Saturday 19 November 2011

For Molly

Victoria over at The Pink Bicycle recently posted a blog about my namesake 'Molly' and I said that we had a sweetshop in Welshpool named in her honour and that I would post a picture - so sweet Molly - here it is - especially for you.


It's not that often that you see the old fashioned sweet shops now - the ones with the rows and rows of those oblong screw top jars of sweets. You pick which ones you want and they get weighed out on a mini scales and then scooped into little white paper bags. You could say - almost pre Woollie's Pick and Mix. Do you remember them?  Childhood memories of the  fifities, sweets were still rationed and there used to be this little shop on the corner. You had to take your coupons in to exchange with your pennies. What a thrill and a treat just to go in. There were all these jars of toffees and liquorice, humbugs and boiled fruit sweets, sherbet in bags which you slurped  through a liquorice pipe and gob stoppers which made your cheek bulge. They changed colour as they gradually disappeared. And Love Hearts - little pepperminty things with all those corny little messages on them. You could spend forever choosing what you'd like.


Perhaps things are going full circle.



We went to 'Coed y' today as well. It's a sell everything store just on the outskirts of the town. To get to the bottom half of the store and the garden centre you have to take the road  over  the little bridge with black metal railings. I stopped for a while and leaned my elbows over on the top rail to just look at the stream beneath.


I thought it was just the copper of the beech leaves floating on down, but then as I looked closer - people had been throwing coins - lots and lots of them. Make a wish - we don't change much do we!


21 comments:

  1. What a lovely tour you've taken us on today. I remember throwing pennies and making a wish.

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  2. I've spent so many pennies in fountains like this, and most of my dreams have come true.

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  3. Delores - I hope your dreams came true. and Tom - I'm glad yours did x

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  4. Loved the picture of the sweet shop. A couple of years ago a made a scale miniature sweet shop. It was so fun to recreate all the candy with Fimo clay. I have it in my office and still enjoy taking a peak into it now and them.

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  5. well the sweet shop is charming all on its own, but I'm so happy that you paused at the railing and peered over the edge into the stream. I love seeing the coins in the water. it's like looking at magic. happy weekend Molly.

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  6. I do remember the sweet shop in Crowthorne we used to go to...and many sweet memories of Woollies Pick and Mix.

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  7. What a great little sweet shop, and the coins in the water, it does look a little magical.

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  8. How lovely is that shop..but your walk is super special,hope your wish comes through Molly.

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  9. The old fashioned candy store is kind of coming back here as well. Much as I do not need any.

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  10. Thank you Molly for this wonderful trip down memory lane. As a small child, V (of Miss Molly fame) and I would wander through the woods at the end of our garden to Mrs Thankenyous. She who ran a small sweetshop out of the kitchen of her home...over the creek and up the hill. We called it Mrs Thankenyous, because that's what she said when we left.
    And then after school, on the way to the bus stop, stopping by the sweetshop in our boaters and white gloves (no, I am not kidding) to buy flying saucers that melted on your tongue, and tiny shots of lemonade, and jellies to eat on the bus ride home.

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  11. Life is such a circle. I have noticed quite a few sweet shops popping up again. Older adults (for the memories) and children (for the candy) love them. How can you beat a bag of sweets. I went into a store in California this summer that had barrels full of taffy, and I thought I was in heaven.

    Love your descriptions Molly.

    Arleen

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  12. Peppermint Love Hearts? Mine were always fruit flavoured. Yesterday I bought a bag of licorice wheels, and ate the lot. I probably won't now eat another sweet for a year or more!

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  13. Coming from Bournville, we had more than enough cheap chocolates from the Cadbury shop, but I did have a Ration Book, and I do remember buying 'Gobstoppers' and Sherbet Lemons.
    There was a Sweetie Shop in Maidenhead that closed down in 1970, or thereabouts, and they sold off all the old empty sweetie jars for, I think, 6d (old money). I bought half a dozen and still have them today in the garden shed. There are used to store - Sulphate of Potash, Blood & Bone, and other fertilizers. A couple of years ago another shop closed and threw into a skip all the shop fittings. I recovered a load of those little 'Pick & Mix' sweetie scoops, which now live with the jars. In that shed is also a set of the old fashioned scales - not sweetie scales unfortunately - probably greengrocers.
    I must do a blog perhaps?
    Cheers....B

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  14. Marti - your little sweet shop sounds nice - would love to see a photo of it.
    Becky I must have passed over that bridge fifty times and never stopped to look down in the water before - it's always the almost un-noticed things that are the best - Hope your weekend's been brilliant too.
    Chania - Hope your feeling better now - Woollies Pick & Mix - memories!!
    Nana - it's always magical that you call by my site - thank you.
    Carol - we're going through a little bit of turbulence right now - like all of us have to sometimes - so yes - I do too x
    Olive - - I know what you mean:)
    J - I love your story about Mrs Thankenyous - I can just picture you and V in your boaters and white gloves scoffing your flying saucers on the bus.
    Arleen - the truth is - I can eat a bag of sweets quite easily, telling myself - this is definitely the last one when it definitely isn't.
    Cro - my only salvation is - not to buy any in the first place - If I open the packet I'm sunk.
    Bernard - you and me both - I recycle anything and everything - hey I would love you to do another blog, have missed your posts lately.

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  15. Hi Molly

    I remember those liquorice sherberts and the liquorice boot laces - we used to walk to the village shop about a mile away once a week and that was my treat - ohh and pear drops and aniseed balls - I could go on for ever - we popped across to Blists Hill yeaterday and they have an old fashioned sweet shop there with treacle toffee and such like - just the job for a good browse - Jane xx

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  16. A quarter of sherbet lemons please Molly.

    Money?

    I'll just nip to the stream, sorry - cashpoint...

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  17. Hiya Jane its ages since we've been to Blists Hill - hope you and B had a nice day out there,
    Chris - the same thought was going through my head. I was trying to reckon up how much was in there, I counted as far as £3-50 and then lost concentration. It was mostly in pennies so how many wishes d'you reckon?

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  18. It's a pity even Woollies has disappeared. I bet kids would still love those sweetshops; like you said, the most fun was to be had in the choosing.

    Yes, I know 'Coed y' - not cheap Charlie's any more, is it? I find them quite expensive.

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  19. Thank you so much for the sweet shop photo Molly...does bring back such 'sweet' memories...I don't think I will ever forget 'Mrs Thankenyous' even more than the arrival in her kitchen was the wondrous journey through the woods and over the stream we took to get there. We have a shop in town here called 'The British Sweet shop', I'll post a pic for you, it has rows and rows of jars with lids filled to the brim with all the delicious things mentioned here and more. They still weigh them on a scale and sell all kinds of other ymmy treats from back home...my fav...aniseed balls.
    p.s. if you're all wondering how straw boaters and white gloves survived an English winter on school children...they were put away for the winter and outcame the velour hat and navy gloves...no we're not kidding! Must have cost our parents a fortune to dress us for school I just love the steam with wish pennies.

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  20. Friko - it sure aint, but the shoppers keep coming by the bus load.

    Victoria - I would love a picture of the British Sweet shop, please do put a post up. Your uniforms sound a lot more chic than ours - we were all grey woolly knee length socks and navy blue berets :(

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  21. My son in law worked on my computer this week end and I think I can comment on your blog again. I just wanted you to know I'm still around and still keep up with your blog!

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