WAVENEY VALLEY ANXIETY.

 ONE OF OUR BUNGAY LOWER 6th IS MISSING! (A whimsy about unwanted but inevitable change).

I vaguely remember the day that Focus DIY went

But I never really said goodbye to Woolies.

And when Gary’s Discounts folded

I think I folded too.

Not so much with Prezzo.

(And I rarely used Lollipop Kidz Shoes nor

the Laura Ashley store

anymore).

In my umpteen years of habitation

I’ve seen the Olde Beccles station

become the new incarnation

for a public transport nation.

The market moved from here to there

And once upon a time there were

flower planters

everywhere.

I’ve seen shops evolve,

inspire,

enchant,

and devastate with want.

I once stood shoe-less in Stead & Simpson.

The Fishmonger’s at No.4 was a terrible loss.

Bartram’s, a piece of history.

The resilience of Tilney’s Gun-Shop has been a marvel.

The end of Besley’s Books a tragedy.

And who can forget Spurgeons, Marmalade, or Toby/Brighton’s ‘The Plaice’?

Centuries old chip fat lingers longer than a stuffed crust

or a kicker chicken stripper nugget wing (plant based).

But the loss of Simon & Danielle’s Vintage Mischief may be too much for me to bear.

The old dairy sheds were my refuge & asylum

My hiding place from clone-town mediocrity. My lair.

They have clothed me, furnished me, and kept me in 1950s Morphy Richards hairdryers.

I have literally existed in their life-giving living-museum!

I've talked shit about cricket and almost everything else.

We’ve shared secrets, poured out hearts, put the world to rights from different corners. Triptrapp kept me dressed!

Beccles' huge loss is nothing less. Antique heaven gone.

I am bereft.

Utterly bereft.

Like a Bungay Lower 6th former

I now have nowhere to go..... 😢