[2] In December 1954 the store burnt down and operated from temporary space until its present purpose-built building opened in 1956.

[citation needed] Joplings, a shopping institution since 1804, was at the height of its busy Christmas season when disaster struck.

"Narrow streets became valleys of heat, driving back the firefighters, with masonry collapsing on hose pipes," a reporter at the scene later recalled.

[citation needed] "The worst moment came when firemen playing their hoses on the front of the store suddenly realised the building on the opposite side of the road had also taken fire.

[citation needed] But as masonry crashed into the street, and girders twisted in the heat, the brave firemen battled on – sadly in vain.

[citation needed] Within a week, however, local storekeepers helped to put Joplings back in business, by offering accommodation for the different departments at premises throughout the town.