Subject to an appeal I made to the Isle of Wight County Press newspaper, I have decided to dedicate this whole section to the Islanders with fond memories of Mac Fisheries.

The appeal was printed in the 15th May 2009 addition. I received many, many telephone calls, a few letters and numerous emails with referances to the island's shops. Various employees names have cropped up which will be added to the new employees page in due course. I'm sure many connections will come from these names.

I wish to thank all those that responded to the appeal, I will admit to being dumbfounded by all your fond memories of Macs on the Island. I also feel that a lot more information will arise from this wonderful part of the world. I will look forward to that.

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The following Information and photographs have been supplied by

Mrs Sheila Orchard of Ryde.

 

Macs employed a Mr Thomas Dyke (Sheila's uncle) as a boy who went on to become a Mac manager. 

 

Pre-war Mac Fisheries at 154 High Street, Ryde.

 

Thomas is in the white coat, the boy is not known.

 

 

 

Thomas Dyke went on to own his own wet fish and poultry shop, this was also located in Ryde at Swancombe Road (opposite Ryde Hospital)

 

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Below is a photo of Thomas's own shop, date c1950s.

Sheila's brother-in-Law Harold Orchard poses in the doorway.

 

 

Thank you Sheila for all the above info. 

 

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Two Photographs supplied by Diana Wale of the Ventnor Mac Fisheries shop.

Diana's father worked in this shop and is standing on the left in both photos.

 

 

Thank you Diana for the info and Photos

 

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Thanks for this letter Jean. I have this vision of you and your sister pushing that dolls pram up the High street......Great.

 

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A great email from Matthew ?? 24th May 2009 Hi Colin, and thanks for a great site - certainly brought back many memories! I've attached a picture of the Freshwater branch on the Isle of Wight. I don't know the date of the picture, but I would think that it was taken in the 1950s. My grandfather would often sell crabs and lobsters to them. When I was a kid, I used to go lobstering with him, off Totland beach, Alum Bay and the Needles. I had my own pot, and I too used to sell my catch to Mac Fisheries (not that it amounted to a fortune!!) I also remember thrie delivery van in the 60s and 70s, which was a blue Morris Minor van. The shop had a bit of tragedy connected to it in the early 1970s. A local man by the name of David ('Dave') Scarf worked in the shop for years; his hobby was ferreting, which he often did up on Tennyson Down. Sadly, Dave disappeared one day whilst out with his ferrets. It came over very foggy, and when the police arrived on the scene after Dave's mother had reported him missing, all they found were his empty cages, and signs of somebody desperately trying to avoid going over the cliff edge. It appears that Dave lost his direction, and fell over the cliff at a point about 150ft. above sea level. His body was never found, the only thing was that about two weeks later a donkey jacket, which matched Dave's, was washed up on an adjacent beach. Dave wasn't married. He lived at home with his mother who, I would imagine, has passed away herself. I used to repair TVs in Freshwater during the 70s and 80s. I went to see Mrs. Scarf one day several years after Dave had disappeared, and she was complaining about how difficult it was to look after the house on her own. When I asked her why she didn't sell and move to a small bungalow, she replied that she had to stay where she was for when David came back as he would want his room. I don't think she ever accepted that Dave had died that day on the downs. It was shortly after that event, I seem to remember, that Mac Fisheries closed. It was greatly missed by the people of Totland and Freshwater, not only because of the quality of its produce, but because local people worked in the shop - indeed, one very rarely saw Dave without a smile on his face and he always made time to talk to shoppers - a practice that's largely disappeared nowadays with the advent of supermarkets. On a more general note about Freshwater, like a lot of villages at the time, the majority of its shops were second (and even third generation) owned. My dad ran a ladies hairdressers shop which was started by his father, and my apprenticeship was done in a shop a few yards away that was started by my boss's grandfather. However, for my generation (who left school in the late 60s and early 70s), there was a much bigger choice of what to do in the jobs market and most of us went into other things. Most of us were not forced to follow our fathers professions as most of them seemed to realise that the winds of change were coming to village shops. I remember my dad saying to me that all the local shops would probably disappear as the big supermarkets started to appear on the Island. Sadly he was right as there are now only two shops left in Freshwater that are run by people I went to school with. Once again, Colin, thanks for the site and the memories it has brought back. If I find anything else, I'll send it on to you, and good luck to the future of your site. Kind regards Matthew

 

Mac Fisheries at Avenue Road, Freshwater, IOW.

 

 

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Two photographs supplied by an Islander Mr Murray.

 

Both pics are of the Shanklin shop, Mr Murray thinks they are from the 1930s & the 1950s, but we are not sure due to the turkey prices. Maybe WW11 had a bearing on these prices.

Note the Father Christmas uniform in the earlier picture. This must have been Xmas week.

 

Click on photos to enlarge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here's another photo sent to me by Mr Murray

It shows an IOW fisherman by the name of Mr Harry Scovell. It is said that Harry sold his daily catch to the Mac Fisheries manager Mr Jack Palmer at the Sandown shop. He would take much of the shops fish off-cuts ready for baiting his lobster pots on his next fishing trip. The dog pictured with his is his trusted friend 'Sailor'

 

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A rear cover of an IOW carnival brochure advertising their Island shops.

 

 

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This great letter and photograph was sent to me from Mr Terence Westmore depicting 2 St Thomas Square, Newport. This premises was originally a wet fish shop as early as the 1920s. The accommadation above this shop went on to become Mac Fisheries offices for the Island.

Thank you Terence.

 

 

                                        Click on photo to enlarge   

 

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The following photo and letter was sent to me by a lady asking to be kept anonymous

A brilliant contrast to to photo above showing a 45 year gap.

  

 

 

Thank you Mam

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