A Family Milestone - 'Badger's Bookshop' in Bond Street

Bond Street, Yeovil that is not Bond Street London.

Growing up in Yeovil, Somerset, with two sisters, a dog, our father, a Police Inspector, and a stay-at-home-mum shaped our childhood in unique ways.

I'm not sure how many children and young people have a stay-at-home-mum these days. Sometimes it may be the tough situation of poverty, debt and unemployment especially where I live now in London. For other families needing to have two salaries contributing to the household mortgage means by default that both parents are working. There is also the complexity of family structure, multiblended and multigendered leading to self-defined familiy who are 'together'.

My mum did not go back to work until I was 14 years old and my younger sister was 7 and able to exercise a level of independence. Mum, who had worked for London Transport before she married, went back and worked part-time for Badger's Bookshop.

My parents were not a wealthy by any stroke of the imagination, but I do remember sitting in the kitchen transfixed by the turning drum of the front loading washing machine. What magic compared to the separate top loading washer and spin dryer mum had previously.

I think this easing of the finances was made possible by her part-time work which did bring some new white goods into the house.

The Heart of Yeovil

In Yeovil, local shops still created a vibrant community, and Bond Street was part of that. Its storefronts reflected the profitable businesses in town at the time. As children, my sisters and I frequently explored Bond Street, finding hidden treasures and dreaming about adventures beyond our small town.

August 2025