End of the road for famous cycle shop

The famous Malleys cycle and pram shop in the town’s Grahams Road started trading at the turn of the last century.

It was bought in 1954 by Ralph Bloch and when he retired at the age of 65 in 1987 given to his nephew Laurence, son of well-known wedding and commercial photographer, Stanley Bloch, to run.

Now after 30 years as boss Laurence (53) has decided to call it a day.

He said: “Malleys started selling bikes at 61 Grahams Road, but my Uncle Ralph introduced prams in 1962 by converting the two cottages at 57 and 59 next door that he had been using as storage space to make room.

“Since announcing the decision to close and launching our final sale, I’ve been amazed at the number of very kind things so many customers have said about the business on our Facebook page. It really means a lot.”