A sign of the times

HISTORIAN MERVYN EDWARDS TAKES A LOOK AT SHOPS IN FENTON DOWN THE DECADES

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THE 'ghost sign' on the side of the City Road Café in Fenton in my 2020 photograph may hint at the variety of shops that the town offered in days of erst.

I am guessing that Povey's shop may have been a godsend to many smokers, as in 1963 Fenton had fewer tobacconist's - 15 - than any other Potteries town bar Tunstall. In fact, if we are looking at Fenton's retail range, it is worth poring over The Sentinel's Factual Survey of 1964, a highly analytical, painstaking dissection of the city's commercial growth around that time.

Compared to its five neighbours, Fenton didn't do awfully well for shops. In 1963, it had fewer bakers and pastrycooks than any other town in the city as well as fewer booksellers/ stationers, boot and shoe dealers, butchers, catering establishments, chemists, confectioners, wet fishmongers, general stores, ironmongers, jewellers, newsagents/ stationers, opticians, pram dealers and more.

Another valuable directory in my archive is the Stoke-on-Trent telephone directory of 1961, which lists WH Povey's tobacconist at 208, City Road.

Historically, Fenton strained every nerve and sinew to compete commercially with other centres and was certainly represented by a stouthearted traders' association, which organised an annual shopping carnival.

Bould's Limited was a famous name for many years. Anyone heard of that proverbial phrase, "When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade?" Well, Bould's noted Arnold Bennett's omission of Fenton from his fictional chronicles of Potteries history and advertised that they were manufacturers of the famous "Five Towns Furniture." The firm was based in China Street, selling myriad furniture items including household fittings as well as office furniture and counters for shops.