A Cross Hills businesswoman is to hang up her scissors after 19 years of old-fashioned customer service and personal attention in the village. Margaret Noon, owner of the Rocking Chair ladies clothes shop, has announced her retirement at the end of March. Mrs Noon opened the shop with her late husband Ronald, in November, 1983, at 4/6 Main Street.

Initially they sold pottery, cane furniture and giftware but in 1988, following a move to new premises at 1 Main Street, the shop began concentrating increasingly on ladies clothing and fashion. For Mrs Noon, who began her working life in 1950 at Messrs Farrer Mayes, of Bull Green, in Halifax, an old fashioned ladies shop in the vein of Grace Brothers in Are You Being Served, it was a return to her roots.

"This was not something new, it was a return to my first love," she said. The store had taught her valuable skills in measuring and fitting, preparing window displays (with which she is pictured left) and especially in personal customer service. She added: "I was taught that it didn't matter if a customer came in a Rolls Royce or clogs and a shawl, they were all important and I have always followed that advice." Her selling skills however were sharpened during her time as an auctioneer at Gill Croft Saleroom during the 1970s.

When the Noons came to Cross Hills there were two dress shops in the village, catering for different styles and fashions and Mrs Noon is saddened to be closing the only remaining one. "So many people have closed down, but we have always had good suppliers and a good following of customers. A lot of people like to be served rather than rummage through on their own.!"

She said she would miss the people the most and would be spending her retirement helping in her daughter's soft furnishing business and looking after her garden. Even the shop's mascot, a tall rabbit which stood in the window displaying humorous notices and greetings is retiring - but Mrs Noon has given her reassurance that it will find a place in her home.