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13
Hinsby’s Corner
In 1908 the customers in The White Horse pub were among the
closest witnesses of the Great Fire of Buckden. The rising flames
opposite were from a line of part-thatched cottages. Central within
this terrace lay Billy Andrews Bakery. The ovens at the back, left
briefly unattended, ignited the inferno.
There was no ‘making-good’ the damage. Billy retired to the Alms-
houses. Complete clearance and building anew was the only op-
tion. The sale of the site heralded the arrival of the Hinsby’s, from
St Neots. Maud Hinsby was a lady of means, while Ernest had
travelled widely having worked on ocean-going liners. They pur-
chased the site and erected a handsome terrace of three proper-
ties, selecting the corner plot for their home.
Some years later their front room was converted and ‘HInsby’s’ corner shop was born. Here you could purchase a
wide range of sweets, cigarettes, loose and tinned tobacco. A bell would ring as you entered, duly summoning assis-
tance. The highly polished wood and glass cabinets shone. There were no help-yourself arrangements here. Maud
was happy to assist, invariably wearing ‘her pearls’. She was a kindly woman and
very compassionate, happily dispensing milk puddings and egg custards to villag-
ers in poor health. She was, however, irksomely nosey. Adjacent to the counter
was a chair for customers’ comfort, but ‘sit down at your peril’ for you were unwit-
tingly exposing yourself to a torrent of probing questions. Children would equally
be subject to a quizzing and, to add insult to injury, soon found that wherever
they may be in the queue they would always have to wait for
all
the adults to be
served first.
Ernest set himself up as a coal merchant and had a sign pasted up accordingly.
Charlie Richardson took to the wheel of the delivery van. With households de-
pendent on solid fuel as their prime heat source demand was high, and Charlie,
always cheery, was kept busy.
Behind the scenes Ivy, the live-in housekeeper, kept hens to provide fresh eggs and bus-
ied herself ensuring the home was spick and span. Next door the Manns set up a bak-
ery. A lovely jolly couple, their fresh bread was hugely popular and smelled delightful as
you passed by.
By the 60’s the Hinsby’s were looking for a quieter life. The coal merchant business was
sold to ‘Did’ Phillips at Offord and young Chrissie Gale was taken on to run the shop.
Being one of thirteen children, Chrissie had learnt a thing or two about handling people.
With her youthful exuberance and good humour she was a breath of fresh air! Jack
Cawcutt, strolling round from Vine Cottages for his Woodbines, would happily settle
down in the chair for an extended conversation; Old Harry Pearson would call for ‘his
smokes’, namely two packs of Rizlas and an ounce of St Bruno, dependably two minutes
prior to the shops closure at lunchtime. Harry didn’t hang around!
Chrissie met ‘her man’ when John, employed building the
new homes in School Lane, chose to pop in regularly. She
was won over and duly left to get married.
Arnold S. Pipe took over the running of the corner shop and young Jane Milner was in-
stalled to serve the customers. Maud had passed away in the intervening years and Ern-
est was becoming frail. Jane oversaw the change to decimal currency and the installa-
tion of Buckden’s first ‘vending machine’, with cigarettes in packs of 10. Smoking, wheth-
er pipe, cigar or cigarette, was widespread. Popular brands of cigarette included Players,
Senior Service, Winston and Lucky Strike. Old Harry was still a regular customer, along
with Weary Willy Thompson. Dr Morris, like Dr Jolly before him, called in for his particular
brand of cigarette, stocked at his request. This raised some eyebrows because smoking
‘Gauloises Bleues’ was considered a trifle racy!
By the 70’s, with the village growing, there were more youngsters with more ‘pocket
money’ to spend on fizzy pop, ice-cream and sweets. Even the kindly Whippet bus driv-
er, on the school-run to Longsands, could sometimes be persuaded to make an addition-
al stop at Hinsby’s. At these times smartly uniformed figures tumbled from the bus. In the
Spring Term Cadbury’s Crème Eggs were especially popular.
Ernest passed away in 1973, and with him went his corner shop. Ivy, now free of her domestic responsibilities, retired
quietly to the newly built bungalow at No. 9. AMB
Third in a series of articles with contributors including
:-
Bob Baxter, Chrissie Cull, Betty Gale, Jane Page & Tommy
Richardson.
Silver St showing Hinsby’s shop
Hinsby’s coal lorry & C Richardson
Mr & Mrs Hinsby
Hinsby’s Corner