The music community in Nottingham has reacted with sadness after it was confirmed Windblowers on Derby Road may have to close after 40 years. Owners Margaret Frogson and David Oldershaw issued a plea for any entrepreneurs interested in taking over the shop to come forward and the result has been positive.
Derby Road has changed a lot since the store opened in 1983. Originally, it was located on the other side of the road but took over its current premises when David and Margaret realised they needed a bigger store. It has remained open since then, weathering recessions and Covid restrictions.
David said: "The reaction has been much greater than we imagined it would be. We have been flooded with comments on social media and online. Customers keep coming in to see us very upset that we are leaving."
Read more: Download festival organisers call for fans to name second stage
"It's far too early to say anything but we've had some interest and we have our fingers crossed. It was only Friday that the news broke but instantly we had some interest within 24 hours but we are prepared to close as a worst-case scenario."
"Yesterday I opened the door to a chap who is a regular and he asked me if we were leaving. He said, 'what are we going to do?'", Margaret said.
The shop has been so much more than just a store to generations of Nottingham's musicians. David and Margaret have formed friendships with their customers and are vital parts of the community that they helped to build.
They established the Nottingham Symphonic Winds which gave the city's musicians a place to play and socialise. The band is still going forty years later.
"We thought starting our community wind band was important as a lot of people were bringing their instruments back to the shop. I started to ask them why and they said they had nowhere to play. So we formed one especially so the Nottingham school system, which was very effective in producing good musicians, could have somewhere to play after they left the school," David said.
"We reached 25 years of the symphonic group so, in order to celebrate, we started to count how many people had come through the band because we needed to contact them. We lost count at 450."
Margaret added: "When some of them started, they were mainly teenagers but they never left or they went to university then came back. Now we have members who met in the band and their children are playing in the band. One family comes to mind where one parent played the tuba, another played the Oboe in the band Their son is now 15 and entered the band on trumpet. He is planning a career in music as a result in one of the army bands."
It's not just the musical families of Nottingham that have played in the band but the couple's own family, too. David started playing clarinet at a young age as Nottingham took up a free scheme to teach children music.
David said: "My grandchildren are a result of symphonic winds. A percussionist met a trumpet player and had three kids. They don't play in the band yet as they are too young but they are already playing the flute, clarinet and a piano."
He added: "I'm from Hyson Green and I'm a product of the Nottinghamshire music service. I was taught the clarinet from the age of 11 by a visiting teacher. We were one of the first cities to take up the idea of free music tuition in schools. I was the first to put my hand up when the teacher asked if anyone fancied the idea of learning the clarinet - I got out of maths for that!"
Margaret and David both say that the customers and friendships they have made over the years will be the thing they miss the most about the shop.
"It keeps your brain active so it's another benefit of working here. We've been here so long that people we sold instruments to 40 years ago, their families are bringing them back as they have passed away and asking us to sell them. So we are selling some instruments for the second time," David said.
Margaret added: "I'll miss the people as I've made a lot of friends here. Our customers are amazing and we have one lady who comes here every year with mince pies. Another rang up and we are going for a meal tomorrow night. I'll miss that as this is more than just a business."
