Now given that I have the maps and directories for Altrincham in time I should be able to make a good stab at finding out about this building.
It sits beside another oldish building and one that might be relatively new.
Of course the research will do the bit but in the meantime I couldn’t resist posting these two pictures from Andy Robertson’s Altrincham collection.
We are on Church Street not far from the station and number 18 fascinates me.
It looks to be one of those properties that has been overlooked by developers and council planners and you wonder how it has survived.
But that is not all, what is equally intriguing is the business that operates from inside, because this is the Altrincham Shaver and Repair Centre, and here amongst other things you can get your Kenwood Mixer repaired and I guess much else.
Once upon a time shops like these were common, for who would want to go out and buy a new electrical product when it was possible to get that expensive and cherished item repaired?
And the chap in his brown overalls could pretty much be guaranteed to mend anything as long as the parts were available.
The one near us as I was growing up was magic.
Every corner of the shop was piled high with electrical goods and there was that dusty, musty smell which greeted you as you went through the door.
You offered up the broken thing, Mr Anson would scrutinise it, mumble a bit and if it was doable would retreat to the back room and work a bit of that magic.
Alternatively if parts were needed it was left in that back room until it was fixed at a fraction of what it would cost to buy new.
And that was how it was done. Things were repaired when they broke and while they might not have looked as elegant at least they worked.
So I am pleased that Andy turned up this place and reminded me of how things used to be done.
Picture; Church Street, Altrincham, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson
Of course the research will do the bit but in the meantime I couldn’t resist posting these two pictures from Andy Robertson’s Altrincham collection.
We are on Church Street not far from the station and number 18 fascinates me.
It looks to be one of those properties that has been overlooked by developers and council planners and you wonder how it has survived.
But that is not all, what is equally intriguing is the business that operates from inside, because this is the Altrincham Shaver and Repair Centre, and here amongst other things you can get your Kenwood Mixer repaired and I guess much else.
And the chap in his brown overalls could pretty much be guaranteed to mend anything as long as the parts were available.
The one near us as I was growing up was magic.
Every corner of the shop was piled high with electrical goods and there was that dusty, musty smell which greeted you as you went through the door.
You offered up the broken thing, Mr Anson would scrutinise it, mumble a bit and if it was doable would retreat to the back room and work a bit of that magic.
Alternatively if parts were needed it was left in that back room until it was fixed at a fraction of what it would cost to buy new.
And that was how it was done. Things were repaired when they broke and while they might not have looked as elegant at least they worked.
So I am pleased that Andy turned up this place and reminded me of how things used to be done.
Picture; Church Street, Altrincham, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson
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