" I don't want to chase a ball across a bit of grass "

It might not be how a lot of fans would refer to golf, but it is, one, of the reasons why this shop owner and Midsomer Norton entrepreneur won't be retiring any time soon.

Having once worked from dawn to well after dusk, the famous Mr Cottle tells Nub News that he loves his job, loves his customers and loves giving the supermarkets a run for their money.

Nub News interviewed Ken Cottle in an UP CLOSE about his 60 years in all kinds of retail businesses, all over the local postcodes and why he was not always a great fan of Radstock Town Council.

He has delivered everything from knickers to paraffin, in a truck which was essentially a travelling fire bomb. He has opened businesses from Frome to Radstock, had a hugely successful pie shop in Wells, a shop in Weston super Mare and is now perhaps best known for his candy and card shops in Midsomer Norton .

Mr Cottle remembers : " Once a week I used to go from here to Weston super Mare back to Wells, from Wells to Frome and then back in time to take the little ones to school. But eventually I felt that I should just concentrate locally, so I sold up in Weston and then in Wells, I needed to cut down a bit."

He then focused his efforts more locally. " It was really simple " he explained." I sold what I thought would sell, offering good prices for local people and that was what people appreciated."

It has been a long and successful career for Mr Cottle who when he left school worked for a trader in Radstock.

"I was working for Mr Tiley's hardware shop him until I was about 20. Then I went off to work for a year for McVities Cakes (where he met his wife). Then I came back to work, selling hundreds of lines off my van, things in cans, socks, knickers, vinegar... everything. That was while I also ran a cake shop in Radstock."

Then through luck and timing Ken managed to get a shop in Westfield, with oil tanks underground a shed at the rear, so he could also top up with gallons of paraffin, which back in those days was often the only form of lighting for many customers. He would be driving around with 200 gallons of the fuel on board, which in the winter he would sell out in a day. Two years later he owned a shop in Fortescue Road in Radstock, and from there an empire expanded.

So do you like being self employed?

" I don't think you can work for anyone else once you have worked on your own. You know what people want and I used to travel all over the country picking up goods when I had the mini markets, picking up stock, I never had anything delivered. It is the best part of the job, I love the customers and love chatting to them - not that they are always right - but it is buying things in and stocking up which I love. "

He once bought 7,000 muffins, left after an order was cancelled and sold them all on within three months, some wholesale, some retail. "I also bought 7,000 Easter eggs after Easter and sold all of those too. I sold them for silly money. But I also bought a load of hardware once and that was not such a good buy. In fact I still have some remains of it ,I think I bought that 30 years ago and I still have some screws and odd bits and pieces left. "

Do you have a magic retailing touch?

" Not at all, it is just getting what people want and being competitive. I think that's the main reason and getting them at the right prices so people can buy. Some of these supermarket prices are just a rip off and there is no need of it.

"And choice. We have got about 8,000 Christmas cards to sell by Christmas and we have about 25,000 cards in stock at all times. There is not many places can say that."

So tell us about your launderette row in Radstock ? That didn't wash well with you ?

" The council at the time said we couldn't open a launderette in the town unless we did only service washes for customers. There was a launderette there for many years in Fortescue Road in one of the middle shops, at number nine. But they told me you couldn't let customers do it themselves ; it didn't make sense. There was already a launderette in Paulton, one in Midsomer Norton, it was just silly.

"Then there was the time I wanted to put a shop on the bridge, and there was a firm in Bristol who wanted a betting shop and the council said you can't. So I said to them alright then, can I have a sex shop and they said no problem. But I didn't of course !!"

So retail in Midsomer Norton - he seems to have a gift for it? What shops would he like to see?

" I don't know about having a gift, I just always felt that I like to try things. It would be great to have a Wilko in Midsomer. They would take a bit of business from me, but that's ok. It would be good for the town. Iceland would be ideal. All kinds of business would be great. Superdrug would be lovely. That's what we need bigger names. I think Specsavers is a good thing. I know we have two other places but if they can bring customers into the High Street rather than going to Bath, or Frome or Wells and then they stay in town well well that will help. It is a shame about Argos closing, it would be great if that could be taken on by a well known shop. That would be good. "

But if people are just buying off the Internet isn't the High Street dead?

" I don't agree at all. They said when Funky Pigeon arrived, oh you wont sell any cards, but it has not hurt our trade. Yes, some people buy some cards on the Internet, but people like to chose and see a card, they like to read the card, look at the card think about it and then decide to buy. People want cards, I would not have this stock if people didn't like to come and chose their own design. Me and my daughter spend about three hours a week handpicking all the cards we sell. "

So what is his retailing magic?

" A lot of it is probably just luck with my businesses. Everything doesn't always work out. But we do a lot of mishapes and short dates and those are half the price of a superstore. I like beating them on their prices. And I just love people, it if I didn't like it I wouldn't do it. "

Will coronavirus be the death of the High Street?

" No. We will get through this if we are sensible. We will pick back up again as small businesses. I wouldn't want to be here serving, I like meeting people, but I don't want any set times I have to work. I just enjoy working when I can. And I have very good staff. And anyway what would I do instead?"

Ken has never been on a plane, because he has never fancied it, and although he likes to holiday at his caravan on the coast, he doesn't have any burning hobby.

" When I can't work any more then we can make that decision but at 81, there is no chance of retiring yet, I still enjoy it. Someone came in one day and asked me what are you doing next, why don't you retire Ken?

I said do you have a hobby? Yes, he said I go playing golf four times times a week. That's great if you enjoy playing golf, I said.

But I don't want to spend my time chasing a ball about a field. I would rather go through my warehouse and check on my stock."