Brigg Matters Issue 63 Winter 2021

In the winter of 1976, gales so severely
damaged the little cottages behind 53 that the
ones fronting Cross Street had to be demolished
leaving just the grassed area you see today.
In 1981 Auntie Winnie retired and the business
and building were sold but the new owners kept
it as a newsagency. I believe they closed the
business down and sold the property to a Brigg
Business man who rented it out. It became a
fruit and vegetable shop for a few months and
run by a couple called Paul and Jackie.
A number of changes took place over the next
few years. Talking Heads Record Shop, Jan’s
Pantry, an Interior Design shop, then, in 2004,
Darren and Jules O’Mahoney opened it up as a
shop selling fruit, vegetable and flowers which
traded until 2008. It was sold again as a going concern
to Byron and Shirley Teague and the name was changed
to ‘Brigg Fruit,Veg and Flowers’. They retired in 2014
because of Byron’s ill health.
A few months later it opened up as ‘Shipley”s Curiositeas’
tea room by Nicola Shipley. It was sold once again to the
The Ghostly Disturbances of
Change Alley
This story appeared in the
Bradford Daily Telegraph on
Saturday 15th June 1901. It
would appear that some of the
inhabitants of Change Alley,
Wrawby Street in Brigg, had
become terrified by nocturnal
noises which they declare they
had heard. So alarmed were
they that one night they called
in the police stating that there
were sounds as if someone was
running up and down the stairs.
The officer, on entering the house, could neither hear
nor see anything to cause alarm. Suspicion was aroused
that something was wrong in an adjoining, unoccupied,
dwelling which, in years long before, had been used as a
lodging house. Part of the floor of this building was dug
By Josie Webb
Kelly’s Directory for 1905 lists John William Drinkall
as the owner of a temperance café and grocer on
Wrawby Street
present owner, Mandy Sherwood, in October 2016 and
still trades under the same name offering lovely afternoon
teas, light lunches, and a variety of lovely cakes.
Note: both photographs and captions supplied by Paul Hildreth
up and a number of bones were
discovered, some of which were
said to be “human remains”.
All sorts of conjecture was
made as to how the bones
came to be buried beneath the
floor of the house. What had
happened in this lodging house
and to whom did the remains
belong? This is something that
we will never know as Change
Alley disappeared at the
beginning of the 1900s and the
area is now occupied by the Oxfam shop.
The accompanying photograph shows the entrance to
Change Alley in 1901 and the poster is advertising the
funeral of Queen Victoria.
Brigg & District Breast Cancer
Support Group
I am a breast cancer survivor
of 23 years. I am the founder
of the locally-registered charity
Brigg & District Breast Cancer
Support Group and the current
Chairperson.
In January 2022 the group will be
celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Over the years it has been chosen
three times as our Brigg Town
Mayor’s chosen charity and it
is so privileged to have been
recognized for the help it provides
to breast cancer patients in and
around our community.
Meetings are held on the 3rd
Tuesday of each month (except December) in the Brigg
Angel Ballroom Suite, 7.30-9.00pm, when there are
guest speakers, demonstrations, quizzes or just a chat
Angie Benson
and cuppa together. The group
is designed to try and meet
the needs of its breast cancer
members, supporting them along
with their partners, relatives or
friends. Its aims are to try and
provide a friendly, supporting
environment to socialize and
share a common bond without
the prejudice of race, gender or
religion for all members.
The kind of help offered includes
wig donations (over the years
we must have helped hundreds)
and help with travel costs for
treatments and appointments,
especially those having to travel
over to Hull. Quality of life donations can also be given to
help individual breast cancer members in lots of different
personal ways.
Members of the group
work hard to raise money
to fund ourselves, but we
are always so grateful to
others that fundraise hard
for us too.
I would like to personally
pay tribute to all the
former chairpersons
and committees over
the years, along with
our current committee
and regular meeting
‘helpers’, all giving their
time voluntarily with
compassion, care and
understanding for the
good of others.
Kind regards Angie.
20 Brigg Matters
Brigg Matters 21