IT is 16 years since the Adver reported the impending end of an era.

We said: “One of the last traditional grocer’s shops in Swindon is to close next month after 57 years.

“And the owner of Workman’s says his shop is the latest to fall in the face of the march of the hypermarkets.

“Workman’s was set up in June 1945 - one of the dying months of World War Two - by husband and wife team Jack and Eileen Workman.

“Current owner Jeffrey Workman - Jack’s son - will be 50 on April 27, the day the shop closes.

“He has worked there for 30 years and owned the shop for the last 23.”

The Prospect Place shop was home to the renowned Workman’s Ham, and Jeffrey hoped its taste would live on if new custodians of the recipe could be found.

He later announced that the recipe had been handed to the nearby Baguette Bar.

As the last day of opening drew nearer, the Adver sent a reporter who was evidently feeling rather poetic:

“It is probably the last old-style grocer’s shop in Swindon.

“The goods, ranging from razors to radishes and cola to cat food, are arranged neatly on shelves around the walls.

“Fruit and veg sit in trays outside like regiments awaiting inspection, the signs are hand-lettered and a bacon slicer lurks in the interior like a memory of your childhood.

“The slicer is mainly used for cutting the home-treated Workman’s Ham, perhaps the nearest thing Swindon has to a culinary delicacy.

“Although the shop is still very much open for business, the atmosphere is one of impending sadness. The prices of slower moving lines are already being cut.”

Jeffrey said: “These days, people just go to the supermarket and do all their shopping there, whatever the cost. I believe we are the last shop of this kind in Swindon.

“Part of our success has been our personal contact with customers. We know most of them by their Christian names and they are people, not numbers.

“They are welcomed whenever they come into the shop and our staff become friends.

“I would like to thank all our customers, old and new, who have supported us over the years, and also my faithful staff, who have worked long hours.”

The personal touch included having a whip-round for a customer who was robbed of her pension, and delivering groceries to customers who were ill and unable to reach the shop.

The shop was converted into homes, and today no trace of it remains.