Then and Now: The post office on Brook Street in Grantham was run by sub-postmaster Graham Wheat in the 1970s and ’80s

The post office on Brook Street was run by sub-postmaster Graham Wheat in the 1970s-1980s, and had once been Borchards shoe and boot shop, writes Ruth Crook of Grantham Civic Society.

During Graham’s time, the layby was commissioned for the use of the customers. The house had six rooms above the shop where the shop owners could live.

The shop was originally situated at 8-9 Chapel Street prior to the north side of the street being demolished.

The Mowbeck stream ran along the street but was culverted in the 1850s. During heavy rain, when the stream was in full flow, many of the house and shop basements flooded.

In 1881, the Classics master at Grantham Grammar School, Edward Browne, lived in the house with his wife, six daughters, sister in law and servants. He was called ‘Pecker’ by the boys at the school, because of his large nose.

Ten years earlier the family lived at Little Gonerby House, later Hotel Diana, now Eden House Hotel, with 11 pupils from the school. In 1891, Frederick Wardle lived at 8 Chapel Street, where he worked as a dairy proprietor.