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INSIDE LEFT<br />
JENKINS & STRIPP, 1953<br />
It’s easy to work out when pictures of newsagents<br />
were taken: just take a magnifying glass to the<br />
publications in the shop window, or in this case of<br />
Jenkins and Stripp at 30 Station Street in <strong>Lewes</strong>,<br />
hanging off the wall.<br />
At first we spotted the Christmas 1953 edition<br />
of Tatler, which came out on November 19th of<br />
that year, then we noticed a copy of the (weekly)<br />
Picture Post, with Queen Elizabeth on the front,<br />
which hit the streets on November 30th. There’s<br />
an ad for Triumph and Tragedy, the last volume<br />
of Winston Churchill’s war memoirs, published<br />
that month: Churchill’s face also fills a November<br />
edition of Life magazine.<br />
The façade has changed significantly, but this is<br />
the building, opposite the Royal Oak, which until<br />
recently housed a café, first the Snack Bar, then<br />
the short-lived PJ’s@30. The building had previously<br />
been used as a newsagent for many decades.<br />
A search through Kelly’s Directory suggests that<br />
F Jenkins and R Stripp took over an existing<br />
newsagent, called ‘HG Hirons’ in 1938; before<br />
that, from at least 1909, Albert Banks had sold<br />
newspapers from the building.<br />
Mr Jenkins seems to have moved to New Zealand,<br />
leaving Mr Stripp (first name Roy, born 1912)<br />
running the shop, and another he later opened in<br />
Malling Street. Before long he was called up and<br />
saw active service in the Royal Navy until 1945.<br />
This photograph, Tom Reeves surmises from the<br />
archive notes, was taken by his father Edward for<br />
‘Newspaper and Stationer’, presumably a trade<br />
magazine. We’re told (by Peter Fellows, on Facebook)<br />
that the well-groomed man is owner Roy<br />
Stripp, the woman his assistant Sheila Cornford.<br />
The Stripps moved to Australia in 1962, running<br />
a shop in the outskirts of Perth. The newsagent<br />
kept its old name until it became ‘JW & JS Stock’<br />
in 1974, known locally as ‘Stocks’, which is how<br />
many will remember it.<br />
In 1953 there were no fewer than ten independent<br />
newsagents in town, and no chains (though WH<br />
Smiths was soon to arrive); we are sad to note that<br />
before our next edition <strong>Lewes</strong>’ last dedicated indie<br />
newsagent – John and Liz Aitken’s – will close,<br />
though they will still continue their delivery<br />
service. Will we ever see another open up?<br />
Alex Leith<br />
114