Recreations of shops from the past

By John Cheves

The photograph below shows a collection of model shops that were created as part of a ten week activity organized by WRVS Heritage Plus in Crawley in the summer of 2010. Working with freelance artists Jo Harrison and Sarah Williams, the participants were asked to think about their memories of shops and cafes they remembered from their younger days. Each participant then chose one to recreate as they remembered it.

Amongst the places people made were an old dairy from the east end of London, a Lyons Corner House Tea Room, a flower shop and a tobacconists. The shops were then joined together to form a street scene, that is now on display at the WRVS Centre in Crawley.