A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

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down south
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by down south »

Moving on, what comes next these days is another entrance road to the car park behind . And on the corner stands the last remnant of the building that used to be here :

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.63401 ... 56!6m1!1e1

As Sam told us in an earlier post:

http://www.threetowners.net/forum/viewt ... 570#p68570"

that pillar came from the old Templars' Hall, which was demolished sometime in the early seventies. I see from Wikipedia that the Good Templars were in fact , on a theme that's becoming a familiar one, a Temperance organisation run on similar lines to the Freemasons ...and clearly like Temperance hotels getting a little out of fashion by then.

The hall was set a little way back, and a lane ran between it and the corner of the next building. Back in the sixties on that corner was a small shop occupied by Bob Mason Cycles, No 29:
Bob Mason Cycles.jpg
But the main part of that building, and most of the rest of the block extending right round the corner into Green St, was occupied by various premises of the Ardrossan Co-op ; which I'll visit in my next post.

Susan
Last edited by down south on Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by howiesboy »

My teacher through almost all of my primary years was Miss McKay. Am I right in thinking that her husband was in the Coop Grocery in Vernon St? I remember a rotund, cheerful man. Incidentally, you must be getting on a bit when ALL your schools have been demolished, even the ones that were new when you attended - St Mary's Primary in Jacks Rd, the old school in Springvale St., St Micks in Irvine and the "new" one in Kilwinning! And me still a "boy" in my 50s!
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by morag »

I quite take it as offensive when they bulldoze my old schools..really miss old ST. Mick's in Irvine, that and the convent . And don't get me started about St. John's..!
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by down south »

I'm afraid I don't remember any of the Co-op grocery personalities, Howiesboy, but maybe someone else will know.

But I do remember the look of the shop in the sixties, before it became a supermarket. One big plain room, with a few pillars to support the ceiling; a long counter down each side with shelves of goods behind, and lots of empty space in the middle, with just a few racks for bread and the like out in the centre. Always seemed rather spartan and empty to me, though I daresay there were times when it was more crowded.

It stayed like this until quite a late date, maybe around 1970, before converting into a discount supermarket; pretty sure it was still part of the Co-op, but it labelled itself Krazy Kuts and emphasised low prices. We've had a topic on this elsewhere:

http://www.threetowners.net/forum/viewt ... 850#p73850"

Thinking about the low ceiling and extra section mentioned there by Meekan , that doesn't seem like something that would have been in the original Co-op grocery as I remember it; so I think it probably must have been the case that some knocking through happened and the cycle shop was included.

To complete the picture here at No 27, the Co-op funeral service also had premises somewhere upstairs, in the sixties at least.

PS I've now come across this picture of the Co-op grocery, mislabelled " Vernon Street , Stevenston " ( ! ):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44850481@N ... 2752963661" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It must date from the later seventies or after, because it's no longer Krazy Kuts but Supersave, and we seem to be getting a view from the car-park that was created in the goods yard. But the exterior is quite unchanged from the way it always looked, with the two separate doors; the one to the right being the former cycle shop, and looking as though it's become the drinks section of the store . Looks dismally drab there, I must say, with the upstairs windows boarded up. :(

Susan
Last edited by down south on Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by wellparkno9 »

Hi, Pat McKay was the teachers husband,a nice cheery man he was ,lived in Argyle Rd.I dont think the funeral depo was up stairs ,I think that was in Dalry but whoever it was that you phoned to arrange a funeral lived upstairs.I think all the people that lived in the building worked or had a connection with the Coop, Sam.
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Penny Tray »

Susan,

One of the Co-op Departments, certainly in the early 60s, must have beens 'Menswear' and one of their roaring trades was the hire of dinner suits, usually for dinner/dances in the Seamill Hydro. The package, always received in a neat wee case, comprised jacket; trousers; shirt; bow-tie and cummerbund. The downside of such hires were that everything had to be back before noon the next day and for some, having had a wee drink the night before, this was a significant challenge :wink:.

I can't for the life of me remember if you entered the shop from Vernon Street or Green Street?
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by wellparkno9 »

Hi, I think you entered the mens Dept.from Green St,just by the butchers shop.I'm sure Jim Donnelly worked in it.
But Milda should be able to tell us for sure. Sam
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by meekan »

Penny,
I remember the menswear dept. being being there I think they also sold shoes. My mother in law would pick up two or three pairs of shoes for my father in law to choose from at home and return the unwanted ones the next day. I can't see any trader nowadays agreeing to such an arrangement.
I think the fitting room for the hire suits was away in a corner at the back of the shop.
I seem to recollect the shop entrance was right on the corner of the building.
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Penny Tray »

Meekan,

The expression I remember in relation to taking goods away from the Co-operative and then returning all of them or all but one of them which, of course, was then paid for - was "TAKING IT AWAY ON APPRO". Presumably "appro" was approval. How else in those days would an adult male get to try on a pair of shoes. He invariably worked Monday to Saturday and even if he was lucky enough to have Sunday off the shops were then closed.
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by wellparkno9 »

PT ,your spot on with "APPRO",it did mean to approve or sanction.It was short for "APPROBATION", Sam.
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by down south »

Delighted to have everyone rushing me along for once ! The combined menswear and footwear shop was certainly on the corner ( with a stretch of housefront between it and the grocery ), but I can't remember for sure where the door used to be, or for that matter which was upstairs and which down . But the basic outline of the shop still looks pretty much the same in this Streetview picture, though I see yet another of those decorative turrets has been added on the corner:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 42.31,,0,5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But as you can see, all sign that there used to be further Co-op shops down Green St has disappeared. The Co-op butchery was next round the corner at 40 Green St; until it closed around 1970 or so, and was replaced by Saltcoats' first launderette. The butcher used to be Charles Gibb, who we heard about when we visited Low's :

http://www.threetowners.net/forum/viewt ... 386#p81386"

And then lastly at the far end of the Green St building was the shop for ladies and children's wear and household drapery. It had a rather old-fashioned air, with its cavernous outside lobby and high-ceilinged interior both well-bolstered by pillars; can't have changed much since the original grand opening of these Co-op premises described in the Herald Files for May 1906. And it was probably packed out then as I always remember it being for the annual sales. This must be the shop that Meekan described as having gone over to selling discount electrical goods later in the seventies.

Susan
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Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Milda »

The door to the men's shop was definitely in Vernon St. with a window on Green St.,as you went in the door you turned left for clothes and through to the right for shoes and the fitting rooms.Yes Jim Donnelly was our manager and I worked with Isobel MacDonald,Angus Reid and Therese Macnamarra,who were all lovely people and Sanny Ballantyne was the area manager and also very nice.I loved my time with them all.
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