OUR TUCK SHOP – George Robson. “For countless years, if not for ever, Joe Tyson and his wife ran the shop in Finkle Street which we boys recognised as our tuck shop. They lived above the shop but welcomed us to make use of the room behind the shop as a kind of dayroom. They even installed a television for our use - I remember watching the 1962 cup final there. The shop had on offer many things, but to my mind come memories of a fruit squash known as 3Cs, and an ice cream made by a firm called Franchi. We never discovered any other shop either in St Bees or Whitehaven which stocked Franchi. Where on earth was it made? In previous years Joe had sold ices at the beach, whilst his wife offered donkey rides, but this had ended long before 1962. Suddenly in 1962 cheerful Joe was not behind the counter. We learnt that he was seriously ill, although he remained upstairs at home. Realising that the future of the shop was in jeopardy, some of us set up a rota in pairs to man the shop - mornings, afternoons, and evenings. This entailed some of us missing lessons. I never found out whether the teachers were aware as to why a couple of pupils were absent from lessons. Possibly they knew the reason, but then possibly they didn't. Sadly, Joe died, and the shop was put up for sale. A woman with the unusual name of Colquhoun bought the premises, and business at the tuck shop continued for some years before being converted into a house. For us Tyson's had been home from home. Nice man.”

 

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