Flashback: History of Basingstoke's bakeries

WHEN the London Street pie shop closed down on May 25, it came as a shock to all those local folk who had bought so many of the food products from this business, which opened in 1936.

P E Grigg and Sons Ltd sold a variety of pies, including steak and kidney, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls, apple turnovers and many other tasty items.

The shop at 17 London Street was managed by Anthony Lovelock, who is a relation to the person who established the business.

Over the years they had used a pastry which proved to be very popular, and with the shop being in a prime position on the main route through the town, the business was constantly in demand.

The bakery trade started in Basingstoke as far back as the 15th century.

In those days, if a baker produced bad or underweight products, he would be put into the local pillory (a large frame with holes for head and hands into which the offender would be locked for a certain time) at the top of Wote Street and have stones thrown at him.

Sometimes the food he produced would be tied around his neck!

During the 19th century, bread and pastry goods became popular.

There were 10 bakers in Basingstoke in 1830.

By 1855, there were less, with the figure dropping to eight, even though the population had increased by 1,000 to 4,500 over the 25 years.

But as the town grew in size from the 1880s, so the amount of bakeries also increased to 11 in 1895, and by 1915 there were 13 (a baker’s dozen, as that number was called).

Throughout the 20th century names such as Thornton’s, Giles, Weaver’s, Southwell’s, Hopkins, Chivers, Stevens, and Robotham’s produced bread and other items for the local folk.

A few even had other shops in the area, including Henry Thornton, who also opened tearooms on his premises.

It was the Town Development Scheme which unfortunately brought about the demise of some of these businesses in the 1960s, as the main part of the town centre was demolished for a more modern design.

When Giles bakery closed down in 1966, the amount of loaves made every night amounted to 500, while other items, such as pies, were also baked.

Returning to the story of the pie shop, there is a very interesting tale to tell about the building.

The outside of the Griggs shop on London Street

If you look above the pie shop window you will see that the frontage is the same as that above the Sun Tan Shop and Foodsmiths.

This building was once just one shop called Moody’s, which sold furniture and carried out a removal and funeral service.

The firm of James Moody was established in the year 1800 and, over the following century, sold not only furniture but antiques as well.

Moody’s furniture shop, in London Street, in 1910

As the business entered the 20th century there was more demand for storing furniture.

A repository was built for that purpose and a showroom was added.

A fleet of vans, operated by steam at first, then petrol, was used for removals while a skilled team of men carried out the packing and moving of furniture.

At the repository a special heating system was constructed to keep the stored furniture dry.

By the 1920s, the business was affected by other firms opening up in the area and this caused a drop in Moody’s takings. By then the owner had died and the work responsibility was in the hands of Mrs Elizabeth Moody, his wife, and her two bachelor sons, Arthur and Frank.

In December 1922, Frank died from an illness at the age of 47, then a month later his brother, aged 54, was found dead in the office.

Their mother mourned their deaths but she found the strength to continue the business with help from other people and, finally, it closed down some 10 years later.

Mrs Moody lived on until 1945, when she died aged 100.

After the firm closed down, the building was converted into three shop units. Mr Cecil Sway opened up the pie shop in 1936, then Fleming Reid and Co Ltd established a wool shop next door.

Later, A Lewis and Co Ltd set up a tobacconist shop next to the alleyway.

The closure of the pie shop last month brings an end to the old association with the firm of Moody’s, and leaves only a very few shops still open from the days when this road was called the “High Street”.

A former regular columnist for The Gazette, Robert Brown wrote eight books on Basingstoke history. He passed away on March 25, 2019.