There are folk whom just about everyone seems to know and Patsy is certainly one of them. This is mainly because she ran shops in the town for two decades and she is also involved in a range of local organisations as diverse as girl guiding and the local Conservative association.

Patsy (65) is retired now. And she looks back fondly on those days when she worked at the heart of the community, running a clothing store and a tea shop in High Street.

"We sold everything from ladies knickers – the old drawers – to babies' bonnets," she recalled. "It was an old fashioned drapers shop. When we had the clothes shop it was grand because we really were a part of the community. We knew when a family in the town had a baby coming. Members of the family would come in and choose something for the baby and we used to help them put an outfit together.

"We knew when folks were getting married because they would come in for clothes and we used to cater for older ladies as well. We knew just what people were coming in to buy after a while. It was a very personal service but it wouldn't work now."

Patsy opened a tea shop at the back of the clothing business and eventually it replaced the old store in the mid-1980s.

Cliftons Tea Shop became a magnet for locals and tourists alike. On the menu was a full English breakfast, light lunches, home-made pies and afternoon tea and cakes.

"We went from serving 30, to 120 when we closed the clothing business down. The majority of our trade was local. The same people used to come back every day for lunch, breakfast or afternoon tea. There were only about four tea shops in Oakham when we started out – it is not like it is today when we have too many."

Patsy often had her hands full when coach parties turned up and it was a real job keeping her cool.

"The very worst customers were 52 ladies on a coach," she said. "They all thought they were first to be served and they tried to squeeze as many cups of tea as they could out of one pot. We were only charging 65p for a cup of tea for goodness sake."

Patsy, who was chairman of the town's chamber of trade, laments the loss of so many small independant traders in Oakham. There has been an influx of chain stores and she feels the personal touch is dying out.

Patsy said: "The major problem is the supermarkets. When I go into Asda they are selling a pair of jeans cheaper than I could buy wholesale back in the 1980s. Young people want to shop in one place now."

Patsy was born in Dean's Street in Oakham in 1943. Her parents met during the war at a dance at Victoria Hall – dad Ralph was serving with the navy on the HMS Cottesmore ship and was visiting town because Rutland had adopted the boat.

"Oakham was very different when I was a girl – it was much quieter on the roads," said Patsy. "I used to roller skate into town from our house in Brooke Road. The crossing gate used to be closed and only opened when a car came along. It was opened by hand by a man who lived in a house nearby. We used to play rounders in Brooke Road because you never used to see a car. We had a little Austin Seven. We used to drive up to Grimsby in it to see granny but back then it was a day trip."

Patsy also loved her time as a Guide. The town had two units back then, which was impressive for such a small town.

She said: " I was an only child so it was wonderful to go off to camp with other people. We still have loads of Rainbows and Brownies but not as many guide units. Television has got a lot to do with it. In my lifetime we didn't have a TV until I was 14. And then it was only on at certain times."

After leaving school, Patsy spent a short period working at Pedigree Petfoods in Melton Mowbray, where she met future husband, Bill.

She drifted into market research work, which she says, was perfect because someone was paying her to talk.

Patsy married Bill in 1968 and he worked with his sister at a shop in Market Place in Oakham.

When the sister retired to Norfolk, Patsy went into business with her husband in the clothes shop.

The couple, who also ran a bed and breakfast business above their shop, have sons Richard and Andrew, three grand-daughters and a grandson. The Cliftons now live above the old shop, which they lease to Carpet World.

She clearly loves Oakham and is proud of the part she has played in the community. Patsy is chairman of the trefoil guild for ex-Guiders and the town's memorial institute, a charitable organisation which hands out grants to worthy causes.

She's also involved in the Campaign to Protect Rural England, after helping the successful campaign to build Oakham's bypass, and she is chairman of Oakham Conservative Association.

In retirement Patsy's life is as busy as ever but she still misses those days in the shop.

She added: "I miss people more than anything.

"Everybody should serve behind a shop counter once in their life. They would then see how rude people are on one side and how lovely they are on the other. We had really fantatstic customers though and I have only happy memories."