Elsie Wilkinson recalls New York village in the first half of the 20th century as a thriving busy place with many shops and farms.
There were a lot of shops in New York.
There was Thompson’s the butcher’s, the Co-op, the Post Office and then Cook’s on the corner. Cooks sold newspapers and was a general dealer. Opposite that was Harbottle’s the butcher’s, then the big store Harbottle’s Stores, before the Dunn Cow. The haberdashery was upstairs and food downstairs and beside the little shop they used to sell wool. The money would be sent on a wire to the cashiers.
The County Stores eventually took over from Harbottle’s and I bought furniture from there when I was older. At the bottom of Mafeking Terrace was a joiner’s and an undertaker’s. Jeffries was the joiner and Mr Dalton the undertaker and the blacksmith’s was opposite. The blacksmith’s building is still there. It was quite a busy little village. There was Rickard’s as well at the bottom of Coronation Terrace and Galley’s sold sweets. Rickard’s sold all sorts of things: cigarettes, fruit and sweets.
There were also several farms. I remember Varty’s, Jackson’s, Currell’s and Potts’ farms. Potts had a horse and cart for delivering the milk. We used to go tattie picking when the potatoes were ready.