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226 Bath Road (formerly Hermitage House)

From the mid 1850’s this was the business of James Lewis, who was described as a glass and china dealer. In around 1875 the business was taken over by Frederick Beddard, an ironmonger, and his wife Amelia. The Beddard family were here for about 50 years, with their two sons entering into the trade. When Frederick died in 1925 the business was sold to Gilbey Coole, who had another ironmongery shop in Gloucester. Although described as an ironmonger, like Mr Beddard, Gilbey Coole also sold glassware and china, so there was a continuity of trade here until the latter part of the 20th century.

Incidentally, Gilbey Coole had previously been a Grocer and Wine Merchant at 318 High Street, having inherited that business from his father Edwin Coole. He came from a line of tradesmen – his grandfather John Coole, had been a Grocer & Tea dealer in Cirencester, until 1837. Gilbey eventually decided to sell the family wine merchants to Martin Bros. and thereafter focussed on the ironmongery shops.

Image courtesy of Steve Lawrey
Advertisement, 1964

Paraffin, for domestic heating, was one of the commodities available from this large, double-fronted shop. It was dispensed from a receptacle on the counter into the customers’ own container and sold by the pint. Most containers were acceptable with the strict exception of milk bottles, which were routinely returned to the dairies for re-use and the taste of paraffin would have tainted the milk. In the early days many householders still used gas for domestic lighting, which explains why inverted gas mantles were also available here.

One of Gilbey Coole’s assistants, Bob Bridges, bought the business in the 1950s and a few local residents may remember two long-serving members of his staff, Fred Balderstone and Olive Turk.

For several years, Mr Bridges owned a small paraffin tanker vehicle. This enabled him to drive around the streets, filling customers’ cans (usually one gallon or five gallons), saving them the task of carrying such a weighty item from the shop. The business retained the name of Gilbey Coole and expanded its range over the years to include tools for both the gardener and DIY enthusiast.

When Mr Bridges retired, Gilbey Coole was taken over by Newmans the ironmongers, by now themselves under new ownership. This shop then became something completely different. For a time, it was a vegetarian restaurant and in 2000 became an Indian restaurant trading as Indus Tandoori. However the name of Gilbey Coole lived on, being still visible in the floor tiles at the front doorway of the premises. In January 2020 Indus relocated from here and the premises are awaiting a new occupant.

See the Local Memories page for this property.

226 Bath Road

Research: Marilyn West & Stuart Manton, (Nov 2022)

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