Country Images Magazine Derby Edition July 2017 | Page 22

Mr Straw’s
House
A side turning into the quiet tree-lined
suburban road a mere half mile from
Worksop town centre gives no hint that
Number 7 Blythe Grove is a time capsule
where nothing has changed for almost
seventy years.
No. 7 Blythe Road, Worksop was the home of a well-to-do tradesman,
William Straw, a Worksop provisions and seed merchant whose premises
in the Market Place was one of the town’s premier shops, well placed to
serve not only the local population, but also the ducal estates surrounding
Worksop. Born in 1864 in Sutton-in-Ashfi eld, William moved to Worksop
with his brother Benjamin where they set up shop in 1886 with a capital of
£700 loaned by members of their family. Despite being the younger brother,
William was the better businessman and aft er only three years he was able to
buy out his elder brother. Steadily prospering, he bought the shop premises
he was already renting in 1903, together with two public houses and several
cottages, and was well on the way to becoming one of Worksop’s wealthier
merchants.
On 15 September 1896, William married Florence, the daughter of David
Wall Winks, a butcher and local councillor whose shop stood opposite
William’s. Th e couple had three sons: William Jnr., in 1898; Walter, in
1899; and David who died in infancy in 1903. William Straw Senior’s
business continued to prosper and, in 1920, the family moved from a fl at
above the shop in Market Place where they had been living, to the semi-
detached house in Blythe Grove which was being developed as a residential
area for professional people on the outskirts of the town. To avoid being
overlooked by neighbours, the Straws bought the vacant plot opposite
which became an extension to the family garden and also an orchard.
As befi tted the sons of a successful businessman, William Junior and Walter
22 | CountryImagesMagazine.co.uk
were well educated, both attending King Edward VI Grammar School in
Retford. Th e First World War interrupted their education, with both boys
conscripted into the army. Luckily both survived the horrors of that war
and on being demobilised in 1919, Walter joined his father in the family
business, while William studied English at King’s College London, which he
later taught at the City of London College.
William Straw, the father died suddenly in 1932 while gardening and Walter
continued to run the grocery business unaided. His brother, William was
the more astute of the two and from his £30 a month salary as a teacher was
able to invest in the stock market, buying amongst other investments, shares
in the newly fl edged Marks and Spencer Company. So successful was he in