A FATHER and son carpeting team are celebrating 40 years of business in Whitchurch this week.

Derek and Simon Masters first opened their store in Green End in January 1979, hoping to provide a high-standard of carpets and flooring to Whitchurch residents.

And with white flurries falling from the sky on the day The Herald went to see them, the pair were moved to recall a similar first day as they celebrate four decades of a stable Whitchurch business.

"It was snowing on the day we opened and we a snow drift up against the window," Derek said.

"We sat on the radiators to stay warm until about 3pm until our first customer arrived and then we did a week's business in a little over two hours to 5pm.

"We were the first tyre tracks on the snow and then we were stuck in traffic all the way home.

Our first customers was a lady called Mrs Crew, who turned up in her Land Rover for her carpet – she won't be around now.

It's been a good 40 years overall – it's been a very good business.

When we first came to the town, the locals only gave us six months but I said to them, they didn't know me.

"We built this up and now we're known and bought from all over the UK."

Simon agreed with his father, ruefully recalling a two-day trip to the south coast to fit carpets in Brighton.

The road to Masters in Green End is one that has taken in all parts of the country, with Derek's grandfather starting in Kent before he and Cyril – Simon's grandfather and Derek's father – opened a shop in Blackpool.

That was in 1880, meaning the family name has been above a carpet shop for nearly 140 years.

And the current premises in Green End was not Derek's first excursion into Whitchurch, starting in the 1960s when he was a director for his brother's carpet shop further up the road.

He continued : "This was the first time I started something on my own and I have to say it was for Simon's future.

"It's still here, 40 years later.

"We're obviously very proud of that."

As much as Derek and Simon acknowledge how far their hard work has got them, the pair are insistent the thanks should be down to one group of people – their customers.

Simon, 56, said: "The big thanks we want to say is to all of the people who have bought from us over the years."

Derek, 87, added: "People in Whitchurch were used to carpets of a certain standard so when we came, they said people wouldn't want the good stuff.

"But they did and we did survive. We had all of the farming customers who wanted good carpets in their big houses but that's not as much now.

"We just want to say thank you to them."

The pair added that in 40 years, the door has never closed to customers, and they feel that openness has bene one of the driving factors of their success.

That and sticking to their motto, which is – as reported on opening by The Herald in 1979 – 'A carpet of beauty is a joy forever', which will continue to serve them in the coming years.

The shop is based at 9 Green End, Whitchurch.