Whitwams Music Shop

Mike Batt brought his first single here Speingfields 'Island Of Dreams' form BBC interview in which he called the shop "Wigwhams".

( Jan 23, 2016) 70 High St. Winchester. Opened Dec 1909 close as music retailer Dec 1999. Worked there 1965-70 where helped to form Hi Fi dept with extra assistance in records. Presented 'Record Evenings' of new releases (mainly classical but some pop/light). A very memorable time there. Have a work in progress history in progress. Comments welcome.

I think I was there when Mike Batt came to the store. He may have been local. We also had Alan Freeman do a promo and earlier Winchester personalities were the Brook Brothers (bit before my time there but were still talked about in the 65-70 period.). Lots of classical connections with the shop. Phil Farlow. PS. The shop did actually get dubbed Wigwams in lighter moments ! P

Phil Farlow used to work for Whitwam, which had a music shop in the city's High Street from 1909 until closing on Christmas Eve, 1999. For the 21st century, the company re-invented itself as a supplier of audio and visual equipment, and is now based at Moorside Road, Winnall. It is a far cry from when Mr Farlow worked at the High Street shop from 1965 to 1970. Arriving when aged 20, he manned the new hi-fi department that operated alongside sales of sheet music, instruments, and records. He said: "If you wanted a basic record player back then it would normally cost you between 15 and 20 guineas. "The really large systems, which were the top of the range, could cost up to £200 back then."

The five years that Mr Farlow spent at Whitwam left its mark, and he was curious to learn more about its history. The 63-year-old, who now lives in Surrey and works an audio engineer specialising in archives, is collecting material about the company that could be used for a book. What is already known is Jabez Whitwam, an organ builder from Huddersfield, founded the firm in 1909 and died 15 years later.

His widow, Gertrude, took it over, followed by the couple's two daughters. Ownership then passed to the Harding family, and they remain in charge. They organised a 75th anniversary party in 1985, as back then, they believed that the store opened in 1910, but have since discovered that it was a year earlier. Managing director, Mike Harding, said he fully supported Mr Farlow's quest to delve into Whitwam's history ahead of its centenary. He said: "Quite a lot of preparatory work has already been done, but Phil decided that what we really needed to do was to make contact with the people that used to work here. Hopefully they might have some stories that will be useful to him."

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