Shops

BOURNEMOUTH. ?Beales, Quadrant. "Had an overhead wire system in some (clothing) departments. There was a large square pillar between the customer counter and the cash office on one of the lines and a hole had been cut through the pillar to allow passage of the trolley." Tony Jervis

BOURNEMOUTH. Bobbys (dept. store), The Square. Pneumatic tube system in 1950s. Brian Hamilton Kelly and memory recorded at Poole Museum.

BOURNEMOUTH. Bright & Colson. See Court Cases.

BOURNEMOUTH. Pears, 60 Commercial Road. "Cash railways on the ground floor and a tube system on the first floor have also been installed." Swanage Times, 18 Apr. 1930, p. 6

BRIDPORT. Elms. "I went to Elms in Bridport in Dorset with my Mum to buy material to make my dresses when I was a little girl. Never forgotten this rail whizzing along!" Lynn Robinson in posting to Facebook  

BRIDPORT. B. Morris (draper), St Mary Street. "In order to keep pace with the times .. Mr. Morris has had a 'cash railway' introduced." Bridport News, 17 Aug. 1888, p. 6

POOLE. Bon Marché. Wire system in 1950s. M.Dyke

POOLE. Butlers, Ashley Road, Parkstone. "Alice then found an office job in Butler's department store which later became the Co-op... During her time there she was promoted to cashier. This entailed emptying the metal containers that had travelled round the shop on overhead wires, counting the money and sending back any change... This was a great responsibility for a 15-year-old girl." Our working lives website.
• Wire system in 1950s. M. Dyke and "A history of Upper Parkstone"

WEYMOUTH. Northovers (groceries and provisions), 54 St Thomas Street. "Northovers .. went self-service in 1967. Prior to this, the old-fashioned shop .. had a wonderful system of conveying the customer's payment to the cashier at the rear of the shop via a system of pulleys and cables." Photo shows a Rapid Wire system. Attwooll, Maureen. Weymouth: more golden years. Tiverton: Dorset Books, 2002. p.8

WEYMOUTH. R. J. Wright (Naples of England Stores), St Mary Street. "Mr. R.J. Wright .. has introduced into his shop a cash railway... The method adopted is known as Lamson's rapid wire system. A single wire carries and returns a small car, in which is placed the cash, bill, &c., from each station to the desk." Southern Times, 18 Jul. 1891, p. 4

WYKE REGIS. Northovers.  "I remember mum shopping at Northovers in high street, Wyke Regis and paying with one of those." Marilyn Rook in posting to Facebook