Grandma’s Shop returns to Buxton Fringe 2026

Julie Flower returns to Buxton Fringe with her hit solo theatre show about an extraordinary shopkeeper in 1980s Sheffield – Grandma’s Shop – the story of an eccentric grandmother, her stray cats and her legendary second-hand Sheffield clothes shop, told by her granddaughter.

Underground at the Working Men’s Club
Written and performed by Julie Flower | Directed by Sarah Chew

“Refined moments of sweet, revealing storytelling.” ««««« ThreeWeeks
“You will leave bathed in the warm glow of humanity at its best.”«««« The Edinburgh Reporter
“Flower delights in relating her discoveries.” «««« The List
“…a kaleidoscope of emotions and heart-warming stories.” «««« A Young(ish) Perspective
– A selection of reviews of Grandma’s Shop at Gilded Balloon as part of Edinburgh Fringe 2024.

Facebook: @grandmasshopshow | www.grandmas-shop.co.uk
Instagram: @grandmas_shop_play

In 1980s Sheffield, behind the vintage dresses, buttons and carrier bags in what appears to be an ordinary second-hand store in the city’s trendy Devonshire Street is its extraordinary owner, Hilda, a local eccentric who looks after stray cats with the shop’s takings. Written and performed by Hilda’s granddaughter Julie, who grew up in Sheffield, Grandma’s Shop tells the story of Hilda and her shop with no name. It became one of the mainstays of the local counterculture scene, with many punk musicians and creatives regularly stopping by for items they couldn’t find anywhere else, as well as a chat with ‘Auntie Hilda’ as she was affectionally known in the community. This one woman comedy-drama looks at family, memories, celebrating difference and the stories items in second-hand shops have to tell.

Hilda Flower opened her shop in the early 1960s to support herself following her legal separation from her husband in the 1950s, which was an event so rare for the time that she was featured on the front page of the local paper. She put some of the shop’s takings towards feeding the thirty stray cats that congregated at the rear of the store, coining the name ‘The Cat Woman of Devonshire Street’. Hilda embraced her eccentricity and even volunteered for an international study on the subject, featuring alongside a picture of the then Prince Charles in the national newspapers. She was also interviewed for The Guardian, where she spoke to psychology researcher and journalist Geoff Beattie, who went on to regularly appear as an expert on Big Brother. Julie worked at the shop when she was a teenager most Saturdays until it closed in the mid-1990s.

Julie Flower said, “Helping my grandma out at the shop on a Saturday morning as a child was like entering a magical, four-storey dressing-up box. After rediscovering the Guardian article, I decided I wanted to know more about the memories of people who visited the shop and met Hilda. Shops like hers provided open and friendly spaces within communities and impacted on many lives, yet the stories of people like her rarely get told. So this show is really about collecting and exploring memories, my own and those of others. It’s a living, breathing history project, and a celebration of ‘ordinary, yet extraordinary’ people like my grandma, and a love-letter to Sheffield, set in the nostalgic and atmospheric world of the shop. I’ve used online forums and more traditional research to discover new things. I have even had audience members approach me after the show to offer me their memories of Grandma and her shop – it’s like holding hands through history. I think she would have loved the attention, given one of her infectious giggles, and asked if you’d like to buy anything!’’

Julie Flower is an award-winning improviser, an actor and writer, as well as a leadership development facilitator, coach and university lecturer with a background in public service and charity leadership. She currently lives near Whitstable but she regularly goes back to her roots in Sheffield. Grandma’s Shop is Julie’s debut show as a writer. It had a successful run at Gilded Balloon in 2024, and was featured as one of the top theatre picks of The Edinburgh Fringe in The Times Scotland. The show has since been on tour, including in rural communities with the support of Arts Council-funded Applause.

Company information
Directed by Sarah Chew Written by Julie Flower

Cast
Julie Flower

Running Time: 60 mins

Listings information
Underground at the Working Men’s Club, Buxton, 15 Lightwood Road, Buxton, SK17 7BJ
Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July at 2.30pm
Price: £12 (£8 concessions)
Tickets and further information: https://2026.underthefringe.com/shows/grandmas-shop