Yes, I can, and used to buy sweets from there from time to time. I believe it was called Bunny's Stores.

However, there was a shoe repairer in the Beehive Yard who could not hear or speak, Mr Day.

His workshop was on the right hand side as you went up the yard.

When you where inside his shop, the ceiling was made of wooden boards and, because he did the shoe repairs upstairs, in order to get his attention (as he could not hear) you had to use a broom handle to tap on the ceiling.

He would feel the vibration through his feet then come down to take your order.

You would then show him which part of the shoe you wanted repaired.

Also in the Beehive Yard was Mr Brown, who would go round Diss with his pony and cart selling fruit and vegetables.

There was a shoe repair workshop, which was a small wooden building, in Sunnyside, run by Wally Wilby.

Just a few yards down the road from there was the Star public house, later to become Wilbys Tyres & Accessories. The site now has new houses on it.

Just to the right of the Salvation Army hall is where Mr Leeks lived. He used to deliver paraffin, etc, by horse and cart in the days before we had electric lights.

We only had paraffin lamps, gas lights or gas cookers.

Can anyone remember Brills fish and chip shop in Shelfanger Road, which used to stand on the same site as the current fish shop?

There was the bakery in Mount Street run by, I believe, Mr Youngman. The baker's sign was moulded in the wall.

And what about the sweet shop next to the old post office in Mount Street?

Can you remember the shop in Mount Street where you could buy your Sunday paper and the Pink 'Un football paper?

It was known as Gotobeds and they used to have their papers on wooden trestles outside the shop.

If it was a wet day, it was a job to get inside.

These are just some of my early memories of the shops and trades of Diss. What are yours and do you have any pictures of these old businesses?

Write to Diss Memories, Diss Express, Mere Street, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4AE or email editorial@dissexpress.co.uk



n Mavis Pestell also remembered the Denmark Hill sweet shop.

She said: "The shop was owned by Charlie Garwood.

"When we were kids we always used to go in there, we all went flying in.

"During the war there were no sweets for love nor money."

She recalled how her mother used the sweet coupons for sugar, not sweets, which were a rare treat during the war.

"You couldn't move in there for adverts of things you could not get. I can still smell the cardboard."

Elizabeth Mooney, of Pearce Road, Diss, also wrote and said: "I remember that shop, particularly because the proprietor reminded me of Claude Raines!"

Kevin Elvin, from Willbye Avenue, said he used to visit the shop to buy a weekly jamboree bag, filled with sweets and an activity book.

"That was a treat that used to keep me occupied all week," he said.