WITH the closure on Friday, February 3, the last newsagent’s shop in Crediton closed after more than 60 years under the one name – Evans.

Les and Mollie Evans came to Crediton in 1963 and took over what is now the Once Read bookshop but was then Les Berry’s barber shop. A 1935 edition of Kelly’s Directory lists Berry and Son at 4 High Street as newsagents, stationers, tobacconists and hairdressers.

Number 10 High Street, which became Evans, was listed as being occupied by William Jackson and Son, chemists, proprietor G March, while Ernest Jackson and Co Limited, medicated lozenge manufacturers, was at 26 High Street, where it still is. Ernest Jackson was also on Union Road, now Redvers House.

From 4 High Street, the Evans family moved to 10 High Street in 1979, then the former Boots premises. They were there for two years, selling it to their son and daughter-in-law Paul and Marion Evans in 1981.

In 2004 Paul and Marion sold number 10 to Bernie and Mary Miller who ran the newsagents and stationer’s until 2011 when Paul and Tara bought the shop and five-storey premises.

In the early days of Paul and Marion’s time at the shop there was John Ives’ newsagent at the Cinema Shop on East Street, Sims’ where Helmores now is on the High Street, run first by George and Rose Sims and then later by Malcolm and Pauline Sims and where they also sold carpets and beds.

Paul and Marion added that there were the others such as Carslake and Ted Lane who did Sunday papers. It was likely there were more selling papers in the town - there was also Mansell’s, later becoming Maynews - followed by the two guys who ran it as News Etc.

“There were certainly six butchers then,” they added. One “find” when they were clearing out number 10 was a toothbrush in the cellar with the name Jackson’s on it.

“When we took over in 1981, the only place you could buy a newspaper was in a newsagents. The Government then said other shops could sell newspapers but only Monday to Friday, not at weekends.

“Then the Government opened it up and supermarkets could sell papers seven-days-a-week, but not doing deliveries.

“From Tuesday to Saturday we had as many as 100 titles delivered and 1,100 magazines on display all the time. A newsagents was big time then.

“We had four full and part-time men and six part-time ladies plus 45 paper boys and girls, a newsagent’s was big business back then,” said Paul.

Other long-established family businesses still on the High Street include A E Lee, Adams, Cox’s, and Jackson’s.

It would be really interesting to know who the first newsagent was in the town and in the villages too because there must have been a similar story.