Tappendens
Store Village Stores Reaches Its Centenary - In the same
family since 1857
[Left to Right: Mr William
Mills, Mr Vic Wraight, Mrs Connie Cooper, Mr Peter Tappenden, Mr
George Tappenden, Mrs E Tappenden, Miss Eileen Bartlett,
Miss M
Lowden, Mr George Bartlett, Miss??, Mr Claude Cooper and Mr Jack
Thomspson.]
1957 Newspaper Report [transcribed from the Kentish Express]
One Hundred
years ago, George Tappenden sat in his farmhouse at Hastingleigh
turning over an idea in his mind. He was becoming tired of being the
universal providor for the rest of the village; day after day
people came to him to borrow goods of one kind or another. From this
situation sprang the
village stores which celebrates its centenary
this year and which has passed from father to son and then to
grandson. Today Tappendens Stores in
Hastingleigh village is a
household word for miles around. It is still the only local shop and
can supply most of the everyday necessities.
From George Tappenden
senior it passed about 85 years ago to his sons CF Tappenden [Cubison
Tappenden] and EG Tappenden [Edward Tappenden].
Ten years ago
ownership transferred to the formers son, appropriately named George
Tappenden. [George Pibus Tappenden] One of Hastingleighs best
known personalities.
Todays business is carried on in the same
place; part of Mr tappendens house next to the shop and stores is the
site of the first shop and is partly built
of wood. The first shop
was proud of the fact that it gradually became able to cater for all
commodities. People went to Tappendens for their drapery,
meat,
coal, bread, groceries. Old records dating back to 1878 make
interesting reading. mens boots cost from 4s 6d to 10s 6d a pair:
womens boots could
be bought for 2s a pair and for children the
price was 1s.
Foodstuffs were unbelievably cheap in those days. A
mere 2 1/2d [two and a half pence] bought an ounce of shag. Rice cost
1 1/2 d a pound, tea 1s 6d,
butter was 1s, and lard 4d. For 2s3d a
villager could buy eight pounds of best streaky pork and 1 1/2 pounds
of beef, prime cut was 10 1/2 d.
Sugar was 2 1/2 d per pound: coal
was 1s 6d cwt.
Last week Mr and Mrs Tappenden entertained their
staff to a dinner in the Bowl Inn, Hastingleigh, which stands opposite
the shop. With them were
their son and daughter-in-law Capt. and
Mrs Peter Tappenden and another relative Miss Lowden.
The oldest
guest present was Mr Will Mills who has served three generations of
Tappendens. He lives at Evington Lees with his wife who also came to
the dinner. His first job at the tores brought him a weekly wage
of 2s and a hlf pint of beer a day. He started work at 6.30am and
thought nothing of a 12
or 14 hour day, when he was the stores
delivery man, using a horse and cart to cover miles of lonely country
roads in all weathers.
It wasa real family affair for Mr George
Bartlett, who now does part time work for Tappendens after being
employed full time for over 30 years. His wife
still helps in the
Tappenden household; one daughter Miss Eileen Bartlett delivers goods
by van and another Mrs Cooper, works in the office and drapery
department. Her husband is the stores roundsman.
Also at the dinner
were the other employees; Mr and Mrs Thompson and Mr V
Wraight.
After roast turkey and port, Mr Tappenden thanked the
staff for their loyalty and joined them in drinking a toast to the
good old firm.
Although it no longer serves as a bakery, and the
coal deliveries were given up a short time ago, Tappendens Stores
still supplied most local needs and
in addition has a sub-Post
Office and a Savings Bank. For nearly three quarters of a century the
Stores has been a local agent for the Kentish
Express.
Just 8 years later 1965, Tappendens Stores were
sold out of the family. George Pibus Tappenden died in October 1960,
and his wife carried
on managing the store and business interests,
until it was sold and she retired.
Kentish Express transcript from 1965
Store Changes Hands - after 108
years.
Just 108 years ago George
Tappenden started a small general store in an old farmhouse at
Hastingleigh, in the days when horses and carts were the main
form
of transport and cars did not exist. Later he moved into the village
street, where he sold grocery, hardware, footware and drapery of all
kinds. When
he died in 1905, the business continued by his sons
Edward and Cubison, and more recently by his grandson George, who died
five years ago. Since then
the business has been run by Georges
widow Mrs E Tappenden and her sister Miss M Lowden. On Wednesday it
passed out of the Tappenden familys hands
when Ames Stores of
Brabourne, took it over. This picture [above] of Tappendens Supply
Stores was taken more than 50 years ago. Inset are two members
of
one generation of Tappendens, Edward (left) and Cubison (right), who
have owned the business since it began in 1857.
The shop
was renamed Hastingleigh Stores after the take over. It had been a
bakery and store, and though the bakery department closed down, the
shop
continued as a general store and a Post Office for many
years. Most of the villagers had accounts at the shop, and buying
goods was as simple as popping
in to the store and your purchases
would be noted in the book (put on account) and an invoice sent out
later to be settled. The dark wood shelves surrounded
the side
walls floor to ceiling and contained one or two of practically every
item a village could need. There was a huge wooden shop counter, and
access to
the Post Office was through the shop in to the Bakery.
When the Bakery changed to a house, the PO occupied a small corner of
the store behind safety glass.
A weekly trip to the shop to buy
sweets, with pocket money in hand, was a ritual cherished by the
children of the village, in days when everyone
knew everyone else,
and the village shop really was the hub of village life and a lifeline
to many.
In 1990's it was the victim of a ram raid, and the
post office safe was stolen. The safe (intact) was discovered in
a field some time later near Evington Park,
the robbers
having made their getaway through Elmsted to Stone Street.
The
Post Office closed in 199? and the opening of super stores in nearby
Ashford signalled the death knell of Hastingleighs famous store.
It
finally shut its doors in ...... and the main shop floor
has remained unoccupied ever since. The bakery has been converted back
to a private
residence having at one time contained the Post
Office. The red post box is still in situ, adjacent to the shop
front.
It is currently being advertised for letting, but with
no access to onsite plumbing and drainage, the shop floor and cellar
are unlikely to be of much use to
new businesses as the building
stands. Perhaps in time, some enterprising individuals will come up
with a rescue plan and restore the
site to some useful purpose,
keeping the familiar facade intact, as it has been for over a
century.
2015 update: the premises have been converted to
residential use in the years since this page was written.
Visit
the Gallery for several views of the Stores over the years (click to
view).
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