“Behind every great man there is a great woman”
Tribute to Sonia London 2012 –
By Tony May for Hastings Town Magazine
Along with her husband, Jack, Sonia served behind the counter of ‘The Record Shop’ in Queens Road for over 44 years (until Jack finally decided to retire (aged 76) in November 2006). No-one who knew either of them will ever forget the unique atmosphere in the shop, their idiosyncrasies or the way they always made you feel so welcome every time you walked through the door…
No, the words ‘customer service’ were invented to suit Sonia and Jack and even feeling as I am I can find a smile when I recall how many times you’d enter the shop and find two or three people standing around chatting with a cup of hot tea or some beverage or cake nearby to sustain them.
The times may have changed outside but life at ‘The Record Shop’ changed little. In fact, in later years I think it was this that enabled the couple to keep the shop open. Jack’s shop was never renowned as ‘Hastings most trendy’ place to buy your records and by the mid 90’s (at the latest!) it was clear that the ‘golden age of vinyl’ was over and that records and record collecting was in steep decline. Trendy or not, it would be Sonia and Jack who would have the last laugh. When on the 25th of November 2006 Jack London shut up shop for the very last time he and ‘Son’ actually turned the lock in the key of Hastings LAST specialist record shop outlasting ANY of their rivals by some distance…
I have to confess that until Jack’s death (in June 2007) I had not been a particularly regular customer at the shop nor a personal friend of the couple. I had ALWAYS, however, liked and respected them both and had somehow come to see ‘The Record Shop’ as a kind of ‘Hastings landmark’. In a funny way, to me, ‘Son, Jack and the shop had become as much a part of the Hastings landscape as the castle and the pier and I was both deeply moved and a little ‘put out’ when I heard that Jack was to retire. I wrote a letter of tribute to him and send it to the letters page of the Observer. Sonia and Jack read my letter and ‘Son’ sent a reply to the newspaper, which I saw and replied to. All of this made for a fitting end to Jack’s career and I was chuffed to bits to know that my words had meant so much to the couple.
Tragically, the ‘happy retirement’ I had wished Jack was to last less than six months and when in June 2007 I heard of his death I was once more moved to write down my thoughts and send them into the local newspaper. ‘Son’ saw my letter, replied to it and sent me a card, some photos and a few other items in the post prompting me to get in touch with her. Visiting her at home in Langham Road shortly after, we spent a long afternoon ‘talking shop’ (I used to work in Stylus Records in Castle Street) remembering Jack, my friend Simon Griffiths (who the couple knew well as a regular customer of theirs) and of the ‘old days’ and a bond of friendship was forged between us. In fact, Hastings Town readers have Sonia London to thank (or blame!) for getting me started on writing regularly for HT. Having met with ‘Son’ on a number of occasions (and been STUFFED full to the brim with cakes, fresh strawberries and ice cream each time!) I offered to write a full-blown tribute to Jack and send it in to ‘Hastings Town’ – a magazine I had recently become aware of that specialized in local news and issues.
If ever a woman loved a man then Sonia loved Jack and I was so touched when Sonia told me one afternoon of just how much my initial letter to the Observer had meant to her. My words had “Said what a lot of people much closer to her had wanted to say but been unable to”, she said. When subsequently ‘Son’ showed me how she had framed my letter underneath a picture of ‘The Record Shop’ I felt so very happy and fulfilled – words are always hopelessly inadequate whenever someone dies but I remember feeling then as if my words had ‘at least done the best job they could have in the circumstances’. ‘Son’ eventually gave me that framed photo and it means even more to me now writing this…
Another of Hastings much loved characters, Alan Cruttenden, knew Sonia (and Jack) for 40 years or more. Alan, who will long be remembered for his role as ‘the friendliest and most helpful manager in town’ at Sussex Stationers, described Sonia thus…
“One of the nicest people I’ve ever known. One of the most genuine people I’ve ever known. Never had a bad word to say about people and could always see the bright side of things”. Alan first got to know ‘Son’ and Jack in 1971 when he took up a position at ‘Howard Swain’ at 194 Queens Road, opposite ‘The Record Shop’. Alan befriended the couple and must have consumed copious cups of tea or mugs of home made soup in the shop whilst chatting to ‘Son’ in his lunch break before his move to Sussex Stationers. ‘Son’ and Jack had attended his wedding and ‘Son’ agreed to be Godmother to his children…
“Even though I sometimes went a long time without actually seeing or hearing from ‘Son’, she had a special way of keeping in touch that was nice. Either you’d suddenly get a phone call and end up chatting for ages or a hand written card or letter would drop through the letterbox”.
My own experience of Sonia was the same and it was always so lovely and old fashioned to come down in the morning and find a letter on the mat. I remember her telling me on one occasion how she had first met Jack while working as a Dental Nurse. Jack was then working at ‘Peter Wilkins Ltd’ (almost opposite where ‘The Record Shop’ was) and she had visited the shop to order the sheet music for ‘Snow White’. This proved rather elusive to obtain but down to her repeated visits she ended up with Jack instead! ‘Son’ and Jack were married on Saturday September the 8th 1956 but incredibly the couple had to cut short their honeymoon because Wilkins would not give Jack a second Saturday off work!
Sadly, the couple were unable to have children (something I’m sure was a source of great sorrow for ‘Son’ in particular) and so I guess that is why we, their friends and customers, were shown so much love by them both…‘Son’ also had a great love of nature and was just as kind to animals and insects as she was to people. I remember sitting in the back garden of her home (‘Jack’s Garden’ as she called it) one afternoon and remarking on what a nuisance Badgers are by tearing up a nice lawn. ‘Son’ said she didn’t mind and told me how she had instructed John (John Heart – her gardener and long time friend of the couple) to leave the Badgers be. Her love for all natural things certainly reaped its own reward though for not only was there a lovely peaceful vibe in the garden you could see or hear life all around you and I sometimes thought to myself how, if there is a heaven, the Garden of Eden might just look like this. I even asked ‘Son’ if I could take some video footage of the garden one afternoon so enamoured with it was I and I’m not normally renowned for my connection to such things. I’m so glad I did now…
Perhaps the best way to demonstrate how loved and respected Sonia London was, however, is for me to tell you the story of how having heard the sad news I telephoned Paul Dine to inform him of her death. Paul’s parents have lived near to the London’s for many years and it was Paul who bought Jack’s 1935 Morris Eight from ‘Son’ when Jack died. ‘Son’ was so pleased when she heard how Paul intended to fully restore the old car that she sold it to him in spite of the fact she could have got more for the car at auction. ‘Son’ often talked to me about Paul, ‘Daisy’ (the name Paul gave the car) his children and how Jack himself had unflatteringly christened the car ‘The Old Banger”. A few days after my call to inform Paul (who is a Paramedic), I bumped into him during a visit to The Conquest Hospital. As soon as Paul saw me he came over gripped my hand tightly, shook my hand and said “Thank you so much for letting me know about Sonia – I would truly have been devastated had I not known”.
Following Jack’s death, ‘Son’ continued to do what she felt Jack would have wanted. Some of the remaining stock from ‘The Record Shop’ (which the couple had kept upstairs at home since the closure of the shop) was given away to help raise money for charity. Many ‘jobs about the house’ Jack had intended to do when he retired were done in his memory and life revolved as much as it ever had done… Talking to her, Jack was never far away from a mention and then of course there was his ‘special place’ in the garden where a wooden seat sat nearby…
It is to however to ‘Son’s’ greatest friend, John Heart, that I would like to dedicate this article. For mutual benefit and companionship, John moved in with Sonia some time after Jack’s death and it is he who I know feel for. Good luck John.
To end this tribute to Sonia London I would like to leave you with a phrase forever associated with her and one which, I’m sure everyone who knew her would agree best sums up her optimistic (if not always realistic) view of life.
“Its gonna get worse before it gets better but it will get better one day”
The way I am feeling right now, I hope she is right…
R.I.P. ‘Son’- much love and THANKS – give our love to Jack.