A shoe shop that has been trading for nearly a century is to close for good. Brammers in Biddulph is to shut for the final time later this year after shodding the feet of thousands of children and adults.

The business was run by the late Hilda Sheldon and her husband David and, more recently, by Hilda's daughter Carol Haydon. Brammers began as a cobblers and later diversified into selling shoes.

But when Hilda took over the shop in 1969 it focussed exclusively on footwear.

Shortly after taking over, Mrs Sheldon was widowed. She remarried in the early 1970s and went on to run Brammers with her second husband David for a number of years.

In the early 2010s, Carol joined the family firm and has become increasingly involved in the company while Hilda focussed on community work like Biddulph in Bloom. Carol operated the front-of-house and stock purchasing, while David handled the accounts and back-of-house duties.

The family owns the building Brammers occupies and will make a decision on its future in the new year.

Carol said: "We haven't really thought beyond where we are at the minute really, but we do own the building so we will have to decide what we need to do. I don't want to see it stood empty, falling into disrepair. I'd never let that happen - my mum would've been furious if I did!"

The decision to close following Hilda's tragic death at Knypersley Pool on June 8. The tragedy brought forward plans for the closure as David is in his 70s and Carol felt it would be too painful for her to continue as the shop is so closely linked with memories of her mum.

She explained: "Ultimately dad would've bowed out and I would've just carried on, but I don't want to anymore. It's so integral to my mum, and Biddulph as well, and at this point it's a bit too painful I suppose."

She added: "Biddulph loved my mum. She was massively, massively loved. She would help anybody - she never had a bad word to say and people responded to that."

Regular customers have been showing their support to the family following Hilda's death, but Carol said they have tried to focus on running the business and making plans for the stock clearance.

She said: "We haven't really encouraged it because we've been trying to deal with running a business. It's very hard because people want to be sympathetic.

"A lot of local businesses put up tributes to my mum - and people have responded there as well. It was very vocally expressed, generally through social media, and of course she was so well known.

"I used to joke she always had her backside sticking out of a roundabout while she was weeding, so I said she had the best-known backside in Biddulph!

"That's what she did - she didn't just talk, she did. I don't think Biddulph would be the place it is now without her efforts."

Carol described her mum as young at heart and said that although she turned 80 in 2021, she still wore high heels occasionally and always had an opinion on the shoes Brammers stocked.

"My mum was well-regarded and it was her business - so it went hand in hand really," she said. When she was still here, she was always at the heart of why we did what we did.

"She would sometimes say 'I'm not sure I'd have bought that' and I would always say 'we'll decide that when we know whether we've sold it or not shall we?' But she could be quite easily won over when she tried them on!"

Carol said her mum was instrumental to the store's ethos - and generations of families have returned, with children and grandchildren, to get their shoes fitted there.

She explained: "People always trusted us to fit their children's shoes. If they came they would be provided with the right fit. We would ensure they would get at least 12 months' wear out of their shoes.

"And actually we did save them quite a bit of money - because you could buy cheaper and they'd fall apart within three months and they'd have to buy another pair.

"What I wanted the shop to be was an experience where you felt as a customer that you were valued, that you were listened to and you were advised. People came because they wanted that service.

"I hope people will actually recognise that your little independent shop offers you something a lot more unique than anything else - but they'll only be there if they get local support.

"We've had an awful lot of fabulously loyal and supportive customers. They've been the reason why we've been here so long, and it's important they get some credit."

Carol added that their loyalty had made the decision to close the doors very difficult.

A final date when the doors will close for the last time has not yet been decided, but is likely to be in October or November when all the stock has been sold.