Leigh Shops Through Time

The Leigh Shops Through Time project originally came about as part of the High Street Project - a national shared learning project in which u3as across the movement recorded the shops in their high streets.

u3a members in Leigh came together with Leigh On Sea Heritage Centre to create an exhibition showcasing the changing face of their local high street.

A core of eight members from Leigh Estuary and Leigh on Sea u3as worked together to research the shops and create a display. They consulted Kelly's Street Directories and local maps to showthe changing use of many of the shops, from the first shop on the Broadway in 1888 through to the 1980s and showing photos of the shops today. Leigh on sea has many architectural gems, and these are locally listed by Southend City Council. Local people shared their memories of the shops in recorded interviews that have now been added to the Sound Archive at Essex Record Office in Chelmsford. Other photos and written memoirs will be kept in the Heritage Centre Archives.

The exhibition included photos from archives and objects, including as a 1902-3 shop ledger, 1920s record sleeves, early milk bottles, printed items, including a plan for the refurbishment of a shop in the 1930s, a metal car badge from a local garage, a clothes brush with an advert for a men’s outfitters and pieces of crested china sold as souvenirs of Leigh on sea in local shops. Over five hundred people visited the exhibition, which ran between 22 and 24 September as part of the movement's 40th Anniversary celebrations.