Wallwork, Johnny – No-nonsense Mayor was a self-made man

John Wallwork (1911-2008)

JOHN Wallwork became Mayor of Grantham in 1969 but is perhaps better known as a Grantham businessman who started with a small bric-a-brac shop on the corner of East Street and built a furniture store which eventually became the Fine Fare supermarket in Castlegate.

He was born in Southport but moved to Grantham in 1939 for war work at BMARC.

He then got a job as a railway fireman for three years before being put out of work.

With barely a penny to his name, Mr Wallwork found himself bidding £250 for a row of six houses in a street called Paradise Place, close to New Street.

He had no money so he borrowed from his grandfather then sold them all a few days later and making £100 profit.

With this taste for entrepreneurship, Mr Wallwork invested the money in bric-a-brac and got his own stall in Grantham market. After outgrowing the stall he moved into premises in Castlegate where the Castlegate pub now stands before eventually setting up the furniture store.

He also spent time working as a developer and built all of the houses in Lodge Way.

As a councillor, he ‘shot from the hip with a no-nonsense approach in the council chamber. He was a vehement opponent of supermarkets and fought to prevent them coming into town.

As Mayor, he introduced the inter-town pancake races in Westgate on Shrove Tuesdays, a tradition that eventually fell victim to apathy.

Mr Wallwork was a keen pigeon racer and had a loft specially built behind his store in East Street. He was founder member of Grantham Bowls Club and in his younger days, a keen boxer.

During his time at BMARC he even boxed an exhibition match with legendary flyweight world champion Jimmy Wilde in the factory.

Mr Wallwork had three sons, Stephen, Timothy and Peter. His wife, Pat, died in 1989.

He lived much of his life in Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir but lived the final 15 years at Premier Court in Grantham.