Charles and Edna Martin, sons Peter and Nick and a friend

Martin's the ironmongers always referred to as "Tinny's" for obvious reasons has remained in the Martin family since the turn of the 20th century. It now belongs to Nick who is the third generation to have carried on the business. The shop was originally at the top of Church St on the site now Gregg's and moved to Compston Rd in 1922. Nick has heard that the Compston Rd shops were first built in the 1890's but were intended to be houses, I think this may be correct as I have always been surprised that the property which is now the Sportsmans pub was always a private house with small front garden used as a boarding house until the war possibly later, so if they were a row of houses it would explain the anomaly of one house with a different frontage in the middle of a row of shops. In these days of huge D.I.Y. stores "Tinny's" stands firm and there must be few things a customer to the shop asks for that they would be unable to supply.

Joan Newby