I found this picture of the shop owned by Mr and Mrs Harrington, who lived in a large house now recently demolished on the corner of Guernsey Gardens. There are a number of comments been put on this site about the competition with Adcock’s, in relation to paperboys and girls and also how commuters could leave their wellington boots there during inclement weather, but this is the only picture I can find.
Does anyone have anymore?
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I worked at Harringtons whilst I was still at Brentwood County High school – all day Saturday and half day Sunday and earned 12/6 and 10/- for my two days work. It did however mean that I could no longer attend the Congregational Church on Sunday mornings, which I missed greatly. The year was 1957 – I was 14.
I served in the main shop and very occasionally, if little Miss ? (can’t remember her name) was off sick, I had to take over her job of marking up the papers with names & addresses for the eagerly awaiting paper boys, ready for distribution.
I loved serving sweets, which were stored and displayed in huge, heavy, sweet jars and had to be weighed – usually for 2ozs or 1/4lb, then shot, from the pointed end of the scoop, into very small white paper bags.
Eventually Mr Harrington opened a second shop next door – purely for toys – and this became my domain. I loved it – particularly near Christmas or Easter time.
Then suddenly, amazingly, born out of the old Cinema, Woolworths opened in Wickford High Street. Two of my friends from school excitedly told me they had both secured jobs there and were to be paid 15/- for a Saturday shift! My Mum went with me to break the news to Mr & Mrs Harrington, who were naturally disappointed, for I had enjoyed my time there and hopefully had been a help to them. Of course this meant that I would be able to resume my Sunday mornings at the old Congregational with my friends.
So, at 15, at Woolworths, all three of us, all clad in our floor-length white overalls, with white caps to match, were consigned to the sweet counter. However, the three of us, being so small, had to stand on piled-up boxes of fudge to even reach the counter. We enjoyed our work and served not only the general public, but many of our friends and took it in turns to escape upstairs to wash up the scales tray, after it had been used to weigh peanuts! We were allowed regular drinks breaks and It was a great place to be and the three of us stayed there until we finished school at 17.
I was a Paper Girl at Harringtons from 1958 to 1962. I was only just 12 when I started there, although you were not supposed to work until age 13. My Dad had died and as we lived in the first house in Jersey Gardens and they knew our family well they offered me the job. 10/- a week and 2/6 on a Sunday. I don’t think it went up in the 4 1/2 years I worked for them. I also collected the customers’ money on a Saturday, taking me about 2 hours (around £4 if I remember correctly) and I got an extra 1/- for that, not much for the responsibility, but I did also get tips from the customers, though if the money was short I had to pay it our of my tips! They used to have a Christmas Bazaar in a side room at Christmas time and your Mums put things by for Christmas and pay off weekly. Bessie’s Aunt and Uncle owned the shop next door, a Cycle shop, and when they retired the Harringtons took that shop over too. They had a big store down beside the shop and people used to leave their bikes there when they went for the train to work in London. The Harringtons originally lived above the shop but around 1960 had the lovely house built up Station Avenue. They had one son.
As a former paper boy at Harringtons’ I can confirm the rivalry between us and our Adcock counterparts. Harringtons’ paid fifteen shillings a week, whereas Mr. Adcock paid a pound as your wages.
At almost seventy, I can still remember my paper round, which doubled in size on a Sunday because of the supplements included. I had the longest round in the shop which began at the Bank opposite The Railway Cottages and finished at the top of London Road as you entered Ramsden. When the sun shone it was great, when it rained, oh boy, you got very very wet!! Happy days.
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