. I dislike what they have become and if shopping locally go to Waterstones for books or, if possible (it rarely is), an independent bookseller.
Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

Philip Wilkinson said...

Bazza: Indeed. Don't get me started on what has happened to bookselling in Britain. It's a long story, and the resulting dearth of independent booksellers is frustrating. To get that buzz, that thrill of discovering books I've not seen before, I visit independents when I can find them, and the extraordinary collection of secondhand booksellers in Hay on Wye.

Sue Hayton said...

You can order a copy from this site - http://www.alibris.co.uk/search/books/isbn/9780907370079

Best wishes

Sue

PS Interested to see you have been involved with the new High Street programme

Philip Wilkinson said...

Sue: Thank you very much.

worm said...

A strangely depressing post Philip! And so true, WHSmiths is now looking so tatty and tired a la Woolworths as it's attacked on all sides by other shops and websites who do it better

Philip Wilkinson said...

Worm: Ah well, at least I like the sign! More uplifting posts to come soon...

Richard Williams said...

This particular sign always used to fascinate me when I was little! In those days WHS used to be fab, but this particular Ciren branch is now like the love child of Staples and Tesco Express!

Philip Wilkinson said...

The literary quotations would look out of place on a modern WH Smith, wouldn't they? In Cirencester today they'd be more appropriate on the Oxfam shop.

Hels said...

" Smith’s were well known for their combination of news, books, stationery, and other sales, together with lending libraries at some stores". Lending libraries?? Good grief. The details of their history have indeed vanished :(

Philip Wilkinson said...

Hels: Amazing, isn't it? The public library movement began in Britain in the 1850s, but it was slow to get off the ground. As a result, the privately owned 'circulating libraries' that had lent books to the middle classes in the 18th century continued into the 19th, and were joined by enterprising retailers - Smith's were one, Boot's the chemist another - who saw a market for lending books to customers. I'm not sure how long Smith's lending libraries lasted, but Boot's were certainly still lending books when I was a boy in the 1960s.

Vinogirl said...

My local W H Smiths when I was growing up was always a very civilised place. It had the quietude akin to our local (and much beloved by me and my siblings) library. They sold 45s at the rear and had hanging files/folders up front for those customers who had subscriptions to magazines and such...a wonderful childhood memory of shopping there with my big sister.

Philip Wilkinson said...

Vinogirl: I'd forgotten about those hanging files. The people who worked in the shop must have got to know their customers - how unlike today.