Shops, Trades and Tourism

Shops

Adam Dawson
This Archbold. he had a shop in North Craster, now he was the first man in Craster to have an assignment of tea. What we drunk before that I do not know. The shop was on the north side where all the houses were built, on that comer there, and he had a shop on the comer of Chapel Row. Where on the north side, as you go through the gate to the Castle there's some houses there, some new houses, well before that there was a herring shed. Thomas Grey he was a fish merchant.

Maggie Wilson/Winnie Hogg
Mrs.Nelson's shop on the North Side was there before the war, she had a tearoom at one time and the Post Office for a short time. The Gray's had the Post Office at the West End for a time. Jamsie Smailes' wife, Annie and Ethel they served in the Post Office there, where Neil Robson's house is now. Think they packed up after the War. Annie Jane Nelson got it after that and she didn't have it very long.

Jimmy Shaw
When we came here in 1967 Annie Jane Nelson's shop was still here. There was Isabel's butchers shop down the street Edward Gray had the shop. There was the Off Licence, belonged to Patience & Belle Mason.

Joyce Shaw
Annie Jane was a fantastic woman - if someone came and sat on the seat beside the shop, she would think nothing about asking them if they wanted a cup of tea and a biscuit, total strangers. She was President of the W.I for years, her daughter found her dead, sitting on the settee, with the Gazette in her hand. She was only in her 70's when she died.

Jimmy Shaw
That was our port of call on a Sunday morning, going over to Chapel, we used to call there and have a cup of tea,

Joyce Shaw
Annie Jane was originally an Archbold but she married and became a Nelson. Her husband had been a fisherman but was crippled with arthritis and walked with a crutch. That's how she came to open the shop because she had to be the breadwinner.

Wilfred Taylor
In 1939, when my dad brought me to Craster, I think it was a Dawson had the shop, it was Charlie Dawson had the shop and the Post Office.

Doris Clarke
There was only one grocery shop and the butcher's. Mrs Nelson didn't sell a great lot, she sold lovely bacon and sweets, and probably cheese. Edward had the main grocery shop and post office. The post office used be at the north side, next door to the rented one. That's why the telephone box is there, I think. When Edward took it over it was handy for here. The buses always stopped on the north side, they didn't come over here. They used to go down to the bottom of the bank and then back up, in front of Mrs Nelson's house. She was the parcel office as well. I think that all of the drivers used to be pleased of her cup of tea in the morning. Waiting for the first bus in the morning. She was very generous in that way.

Travelling Shops

Doris Clarke
I always bought my meat at the butcher's, and the greengrocers would come. Bob Smith from Embleton. Then the store used to come, Howick store used to travel. Geoff used to work for them, he was on the bakery van. He came around two or three times a week. The store traveller used to come, once a fortnight, say you came on a Tuesday and they delivered on a Friday. That was the only way, if you didn't have any transport, 'cos you didn't bring things from Alnwick.

Pubs

Jimmy Hall
The publicans in the Jolly Fisherman, were, Walter Proudlock, Tommy Abbott, George Fenwick, Albert George. There was an off-licence at the North Side.

Adam Dawson
There was a small beer off, not far from us on the North side, was run by Patience Mason, and we used to call her Nanny Mason, and her husband. They were both Embleton folks, came from Embleton.

Joiners Shop

Willie Archbold
When anybody died in the Village, two or three of us kids, were curious and the Joiner, Mr. Gray, used to make coffins and we used to peep in the door. They used to make the coffins in the Joiners' shop. There were three joiners, Mr. Gray and his son and there was two apprentices, there were four in there at one time, Dennis Dawson and Jackie Browell, they served their time in there. We liked to see what they were doing, we were curious. The Joiners Shop dates back to about 1921.

Geordie Grey
After I left school, I helped my father in the Joiners Shop, 'cause he was the joiner. The reason tor that was that my older brother was a joiner but he was away in the Air Force, so I had to help in the family business. I wasn't cut out to be a joiner, I liked to follow the horses ploughing, and I wanted to be a farmer.

Jack Browell
Finished school, got a job in the Joiners' Shop and served my time with Jack Gray and Dennis, Jack Gray's son, John and myself worked in the Joiners' Shop. Made coffins, used to get the coffin sets and then John and his father went to measure the person up and came back and Dennis and I would make them. Enjoyed time as a joiner but was only getting 14/6d a week, from 7.30 a.m.- 5 p.m. and Saturday morning.

Willie Mitford
They made the coffins in the Joiner's Shop, Georgie Grey's father was a good joiner and all the men he trained turned out to be good joiners. Ralph Dawson, the boatbuilder at Seahouses served his time there, old Adam Durham, he was a good joiner, John Archbold. It was a very busy place in those days. Everybody used to end up there on a wet day, it would stop a lot of work 'cause you got on talking.

Garages

Joyce Shaw
On the North Side there used to be a petrol pump, where those gardens are now, opposite the new houses, there were sheds and opposite them there was a petrol pump and on it was a clock, I think you must have turned the clock if you wanted two gallons and then you would pump it for petrol, apparently it belonged to Old Rutherford, who had taxis down at the bottom., he lived up here

Marjorie Lumsden
The buses didn't come down in the village and you had to walk, either from the pastures or from the pillars. They went down the hill and backed up and stopped. When Rutherford had buses, between Little Adam's house and the Stables, he had his buses in there and there were buses at Embleton.

The Bark Pots

Doris Clarke
To go back to when I worked at Willie Robson's, they built that little shop for sweets and ice cream, adjacent to the garage, where the Bark Pots is now. This day auntie was in the shop and I was in the office and she shouted for me to go in. There was 2 ladies who had missed the bus and they had a couple of hours to wait. They weren't young. She said was there any way of making a cup of tea for them. I had all the makings in the office, so I said just tea in a mug. So I made it and took it into them, and was stood talking to them, and that's how the Bark Pots was started.

Tourism

Doris Clarke
In my time I've worked with the National Trust, which was very interesting. That was in the quarry, Winnie got me the job, because she knew she would have to go into hospital. The Trust didn't want the responsibility of the toilets, so the council does that, and the information bureau is through the council. I wrote a couple of times for a job and we were there for the opening. It was opened for 3 or 4 months before it was officially opened. I enjoyed that very much.