Column: Lost shops of seventies Lancaster

After a brief rest during the Easter period, I am now back to my nostalgia columns, focusing firmly on the great town of Lancaster, of course.
Carol Forster has fond memories of Lancaster in the 1970sCarol Forster has fond memories of Lancaster in the 1970s
Carol Forster has fond memories of Lancaster in the 1970s

A memory which came to me the other day - and I’m sure shared with many others - is the wonderful shop which used to be at the top of Market Street, near where CancerCare is today, called Midas.

This gorgeous shop was a veritable journey into all things lovely and I remember entering the place to the wafts of lovely aromas of this perfume or that, all neatly bottled with sample sprays. Not only this but all sorts of lovely tackle for the home, from bowls to mats, could be found there in the big shop.

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Perhaps my favourite memory of the place is that of silky scarves which used to hang there all in gorgeous colours and patterns. I bought a few of these over the years and thought they were the most beautiful creations.

I also remember great wads of coloured paper for letter writing or those who like to pen the odd tome.

My friends and I would all peruse these things whenever we could and admire the jewellery case with its fine coloured rings.

My first recall of the shop would be the late ‘70s but I think, sadly, it had disappeared by the mid '80s.

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Another great shop memory from Lancaster is the music shop, which used to be near the old market, called ‘Ear ‘ere’ records.

I’m sure many people will have great memories of the tiny place, which was stacked with vinyl records old and new, and a great treasure trove of unusual sounds.

It was, indeed, in this shop, that I bought one of my favourite LPs of all time by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (who was in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence for your reference and wrote the theme music) so thank you ‘Ear ‘ere records for that!

Finally, I remember another music shop on New Street called Gardner’s. I used to go there in the early ‘70s to buy singles from the charts and remember the excitement at leaving the store with my favourite tunes. Ah, great times!

Next week I will be telling you about my latest dinky book of nostalgia columns and stories, based on my Lancaster childhood. Memories keep coming thick and fast so roll on volume two!