When Jim left school at the age of 15 there was still a lot of unemployment as an aftermath of the First World War. At one time he thought he would like to be a motor mechanic, but that met with some opposition from his parents. His mother would have liked him to have a career in woodwork, which he did enjoy, but in the end he obtained an apprenticeship in a fairly large Gents’ Outfitters in Stowmarket. Despite a very strict apprenticeship in the clothing trade, Jim took to it and showed particular prowess in salesmanship.

He was quite ambitious and therefore when he was enticed by the partner in a firm of wholesalers to join their prosperous business, he went to London in 1938. In less than a year they gave him a car - a Ford Popular - and sent him out on the road. His area was East London and he was just getting in his stride when the Second World War came along and he was called up. He spent six years in the Army, coming out on leave in 1943 to get married to Molly. He was demobbed in 1946.

Luckily, his old firm took him back but, because of the War and rationing, the business had diminished and there were only 2 of the old Reps left and the Managing Director (his original contact). The Managing Director took Jim under his wing. They had to move the business out of London, due to bomb damage, and they travelled around looking for suitable alternative premises in which to rehouse. They found the ideal place, a derelict building in Teddington, previously a Civic Restaurant, and it was Jim’s job to track down the owner, who turned out to be an old lady whose husband had died. Jim was the go-between in the negotiations and eventually they obtained the premises and re-established all the departments of the business. Two more sales reps were taken on and Jim was made Sales Manager. Meanwhile, Jim and Molly’s first daughter, Elisabeth, was born in 1945.

Jim spent his time trying to get additional supplies from small manufacturers, and the shirt and hosiery side of the business was growing. He persuaded the Managing Director to fit out part of the premises as a retail outlet.

However, in 1947/8 Jim decided that his energies would be better spent in building up a business of his own rather than do it for someone else. He left and got a job with a Leeds clothing firm and became Assistant Sales Manager, being responsible for the area from the Wash to South Wales. More Reps were taken on.

In 1950 Jim and Molly were living in Hampton, with Jim working from a London Office. In 1951 their daughter Patricia was born but Molly was not in the best of health. The Doctor advised Jim that it would be better if he moved his wife and daughters away from the Thames Estuary. There had been a decline in business after the War which, it seemed to Jim, culminated with the death of King George VI in 1952. After investigating various possible businesses, the one which seemed the most suitable was in a small town in Hertfordshire. Thus on November 11th 1952 the Trudgetts came to Buntingford.

No. 51 High Street was a relatively old-fashioned drapery business run by Mr and Mrs Haddock, who had three sons. Jim recalls that there was the name of "Manchester House" over the door and "established 1861". Jim and Molly moved into the living accommodation over the shop and began trading in time for Christmas 1952.The living accommodation was spacious but needed modernisation. It comprised four bedrooms, a huge bathroom and a lounge on the first floor. The dining room was on the ground floor at the front next to the shop, with the kitchen behind. The shop was quite antiquated and was heated by oil heaters. They used to tear up cardboard boxes to heat water in the copper for washing.

Jim and Molly’s first impressions were that Buntingford was small and quiet. The market had not been resurrected at that time. The Village Policeman used to knock on the door at night to make sure you were safe. Jim recalls one occasion when he was on his hands and knees in the shop one evening, cleaning the floor, when suddenly the front door burst open and in came P.C. West on his hands and knees. Jim had forgotten to lock the door, and P.C. West had given it a hefty push!

Jim and Molly say that the first Christmas in Buntingford was a lot of fun. They had created a lot of interest and were very busy. I asked them whether they recalled any interesting customers and Jim said: "To us, all our customers were interesting!" They did not sell shoes at that time, nor haberdashery, because there was already a haberdashery shop in the High Street run by Miss Saggers in a shop on the corner of the High Street and Church Street.

Jim says that because of his experience and contacts he feels that he was able to give good value. He went to London at least once a week and he says that, in the early days at least, there was a certain amount of loyalty from customers. They would always ask Jim if they wanted a certain size mattress or type of bedding, amongst other things, and he would try to get whatever the customer wanted.

In 1953/4 Jim invested in a small van and he says this became invaluable for making deliveries. The van went round the farms and villages and people were able to buy what they needed. Jim also had a Hillman Husky and sometimes he would use that to go to the more rural locations where he could drive right up to the farm workers in the fields and sell them their wellingtons, overalls, etc.

Jim recalls that on one occasion he purchased a very large amount of India towels - so many that Molly commented that he must have been drunk at the time!! Jim and Molly spent several evenings sorting them out but they sold like hot cakes. The Manager of Duponts, the three-storey department store situated at No. 6 High Street, came to see Jim and complained that he had ruined his towel trade!

In those pre-By-Pass days, the High Street was the main A.10 trunk road and could be extremely noisy, particularly at night. There was a lot of lorry traffic in the small hours travelling to London which often kept Molly awake, as she was a light sleeper. One snowy morning, Molly woke Jim and said "Listen, its all quiet". He replied "Well for goodness sake go back to sleep then!"

Jim and Molly ran the shop together, although they did have help in the flat. After a while they took on a series of Saturday girls and eventually full time staff, all of whom were most loyal and have remained good friends.

The Trudgetts’ neighbours on one side was Moss’s Wine Shop, with Harry Rye and his family occupying the living accommodation. Jim remembers the first occasion he met Harry. He was having a go at sweeping the chimney but the rods got stuck and he could not get them down. He went next door and Mrs Rye sent Jim up to Layston Churchyard to find Harry, who was the local grave digger. When he arrived, Harry was nowhere to be seen, but then Jim spotted that every so often a pile of earth would appear from a hole in the ground. He went across and there was Harry down a 6ft grave. Jim says that Harry had an extraordinary knack of being able to transmit a shovelful of earth from the bottom of the grave to the top simply by one deft flick of his wrist!

On the other side of Trudgetts was Mrs Taylor’s dress shop and opposite was Handy’s Builders Yard. No. 47, which used to be a saddlery business, was gutted and renovated by local builder Charlie Harris and then bought by David Boorman. It was David Boorman who got Jim interested in model cars of yesteryear, and he now has lots of very interesting models which his grandsons have their eyes on!

In 1960 Jim became involved with the Gideon organisation and belonged to the West Herts branch. He visited many schools and hospitals in the area at various times and he very much enjoyed this. The shop became the official outlet for school uniforms and the ground floor dining room became the shop’s shoe department. More room was needed for stock and in 1965 the family moved out into a newly built house in Layston Meadow, turning the rooms above the shop into stock rooms.

In the early l980s Jim developed hip problems and then a serious heart attack in l984, which meant a five week stay in Papworth. As a result, Jim and Molly decided to sell the shop and retire. They had spent many happy years living in Layston Meadow and they now had more time for their hobbies and could spend more time with their family and friends. However, a combination of health problems and the fact that their house and garden was really too big for just the two of them, led Jim and Molly to reluctantly make the decision last year to move out of Buntingford in order to be nearer their two daughters, and they now live in a very attractive spot in the village of Welwyn. They were sorry to leave because they had come to adore Buntingford and Molly says she sometimes still feels homesick. However, they say it is nice to be nearer to their daughters and their 5 grandchildren and one great-grandson. Elisabeth is a teacher and lives in St Albans and Patricia is a nurse and lives in Welwyn Garden City.

Jim now has more time to devote to woodwork (which his mother had wanted him to do as a career originally). He used to do a lot of his own repairs in the shop, but now he is able to make things. He also enjoys renovating antique furniture. Luckily he has a friend who has a rather large workshop and he lets Jim make use of it in return for his company. Jim’s newest project is to make a dolls house. Molly’s hobby is needlework so she anticipates being roped in to look after the furnishings in the new dolls house!

It was lovely to see Mr and Mrs Trudgett again. When my boys were growing up it was no trouble getting them to try on new shoes. They couldn’t wait to get into Trudgetts and sit in the wooden engine which was kept in the shoe department for children to sit in whilst they were being measured up.

The picture is of Trudgetts when it was owned by Jim and Molly. You will see that the main entrance has now been moved to the right hand side (through what was once the shoe department). Jim also erected advertising hoardings underneath the archway.

I would like to thank Jim and Molly very much for talking to me.