Sutton Bus Terminus - Fifty Years On

Photo, poem and notes provided by Alan Pickles.

Sutton Bus Terminus, Main Street

Fifty Years On

"It hasn't changed at all" I've heard them say,
So I drove through the other day.
The bus stop's gone, the poplar too,
They've closed the Gents and Ladies loo.
The steps where Zeke preached from the book
Aren't even worth a second look.
The shop behind has gone as well,
Now please remind me, what did it sell?
Yet still it retains some of its charms,
The sign's still there that says "Kings Arms".
There's no policeman, please do tell
Was it Myers or Coupe or Bell?
Some memories are out of view,
The fish shop and Ivan's to name just two.
The beck is hidden by the wall,
This part changes not at all.
It makes its way almost sublime
And passes like the sands of time.
Despite the changes, which are few,
I see through specs with tinted hue.
My memories are there to stay,
Perhaps the scene will change some day.

Alan Pickles 2006

• Zeke was a gentleman who was of rather scruffy appearance, quite large in build, good at putting the fear of God up people and used to stand on the steps at the junction of High Street and Low Fold and preach from the Bible. He lived in the middle cottage on the right hand side of West Lane just around the corner from High Street. I remember as a young lad, driving some cows over from Oakworth. When outside his gate they decided to go in and have a look around. The door was open and in they went. There was no other way of getting them out. We had to follow and drive them back out. He frightened the living daylights out of me. The house inside was something which had to be seen to be believed. The table hung from the ceiling on a creel. The rest was like something from the Adams family.
• The fish shop was a wooden hut in the yard at the rear of the King's Arms. It was run by a Mr David Coleman and his wife. Chips, one half penny per bag; scone, one penny; fish, one and a half pence. Equivalent to about one new penny. And good value they were.
• Ivan's was the grocer's shop which was opposite the King's Arms. He sold just about everything from buns to rechargeable radio batteries. Mr Ivan Spencer was the owner.
• The policemen, Myers, Coupe and Bell used to stand outside the telephone kiosk opposite the Black Bull. This was a wonderful vantage point from which to see quite some distance along the village in four or five directions and also view the park. I could never understand how they recruited three men with the Christian name "Bobby". Mr Bell was the father of John Stanley Bell, the youngest Mayor of Keighley. Mr Myers became the landlord of the King's Arms when he retired and eventually handed over to his son, Bernard. Is there still a Myers in situ?
• The shop at the back of the steps was a Greengrocers and was owned by Mr Alan Kidd and his wife. Their son Brian farms at Junction.