Geordie Ned Fox was an insurance man who Elsie Howard avoided as she thought he was after her weekly premium. When he finally caught up with her, it was to tell her that an old endowment policy she had taken out on Dennis had matured and she was due a cheque for £296. He tried to persuade Elsie to re-invest the sum in a second policy but she had her own firm idea as to what to do with the windfall – the purchase and installation of a new, pink bathroom suite.
This was one of Ned's final transactions in the Street before his retirement to Thornton Cleveleys. He calculated that in his career he had walked the equivalent of twice round the world since beginning his work in 1947.