Sally Farr was a toffee maker of renown, my mother and father-in-law were amongst the many people who remember her wonderful sweets, toffee apples, cinder toffee, treacle toffee, sticky toffee, walnut toffee, sultana chew, cob nut crunch (that was a favourite of my father-in-law) just to mention some of her sweets which were made in her small house in Newtown.
The kitchen range they were created on was quite large and filled the width of her kitchen, a very special range made for the purpose with large hot-plates fired with coal or Whixhall Bibles (turf squares of peat) depending which type was being made.
When her timber-framed cottage was demolished after being condemned as ‘unfit for habitation’ and said by the council as falling down, the range was taken out by its manufacturers for their own collection for it was the last one in existence. By the way, the cottage was not in danger of collapsing as we were taken to see the demolition and my father said it was as sturdy as when it was erected. It would not go down and eventually the timbers had to be pulled apart to the delight of the onlookers who wanted it kept, for it showed the surveyor was quite wrong.
Sally frequented the local markets with her large baskets of toffees, going from Whitchurch station to the livestock auctions such as the Horse Sales at Shrewsbury and Crewe, Drayton Dirty Fair, and Cattle Sales at Wrenbury, Prees, Shrewsbury, Beeston and many others. I am told Sally sold out rapidly, many farmers taking some home for their families as well as themselves. She also sold to children with a half-penny to spend.
What better epitaph could anyone have than being remembered so fondly for the pleasure she gave to so many children, and probably grown ups too.
MP
