Apart from a love of writing, many authors have come from a background
of teaching, and specifically teaching English, or working in some capacity
with publishing or books. So, it is no wonder that from August 1972 until
August 1985, I worked for Alan and Joan Tucker, owners of The Bookshop, in
Station Road, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England.
During those years I have no idea of the number of books I handled. I sometimes
unpacked stock for
the children’s shop, the adult shop and, very exciting as you never knew
what treasures you might find, the second-hand shop. These dedicated shops were
all managed from the hub of operations, the old Station Master’s House. Here,
in a room with large windows and bare board floor, surrounded by bookshelves
(what else) and that dry-as-dust smell peculiar to old books, I unpacked, re-invoiced,
and repacked school textbooks for over two hundred school accounts.
I was fortunate enough to get the job as, the first time around, I turned it
down. I was looking for something that would not interfere with my family life
and I thought this would fit the bill. Invoicing schoolbooks sounded like just
the thing. I’d get school holidays off, right? Wrong. That was when the school
supply department of the business was busiest. Teachers submitted their book
orders right at the end of the summer term or crammed them in (we neeeeed
them now!) before the autumn term began. The timing did not work for me. I thanked Mr. Tucker for the opportunity and went home.
Two weeks later everything changed. I received a letter from Tucker’s
offering me the position. Would I be interested in going to the office to
discuss my hours? As I had just hired a new child-minder, I phoned to make an
appointment for a second interview. How could I be so lucky? My hours during
the school holidays were from 9 am to 1 pm, Monday to Friday, ideal for me
and my child-minder who was also looking for more hours. During term-time, I
worked from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm, perfect for dropping my kids off and picking
them up from school. There was never a problem with making up hours on the
weekend if we needed time off in the week because a kid was sick or we needed
to make an appointment for the doctor, dentist, or whatever.
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| The Bookshop, Station Road, Stroud Photo credit: Sylvia Giles |
Those were golden years. My bosses and my colleagues, as a group we were
nicknamed the Tuckers’ Angels, were more like family. We could do each other’s work
when necessary, knew each other’s ups and downs, knew each other’s children who
all came to work with us at some time or another, and all the while the
businesses hummed along like clockwork. Most importantly for me, I had a dedicated group with whom I could discuss my writing ambitions.
Alan and Joan Tucker are now deceased, Joan in 2013 and Alan in 2017 at the grand age of 83 years old. The Station Master’s House became a funeral director’s premises. For a while, the children’s bookshop was an estate agent’s office and the adult bookshop has long been a taxi business. The business may be long gone, but those years were special and will always be lodged in my memory.
Sounds like a perfect job and think of all the books
ReplyDeleteIt was wonderful, Janet. One of the best projects was re-stocking a new school library after the existing one went up in flames as the result of arson by three disgruntled kids.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely memories, lucky you for having a job you adored. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for a Tucker's Angels get together on my next visit home. There are a few of us left!
ReplyDelete