IT’S now almost 15 years since Littlewoods said it would close its branch in Hereford, but there are still so many memories of the popular shop, which first came to the city in the 1960s.

Littlewoods was a go-to destination for clothes, household goods and even food, and was a staple of Hereford’s High Town for almost 40 years.

In our new We Grew Up in Hereford Facebook group, former workers recalled how they earned about £7.50 a day in the late 1960s – unimaginable in this day and age when the living wage per hour is more.

Fay Pedlar said it was second-highest paying retail job at the time, coming just behind Marks and Spencer.

Bev Rodgerson was a “Saturday girl” in the kitchens in 1974, and said she remembers preparing sandwiches and jelly desserts.

“I was stopped peeling potatoes because I forgot to check the potato rumbler peeling machine and they ended up the size of marbles,” she said.

She said the manageress, thought to be Mrs Crane, used to “frighten me to death”.

Former colleagues also found each other when talking about the store on Facebook.

Tracey Weaver said she worked there for “a long time”.

She said it was a very sad day for the 90 staff who worked there when it closed in January 2006, with its fate sealed in November 2005.

Replying to her was Karen-Marie Cushing, who said Tracey was a “lovely boss”.

While some were window dressers, others remember the sweet counter, menswear department, or working on the fish or cheese counters.

If you have any memories of Littewoods, you can join in the conversations by joining the We Grew Up In Hereford on Facebook.

Littlewoods first came to Hereford in 1967 and was involved in a technical development operation when the black and white 17th-century part of its premises was taken down, stored in High Town and then renovated before being slotted back into the building.

In 2001 Littlewoods carried out a £1 million makeover of its High Town store to accommodate Index, formerly based in Maylord Orchards, and to feature internet and mail order shopping.

Before its closures, the Littlewoods stores group was most recently sold by its owners, the Barclay Brothers, to Associated British Foods, which still owns Primark – which opened on Widemarsh Street in 1999.

When the closure was announced, Associated British Foods decided to discontinue trading in all the Littlewoods stores, and to develop and promote its own Primark instead.

It had been reviewing the locations of Littlewoods premises and it seemed likely that in some cases Primark would be transferred to them, but that did not happen in Hereford.

New Look is now based in the former Littlewoods store.