Wilf's Shop

He were big and he were strong and he were burly
But gentle and quiet for his size,
Always a flat cap and brown dust coat
And someat were wrong with his eyes.

His pop were his big speciality
With ice lollies a close runner up,
Saspirella and Dandylion and Burdock
And Blood bitter that no one could sup.

Shop were all dark and owd fashioned
No lick of paint since who knows when,
Open from't first thing in't morning
And still open till well gone past ten.

Glass cabinets with this that and't tother
A counter that were six inches thick,
Medicines and lotions and potions
And those well trusted could get tick.

Now Wilf had a much older brother
Whose name were in't window quite clear,
Oliver's it said in bright plastic
But Wilf's it were known as round here.

Big Wilf's older brother were strickter
No lounging or language or crime,
And anyone caught smoking in't corner
Were ejected in double quick time.

No cafes or milkbars or youth clubs
So Wilf's were the place they'd all go,
They'd sup his strange made up mixtures
And to spin out the time they'd sup slow.

Young Teds in thier drapes and thier drainpipes
A "D.A." were the style of the day,
They all had thier crepes and thier Lime Greens
But not many had that much to say.

When't conversation did eventualy get going
It were of Curtis and Cochran and Cliff,
Of Elvis's stint in the army
And how to slick back a good quiff.

Our Wilf were ignorant of such matters
He'd stand and just stare and just wait,
Till he next plunged his hands in't freezer
Six mint lollies to be put up on't slate.

The flypapers were very off putting
All butterd with black lifeless buds,
But Wilf's clientel seemed not to notice
Thier interest were only in't goods.

On Saturday Wilf did big business
When the kids made thier way to the flicks,
They'd spend half a tanner on toffee
T'other half on Wilf's special mix.

What happend to this grand old emporium
No one knows right for sure,
Some say the place were demolished
But in my mind it will always endure.

It were a shop tha could always rely on
And Wilf played the big starring role,
Where ever he is now I'm sure of
He'd always give tick bless his soul.