When villages had it all
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| 09:42 UK time, Tuesday, 11 April 2006
People like Rhona have been recalling how village life changed with the demise of the local shop.
Rhona remembers: "One could say that Rhosymedre (in Wrexham), as a village, was quite self contained because one could get anything one wanted in the Co-operative Society building. There was a ladies' department, gents' outfitting, shoes, hardware, the bakery and the dairy, and a shoe repair place. When it closed it made a terrific difference to the village."
Lorraine supports Rhona's view and she reckons that shops in the neighbouring village of Cefn could once provide locals with everything from "cradle to grave".
In Cyffylliog, near Ruthin, former village shopkeeper Elaine laments: "Like most villages, we are now denuded of our one meeting place, where all the residents of the village could meet if they chose. I refer of course to the village shop."
In Flint, the grandparents of Joan ran the local shop: "The first impression on entering was a distinct aroma, a mixture of cheeses, hams, and firelighters which was not as unpleasant as it seems..."
And in Mold, spare a thought for young Mervyn who once had the job of delivering groceries by bike: "And what contraptions they were. It had a very large carrier on the front that could take two enormous boxes of groceries and a carrier on the back to take one smaller box of groceries. But when fully loaded it was almost uncontrollable."
You can read more people's memories in the Local History section.
