My family and I emigrated to New Zealand from the UK some 40 50 years ago now, but upon return for the first time last Christmas we couldn’t believe the changes to the place. To start with, England in particular was incredibly cosmopolitan in just about every major town and city we travelled to. Many of the old shops had gone such as Frank Brierley of Peterborough, Woolworths, Fairways Toy shop, The Shelton brothers department store, and a number of other local and national businesses that used to be part of the urban landscape. But to our surprise, one of the oldest businesses ever was not only still around after all these years, but there were more of them. Who am I talking about? The Clarke Shoes UK Branch or Footwear Shops. Not only were they everywhere, but they were offering the same bargain shoes and boots as ever but with so many more hip and trendy designs than what we remembered. Yes, they were always good value for money, but à la mode was not what they are renowned for. It was so nice to see at least one old familiar shop front on the modern shopping high streets of the new Great Britain.
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