The Fisherman’s Box!

Posted on December 1, 2012 by The Baldock Bard.

Have you ever been going somewhere very ordinary, to do something very ordinary and found something very extraordinary? This morning I went down to Baldock to get some cash from the ATM. As the marketplace was taken up by a craft fair I had to park what seemed to be miles away from the bank (Yes, my fitness programme has gone the same way as my diet!). On the pavement at the far end of the High Street (almost opposite Tesco’s) was a display of old wooden Mussel and Prawn boxes. For Baldock (some 100 miles from the sea) this was so random I had to investigate…

I went down to the Baldock Market,
Took the car was nowhere to park it!
On the pavement was a show,
Of fishermen’s boxes from years ago!
You know how in ASDA they have a ‘Greeter’,
Well in Staffy B’s they have a ‘Meeter!’
Freddie welcomes you to his shop,
“Stroke me now! Oh please don’t stop!”
The shop is full of Christmas ideas,
Signs and frames but no reindeers!
Today mince pies and mulled wine,
(Not available when you shop online!).
I bought Mrs Bard a fisherman’s box,
A safer gift than Fort Knox!
If you can’t get to visit them today,
Visit staffybhome.co.uk!

With many thanks to Toni and Hayley (and Freddie too) for the delicious mince pie!
www.staffybhome.co.uk

© Baldock Bard 2012
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The Passing of Comet!

Posted on November 29, 2012 by The Baldock Bard.

If there’s one sign that is indicative of our times it is the failure of the Comet store. Much has been said about the apparent failure of their ‘bolt-on’ website, placement of stores, competition from on-line retailers and failure to move with the times. I have to admit that I haven’t shopped with them for many years and couldn’t even tell you when their famous bargain-filled full-page adverts in local papers disappeared. However I will mourn their passing as the store that sold me a car radio with aerial for my first car, my first television and a my first record/cassette/CD unit! Unlike other comets that reappear after a time, this one is gone for good…
The Comet store is closing down,
I went to see what’s there,
I didn’t really want anything,
Apparent bargains everywhere.
Great big signs ‘ALL STOCK REDUCED,’
Hanging from the ceiling,
Most shoppers wandering aimlessly,
“There’s nothing new,” the feeling.
The crowds were greater than before,
Rushing for one last time,
Today the store is empty,
You’ll find them all online.
© Baldock Bard 2012
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Sweet Paradise!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by The Baldock Bard.

When you were a child did you have a favourite sweet shop? I was walking through the small market town of St Neots in Cambridgeshire the other day, when I came across an old fashioned sweet shop. In I went (the excuse being to buy Hard Licorice for Daughter Bard), and that little voice in my head forced me to buy Coffee Creams. Now these are very difficult to find, so I set the sat-nav and vowed to return. Fast forward to a private moment with aforesaid chocolately-coffee-wonders and I discover that the shop has an online-department. Being a generous sharer (apart from Coffee Creams!) I just had to share this information with you…

I was scoffing Coffee Creams,
Hidden far from view,
When all at once I discovered,
They were available online too!

I went upon the Internet,
Typed in Sweet Paradise,
And discovered all the sweets,
I used to think were nice!

There I found Sherbert Fountains,
Aniseed Balls as well.
I re-remembered Pear Drops,
(their peculiar taste and smell!)

Did you like Dolly Mixtures?
Pass Jelly Babies around?
Did you innocently give some Sweethearts
To a girl in the school playground?

I’m not saying that I’m weak-willed,
But if I lived St Neots way,
I’d have to visit Sweet Paradise,
Almost every day!

Thank heavens for the web!
http://www.sweetparadise.co.uk
Also on Facebook!
And in St Neots at 4, Cross Keys Mews, where they have one of the friendliest shops I’ve ever visited!

© Baldock Bard 2012
For more verse click on ‘Home’ above 

The Baldock Car Boot Sale’s 20th anniversary season continues every Saturday at 7am until October 13th! 
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Empty Shops!

Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Baldock Bard.

Every town has empty shops, Baldock is no different. Yesterday I happened to notice that a shop occupied in my youth by a grumpy jeweler was empty as was the former travel agents next door. It is worth remembering the jeweler as he used to be irritated by window-shoppers and used to shout in a guttural Eastern-European accent: “If you vant a vatch, vuy a vatch, if you don’t vant a vatch, get avay from my vindow!” On remembering this I realised that if I didn’t document the saying it would vanish along with his memory and probably his shop or even his very existence in the town…

Despite being summer here in Baldock
A chill wind blows around the town
Empty hopes and empty dreams
There are empty shops around

Tattered posters announce the circus
That months ago left the recreation field
The ruts the departing vehicles left there
Along with the turf long since healed

Gone the tinkle of the door-bell
Heralding a shopper come to buy
Long since gone the ring-buying couple
Or holiday-maker ready to fly

What will happen to all these shops?
Now we buy so much online
Will they just become more dwellings?
Their previous incarnations lost to time.

If you take a look more closely
Living space above the shop floor
So perhaps we’re talking reversion
As it all returns to a home once more!
© Baldock Bard 2012
For more verse click on ‘Home’ above 
The Baldock Car Boot Sale’s 20th anniversary season continues next Saturday! 
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BootLine: 07852 707 074
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Maxi Memories!

Posted on June 23, 2012 by The Baldock Bard.

It’s strange how certain objects can trigger memories. In a car park the other day saw a car I hadn’t seen for many years. A favourite with mums up and down the country, I had assumed they had all quietly rusted away…

Colin’s mum had an Austin Maxi,
Used it as a school run taxi.
Cloth-covered seats and plastic trim,
Slight smell of exhaust from within.
His sister Sue didn’t travel well,
So the car always had a sickly smell.
The radio-cassette was always fun,
Tuned to Blackburn on Radio One.
Colin’s mum smoked Marlboro red,
He stole to smoke behind the shed!
When at last we reached the school,
Colin would always play the fool.
He always spoke with words profane,
A constant target for headmaster’s cane.

One sad day I waited in vain,
They had gone, never seen again.
So here’s to you, Colin and Sue,
When I saw the Maxi I thought of you.

© Baldock Bard 2012
The Baldock Car Boot Sale’s 20th anniversary season continues today! 
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BootLine: 07852 707 074
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Secrets from the Loft!

Posted on May 6, 2012 by The Baldock Bard.

While clearing out our loft I came across a book that bought back many childhood memories. The Stanley Gibbons Simplified Stamp Catalogue 1966 was in a long deserted box with a few broken toys and other unwanted items. In my youth, many boys collected stamps, it was a relatively cheap hobby and one that definitely had parental approval. Stanley Gibbons charted the values of stamps and was an eagerly awaited publication as collectors could value their acquisitions. The hobby was also part of a transitional phase as most collections lasted only a few years before being replaced by other more exciting pastimes like girls! I’m not going to get all soppy about past times but just thought I ought to share the discovery…

Are you a hoarder or do you throw out?
Does your attic echo with no need to shout?
The attic in our house is crammed to the roof,
With millions of memories (even baby’s first tooth!).

In a box full of toys and some bright coloured ribbons,
A book from my past, 1966 Stanley Gibbons!
This brought back memories of many hours spent
Sticking stamps in an album that I’d bought down in Kent

You’d attach them with hinges, licked with your tongue,
You’d pray that they held until you were done.
But the greatest of moments, not greeted with mirth,
Was the arrival of the catalogue, what are they worth?

I was tempted by adverts, that used to say
‘Buy Stamps on Approval, No Need to Pay!’
A friend was thus suckered and received a great lot,
Of very common examples, most of which he had got!

So here’s to Stanley Gibbons, the font of all knowledge,
Stuffed up into attics when boys went to college.
If I’d known a letter would one day cost 60p,
I’d have laughed in your face, ‘You taking the pee?’

In another 40 plus years will they understand?
We once had a Postie who delivered by hand,
Everything electronic, will be sent out so quick,
And my stamps in the loft, will follow me to the skip!

© Baldock Bard
The Baldock Car Boot Sale’s 20th anniversary season continues next Saturday! 
www.u-boot.co.uk
BootLine: 07852 707 074

Baldock Bard

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Category Archives: Past Times