Bury St Edmunds historian Martyn Taylor remembers these newsagents

Before the advent of television, national, worldwide and local news was either heard on the wireless, aka today’s radio, or by your choice of newspaper.

In those far-off days, the luxury of having your breakfast-time reading matter popped through your letter box depended on the reliability of the paper girl or boy delivering it.

The many Bury St Edmunds newsagents which provided this service were spread across the town.

Nearly all the town’s estates had newsagents and whether they delivered depended on the availability of willing boys or girls who could get up early mornings to fulfil the obligation of their rounds.

The early part of the week Monday to Wednesday were not too bad, Thursdays with the added weight in your bag of the TV Times was not that brilliant but Fridays with the voluminous Bury Free Press was a pain.

If you were fortunate to be offered a Saturday or Sunday paper-round, they were best as you did not need to ‘rise and shine’ for those.

Mind you, there would always be the odd one or two whingers who went into the shop the next day to complain they never got their Telegraph or Times to read with their toasted soldiers and boiled eggs.

Of course, it was always nice to be appreciated at Christmas time, especially when your Christmas ‘box’ was delivered personally into the palm of your hand, even though you might have woken up the householder by ‘accident’ in trying to put their paper through the letter box.

So are newspaper deliveries a thing of the past?

Well it depends on whether you live in rural areas where the papers are brought to your door, most probably by a van.

Certainly with the advent of the ‘risk-factor’ where young people are not encouraged to go out in all weathers on dark mornings, the independence of having a few pounds in your pocket does not seem worth it to most parents these days.

Some of the town’s newsagents were as follows: Carmens in St Andrew’s Street North, near the rear of the Bushell, which was basically a wholesaler, as was WH Smith at the railway station. Of course, we know them today from their premises, once in Buttermarket and now Cornhill.

Lorfords in Central Walk, Traverse News at no 16 and Martins, at St Olave’s Precinct, with those below are just a few others.

Of course the supermarkets we have in town today are a major outlet to buy newspapers, some of which can now be read online via subscriptions.

Anne M Davies, 7 Guildhall Street

This was the newspaper and tobacconist shop of Anne Major-Davies. A heavy smoker, she puffed through quite a bit of her stock every week!

She always wore black clothes and heavy make-up, her jet-black hair slicked back into a tight bun.

I delivered newspapers for her in the early 1960s; entering her shop early mornings it always smelled of boiled cabbage. Yuk!

W. Herrington, Risbygate Street

Just after the first world war, Walter Herrington purchased a grocer’s shop here at 26 Risbygate Street.

His son Joe, with his wife Jean, expanded it – newspaper deliveries and knitting wool their staple business.

After 50 years of trading, getting up early to see off the delivery boys and girls, it was time to call it a day, retiring in 1998.

The shop was sold and transformed into a private residence.

19, Eastgate Street Post Office

In the 1940s a Mr Joyce ran this as a newsagents in tandem with that of a Post Office.

Eventually Maurice Wilson also successfully combined the two, the account of the shop being flooded out, as was most of the town in 1968, was mentioned in my book Bury St Edmunds Memories.

Pask’s Shop, 65 Northgate Street

This shop, on the corner of Tayfen Road with Northgate Street, was swept away with others for the creation of the Northgate Roundabout in preparation for the link to the new Bury bypass, which officially opened on December 7, 1973.

Florence Pask’s newsagents and tobacconists shop curiously sold as advertised Westward Ho smoking mixture, available from 1882-1915.

Also demolished were Roys Fish & Chip shop and Northgate Street Post Office.

In their stead, Northgate Lodge sheltered accommodation was built in Long Brackland around to and including numbers 15 and 16 Tayfen Road.

Sanders Newsagents, 133/4 Kings Road

Margaret and Roy Sanders were popular newsagents who supplemented their income with the sale of filled rolls whenever nearby Bury Town F C were playing at home.