- 1 year ago
Reporter Sadie Gilbert interviews 98 year old Joan Gilbert, founder of Joans Wool & Crafts in Onchan which is set to close at the end of September after nearly 5 decades of business.
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00:00Would I like to introduce myself?
00:04I am Joan.
00:07Here's the lovely Joan.
00:08Hello, everybody.
00:10Joan of Joan's Wool and Crafts.
00:13Yes.
00:13Yes.
00:14Do you mind me asking how old you are?
00:17I'm 98.
00:18I can't believe you're 98.
00:19You seem so much younger, honestly.
00:21I can't believe it.
00:23I think I'll twist it round and do it the other way.
00:2589.
00:2589.
00:2689.
00:27Honestly, though, for your age, you seem so much younger.
00:31Well, I've always had this sort of urge to do something.
00:35And I think that you've got to have something in life that's keeping you going, hasn't it?
00:42Yeah.
00:42And I suppose it's that connection that has made my life as good as what it has been.
00:52So tell me then a little bit about where did it come from, Joan's Wool and Crafts?
00:57How did it first begin?
00:58When I came over to the Isle of Man to live, my husband was in the police force and he was wanting to move from the Kent police force.
01:12He was getting a little bit, say, delusioned with it or whatever.
01:18He was a police sergeant and he eventually ended up closer to the Isle of Man in one of the, oh, that's right, the Liverpool Ports Police.
01:33He then went in to help organise the making of a police force for the Liverpool Ports Police.
01:48And, of course, I was already over here because his idea was that he would come over here into the police force.
01:56But, unfortunately, they hadn't got the pension rights.
02:03They couldn't transfer his pension rights over here.
02:06So our immediate plan for coming to the Isle of Man in the first place sort of fell apart a little bit.
02:15Plus these things do.
02:16Yes, we bought a house along, you know, where the terrace of shops are along by going down into town.
02:30We bought a big house there that had been let out to elderly people who were looked after by the person who owned the place.
02:41And, well, it ended up with me putting a deposit on it.
02:48We moved into it.
02:49And I carried on having a couple of the ladies there until they wanted to move on.
02:56One day, a friend of ours, they're no longer alive now, but he had a haulage business.
03:05And he was dabbling with other little bits on the side.
03:10And he had this little shop up at Port Jack and it had chemist sundries in it.
03:16And it did photo developing, you know, collecting from the holidaymakers, from the hotels up there.
03:24And so he said, Joan, would you like to take that over?
03:28He, you know, lost interest in it.
03:31So I did.
03:31I was, at that time, I was doing a bit of dressmaking and doing alterations in the way of dressmaking for customers.
03:42And Harry said to me, you'll be able to, you know, do that up in the shop when it's quiet, sort of during the winter.
03:53Use it as your base.
03:55Well, that's how I started, up at Port Jack, in this little shop.
04:01And one day I was in there working and this wool rep came in from Emu Wool, a wool distributor from Ireland.
04:16Yeah.
04:16And he came into the shop and he said, would you be interested in taking on some wool?
04:23Well, that was it.
04:24Yeah.
04:24And then from then it's evolved into.
04:26So at what point then did you move from Port Jack?
04:29So it's where the shop used to be where the hairdressers is now, isn't it?
04:34Yes, that's right.
04:35Next to the spa.
04:36Yes, that's right.
04:37Yes.
04:37At what point then did you move up to the village walk?
04:41It was when they were building a place, building the village walk.
04:46And my husband said to me one day, you know, you ought to go up there.
04:51Oh, I couldn't go up there.
04:53No way.
04:54Anyway, one day I drove, I was driving up this way and I came to the precinct and I thought, it's an idea.
05:03So I parked my car in the precinct.
05:06I went down to the agents who were in one of the shops down there and I just opened the door and I said, I want one of your units.
05:17You know, it just came out.
05:20And then you got one.
05:22Yeah.
05:22They took me along to see the one that was the first one.
05:27As you go down from the upper end of the precinct, when you go down there, there's a phone box, isn't there?
05:35And I went into that one and that's where it all started.
05:38Oh, I love it.
05:38And then I got to the point where I was getting a bit ambitious with my ideas.
05:45In those days, there was also a lot of machine knitting.
05:48You don't see a machine knitting these days, do you?
05:52So, I mean, I don't think I've ever seen one.
05:55No.
05:56Well, I became an agent for machine knitting as well.
06:02And, of course, I had to show people how to use them.
06:06And I thought, oh, I must do something about this.
06:09So, I took my city and guilds in fashion and design so that I knew I had a lot more knowledge about fabrics and all that sort of thing so that I could talk knowledgeably about things to people.
06:23What time?
06:24And from that, I took my teacher's education for adults.
06:31Oh.
06:32So, I thought, it's no good me trying to do anything unless I can show that I've got the qualifications to do it.
06:42And that's how it all started.
06:43I started lessons at the night school, which is now, of course, the college of further education, isn't it?
06:52I had a night class there.
06:54But to have people struggling in with their knitting machines, and you had to have about 15 on your register, it was hopeless.
07:06Oh, I'm going to open up my own.
07:09So, that was when I took over what had been the gardening shop, where all the chemist is now, isn't it?
07:20I took that over, and I converted my upstairs into my schoolroom.
07:27And then how long was that schoolroom for?
07:29Because it's not that now.
07:30Oh, no, no.
07:32There was a time when I wanted to begin to retire, and then they were shooting the rents up there, and I said, no, this is no good.
07:48And that was when I moved across the road, and I didn't do any more teaching then.
07:55No.
07:56Machine knitting was not quite the same thing.
08:00That seemed to die off.
08:03Yeah.
08:03Because I'd say, do you know anybody with a machine knitting?
08:06I don't even know if I'd know what one looked like.
08:08No.
08:08Have I seen one?
08:09Well, it's a big bar with all the needles in it.
08:15Yeah.
08:15And you just sort of press it, as if you're playing the piano.
08:19I mean, it's interesting, isn't it?
08:21Because back, obviously, when that was a popular way for people to knit.
08:26It was.
08:27Everybody was knitting.
08:29I opened up my own classroom when I knew that I'd got the qualifications to teach.
08:36Yeah.
08:36And I had no more than five people at the time.
08:41Sometimes it was perhaps three, and I was quite content to do it face-to-face with people.
08:49I wish I was ten years younger.
08:51I know.
08:52And I would not have allowed it to close.
08:54No, I know.
08:55It is weird.
08:55It's unfortunate that it's closing, isn't it?
08:57Yes, yes.
08:58Maybe I'll just quit the newspapers.
08:59There is a way around these things.
09:01Yeah.
09:02If you put yourself out to the public, it's no use sitting at your desk in the office and using a computer.
09:11No.
09:12You've got to get out to the people.
09:14Mm-hmm.
09:14And you've got to join them.
09:16Yeah.
09:17And have them something to look forward to.
09:19Yeah.
09:19I mean, because you mentioned earlier, didn't you, about rising rent costs.
09:24Yes.
09:24I mean, was that around the 70s, the 80s?
09:27It was, yes.
09:28And, I mean, I was, the rental people up there, the management, I had made, because the grocery area was never anything very much, was it, they treated me as if I was the shop that drew people into that area.
09:54Really?
09:54I was told that face-to-face, yes.
09:57Well, that must mean that you were, Jane.
09:59Yes, yes, yes.
10:01Because it's, I mean, it's, obviously, people might say, oh, it's a craft shop, but for a lot of people, like, they're sourcing their materials from there, aren't they, for their own projects that are bringing them in money.
10:12Yes.
10:12So it's sort of, it's a hub, isn't it, where people can go?
10:15It is, yes, yes.
10:17No, it's such a shame.
10:18But I know times have changed.
10:21I mean, at my age, golly, a lot of people are still not here.
10:27Do you feel 98?
10:29No.
10:30No.
10:30No.
10:30No.
10:31No.
10:32I know, because I'm good.
10:32Definitely.
10:33I'd rather be 78.
10:3578.
10:36Yes.
10:36Well, let's just say you're 78.
10:37Yeah.
10:38So, what advice would you give to someone who might watch this, who might, it might not be a craft shop, who might be wanting to open up their own little business?
10:51Well, I would say that to open a business, you've got to get to your public, the people that you want to draw into the shop.
11:04And you can't just sit behind a computer, which, I mean, people are using so much these days.
11:14They have to, because of the way things are going.
11:17But they cannot make that the hub of their business.
11:23They've got to be out to be with the people that they want to bring into the shop and sort of work from that end of things, rather from the desk end.
11:37Yeah.
11:37And be out in the community.
11:38Yes.
11:39Yes.
11:39Yeah.
11:39Yes.
11:40Because I think it's, what lacks a lot now, isn't it, in society, is that people, when you're so used to using your phone and only being on your phone.
11:49Yes.
11:50Well, there wasn't such a thing as that in my day.
11:54I mean, that is one of the things that is strange to me.
11:59I mean, I haven't even, I mean, I've got a little.
12:02You've got a little flip through.
12:03But if I want any help, I can bag it and leave.
12:06Yeah.
12:07That's it.
12:08But I don't live, I can't live by having something in my hand and just watching that all day long.
12:16No.
12:17I do think it's going to negatively impact, like, the future in terms of, it's not healthy, is it, to constantly be on a mobile device.
12:26It will change again, yes.
12:28I'm quite sure that, I mean, I've got 12 great-grandchildren, from little babes-in-arms to 10-year-olds.
12:38Yeah.
12:39And I'm not quite sure that they're going to grow up into a completely different world to what I know.
12:46And in time, this thing that they hold in their hand will possibly be something that is no longer used.
12:54I don't know.
12:55But the way things sort of change.
12:58It's unpredictable, isn't it?
13:02And we're very, I think, we're very good, aren't we, as a society, of hopping on these new trends and everyone wants the newest thing.
13:10Yes, that's right, yes.
13:11It's not always a good thing, is it?
13:12It isn't, no.
13:14No.
13:14No, I'm quite sure that they're, by the time my grandchildren get to my age, they'll be saying much the same as I'm saying, you know, things aren't the same now.
13:26You know, but I do hope that people do still have the face-to-face.
13:35That they're not, it's not just going to be an artificial get-together by looking at a screen.
13:45I know.
13:46Because it's even, like, organically, say when it comes to dating.
13:49I mean, I wish that I was in a time where dating was more organically and, you know, face-to-face, which it still is sometimes.
14:00But a lot of it now, as you know, dating apps and stuff, where you upload a profile.
14:06Yes.
14:06And don't get me wrong, that obviously will work for some people and there's nothing wrong for that, but I think it...
14:11It doesn't need to overtake everything.
14:15No.
14:16And then you end up just speaking to someone.
14:17Otherwise, I mean, you won't know how to talk to the person next to you, will you?
14:23It's going to kill social interaction, isn't it?
14:25It is.
14:25If it hasn't already.
14:26Yes, yes.
14:27What was one of your favourite memories, then, of running the shop?
14:33It was the action that it had with people of the, you know, the same mind and sort of, well, helping to build the craft idea in people's minds.
14:52And, as I say, I've always, even as a youngster, I can remember my father, he used to work for the post office, and one day he bought in this bookcase, a wooden bookcase.
15:11It was about, if you can, what size would you say that is?
15:16Oh, I don't know, I'm rubbish at maths.
15:18About four foot, yeah, about four foot high.
15:22And it had one, two, two shelves, yeah, it's got three shelves in it.
15:30And I can remember then, my sister and I, he gave it to my sister and I to put in our toy cupboard, which was a cupboard under the stairs.
15:41And we had it in there, and we had it in there, and I made all little bits of furniture for it, because I made it into a, looking at it, it was only shelves.
15:52But to me, that was a house.
15:55Yeah.
15:55And I made all the furniture for it, out of cardboard.
16:03Before I came to the Isle of Man, if this is of any help, I was a, I, my father said he wasn't going to spend money on a uniform to go to university.
16:16But we went to the College of Further Education, which it wasn't called that in those days, it was called the Technical College.
16:26And for two years, once I reached 15, I went, I did what they called a business course, where I learnt bookkeeping, typing, shorthand, and you came out fit to do office work.
16:44And my idea, because my father worked, it was in the family, I thought, oh, you know, I'd go, I had, my first job was with the Ministry of, forget what it was, but we, we dealt with, with the health side.
17:06Oh, OK.
17:07Of it, in Tunbridge Wells.
17:10And I would, I got the job as a clerk typist.
17:15But I had an insight into that, and I thought, oh, I joined the civil service.
17:21Mm-hm.
17:21Well, next door to us, there was another office of the civil, of the civil service, and they merged two of us.
17:33And because I was the last one in, that meant that there were two, two typists, and they only wanted one to cover the whole area.
17:44Mm-hm.
17:44I was the last one in, so I was the first one out.
17:48Well, blow this for the civil service, if I'm not touching it, if that's what they do.
17:56Oh, OK.
17:56And that sort of put me onto the commercial side of things.
18:00And, I mean, I became secretary to the managing director of a big, it was called the Tunbridge Motor Services.
18:13It was a petrol station, but it had a big car showroom and everything with it.
18:19And I learnt, that was how I learnt the background of, you know, being able to do the business side of things.
18:31What would be your hope then, Joan, for how people remember the shop?
18:37It would just that it sort of helped to further the interest in, in crafts.
18:43But can I ask you a little bit about being on the radio then, speaking on the radio?
18:46Yes, that was extremely interesting.
18:51And I got to know a lot of people.
18:54They would, because not only was it broadcast, my broadcast went out, you know, as I did it.
19:04First it started on a Tuesday, and then the following year I had to have it on a Wednesday,
19:10because somebody else had taken the Tuesday spot before I had renewed the arrangement with Manx Radio.
19:21And I used to have people coming in to the shop and straight in my head,
19:31oh, I listened to you, they'd come over on holiday.
19:33I'd listen to you every week on the radio.
19:37And, you know, and I thought, uh, uh, you know.
19:40A little celebrity.
19:43Well, yeah, lovely.
19:44Well, jolly good.
19:45I'm glad you enjoy it, sort of thing.
19:48But it opened up a completely different world.
19:51But, you know, I, I wasn't doing it for that.
19:58No, you were just doing it because you enjoyed it.
20:00Yes, and as I say, Chris Price, who became a family friend, but he introduced me to Manx Radio.
20:07He used to, he had a lovely, beautiful voice, and he used to have a programme on a Sunday afternoon.
20:18He used to be on every night.
20:20You know, Judith Lay does the night programme.
20:23Well, Chris Price used to do that, because my husband used to go up there and work in the background
20:30and take the phone calls for Chris and take them through to him in the, where he was, in the next studio.
20:38And, um, and, uh, as I say, I had people coming in and shaking hands as if I was, you know,
20:46and I think, well, I'm only doing what I want to do, you know, running the shop.
20:54And, yes, they'd come in and say, oh, we listen to you every week on the radio.
20:58And that was people from the north-west and Wales, the top part of Wales, that were, took the programme.
21:07So what, um, what was the radio show about? Did you talk, what did you speak about on it?
21:12Well, I, I, I had, I divided it into, um, three sections.
21:21One, because I had to pay, I paid, it was, it was paid for because it was advertising.
21:27Um, the first five minutes was about a particular, uh, fabric, let's say, or, or a particular yarn,
21:40something that was new in.
21:42Yeah.
21:42And that was when I would, because to, for me to pay for it, I went to my suppliers and I said,
21:50I've got the radio programme for 15 minutes.
21:53If you pay for so many of them, let's say three of them or whatever, uh, for me in, because it's advertising, uh, I will give you the first five minutes and talk about your products.
22:13Yes. And that's how I worked it.
22:15Mm-hmm.
22:16So, yeah, but it served its purpose and it did them good because I, I had in particular, I had a rep coming over from Ireland and he was also going over to North Wales and that, uh, in, with his job.
22:33And he was going into shops where they were saying they were listening in to my programme to see what I was recommending and everything.
22:44Ah.
22:44Yes.
22:45So, it, that's interesting because nowadays, I don't know if you'll, have you heard of like influencers?
22:53In, influencers.
22:55So, being.
22:56I can't say I have.
22:57But I think that you, back in the day, were what we would call nowadays an influencer.
23:04Influencer.
23:04Yes.
23:04Yeah.
23:05Yes.
23:05Because obviously you go in on the radio and talking about these products and then people listening in to then see what you're talking about.
23:13Yes.
23:14Is very similar to nowadays with social media where you'll have these girls and they might be promoting a new sun cream or lipstick.
23:23Yes.
23:24Yes.
23:24Yes.
23:24And people will watch their videos and then, and they'll be getting paid by a brand.
23:29Yes.
23:30So, it's interesting that, isn't it?
23:31Yes.
23:32Yes.
23:32The evolution.
23:33It is, yes.
23:33So, you're one of the first influencers.
23:35I was, I was, oh, I started something, didn't I?
23:39Yeah.
23:39So then, well, finally then, obviously Jones Longcastle was such a large chunk of your life, wasn't it?
23:46Oh, yes.
23:47Yes.
23:47Did you expect it to be, to last as long as it did?
23:50Well, I suppose, in a way, I hoped it would last forever.
23:55Mm-hmm.
23:56I know times have changed a lot and people do a lot on the internet, but you can't do crafts on the internet.
24:05Yeah.
24:05You, people need to go into the shop.
24:08They need to see, feel things.
24:11Mm-hmm.
24:12Because it's, it's, you know, Jones Shutting is, again, it's pushing people, isn't it, to order online.
24:22Like, yes.
24:23Whereas, like, you're saying, you can't.
24:25Where's the personal touch?
24:27Exactly.
24:28And you're there to help people.
24:31You're there to draw somebody who thinks she might like crafts to have a go.
24:38Yeah.
24:38Yeah.
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