This year, as we’ve been interviewing residents to write our features for This is Haslemere, the family name Lockwood has cropped up several times. The fabric shop, Glovers of Shottermill, was run by Mr & Mrs Lockwood. Many have paid tribute to this cherished Shottermill couple.

This feature captures voices of residents and family who remember Kenneth Lockwood (1930 – 2026) and Elizabeth Lockwood (1929 – 2025). Their contribution to Haslemere life is remembered so fondly that we initially suggested we write two features, one for each of them. However, with many shakes of the head, we were informed that “they were very much a team with Elizabeth never achieving as much as she did without Kenneth.”

We met Marian Ouda, second born daughter of Kenneth and Elizabeth Lockwood. She is one of 4 daughters who were all born at home in Shottermill, delivered by midwife Nurse Humphreys who lived across the road. Marian told This is Haslemere, “Mum inherited Glovers from her mother which at the time stocked antiques and other household items. Her mother was a Glover and came from a family of antique dealers. Mum ran Glovers as a fabric shop, and haberdashery was one part of it. The slogan for a time printed on the shop stationery was "All you need for all you sew".

Elizabeth Lockwood completed her education at Guildford County School for Girls. She also volunteered in Keffolds, a Barnardo’s Children’s Home. She volunteered for St John's Ambulance in her teens and early twenties. The loaning of equipment for St John's was a service that she ran alongside the shop. Daughter Janet shared with This is Haslemere, “Mum kept cows, donkeys and chickens. She used to milk a cow twice a day, as well as running a business! She taught at Sunday School and did The Times crossword for relaxation.”

Daughter Rachel wrote to us saying, “Our Mum was ahead of her time. Even though she would never have considered herself a feminist role model, she was rare in the 1960s for being a full-time working mother. She built up Glovers into a successful business with a significant number of staff - many of whom remained incredibly loyal - providing an important source of local employment. While she understood the tastes of her existing customers really well, she was also never afraid to try new ways of reaching out - whether by hiring a professional window dresser to create eye-catching displays, adding a drinks’ vending machine in the paper pattern room or taking fashion shows to local village halls, with friends and shop staff modelling outfits made from fabrics sold by Glovers.“

When Kenneth was 28 and Elizabeth was 29, they married. The shop was already well-established by the time of their marriage so Elizabeth kept the name Glovers. Daughter Marian recalls that she worked in the shop as a teenager and the place was busy all day long. The shop was open every day except Wednesday afternoons and Sundays. Marian listed off corsetry, wool, fabrics, threads, zips, buttons, patterns, sewing machines and repairs. They also provided a belt and button service, covering these items professionally with fabric. Glovers had an arrangement with Vogue Patterns and when a garment was featured, Glovers would, in discussion with Vogue Patterns Magazine, choose suitable fabrics listed in the magazine. They were then made available in the shop and eventually by mail order for customers to sew themselves.

In an eBay listing for the Spring 1984 issue of Vogue Patterns Magazine, there is a black and white advert on page 3 for Glovers of Shottermill which states, “Everything for the Home Dressmaker. The unique off-beat shop for the home dressmaker - a family business that aims to cater for nearly every requirement with a comprehensive stock of quality fabrics at all prices, patterns, haberdashery and linings, with the know-how of competent dressmaker staff.”

What was it like working at Glovers? Linda Bicknell first joined Glovers at the age of 16, working there on and off for many years. Her job interview took place in the corsetry room. While her interview was in progress, big curtains were pulled around a lady for a corset fitting. As a shy teenager, Linda didn’t know what to expect. Linda showed us an A6 sized Glovers’ order docket from 1969 with her own handwritten job offer setting out the terms of her employment including pay, hours and holiday. Not on that “contract” were all the benefits she would receive as a member of staff. These included an on-site hairdresser and an allowance for tights. Staff always received a turkey at Christmas from Prestwick Farm and a Christmas gift box. Linda told us, “The work was hard but we were so fortunate. We were aware of the disciplined work that was expected of us and the customer was always right. There was no idle chatter with colleagues and we were expected to serve customers politely and to the best of our ability. You can imagine we had some formidable customers. It was possible for customers who didn't sew to choose fabric and select dressmakers that were listed in a book we held in the shop. We also had trade customers including a local winery who would buy reels and reels of red and green narrow satin ribbon at Christmas and we sold muslin to Robertet to strain their perfumes. Miss Smith’s Dancing School would discuss their annual show and the fabrics would be selected and ready for parents to purchase and make their children’s outfits.”  When Linda left Glovers, she received a treasured gift of a Bernina sewing machine. Linda formed a lifelong friendship but never lost the habit of calling them Mr and Mrs Lockwood.

Also working at Glovers of Shottermill for a short stint was Polly Lane, a first cousin once removed of Elizabeth Lockwood, or “Aunt Lizzie” as she referred to her when we met. Polly worked there for a year from the age of 16 as a shop assistant. “Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Ken were very kind. It was a very well-run shop. Aunt Lizzie used to pay Mrs Howarth a haute couture seamstress from London to teach classes where customers paid to learn to sew. If classes were not full, shop workers joined the class to learn how to do proper sewing.”  Polly added, “Uncle Ken and Aunt Lizzie were as one. They did everything together. Uncle Ken was there on site doing the repairs. Aunt Lizzie was strict but fair. We used to have coffee at the back of the shop and sometimes Aunt Lizzie would send us to a coffee shop on the Hindhead Road (where Past & Present is now) and she paid for our coffee and bun. It was a lovely treat.”

Haslemere resident Sally shared with us her memories of shopping at Glovers: “We moved to Haslemere in the mid-80s and I was keen to make my own curtains, using the sewing machine I’d received as a wedding present. I was delighted to find that the new state-of-the-art haberdashery in Haslemere had everything I needed. The huge showroom was full of row upon row of fabric rolls in every colour, and the huge tall shop windows let in perfect natural light for matching cotton colours to fabrics without having to go outside. Inevitably I couldn’t work out how to get the tension right on my sewing machine, and was back in the shop an hour later. Mr Lockwood, the proprietor, patiently showed me how to use the machine properly, without a hint of the irritation he probably felt at having to spend his afternoon sorting out my mess! The curtains were a great success, and there were numerous more visits to the shop before the house was fully kitted out with curtains and cushions. Glovers was the busiest shop in town!”

Elizabeth Lockwood’s father, Leslie Mills, was a highly successful City banker. He and his wife Marian (known as May) lived in Shottermill, originally in Meadway and later at Whin Farnley on the Hindhead Road. He was a long-standing member of the General Committee of the Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society. (These days it is called the Pilgrims’ Friend Society.) A house called Nuthatch became empty next to Glovers which Kenneth and Elizabeth acquired. They also owned adjacent land at the junction opposite St Stephen’s Church. That land and its orchards became too much for them to manage. Elizabeth had a vision for a Christian care home in Shottermill, gifting the land to The Society.

In The Pilgrims’ Magazine August 2025, the first matron, Evelyn Dennett, of Shottermill House writes, “I first met Elizabeth in August 1989 on our first visit to the building site. She struck me as a lady who could cope with anything that came her way. I was faced with the enormous task of setting up a care home from scratch and she was right there beside me. When the builders finally left, she was a great help, working alongside contract cleaners and rarely seen without her vacuum cleaner. When 29 beds were delivered, she organised a team of bed-makers. She also helped with unpacking goods, filling shelves, and all manner of other things. She even decorated my hat for me ahead of the opening ceremony on 2nd June 1990…Some of my most precious memories of Elizabeth are of her sitting with dear ones as they neared the end of their lives. She would stay with them for long hours, sometimes all night to help relieve the staff, before going to open up her shop the next morning.”

Kenneth Lockwood was born in the Holme Valley in 1930 to a family who were mill workers and farmers. He moved to Haslemere in the mid-1950s when courting Elizabeth. They married in 1958 at Hope Baptist Chapel. Kenneth was not originally involved in the shop. He was a highly skilled engineer and toolmaker, who had begun his working life at the world-famous company Brook Motors in Huddersfield. After moving to Haslemere he worked for a number of local companies before taking up a teaching job at Guildford Tech. Following an illness in 1968 and a slow recovery, Kenneth began to get more involved in the shop. By the mid-1970s, he began selling sewing machines as an agent for Frister & Rossmann as well as Bernina. He also offered a repair service. Marian recalled, “Some staff including Linda Bicknell were generously gifted Bernina sewing machines as a leaving present from Glovers and still use them today. To have a Bernina was quite something.”

We met Peter Buckley, organist at St Stephen’s Church, who remembers Kenneth Lockwood. Peter and Kenneth knew each other through the church and had a shared passion for playing the church’s old pipe organ. The inscription on the organ frame reads, “This organ was built by Gray Davison in 1881 for St. Michael’s Church Shrewsbury. It was removed and erected in this church in 1977.”  Peter reminisced, “It had a very old mechanism known as a tracker action. It was hard to play but it sounded great with a full sound." When renovations took place at the church in 2006, new under-floor church heating had a bad impact on the pipe organ, especially as it was principally made of wood. Peter shared, “The under-floor heating was a disaster for the old historic organ. The wood split, warped and dried out. Kenneth treated it like an old classic car and tried all he could to keep it going.”

Eventually, when the string, sticking tape and chewing gum solutions ran out for the poor old pipe organ, Kenneth brought over an old electronic Sprowston organ to St Stephen’s from the former site of Three Counties Church in Kings Road. This has been a good work horse, however, when it went wrong at Christmas 2025, Peter and Kenneth crawled underneath to get it fixed. Kenneth couldn’t see so well so he issued instructions to Peter. “He was a figure of immense resource and stability. He was calm and unflappable. He was like a one-man Repair Shop. He will be sadly missed in many ways.”

Family and friends are mourning the loss of Elizabeth and Kenneth Lockwood. We understand why we could not write about them separately. They were a team in their generosity, hospitality, community and business. They earned their living in Shottermill and they supported their community with unassailable kindness. Theirs was a quiet, steady and unwavering love. May they both rest in peace.

Pictured are Mr and Mrs Lockwood with staff at the counter in Glovers.

Head over to our Instagram page to see photos of Glovers which was located in Church Road, Shottermill.