Going for a Screw in Inverurie - by Duncan Harley

One of the joys of living in Inverurie a couple of decades ago was the proliferation of local businesses, both small and large, all willing in varying degrees to take that extra step to help the customer spend their money wisely.


An aunties family ran an ironmonger in the square and, despite competition from Watsons across the road managed to deliver a decent range of goods and maintain a loyal customer base before abandoning ironmongery in favour of fancy goods and ornaments a few years ago.

Mitchells Dairy, in what is now a punk pub, was still delivering milk and feeding shopworkers and shoppers in a lunchtime cafe. And even the banks somehow managed, in a pre-internet age, to cater for local needs. If you knew the lady behind the counter, you were a sure cert’ for a loan.

Nowadays the town is going the way of Aberdeen with big brand betting shops, letting agencies and charity outlets littering the High Street. And there are retail parks full of overpriced Nationals offering stuff you can get on Amazon at half the price. There’s even a plan to build a Starbucks on the site of the old health centre and a Greggs now haunts the retail unit which used to host the old Electricity Board showroom!
No doubt there will be a sex shop in the back of Morrisons next.

There are still a few independent outlets in the town though. Booths, Inverurie Whisky Shop, The Green Grocer and the various craft bakers are still on the go and we should support them.

This image recalls the long-gone Inverurie Versatile Steel Works or VSW as they proclaimed proudly on the factory gate. Established in 1947, it went under some twenty years ago and the site is now in housing.
I don’t recall who owned it, but I can recall the friendly service. They fabricated things for oil rigs and the like. Big things made out of welded steel were their forte. But they never forgot their local roots.

In fact, if you ever needed a nut or a bolt or a maybe a couple of hard-to-find metric screws, they were happy to oblige and for just a few shillings.
Now that’s what I call local service.

 There are more such tales about Aberdeenshire in my various books (just search for Duncan Harley) . Available from both Amazon and locally from Mike @ Inverurie Whisky Shop. 

Location: Scotland, UK

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