AS the revamped Williams and Griffin store is poised to start a new chapter, many residents will remember something quite different when they look at the Willie Gees shop front.

Jacklins Restaurant, tobacconist and sweet shop, which stood on part of the High Street site for nearly 80 years, was something of an institution in the town centre.

It was a treasure trove of sweets and treats, and one of the most popular meeting places in town.

But like its near-neighbour the Cups Hotel, it is no longer with us.

Willie Gees, which gets its new name Fenwick this month, snapped up Jacklins as part of its expansion plans in the 1990s.

The restaurant closed its doors for the final time in January 1997.

Retired station manager at Colchester Hospital TV, and founder of YouTube Colchester History Channel, Paul Diggens, fondly remembers Jacklins as "like walking into a time-warp."

Mr Diggens, who spent more than two decades producing history programmes about Colchester, said: "Back then, the town centre had a special meaning for meetings.

"The tea and the coffee and the tea cakes at Jacklins were second to none.

"You were living in a different world back then - a world of service and style.

"I remember you could go downstairs and sniff snuff, they made Easter eggs and you could have your name inked on the front.

"It was something else."

He added: "The farmers always used to meet there - the market was at the bottom of North Hill - and farmers used to come up.

"There were tables for every family and you had to move away if you weren't part of it."

Mr Diggens filmed an interview with owner, Stephen Jacklin, in the final days before the restaurant closed (above).

He said: "It is the best programme I ever did in 21 years.

"I saw him the other day and told him it had been watched 67,000 times on YouTube, all over the world."

Jacklins was built in 1927 and had a tobacconist and confectionery shop downstairs with the tea rooms upstairs.

Even after Willie Gees' expansion in this part of the High Street, Jacklins' Art Deco frontage still serves as a reminder of what was a much-loved local business.

Click through the gallery above for old pictures of Jacklins and other former shops in Colchester town centre.

  • For Colchester History Channel, click here.