![\"Shopkeeper](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_TCBR090226MrSinghsBRI_06.jpg\")
<\/p>\n“He was deeply loved and respected by so many”<\/p>\n
10:54, 10 Feb 2026Updated 10:56, 10 Feb 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shopkeeper Walayti Singh, who opened a corner shop in St Paul’s, Bristol, in 1972 and ran it for more than 50 years. He died on Saturday, February 7, at the age of 83(Image: Bristol Post\/Google Maps\/Singh family)<\/p>\n
Tributes have been paid to a community legend who ran a corner shop in Bristol for more than 50 years, after his death on Saturday (February 7).<\/p>\n
Father of ten Walayti Singh – known to generations of families in St Pauls as simply \u2018Mr Singh\u2019 or \u2018Uncle\u2019 – first opened a general store on the corner of Brighton Street and Argyle Road in the heart of St Pauls way back in 1972, just four years after he first came to Bristol from his hometown of Dehradun in India back in 1968.<\/p>\n
He served the community for more than 50 years, until stepping back during the Covid pandemic. The store which bears his name is still very much open, with his children and grandchildren serving the children and grandchildren of his first customers all those years ago.<\/p>\n
The St Pauls Carnival led the tributes to Mr Singh. \u201cSt Pauls Carnival would like to offer its heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr Singh of W Singh Convenience Stores following his recent passing,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many in the community, W Singh\u2019s is an iconic part of St Pauls. Mr Singh served local residents for over 50 years from his shop on Brighton Street and was deeply loved and respected by so many,\u201d she added. \u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones at this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Singh first came to Bristol because his two brothers were already here, back in 1968, in search of a better life. He left his wife and – at that time, three children – back in India, and faced significant hardship in the late 1960s Bristol.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe couldn\u2019t speak English, but even more than that, he didn\u2019t know how to read or write, in English or in his language Punjabi,\u201d said his daughter Serita Kaur.<\/p>\n
![\"Shopkeeper](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_TCBR090226MrSinghsBRIJPG.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Shopkeeper Walayti Singh, who opened a corner shop in St Paul’s, Bristol, in 1972 and ran it for more than 50 years. He died on Saturday, February 7, at the age of 83(Image: Bristol Post\/Google Maps\/Singh family)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found it very difficult to get a job, but he was determined and hard working, and he instilled that in us all our lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took inspiration from back in India, where people travel around selling things on the streets and at people\u2019s houses. He got a bicycle and a big suitcase, and began going around Bristol selling anything and everything. He sold bed sheets, household cleaning products, duvet covers, men\u2019s trousers and shirts – you name it. I have no idea where he got the things from.”<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would tell us later that he found people the most welcoming in St Pauls. People there were mainly from Africa, India or Jamaica, and he was able to connect with them. He was hard-working and within a few months he was able to earn enough to bring over his wife and three children, who joined him in Bristol,\u201d Serita explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never forgot those early years – he often talked about how much he loved his \u2018sheckle\u2019 – he couldn\u2019t say \u2018cycle\u2019,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: ‘It’s become like Notting Hill’ – how one area of Bristol has changed beyond recognition<\/a>READ MORE: How the story of Bristol’s Windrush generation is being brought to the big screen<\/a><\/p>\n By 1972, Mr Singh had saved enough to buy part of the building that would become the legendary Mr Singh\u2019s. \u201cWe lived above. It did well, and after a short while he was able to buy the next door property too. He went out into the street and found someone who came in and helped him knock down the wall between the two buildings and that\u2019s how the shop got bigger,\u201d Serita said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very close metaphor for how he was – if he saw a wall, he would just break it down, it\u2019s how he overcame every challenge,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n More children, including Serita in 1974, followed and by the time of his death on Saturday at the age of 83, he had ten children with his beloved wife Savindar. They had 25 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren – and counting.<\/p>\n W Singh Stores became an important focal point for the St Pauls community in the 1970s, so much so that when the St Pauls riots happened in April 1980, his store was not touched, while some other businesses were smashed up.<\/p>\n W Singh Stores, pictured in 2008(Image: Bristol Post\/Google Maps\/Singh family)<\/p>\n \u201cI remember it well, although I was only five,\u201d said Serita. \u201cI remember the stories my father would tell about it. He said that people were going around saying that if Mr Singh\u2019s was touched there would be big trouble for whoever did it, and also the police came with a police dog to protect it at one point,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main thing I remember about that time was afterwards. A lot of other businesses moved out. St Pauls was not considered a good place to be. But my father was determined. I remember some in the family wanted him to move. They even found a nice bungalow for him to move to – his response was \u2018you must be joking, you go and live there, I\u2019m not leaving. I am not leaving St Pauls,\u201d said Serita.<\/p>\n![\"W](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_TCBR090226MrSinghsBRI_02JPG.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_TCBR090226MrSinghsBRI_03JPG.jpg\")
<\/p>\n