Photographs
Shops
CALNE. ?. "Many years ago in Calne Wiltshire it sold clothes and wool and material in the very early 50's." Dian Kinchin in posting to Facebook
CHIPPENHAM. Co-op, High Street. "Re-constructed premises in High Street, Chippenham. Official opening on Saturday, July 13th... A pneumatic tube cash system has been installed, connecting up all departments with the central cash office on the first floor... The pneumatic tube installation was the work of Lamson Pneumatic Tube Co., Ltd." Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 13 Jul. 1935, p.9
DEVIZES. J.F. Evans (drapery and clothing), 11 Maryport Street and 23 Monday Market Street, 24 The Brittox [not clear which address]. "New cash railway just erected." Devizes and Wilts Advertiser, 31 Jul. 1902, p. 1
DEVIZES. Charles Sloper &
Sons (drapers), 14-15 The Brittox (now Boots). Photograph. Installed in 1929 and still operating in 1975. Gipe closed wire system
No. 10 - John Liffen. "From memory this was a four wire system, with
three for the ground floor and one going uphill to the balcony, which
was horseshoe shaped above the entrance doors. All the wires meeting at
the cash desk at the rear of the store virtually opposite the doors"
- Andrew Hunt. One line now in Devizes Museum and one in Trowbridge Museum.
"The wire that came up from the basement was a bit of a problem since the carriage struggled to make it to the cashier. As far as I recall for the return journey, the carriage was just released and gravity did the job. I have always understood that Slopers had tubes too, connecting with a separate department." Rog Frost
MARKET LAVINGTON. Waltons Cash Drapery Stores, White Street. "Peggy Gye .. spoke of Mrs Walton being at the heart of things, sitting in her cashier's cage and receiving money and dispatching change and receipts using an overhead wire 'cash railway'". The business failed in the 1930s. Market Lavington Museum blog
SWINDON. Ansteys. Wire system in 1950s/60s. Brian Hamilton Kelly
SWINDON. Morses (drapers and furnishers), 10-12 Regent Street, "approximately where WHS is today." Cash carrier. Susan Malkin on Facebook
TROWBRIDGE. Bristol Drapery Co. (E. Fear Hill), Silver Street. "Bristol Drapery Co. have the honour of introducing in Trowbridge the American automatic cash railway. It is one of the latest triumphs of mechanical ingenuity." Wiltshire Times, 16 Oct. 1886, p. 4
• "The British Cash and Parcel Conveyor Company, Limited, are installing throughout Mr. E. Fear Hill's, the well-known Bristol Drapery Establshment in Silver Street, their improved Meteor Cash Railway System. Great strides have been made in this mode of conveyance since Mr. Hill first startled the neighbourhood with the old ball system of cash railway, as described in our issue of October 9, 1886. This, though occasionally seen, is now not much used... Our readers will remember that Mr. E. Fear Hill was the first to introduce automatic cash conveyance into Trowbridge and the West of England, and it is interesting to note that he is again the pioneer in the very latest method of cash transit." Wiltshire Times, 15 Apr. 1905, p. 3
• "Those fond of novelty should visit the Bristol Drapery Company's establishment in Silver Street... His florin and a bill will be put into a cup and the cup fixed to a little carriage depending from a wire running up the shop. The assistant will pull a handle and - hey presto! - the cup will be seen to make a swift journey along the wire to the cash desk, whence it will return a moment later bearing the customer's change... The system has been put in by the British Cash and Parcel Conveyor Company and is called the Meteor Cash Railway System, the motive force .. being .. a piece of elastic... It is a vast improvement on the ball-railway system first introduced into the West of England by Mr. E. Fear Hill some 19 years ago." Wiltshire Times, 22 Apr. 1905, p. 2
TROWBRIDGE. Co-op, Mortimer Street. "Re-constructed Mortimer Street store open... A cash desk has been placed in the centre of the shop, the junction of the overhead cash railway system. Wiltshire Times, 31 Oct. 1936, p. 7
TROWBRIDGE. F.P. Searles (Universal Provider), Parade. "A feature which will attract attention is the Gipe cash railway running from five stations up to the desk. This is a solid structure from which all that is going on may be overseen, and by means of the railway change may be sent to any portion of the shop." Wiltshire Times, 30 Mar. 1912, p. 2
Museums
DEVIZES. Museum. See DEVIZES: Sloper above. No
car when I visited in April 2006 but good access to the propulsions.
TROWBRIDGE. Museum. Gipe wire system from
Slopers, Devizes installed by John Liffen.
indicates systems which
are still there (as far as I know) though they may not be working.