Phil Gillam: Fondly remembering Shrewsbury's own Golden Years

And while it is true I may not know a spring clamp from a monkey wrench, I was nevertheless very sad the other day to see that one of Shrewsbury's old-fashioned hardware stores had closed.

The store, in Longden Coleham, had been there as far back as I can remember.

We are of course talking about Coleham Hardware, a place – as many have told me recently – where you could purchase just the ten screws you actually required rather than a bag of 100 that you're so often forced to buy if you go to a big out-of-town store.

Coleham Hardware proprietor Tony Sproulle died last November at the age of 68. The store closed for good shortly afterwards.

It was a super place with a busy window display of watering cans, cat baskets, gas canisters, bird tables, plumbing and electrical equipment and garden supplies, plus a wide variety of wooden furniture.

On the odd occasions when I did pop in there, the place reminded me of a particular and superb episode of the American comedy-drama series of the early 1990s, The Wonder Years, a charming family show all about growing up in the 1960s.

The episode I'm thinking of is actually entitled 'The Hardware Store' and tells the story of young Kevin having to get a job because the pocket money his father is paying him just doesn't go that far anymore.

Kevin gets himself a little job at Harris & Sons, an ancient hardware store, a family-owned place in the middle of his small home-town that sells every kind of nail and screw, washer and bolt, and these items are kept in carefully ordered boxes on shelves that seem to go on forever.

Mr Harris is a very demanding boss and expects a lot from young Kevin, viewing him as a sort of apprentice.

But Kevin doesn't take the job that seriously, and when he sees a pal working at a fast food place, he thinks this looks like a lot more fun.

The show – full of quiet wisdom – is really all about old-fashioned standards, community values and customer service versus the bright new world of instant gratification.

And of course the long-established hardware store is a beacon of fine tradition and strong principles.

Although Kevin did not have an easy time working for Mr Harris, the lad eventually realises he learnt a lot from the experience: lessons not just in hardware but in life.

So, yes, I'm always a little sad when these independent shops disappear from Shrewsbury's streets.

I've written before about places like the much-missed gift shop, Standish-Taylor, and Pickerings, the lovely old bike and toy shop in Mardol, and the wonderful Wildings in Castle Street.

It really doesn't matter what products these shops sell – whether it's power tools, cleaning products, paint and electrical supplies or whether it's toy train sets, board games and yo-yos.

These quirky and intimate places bring character to a town in a way in which the giant out-of-town stores never can.

And – just like that hardware store in The Wonder Years – perhaps they teach us something about tradition, old-fashioned standards and community values.

Now then. Where did I put that heavy duty angle grinder?