Revealed: The former Hartlepool shops you would most love to see again

Woolworths was another of the shops you loved the most.

We posted a bit of a teaser on our social media pages when we asked ‘If .... you could bring back one shop from Hartlepool’s past, which would it be?’

A top three were way ahead of the opposition.

Binns was a red hot favourite in our survey of which Hartlepool shops you'd love to visit again.

Out of almost 100 responses – in a social media post which reached more than 8,000 people – you chose Binns as the shop you would most love to return.

It got 19 votes, ahead of Woolworths in second with 12, and Bretts sweet shop in third with seven.

Binns was such a favourite with Mail followers such as Linda Moore, Sarah Thacker (who commented “definitely Binns”), Anne Young, Sue Willis, Christine McGill Cooper, June Cannon, Geoff Cooper, Trevor Robinson and Andrew Borthwick.

Carolyn Stubbings, Debbie Robinson, Chris Kenny, Sue Willis, Janet Purvis and Tom Kelly were also among the Binns backers.

The much-loved Hartlepool store may have closed in June 1992 but it still has a fond place in your memories.

Close behind was Woolworths, loved by April Twidale, Beverley Cheesbrough, Cindy Belcher, Toni Cook, Karen Pickering, and Kathleen Parsons Glendinning among others.

The company had a long history with Hartlepool and it started in Lynn Street before the store moved to the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre in 1970, where it stayed until its closure in 2008.

And who could forget Brett’s sweet shop, which pulled in customers when it was in both Lynn Street and then the Middleton Grange shopping centre indoor market in Hartlepool.

Customers loved its aniseed rocks, chocolate chewing nuts, lemon and limes, toffee Brazils, brittle toffee and cough drops, which had an aroma which filled the shopping centre.

Fans who voted for it included Kelly Fisk, Claire Eddy Jenkinson, Mick Sawdon, and Mark Trotter.

Outside of the top three, around 20 others were suggested by readers and there were some familiar names among them.

The Park Road Co-op, What Everyone Wants (in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre), Knights in Church Street and the Dovecot, also in Church Street, were also in the top 10, as was Frank Wrights and Windsors.

Others to make the line-up included Jenny Laws sweet shop, Rogers, Alvins, the Three Cooks bakery at the Catcote shops, and Waltons pet shop.

Geordie Jeans was another suggestion and so was Biancos cafe, as well as a call for the old Lynn Street market to be included.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the social media post.