Barretts of Canterbury: 28-30 St. Peter's Street, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2BL

So began a long period of make do and mend. George's sons John and Reg returned from their war duties in 1945 and found the business spread around Canterbury. The general offices had been moved into GRB's house, Westgate Court, on the other side of the Tower. The car workshops were in Pound Lane, the County Hotel's garages in Stour Street were used for motor bike repairs and the gramophones, toys, prams and bikes were being sold from 26, 27, 28 and 37 St Peters Street. Some ex-army huts were acquired and placed behind 27 and 28 and these were used for storing what stock could be obtained.

However before any grand plan for the business could be made the City of Canterbury had to sort itself out, and John Barrett played a large part in this. Like his father he had a strong sense of civic duty and he had been elected a councillor in November 1945 joining the Planning Committee at the same time, and became its Chairman in November 1947. Throughout this period controversy raged as to how the blitzed city, particularly the town centre, should be rebuilt. The council was fully aware of the historic nature of the city, and also recognised that road traffic was a major influence in modern towns (although they could not have imagined the situation 50 years hence!).

The Holden Plan was first mooted in 1945 but rejected as too radical and was replaced by the Wilson Plan in 1946. Both plans featured a ring road around the city but the later plan proposed coming through the Barretts site and demolishing all the houses on the city side of Pound Lane to make a road through to Northgate. This proposal was to blight the site for over 30 years.

The debate concerning the style and cost of the future city, and particularly the flattened centre went on for over six years with one public enquiry after another. John worked tirelessly as the planning chairman (although as the owner of three properties in St Georges Street he had to take a back seat in one or two meetings) and eventually in October 1951 the first permanent buildings - Woolworth's, Grieg's, Dolcis and the Colonnade were given the go-ahead.

John and Reg's contribution was part of the next phase with the building of the St Georges Street store next to Marks & Spencer's which had been the only building in the street to have survived the Blitz. Building work started on the bombed site in late 1952 (although it had been unsuccessfully excavated for Roman remains in 1946) and it was opened by TV star David Nixon on 22 April 1954 for the princely fee of 25 guineas. Reg Barrett had overseen the setting up of this truly modern store that sold all types of electrical goods, records, toys, bikes and prams and it became a major attraction for children and their parents. There are very few people from Canterbury in the fifties that do not remember the electric train layout that was on display in the shop window every Christmas time.