My Father found a run down shop on the high causeway High Street South, in Rushden and bought it. He put in new counters and opened it up as a grocery store. It was at a time when everything was rationed so it wasn't easy to get supplies for the shop. My father used to make his own ice-cream; he had previously won a Diploma at the Olympia in 1937, which according to the queues that used to form, was extremely popular. We also turned the upstairs front room of the shop into a cafe, making home-made pies and cakes, with very limited ingredients.