This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on 2nd March 2000

After reading the feature (WSG 24/12/97) on Worthing's old Hubbard's department Store (now Debenham's) and the devastating fire that ravaged the building, a former employee, Mrs Winifred Berry, came forward and gave an interview. The following is a revealing and informative transcript.

'I used to be a Supervisor at Hubbard's Restaurant. My name then was Mrs. Winifred Sessions. I started working there in February 1947, a job I really loved. Six months later in the August when, travelling on a bus to go to work, I first heard from a customer who recognised me, about the fire that had broken out.
She said, 'You haven't got a job to go to today, they've had a fire there.'

I couldn't believe it until I got there and saw for myself and went in the back way in Marine Place. Old Mr. Hubbard was alive then and he just stood there in the front of the building and put his hands to his head.

'Oh my golly,' he said. He couldn't believe it, he was really stunned.

We had to form a long line along which they passed everything they could save out of the shop and onto lorries to be stored. All the china and everything from the restaurant were stored in a house in Grand Avenue. We stayed behind to wash everything up 'cause all the china was stained with smoke and we had to put it away in cupboards.

The fire brigade was there when we arrived for work and was still finishing off. There were twenty-five fire engines which had come from all over the place to put the fire out, and the roads around were full of fire engines.

Everything from the store, and certain other articles, were taken to 'The County' (opposite the pier, now Connaught Leisure) which took over, so at least they managed to keep some of the departments going by taking them there, but of course they couldn't keep the restaurant going. There was no restaurant at 'The County' and the restaurant at Hubbard's didn't open until six years later. 'The County' itself had been The County Restaurant originally.

The fire put me out of a job so I went back to my previous job on the buses where I was a conductress, having started there originally in 1942.

When the restaurant reopened in 1953 I went back there but not straight away because by then I'd left the buses and was working at Mitchell's in the Arcade at the time. That was a nice place to work too.

Working as a waitress I used to help out on all the dinners at the Assembly Hall and at the Mayor's banquet. Mitchell's used to cater for them, so we went along there and helped out. I had a friend, Bella, I was working with and she is in Bournemouth now.

I went back to Hubbard's in 1953 after applying again, and having worked there before the fire they had me back again. I took my friend Bella with me as she said she would like to come and so she had a job as well.
The rest of the store had opened in 1952. We were the last department to open. We had this big dinner there to start with and we had all the head ones from Kent, London and all sorts of places for the opening. I did the job as waitress there for a year and then our supervisor left and the manager, Mr.Lobert, asked me to take over as supervisor.

I had fifteen waitresses under me and all I had to do was to show people to their seats and take the bookings. It was a lovely job. That suited me nicely that did. I was supervisor there until I left in 1966 when I was 51.

I had one of the Hubbard flats which they owned in Princess Avenue. They had four flats there: in one were Mr and Mrs Graves, he was the Welfare Officer at Hubbard's, and there was a Mr. Hewitt and his wife in another flat and a Mr. Bullock and his wife in the third and then just me in the fourth flat. All these people worked at Hubbard's and rented the flats and I got to know them all.
When I left there I had to give up the flat.'

In the next episode Winifred marries again and meets Peter Sellers and David Jacobs.