[frame69]

Whilst on holiday up in devon last september I discovered an old toy shop in Honiton high st. It was closed when I turned up but open the following day so the first stop was this shop, i spent over an hour in there and would have stayed longer but my partner was getting impatient because we were meant to be sight seeing! The lady owner was adamant that she dont stock anything post 1970/75, so this was a great little shop for nostalgic collectors. Boxes and boxes of stuff everywhere, all gauges,makes etc...If I was a wealthy man I would have tried to buy the whole thing and moved in. She is only open when she wants, so a phone call is nessesary most of the time, ive got her card somewhere and cant wait to go and spend a wedge there in the next month probably combined with a trip to see the happy girls at Buffers in axminster who put some of my local m r shop keepers to shame. I wont mention any names. This shop is well worth a visit imho

 

[BrianAdams]

Hi Friend, read with interest your story of old toyshops.

Thats one thing I miss from the old days (1950-60). There used to be a wee corner shop here in Coleraine (N.I.) and you could get matchbox cars and tri-ang trains aplenty. Then one day he said he was retiring at the end of the month. He is still sadly missed. His shop is now an off-licence.
Hope you get a return journey with plenty of cash to buy some goodies.

Regards ......... Brian

 

[frame69]

Hi Brian,off to somerset next month so I'll pay them a visit,its my 40th also so lots of presents

 

[madon37s]

Hi Andy
I have to say my best mate and me are always going on about how there are hardly any "proper" model shops any longer. It is a very sad time to be in. Even as a kid there seemed to be plenty of model shops around and you just can't beat having that model or locomotive in your hand in the shop and deciding to have it and be able to walk out with it and go home and "play" with it, Ah! happy days.

Kind regards

Paul

 

[frame69]

I have great memories of my dad and me on one of his infrequent saturdays at home going to a shop called 'model highways'which I think is still there.Beatties in bristol city was another but these were a fair drive from our house.

 

[db ice 3]

when i was young, we had a shop in south side glasgow called mcmillan models. typical toy shop that had a large model train dept. they always had a layout in the window. when mum went to the butchers shop next door, she'd leave me outside staring in awe at the model trains going around on the layout in the window. then she'd want to go to the bakers, the fruit & veg shop and as i got older was allowed to wait outside the model shop for longer as she went off to get her shopping. and occasionally, she'd take me inside and buy me a wagon or a station building or something else small - i remember the excitement of choosing a wagon. i still have them all in my model railway cupboard in their boxes. i luv bringing them out to look at every now and again and i get reminded of the moment of being bought them!. as you, they were special days.

its one of the reasons i so enjoyed my time in the model shop in kansas - an old time shop - like the ones i knew as a kid - stacked hi - bit chaotic - boxes of things everywhere - but nothing was hidden away or out of reach!. was just magical being in there!

nowadays, i still get the thrill of buying a new train set - i like to buy the german start sets!. ... that excitement of opening the box has never gone away for me!. lol. maybe my next one will have to be a marklin start set to keep and cherish before they are no longer around as we know them!

 

[neil_s_wood]

We used to have a toy/ hobbie shop in our town, Leven, in the early seventies called Scoonie Hobbies. I used to go down there a lot to look in their window. I'd save my pocket money to buy Dinky toys and Airfix kits from them. The eventually moved to a larger town, Kirkcaldy, and we never had a replacement toy shop. In fact most business's seemed to close leaving the high street full of uninteresting shops, everything for a pound and frozen foods that kind of thing. St Andrews still seems to have their toy shop although the prices are a bit severe. Now when I'm home I have to go to Edinburgh or Glasgow to get a decent hobby/toy shop, normally I go to Harburn Hobbies.

 

[dwb]

QUOTE St Andrews still seems to have their toy shop although the prices are a bit severe.

It's probably frequented by guilty golfing parents who left the kids at home whilst they have a week doing the courses in the area.

David

 

[madon37s]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 6 Mar 2009, 21:46) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>, normally I go to Harburn Hobbies.

Is that like a good old fashioned hobby/model shop Neil as I have never been there.

Kind regards

Paul

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (madon37s @ 7 Mar 2009, 17:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Is that like a good old fashioned hobby/model shop Neil as I have never been there.

Kind regards

Paul
Yes Paul, they do all sorts of stuff, die cast and dolls house as well as model rail. They have a website which shows their store front.

cheers Neil

 

[db ice 3]

hi neil,

yes harburn hobbies is also a great "old-time" model store ... i dont go to ediburgh very often ... being a "west coaster" lol ... but on the odd time i go over, i always pop into harburn and i thoroughly enjoy a visit there. lots of things to look at - i always think of these shops as almost like a real -life living catalogue, walking thru and browsing at all the items in real life size!.

 

[rb277170]

QUOTE when i was young, we had a shop in south side glasgow called mcmillan models. typical toy shop that had a large model train dept. they always had a layout in the window. when mum went to the butchers shop next door, she'd leave me outside staring in awe at the model trains going around on the layout in the window. then she'd want to go to the bakers, the fruit & veg shop and as i got older was allowed to wait outside the model shop for longer as she went off to get her shopping. and occasionally, she'd take me inside and buy me a wagon or a station building or something else small - i remember the excitement of choosing a wagon. i still have them all in my model railway cupboard in their boxes. i luv bringing them out to look at every now and again and i get reminded of the moment of being bought them!. as you, they were special days.

That took me back! I never got to the shop(Macmillans), although we used to pass it while going on our summer holidays to England (no M8 then, our route was Paisley- Busby- East Kilbride -Strathaven- A74!). Although I usually bought the Hornby catalogue from them at their stand at Model Rail Scotland, which at that time was in the superb MacLellan Galleries.

Great memories!

In Paisley, there really wasn't much in the way of model trains. We had the Variety stores toyshop which had a shelf of railway items in the window . The railway section was right at the back of the shop with all these lovely red boxes. My mother bought me treats whenever I had been to the dentist, so I do remember getting a Triang Mk1 SR brake (on the basis that it was the same colour as the green dmus in the area) and a Blue Pullman dummy motor car with full yellow ends - the closest I could get to what I now know were Class 303 emus - well it was blue and yellow! There was Hughes the ironmonger in Neilston Road . I remember getting a B12 freight set from him when he closed down in early 74. Apart from that there was Browns sweet shop which started to stock some Hornby in the mid seventies.

There was a thrill opening red boxes back then - which I don't really get now. Probably an age thing!

For serious purchases it had to be Argyle Models in the heilandmans umbrella!

Russell

 

[db ice 3]

wow - id forgotten all about argyle models! ... what happened to them? sadly, i still get that thrill of opening red boxes but these days they have Fleischmann on the side or Maerklin!.

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (db ice 3 @ 11 Mar 2009, 09:21) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>wow - id forgotten all about argyle models! ... what happened to them? sadly, i still get that thrill of opening red boxes but these days they have Fleischmann on the side or Maerklin!.
Same here, it's one of my earliest memories going in there. I loved it.

 

[rb277170]

QUOTE wow - id forgotten all about argyle models! ... what happened to them?

They had the small shop under Central Station with the construction kits upstairs and railways downstairs . Magical place! I remember they had display cases with Trix and Wrenn stuff which as a Triang Hornby boy I thought was very exotic. Always wanted a blue Wrenn Sir Nigel Gresley. They used to have lots of catalogues as well. I remember getting a Minitrix one there probably around 1969. It had the rheingold coaches in red /cream and E103 loco.

Moved to a much larger shop just along the road (still under Central station) in 1978, but I think had gone around 1982. I don't know if it was the higher overheads. There seemed to be a period around 78/79 when model shops sprang up in Glasgow only to disappear around 1982. SMS set up in Wellington Street, Railmail was round the corner in St Vincent Street. You had Argyle Models and a shop in Cambridge Street. I think there was one in the High street too. Railmail eventually became D & F and moved to Parnie Street . But the rest have gone. Not to mention Lewis's and Menzies that had a large Hornby section in the mid 70s

Russell

 

[db ice 3]

wow - uv got a great memory - i remember the name railmail! ... but dont ever remember going into the shop in st vincent st. but i do remember argyle models - i think the larger shop is the one that i remember - and it was like u said, fantastic! ... its a shame the market isnt the way it was back then to support all these stores!. u cant even blame the internet / ebay for killing them off as a lot of them died away well before internet shopping became popular.

 

[jasp]

My goodness
I must be considerably older than most of you 'cos I remember all these shops including Jimmy Glassford's in Cambridge Street, (later it belonged to a guy with an Italiam name) Caley Models at the bottom of Pitt Street and Clyde Model Dockyard. M.G.Sharp also used to be in Glasgow, now in Yorkshire.
Jim

 

[Jerry]

I spent quite a few lunch times in Argyle Models when I was an engineer cadet at Glasgow Nautical College in the early 1970's. Mark you a lot of the other cadets thought it a bit strange I didn't spend the time in the Pub!
Macmillan's was a bit further away so I didn't get there very often, but I did buy a complete Trix Transpenine unit from them; still got that. I seem to remember they had two shops, though I think one was more a newsagents.
Occasionally visited the shop in Cambridge Street [Glassfords?] when we were up at Stow College for workshop training. The owner [I assume] was a bit of a strange character, if you asked "do you keep&#8230;&#8230;.?" His immediate reply was "No, I don't keep things, I sell them"!

Being an Edinburgh 'boy' [still am] I've know Harburn Hobbies for years, firstly at the foot of Leith Walk.
The other shop I remember from the 60's was up by the Kings Theatre on the corner of either Gilmore Place or Gillespie Crescent.
Railmail also had a shop in Morrison Street for a few years and there was a short lived one out Clerk Street way.

Must be getting old reminiscing like this!!!!

Jerry

 

[frame69]

The only time I've visited Scotland was with my dad in the lorry when I was a child,perhaps a visit is due as I'd like to go on the Kyle/Lochalsh line and a friend has a restaurant up there and a visit to some model shops is a must. Regards Andy.
PS,bored of driving so a train journey is the way to get up there...

 

[rb277170]

QUOTE M.G.Sharp also used to be in Glasgow, now in Yorkshire.

Always wondered why they had an affinity with Glasgow. They used to turn up in the MacLellan Galleries every yeasr, long before these shops traveled nationwide.

Great memories

Russell