A team of archaeologists working in Powys has uncovered a fully functioning Woolworths, complete with prehistoric pick ’n’ mix, special offers on four-packs of VHS cassettes and a woman who insists they use a basket.
The discovery is being described as the most significant retail excavation in Welsh history.
Researchers initially believed they had found an abandoned shop, until a member of staff emerged from behind a display of extension leads and told them they couldn’t bring all that muddy equipment in here.
“We were astonished,” said lead archaeologist Dr Bethan Price. “Everything was intact. The fluorescent lighting, the price stickers, the faint sense that your mother was somewhere nearby buying pegs.”
The store’s manager, who wished to remain anonymous, appeared unaware that the branch was considered historically significant.
“We open at nine and shut at half five,” Maureen Purves, 69, explained. “Except Wednesday. I don’t see what’s complicated about that.”
Carbon dating has established that the oldest pick ’n’ mix dates from the 1970s, with several layers of more recent sweets deposited on top.
“It’s an extraordinary record,” said Dr Price. “You can trace decades of British confectionery through the strata. Cola bottles, foam shrimps, then a dense geological layer of something that may once have been a fried egg.”
Attempts to extract a sample were interrupted by Maureen, who pointed out that the sweets were sold by weight and the little archaeology brush wasn’t going to change that.
One particularly old toffee has been sent for further analysis after bending a chisel.
Elsewhere, the team discovered special offers on four-packs of blank VHS cassettes, prominently displayed beneath a sign reading “DON’T MISS A MOMENT!”
Maureen confirmed they remained popular.
“People like to tape things. You never know when something good might be on.”
The bargain bin has also yielded singles by Culture Club, Depeche Mode and Madness, all priced at 59p.
An excited researcher described the records as “priceless cultural artefacts”.
“They’re 59p,” Maureen corrected. “It says it on the sticker.”
The team believes the shop may have survived through a combination of geographical isolation, unreliable communications and Maureen’s refusal to act on anything that hadn’t been confirmed in writing.
“Head office went very quiet,” she admitted. “But I’ve worked in retail long enough to know that’s usually a blessing.”
News of the discovery has brought crowds of visitors, including several men who entered out of curiosity and emerged carrying a washing-up bowl, three singles and enough videotape to record the rest of their lives.
There are now calls to preserve the entire store as a living museum.
Maureen remains unconvinced.
“People wandering round, picking things up, saying they remember them and then leaving without buying anything?”
“We’ve already got that.”
