Some South Woodford scribbles from DD, our resident diarist and observer of all things local. Illustrated by Evelyn Rowland
I have lived long enough in South Woodford to have seen many changes on the high street. My nearest row of shops began with Kistrucks Bakery. We kids knew the cakes remaining at the end of the day would go for half price first thing in the morning. We suggested to the nice lady in charge we could reasonably relieve her of them at 5.30pm as she closed the door. Our cheekiness not infrequently paid off. Then came the ladies’ hairdresser with separate, discreet, curtained cubicles. You would never be exposed to the public, sitting under the bonnet hairdryer with your head covered in rollers. Next came ‘Sheila’ with her millinery boutique. I often gazed at the elegant hats temptingly displayed behind curved windows. She closed in 1992. In due course, the enormously popular, family-run HO HO Chinese restaurant closed its doors for the last time. Sorely missed.
In this same location, Salman Comak has been ‘open all hours’ from 9am to half past midnight, seven days a week, for 25 years. One of South Woodford’s traditional ‘corner shops’. I called in for a chat. I looked round. Surely there can’t be anything he doesn’t stock! Salman was born in Turkey of Kurdish descent. “There were problems,” he said. “We were not wanted, we were actively persecuted. I knew England was a democracy. I understood business before I came. I opened a shop in Leyton, then moved here and married my wife, Sana. Both our daughters have been university educated here and are fully employed. I have never looked for any benefits or handouts. I have paid my taxes. I feel happy here and I am satisfied that I am fulfilling a need. Available when ‘the big boys’ have shut up shop. There’s very little theft. There are good people here.” At this point, “What a stroke of luck for me!” said Salman. “Here comes my best customer.” In came Terry, leaning heavily on his walking-frame and immediately eager to pitch in to our conversation. I asked him: “Do you have a reason for shopping here?” “Loads of reasons! Prompt personal service.” (By now Salman was out from behind the till and removing Terry’s backpack and placing his purchases carefully inside.) “If you don’t support the high street, the community dies! Sometimes, neighbours of mine do my shopping. They know where to come and when they say: “It’s for Terry,” Salman knows exactly what I need. They couldn’t get far announcing that at a supermarket! Nothing against them, but for me, so corporate. You have individual attention here. Friendship, even. We’re talking about two different worlds.”
I decided to explore further: The Nutberry Local Store, ideally situated next to the station, is open from 6am to 11pm. A regular customer there, Deepak, was keen to talk. “I mean, who really wants to stand in a queue? Who doesn’t enjoy a personal greeting?” I noted a sample of wares on the packed shelves. Cake candles and birthday cards alongside bread, pepperoni and Persil. Newspapers, too. Further down the road, I called in at Woodford News (6.30am to 11.30pm). Prem was all smiles. His ‘den’ is very small and compact. Umbrellas and Sellotape, cycle clips and Cabernet Sauvignon. “I used to work in a huge store. I love my days here: time to chat, time to listen. I don’t do the papers anymore. I leave that to Ram up the road.” His welcoming warmth was tangible: “Would I like a drink?” Aram and Hasan at Woodford Express (6.30am to 11.30pm) specialise in Eastern European produce. I must admit, I enjoyed the idea that you could expect to buy Golabki, Flaki, Flaczki and Klpopsiki alongside bread and butter, here, in George Lane! It was a surprise to hear that Demir, with his ‘convenience store’ opposite the Wood Oven, came from the same village as Salman. He obviously relishes his open-all-hours role. Sounds of laughter came from within. He greeted me like an old friend in what was only my second visit. Denny and his wife run what really is a ‘corner’ shop, Woody Food and Wine, just over the motorway, where Len’s Shoe Repairs used to be. I remember Len well. Denny came to the UK from India as a boy and opened his shop two years ago (7.30am to midnight.) I was stunned by his enormous display of wines. Between serving other customers, he mentioned that quite often shoppers cross from Waitrose to seek out some very particular, unusual brand.
My themes for this edition were clearly emerging: Change and Choice. Much to consider. Appropriately enough, I remembered reading, years ago, a book called Small is Beautiful: A Study Of Economics As If People Mattered by a German-born British economist, EF Schumacher, espousing the principle that advancing small, appropriate technologies and policies was a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of ‘bigger is better’. My long-term readers will be fully aware of my regular and appreciative shopping trips to our supermarkets. I have adjusted easily to their increasingly DIY approach. (You’ve got to hand it to the Co-op with its 7am to 11pm opening hours. I popped in to congratulate Rashed, the manager). In fact, my relationship with the Co-op and Sainsbury’s goes right back to my early childhood in Woodford itself. The Co-op was right next to Woodford station. I still remember our Co-op number, 616385. You walked over the level crossing then, to reach Sainsbury’s, where Cook’s frozen ready meals are now on display. With food still rationed after the war, you queued up at the butter counter. Then the bacon counter, etc. Really quite a social occasion.
My visit to Salman has set me rethinking how much the independent convenience stores enrich our community with their different individual characteristics. Our high street is not just a mirror image of every other high street. Changes have happened, of course, but with both the large supermarkets and the small, open-all-hours corner shops, we are blessed with an abundance of choice.
To contact DD with your thoughts or feedback, email dd@swvg.co.uk
