The closure of Woolworths just short of its centenary has created a void in the high streets of many towns throughout the country.

None more so than in Devizes, where the company has traded since 1933, buying one half of Charles Sloper’s department store in the Brittox.

The other part of Sloper’s store continued trading until 1975 when it was sold to Boots, which moved to its present site from the corner of St John’s Street and Wine Street.

Margaret Stevenson worked at the Devizes branch of Woolworths for more than 45 years, from 1941 to 1986.

She was just short of her 16th birthday when she first began behind the paints and polish counter, having spent some time working as a domestic servant.

But it was not long before her talents were recognised and she was promoted to the cash office, where she stayed for the rest of her working life.

She said: “In those days the assistants served from behind counters and it was a bit of a squeeze for me to get round them to empty the tills.”

Miss Stevenson soon rose to become head cashier and was responsible for the cash, wages and, until rationing ended in the mid-1950s, clothing and food coupons.

She still remembers the code numbers for all the different departments. In those days Woolworths sold a dizzying array of goods and also had a canteen bar where you could get tea, coffee, hot chocolate and a very popular hamburger.

She said: “During the war it was particularly popular among servicemen.”

Chocolate was a rare treat and when the van from Cadbury turned up to unload, a queue sooned formed that led right out the back of the store.

Things improved throughout the 1950s and 1960s and big changes started taking place in the early 1970s.

She said: “I remember 1971 being a period of big changes. First we had the switchover to decimal money and then they took away all the counters and replaced them with help-yourself displays.

“I loved my time with Woolworths. There were ups and downs but I wouldn’t have stayed as long as I did if I didn’t love the place. I went in the other day and I was nearly in tears. It is a part of our lives that is gone forever.”

Meanwhile in Chippenham, former worker Eileen Maloney, 89, called in to say a final goodbye to the shop.

She had worked in the store soon after it opened in the 1930s and last week gave workers a copy of a 1930s staff photograph in which the assistants all wore elegant dresses.

Mrs Maloney, 89, who was born in Downing Street, Chippenham in 1919, visited the store with her son Nigel when she made her farewell.