The History of Strickland & Holt
In the mid 1800s Yarm was thriving and two young, local Entrepeneurs formed a partnership - It began with a happy liaison between Oliver Strickland, Wine and Spirit Merchant and John Holt Pharmacist. They named their company Strickland and Holt in 1854 and the brand was born.
Their business in the middle of the town was varied and interesting.
Oliver Strickland and John Holt developed the brand Strickland and Holt which became well known in Teesdale, Wensleydale and Swaledale. They imported barrels of sherry and port from Spain and Portugal imported canned fruit from Del Monte and blended their own whisky called HOBNOB, “Holts Own Blend No Other Better”. Northern England and Scotland had a strange history of marrying pharmacy sales of alcohol and medicaments.
John had a varied and interesting career. Pharmacy had recently become a serious and certified profession. The course involved 7 years of study on drugs, poisons, plants, mushrooms, ointments and signs of various diseases. He was, therefore, a great aide to the local doctors and he also developed his special, branded medicaments. His ointments and linctuses had a big following and sold well into the 1930s. The Bronchial mixture brought customers from all over the area and many swore the secret ingredient worked wonders! John’s job also included pulling teeth, putting to sleep old and poorly small animals in his gas box, ordering and selling prescribed medicines for animals and humans and making the branded pills, potions, ointments and linctus. He primed the cartridges for the local farmers and shooting groups, filled the soda syphons, made amazing skin treatments and in his spare time also played a large part with other business people on the Town Council as a councillor and caretaker of the beautiful Town.
All the warehousing happened in the The Vaults, as they were called, which were attached to a wharf at the bottom of the garden and the barrels, boxes, oils and unctions were delivered by boat at high tide.
As well as its handsome shop in the middle of Yarm High Street the business grew its own brand and outlets and it had pubs in the Yorkshire Moors.
The brand became famous in the area and using its own transport, horse and cart, and a network of good customers and agents the alcohol and medicines were delivered to the local towns and up the Dales. Products for sale in the Dales were brought to Yarm on the return journeys, cheese, butter, cream, woollen goods etc and were sold through Strickland and Holt or other shops. A delivery system.
There was a bottling, labelling, corking, rebottling and branding workshop in the vaults behind the shop.” Local people were employed to fill the bottles, label and cork the sherry and port to sell in the shop and deliver to the network of outlets in the Dales.
In 1884 the river Tees broke its banks and flooded the Town. Oliver Strickland caught pneumonia while trying to rescue his stock and very sadly died. Great Uncle John Holt then ran the business until he passed it to his son Charles and nephew John, also a pharmacist. The brand name Strickland and Holt was too important locally to lose.
John Holt the Second known locally and from now on as Jack.
Jack Holt was born and brought up in Yarm, married his wife Margaret in 1944 and moved into 44 High Street, home of Strickland and Holt on marriage.
The shop and adjoining house were linked by a door at the rear. When Jack’s Uncle John died he left the shop and the building to his nephew and part of the business to his son Charles.
Jack was a qualified pharmacist having studied at Herriot Watt University and he embraced the opportunity to make his career in Yarm. The house was perfect for the family of three girls born in quick succession. The house had a beautiful garden that ran down to the river and had a tennis court, vegetable garden, rose garden, greenhouse, pond and gate to the river bank. It was sheltered from the wind by the vaults which ran all the way down the left hand side and was safe, just perfect for a growing family.
Wartime had been so difficult. Jack had intended to become a navigator in the RAF, had his uniform and was ready to go when he was called back to Yarm to be the only Pharmacist between Thirsk and Durham. Jack was in the Home Guard and would tell his children stories about patrolling the viaduct with Thomas, a one eyed foot soldier who was uncontrollable. He would shoot out lights in peoples sitting rooms from his elevated position on the viaduct. Jack loved watching Dad’s Army.
Jack saw many changes in Pharmacy and during the 1930s to 1960s he enjoyed his varied job of town developer of photographs, mixer of Strickies branded medicines, pills and potions and as constant adviser to the local Doctors and the townsfolk on drugs, remedies and medicines. He had a keen interest in photography and would develop photographs for local folk and himself in the dark room he had constructed behind the shop. He too filled soda syphons, filled cartridges, put small animals to sleep. He threw himself into the business making the potions and medicines. He employed many local staff, some of whom remember him well. There was a doorway to the family house a few paces away. After work he had the family nearby and would enjoy the children, the tennis court, the vegetable garden and his friends.
At the age of 65 he had a heart attack and questioned his way of life. Always an adventurer but stuck in a small town he decided to go to see his brother in Australia, not the sensible way but by car and sea.. He bought a gold Range Rover, fitted it out with great care, planned the route through Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India and then a boat to Perth. Margaret, his wife, was a much travelled adventuress and up for the trip so he left his manager in charge and they set off. He sold the Range Rover in Melbourne for enough money to get a really comfortable journey home. The stories of the trip are fascinating.
The return home was not happy. The business had debts of £90,000 and it was 1974. The economy was collapsing, wages were spiralling, Teesside was becoming poorer with the impending demise of ICI and other industries. Retail was becoming increasingly difficult - much as it is now. Jack’s daughter Stephanie and her husband Michael offered to come home to help out for a week or two. They are still helping out now !! Michael is very practical and set about improving the lettable parts of the building and Stephanie set about selling off excess stock and finding new products to sell.
The average wage for the girls in the shop was 42p an hour and even then half the staff had to be made redundant. It was a horrible task for Father and Daughter as many were lovely people from good old Yarm families. Stephanie says it took 20 years for the business to fully recover and it is only because she is stubborn, Yorkshire and determined that the shop survived.
Now shopkeeping is looking as difficult as it was in the 1970s as wages are spiralling, costs are increasing, competition from online sales and huge out of town shopping centres are killing the high streets. As soon as we find an unusual and suitable new product it is copied in China and sold in the supermarkets at a really low price.
Yarm is such a beautiful small town and Strickies is lucky to be at the hub. The decades have seen many changes to the business and the Town. The Town is in an oxbow in the river Tees so it has suffered from floods, pollution of the river, changes of all kinds. The massive industrial developments at Wilton, Seal Sands and Teesmouth polluted the river and it was not until the barrage was built that the heavy chemicals were kept at bay and the fishes began to breed again. It is hard to imagine how a planning permission could be obtained for a 43 arch viaduct to run at roof level through the town. The railways had more freedom in 1849 to 1851 to build massive projects. Yarm Station was a busy, important stop and mail for the town was caught in a giant steel net as the train passed slowly by. The River Tees forms an oxbow around the Town and cars are now so prolific that parking has become a problem.
A bit of a Hippy, Stephanie changed the look and introduced gifts, indian fashions, cards, toys and a kind of boho for Yarm. She is now feeling at home as the seventies fashions get a second moment of popularity. In 1975 Michael opened a coffee shop on the upper floor and the shop was rescued. They remember the Bank Manager popping up regularly to see how safe his loan was. The hard work Michael put in produced a very successful cafe and the local talented cooks made wonderful fresh food daily on the premises.
In 1996 the pharmacy was sold to Boots the Chemist and the money was used to build a two story building on the garden to the side of the shop. The steel piles to support the building had to go down 11 metres, such is the depth of the river bed. The coffee shop moved upstairs into the new building and the retail area took over the ground floor. It was a backbreaking move but with lots of help it was worth it. Princess Anne came to open the building as she knew of our children’s clothes company Poppy (now Palava). Michael did lots of outside catering and he will always be grateful to Radio Tees, NHS and the many private folk who helped him to pay for the building. In 2010 Michael thought he should retire and rented out the upper floor.
Not so much has changed recently and Paddy, brother in law of their eldest daughter Freya, now runs the store day to day while Stephanie and Michael enjoy interfering from time to time and Sam coming up from the Midlands each week to help out with tekky bits. The shop has a big fashion department, gifts, toys, jewellery, books, clothes for children and a really busy cafe with indoor and outside spaces.
