Marks &
Spencer
In 1884 a young
Lithuanian Jew called Michael Marks went to Leeds, an inarticulate immigrant
who could not speak English, he managed to obtain £5 credit from a local
wholesaler and he set up a ‘Penny Bazaar’ in Leeds Market. ‘Don’t ask the
price, it’s a penny’ was his slogan. Business prospered and Marks went into
partnership with his friend Tom Spencer. The rest is indeed a legend.
A feature in Leeds Market Hall is an elegant
clock mounted on an antique cast-iron pillar
presented by Marks & Spencer, 100 years later in 1984.
The Co-op
The former Lancashire
weaving town of Rochdale ,
now in Greater Manchester, was the birthplace of the legendary Gracie
Fields.
On 21st
December 1844 , following a bitter strike, local weaver’s each subscribed a sovereign
and the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society commenced trading in Toad Lane . This was indeed the very first shop in the
worldwide Co-operative Movement and the same shop is still there in Toad Lane (a
corruption of T’owd lane – the old lane) which has been a conservation area
since 1978.
The oldest shop’s
A chemist’s shop in the Market
Place in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire , has
been in continuous use since 1720. It
claims to be the oldest chemist’s shop in
England .
A shop in the High Street, Pateley Bridge in North
Yorkshire , claims to be the
oldest sweet shop in England .
and the oldest post office is at Sanquhar in Scotland.
Michelin?
Congratulations to this Sea Food Restaurant in Cromerty in north eastern Scotland, who have awarded themselves two Michelin Tyres.
The Scottish Ell
The Scottish ‘ell’ was a measurement equivelent to 37
inches. It was very important in the
Scottish market place that this measurement was strictly adhered to and
officials made every endeavour to ensure that it was.
The Cathedral graveyard at Dornoch, once
part of the market place, preserves a flat stone just 37” long which was
formerly used for measuring cloth on sale in the market.
On the wall of the Ell House in Dunkeld is a
metal ell measure which was used to check that any measure used in their market
place was accurate.
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