The Ensign Shop: It was a happy place

About this recording

The Ensign Shop in High Street is remembered by many as a Wick institution. In this recording, Eswyl Fell tells how her late parents, Donnie and Jean Mackay, ran it from 1954 until 1988.

As well as newspapers, magazines, comics and books, the shop sold cigarettes, sweets, greetings cards, postcards, calendars, souvenirs… and even pomegranates.

“Whenever I pass the shop a memory always springs up,” Eswyl says. “The main thing I always remember is the sound of laughter. It was a happy place and it was always busy.”

The shop was located in the former offices of the Northern Ensign weekly newspaper. Remnants of the Ensign name can still be seen above the door of the building. Eswyl describes how the front window was “higgledy-piggledy” and crammed with everything from toys to ornaments.

She worked in the shop from the age of 11, after school on weekdays and all day on Saturdays. She was paid 30 shillings a week, “and it never went up”.

Eswyl’s brothers Dan, Thomas and Alexander were all involved in the business too. Alexander, the youngest member of the family, was delivering papers by the age of four. Eswyl remembers how the shop would even open on Christmas Day, when Donnie would give all his customers a free paper and a dram.

There are many funny tales, from young Thomas directing the traffic at DE’s corner while dressed in a police outfit to the time a farmer brought a tractor tyre into the shop.

Eswyl tells of lasting friendships that were made among staff, and how her parents missed all the friendly interaction with their customers after the shop closed its doors for good.

“It was a family business and we were a close family. I’ve got lots of happy memories and I’m really proud that Mum and Dad played such an important part in our local community.”

Gallery photos:

The black-and-white photo shows the Mackay family in the Ensign Shop at the time of its closure in 1988. From left: Dan, Alexander, Jean, Donnie, Eswyl and Thomas. (Photo reproduced courtesy of Robert MacDonald, Northern Studios, Wick.)

The other photos show Donnie and Jean enjoying a night out; and Eswyl at her home in Wick with some mementoes from the Ensign Shop.