AN Island retail institution – founded by Second World War veterans Fred and Les Newton 71 years ago – closed its doors for the final time on Christmas Eve.
Newton & Newton has been a fixture of La Colomberie since 1954, when the siblings opened their eponymous shop, originally specialising in cameras and film processing but evolving into firearms, outdoor clothing and military supplies.
The man turning the key for the final time was Graeme Delanoe, who joined the family outlet in 1991, and taking it on nine years ago.
The 64-year-old is now looking forward to a retirement spent in the company of his family, including his beloved grandsons, and picking up some of the interests which running the shop pushed down the priority list, including his passions for firearms, family and military history, and militaria.
“It is the right time to call it a day,” he said, speaking just a few days before shutting shop. “I think Fred and Les would have been proud; who’d have thought, 71 years of trading. If I wasn’t retiring, I would probably have had to diversify but it would have been a challenge – unless it is firearms-related, you can get everything on the internet these days and kids seem to prefer their bedrooms these days rather than go out and play in the fresh air.
“I want to spend a lot more time with my grandchildren [the much-cherished seven-year-old Harley and four-year-old Jackson]. Also, the problem is, when you’re on your own in here, if I want to go on the holiday I’ve got to shut the business. And no shop, no income.
“It works out roughly £1,000 a week to open the front door, before you take a penny, and it’s getting harder. Colomberie, unfortunately, is a forgotten part of town these days. We’ve seen it decimated with most of the hotels going.
He explained: “Anybody walking past today is just going to and from work; you don’t get tourists coming up here now. And I hate to say this, but the internet has had a huge impact too; even someone in their eighties coming into the shop now is internet savvy. Visitors to Jersey don’t need to buy anything here because we’re not competitive now, and they can buy everything online cheaper.
“The good days were very good days, but the cash is not rolling in like it used to. Covid changed a lot of things too: people who were shooting regularly suddenly couldn’t do that and discovered other things to do.”
He added: “I made the decision to finish just over a year ago. I was getting close to retirement, and I thought, you know, I want some me-time. After covid, like a lot of people, I evaluated my purpose in life and thought I’m as important as my customers are.
“Mark’s brother, Steve [Newton] passed away when he was 59 and that was a huge shock and lesson to us all. He worked hard and paid into the system but he was not able to benefit from it; I want to enjoy my life.”
No one would begrudge Graeme enjoying a long and happy retirement but the end of Newton & Newton is also the end of a retailing era, with the shop joining a list of local institutions – like Orviss, Briggs and Hamons – which are no longer with us.
The Newton brothers came to the Island from London in 1946, starting to work at St Brelade’s Bay Hotel as kitchen porters. They then bought a lorry to remove rubble when the Airport was being extended.
They opened the shop in 1954. Originally it was just a photographic shop and they used to go around the Island on little monkey bikes collecting and delivering film.
Graeme said: “Back in the day, Newton & Newton was a household name for photography. There were darkrooms at the back of the shop and Betty, Fred’s wife, would colourise the pictures by hand.
“When colour film came in properly, that market came to and end, so Newton & Netwon sent their films to CI Colour Laboratories at Goose Green for processing but, at the same time, we began to import cameras from Hong Kong.
“Steve would visit Hong Kong and China to see what was available, and we would sell hundreds of cameras. That was in the days of 126 cartridges and 35 mm film.”
It was then a case of swapping one type of ‘shooting’ for another.
“Fred was always into cowboys,” said Graeme, pointing to a set of boots and a holster hanging up in the shop, which belonged to Mr Newton, who passed away in 2015. “He loved the movies and the outfits; pistol shooting was in its infancy then, and Fred was one of the founder members of the Jersey Pistol Club.
“He sold mostly shotguns and target rifles in those days, supplying members of the various rifle clubs. He travelled to Germany to get the agency for Anschütz, which was very successful for many years.
“Shooting was very popular over here, especially in the 80s. I started shooting when I was 14 years old, so I’ve been doing it for 50 years, but the scene was really busy in the 80s and 90s.”
Before joining the business 34 years ago, Graeme had been an office equipment engineer with Office Supplies.
He said: “I would sneakily pop in here every day before going on my rounds. They used to call me “What’s New?” because that is the first thing I’d ask when I came in the door.
“A chap working here at the time wanted to go on to do other things, so they took me out for a meal one night and offered me a job. And that was it. I couldn’t believe it; it was my passion and hobbies all rolled into one. I thought ‘this is my dream job’ and it’s been like that ever since.”
Reflecting on temps passé, Graeme added: “We would open six-and-a-half days a week in the summer, until 10pm. Colomberie was known as the Golden Mile; it was heaving. Some people moan about the bucket and spade brigade, but they really were what put Jersey on the map.
“Things were cheap, taxes were low or non-existent. All the tourists would buy something when they were here, mainly cameras.
“We always tried to stock a product that we’d be happy to buy ourselves. We wouldn’t just buy something for the sake of making a quick buck. We were known for stocking quality brands made to last, such as Barbour.”
Over the years, thousands of people have come through the doors of Newton & Newton, and – like a young ‘What’s New’ – many of them returned time and time again.
“I don’t look at them as customers, I look them as friends,” Graeme said, recalling times when couples would have arguments outside before the husband finally gained permission for a quick peruse in the shop.
Alongside being the face of Newton & Newton, Graeme is also strongly associated with militaria in the Island, something the shop became associated with.
“We started paintballing down in Rozel Woods so brought in overalls and camouflage clothing for that. When I joined, I suppose that side got a bit bigger because I was helping some of the cadet units at the time.
“It was a good market to get into because no one was supplying those sorts of things after Jeff Le Marquand had scaled down.”
Back in the day, Graeme was a competitive shooter but now it’s very much for enjoyment. He remains a collector, particularly of German Second World War weapons, which were built and engineered to a high quality. Far from museum pieces, these guns can still be fired: tangible examples of living history.
Graeme is also a member of the Channel Islands Occupation Society and the Jersey Military Vehicle Group. He has owned a Jeep for more than 30 years and used to own a Humvee. He also had a Hummer troop carrier and was a familiar sight on Liberation Day, with its 50-calibre rifle on the roof.
His interest goes back to school days, inspired by the legacy of the Occupation. His father lived through those years while uncles served in the military.
“We used to pick up German equipment and swap them between mates. You also had the tunnels and the bunkers to explore,” he said.
In his youth, he was more active in the CIOS, but then family came along.
Now, Harley and Jackson keep he and his wife Donna occupied, and it is not difficult to see that Graeme wouldn’t want it any other way.
Christmas Eve was the final day of trading, with Graeme signalling his intention to shut up shop a year ago, giving customers plenty of time to make alternative arrangements.
He said: “It’s not been stressful per se but you cannot believe how much work you have to do to close a business down without just walking away from it, like too many people seem to do these days. I wanted to be fair, honour credit notes or gift certificates, and I wanted to walk away with a good name for myself.
“But all the utilities, authorities, businesses and individuals that you need to contact; it’s a lot of work.”
Another significant influence on Graeme’s life has been the the veterans that he has met over the years.
He feels privileged to have called people like Sid Peck, Clive Kemp (who was married to Graeme’s aunt), Lionel Norman and other Islanders who played their part in prising open the western front as friends.
A particularly proud moment was accompanying Fred and Clive to the French Embassy in London, when the pair received France’s highest medal, the Legion d’Honneur, for their work in setting up the Jersey Normandy Veterans Association.
On the 60th anniversary of Liberation Day in 2005, Graeme helped to organise Military Mania in St Peter, and an equally proud moment was being pictured with veterans in his Jeep at Sandybrook.
It was also the occasion when a local artist called Peter Utley, who had been an officer commanding Humber scout cars during the War, was unexpectedly reunited with one of his crewmen six decades later. “It was very powerful and moving,” Graeme recalls.
This year, Graeme visited Arnhem, where his Uncle Raymond had fought as a Para under Major Digby Tatham-Warter, famed for wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrella into battle. Graeme followed in his dad’s brother’s footsteps, passing under a bridge where his regiment had passed, moments after a deadly German ambush.
With Arnhem proving a bridge too far, Uncle Raymond was captured and spent the rest of the war in a German prisoner of war camp, even though his family had initially thought him dead.
Graeme is planning on doing a lot more historical research in his retirement – a period of his life that one suspects will be no less busy than the past. Newton & Newton may now be closed, but the memory of it will last well into the future.
