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We have one in Ilkeston - also does picture framing, and its called Framed and Locked Up.
Rickards in Ludlow. Straight out of an Edwardian time warp. Everything in little wooden pigeon holes behind the counter.
Bunners in Montgomery. I have spent hours in there, it's like the TARDIS, goes on forever, a Warren of rooms packed with stuff.
I've got two. Mackay's in Cambridge, everything you need from a M3 washer to power tools.
And Pecks in Ely. More farming and land management, so things like 5 bar gate hinges, chain saws and combine harvesters.
Came here to say Mackay's in Cambridge. Their metals warehouse is good too.
Bonnetts in Stoke Ferry. Looks nothing from the roadside but once you get in the door you will find just about anything you need!
Used to be one in Chesterfield on Chatsworth road. Unfortunately the owner passed away a few years ago and it's now some clothes boutique 🙁
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DmzPks8uyinhRJdi8
Still one in Eckington 🙂
https://maps.app.goo.gl/CGXp1StoNjW9ppFC8
I work in Brown’s Tobermory, established in 1830. Folks come in just to look and take a photo of our whisky selection. https://brownstobermory.co.uk/
We had an American come in a few weeks ago proclaiming “we have a store like this back in Vermont, four times the size and probably four times as old”
I just said, “Well, we’ve been here since 1830, so nearly 200 years old” 😎
The business is back in family ownership as the previous tenant retired last year.
We have an "ish" one in Peebles.
Scott's Brothers
I do use it quite alot for bits and pieces but it lacks some of the more traditional ironmongery bits.
Ie you can get your O's Hose and Ho's but you are unlikely to get metal stuff like angle iron and threaded rod.
You can get a proper old school tin opener though, and they seem to be phasing out plastic tat brushes for traditional wooden handles straw head type stuff.
Tools are an odd mix of quality.
Smells great though.
My grandfather used to work in Strother’s in Sunderland (long since gone). His kitchen drawers were full of beautiful little cardboard boxes with screws, nuts, bolts… I remember going into the shop with him and watching in awe as the change balls trundled along the rails above back to the accounts clerk. You can now see this in action in one of the shops in Beamish.
Thorpes in Gosforth is still going strong. Proper knowledgeable staff and I’ve not come out of there without the thing I needed, ever. Has a cool ceiling mounted 0-gauge railway that keeps my lad amused as a bonus.
We’ve also a small chain of DIY/hardware shops in the north east called Maxwells. It’s not as good as Thorpes, but still feels 💯 better than B&Q.
Odell’s in Stony Stratford
They have a sense of humour too
I have the weird hybrid shop "anything and everything" Half old school ironmongers half full of bongs, grinders and rolling papers.
We had a small family run one
<p style="text-align: center;">near us in Fleet, Hampshire. Baker & Sons. It was always my go-to place for all my DIY needs. Unfortunately it closed down last year after about 110 years.</p>
I don't think it was due to lack of trade as it was alway busy, just noone to pick up the baton.
The one in Stockbridge with the manky windows and last window display change 1978 seems to be shut down completely now. He was a grumpy old bast who sent you back out the door empty handed with your cash still in your pocket but definitely had something that would have done the job for you
Anstruther in the East Neuk has or had one with everything you need , everything counted out so you didn't get one extra nail or nut
Homeworks in Helmsley is going strong, for now.
These types of shops are fabulous for browsing. I always come out with a fair bit of stuff I didn't know I needed.
Double bubble, Fletchers hardware and Taylor's paints next door in Waterfoot, Rossendale, both proper time warp, especially Taylor's paint, if they can't mix it or find you the wall paper you want it's not worth bothering.
Modern by some standards (1938) and not exactly High Street because it's in the little village where i grew up and my folks still live, but Heath and Watkins in Sonning Common nr Reading. It underwent massive expansion in the early 2000's (ok, took over the little shop next door and went from about 10 sq mtrs to 20 sq mtrs) but the ethos hasn't changed, you can browse and find but almost everything you want is in cardboard boxes and biscuit tins on shelves and so you might as well ask.
I'm pretty sure Mr Heath or Mr Watkins aren't alive any more, it went via a son but then got sold on. The name has stuck though, as well as the ethos.
There's one in Portchester near where I work - tiny place, but does everything, screws, lightbulbs, buckets, pots & pans, paint. Great shop to go in at Christmas. Hope it's still there, haven't been in for a while.
Oh yeah - Wickham has a great one too - 2 storeys. I bought 2 doormats, a big baking tray and an umbrella last time I went in that one 🙂
A yes to Bunners in Montgomery. En route to CyB. Stop for breakfast at the cafe that gave up its Michelin star because it was too much fuss then nip down to Bunners to gaze in awe at the only PZ4 screwdriver I've seen and buy some wax circles for putting on top of home made jam and pickle before sealing the jars.
Came here to say Mackay’s in Cambridge.
Yep, the same family have run it in the same location since 1912...
https://www.mackay.co.uk/about-us.html
Kelly's DIY in Monkseaton used to be like this when @nobbingsford and I used to work there, far too many years ago now. (Still is to a degree.) Those were fun days! Always quite liked the hardware store in Keswick too.
Edit: forgot about Donaldsons in Grantown too!
We have two brilliant ones in Prestwich Hardware (“home” hardware – Light bulbs, batteries, brackets, hinges etc) and Relionus (aimed at the building end of the scale).
Both are great shops and have “that smell” of paper bags, metal, oil and a faint whiff of solvent/weed killer.
Anstruther in the East Neuk has or had one with everything you need , everything counted out so you didn’t get one extra nail or nut
I guess you're referring to this 'un
I'm probably going past later today, might just pop my head in for a look. And buy sonething I didn't know i needed.
Wollaston, Stourbridge.
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However they don’t stock any reverse thread nuts 😤
Already mentioned - trouble is I am old enough to remember this being a "normal" shop.
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1177608
Highland Industrial Supplies in Inverness.
They have about a million staff, you go in with some obscure request thinking 'they'll never have that', but every single time a guy in a long blue coat says 'yes sir, right this way sir, follow me.'
Its like something from Diagon Alley but for hardware geeks.
Loving the mention of tbe smell in these places.
Best smelling shop in Ludlow was just up the road (King Street) from Rickards - Wainwrights - a saddler. So great leather smells, but they also did fishing tackle, which along with the Subbuteo was why I was always in there. So added to the leather was a touch of maggot. You could bottle it.
While not an ironmongers, if Rickards did not have it, they would.
Timber Mouldings in Sutton at Hone.
It's morphed into a bit of a builders merchant too over the years but it's being run by the 3rd & 4th generation of the same family. They still insist on calling you 'sir' when dealing with you (first names are ok when not doing business) and in the 25+ years I've been using them I don't think they've ever not had what I needed or not been able to come up with a solution. There's about a dozen lock up garages out the back which must have 100 years of accumulated bits & bobs!
Still close on a Wednesday so they can open on Saturday...
When I was growing up, this was the go to place.
I have two locally that are pretty good, but one just has everything. If you can't see it, it's round the 'back'.
@hot_fiat - there's a couple on Hylton Road - Tradelink DIY just down from the hospital, the other is down the bottom near the roundabout, sells calor gas plus loads of other stuff.
Growing up in Scarborough I always remember going into Clock Handyman on Victoria Road. I don't know if it's still the same but it's a warren and they seemed to always sell anything you might need.
https://www.google.com/maps/ @54.2804253,-0.4077547,3a,75y,120.3h,93.87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sA7FMhb1atXCixzGX1v8etA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu
As mentioned above, I also lived in Fleet for 30+ years and frequented Baker’s regularly, but the family weren’t prepared to take it on so sold the building. Ironically, it’s being turned into an actual bakery.
On the subject of Brown’s Tobermory, we are also home to Tobermory Cat and often visitors are surprised to find he actually exists - there were originally 2 Tobermory cats - Tobermory and Ledaig, named after the whiskies, but only Ledaig survives, he’s now 15. He often lies in the road to avoid the attention of visitors and we put traffic cones around him to stop him getting squished.
The shop was also used in one of the scenes for “For Whom the Bell Tolls” as well as regular visits for TV shows - we had Alan Cumming and crew in the other week for a Discovery TV show.
I was stuck with a gate hanging off needing some washers of a specific size but had to be in the London office. I was amazed to find a proper hardware shop just behind Westminster Cathedral, proper job had everything! Victoria Hardware.
I like to shop locally, and theoretically, I love shops like this. I'm even happy to pay a premium over the chain retailers. Unfortunately I find it hard to give these guys my money. They always seem to try their very best to not actually sell me anything.
The last time I went in my local one I wanted sanding discs for my orbital sander. I had one with me to make sure I had the right size. He took one look, said "I sold all my stock of that size to a bloke yesterday". I wasn't in a rush, so I said I'd go back when he next had some in stock. He said "Just go to Screwfix mate" and went back to reading his paper.
That was the third and last time I'd tried, and failed, to buy from him.
There used to be a few in central London one in Soho was a favorite of mine when I was a working on nightclubs.
We have a chain of 4 by me all the same stuff jam packed in. My dad wanted to open one a good few years ago general stuff and proper power tools for the trades looking back it would have made a killing.
Cobley & Cockshott (I kid you not) still going strong in Keighley.
blokeuptheroad
Full Member
Rickards in Ludlow. Straight out of an Edwardian time warp. Everything in little wooden pigeon holes behind the counter
Bugger. I'm in Ludlow this morning. Looks like we are about to lose another of these great old places 😢.
.
It makes me smile that places like this still exist. It's a part of my childhood, memories of wandering round "Key Joe's" with my granddad trying to persuade him to buy me a padlock or something. It was never called Key Joe's in my lifetime, it was something like Lancashire Ironmongery, but that's what everyone knew it as.
There's a couple near me today, within a couple of blocks of each other. The last time I was in one of them I was after some screws for a small project. I produced an offending broken one and asked "have you got any like this?" She replied, "ooh, hang on love, let me have a look," disappeared under the counter, then popped back with your typical box of screws. Then asked me, "how many do you need?" Slightly thrown, I said "uh... maybe half a dozen?" whereupon she cracked open the box and counted them out for me, 1... 2... 3... before charging me something mortgage-threatening like about 4p.
Anyone for a game of corson?
🤣 Brilliant! There must be a special school for the grumpy proprietors of these places.
Nooooo! Not Rickards.
I think it would be a great idea for a big glossy 'coffee table book'.
For someone to travel the country taking arty photos of these places to document them before they disappear.
Nooooo! Not Rickards.
Sorry 😟
For someone to travel the country taking arty photos of these places to document them before they disappear.
If you pay me, I will go... 😉
(Disclaimer... Not sure I can do arty photos 😂)
If you go to the Museum of Modern Art II in Edinburgh there is a lovely painting of an ironmongers by Quality Square Ludlow, from the days when Quality Square was a semi derelict industrial area and remnant slum.
If only we knew someone on the forum who was handy with the crayons...
fasgadh
Free Member
Nooooo! Not Rickards
I just popped in and had a chat to one of the staff, saying how sad I was to see the 'for sale' sign. She was saying how she loved to work in there and how she felt it was like working in a museum. She thought she should wear period costume! Apparently the owners are hoping to sell it as a going concern. Sounds optimistic to me, but here's hoping 🤞One factor in its favour apparently, is that not only Iis the building listed, but all the countertops and wooden storage shelves and cubby holes are too. Should make it harder for someone to gut it and turn it into a Kebab shop or whatever. Been in business for 160 years apparently. She was also extolling the virtues of Bunners in Montgomery up the road, I've not been. I will fix that soon.
If only we knew someone on the forum who was handy with the crayons…
Yeah but how is he with a box brownie? And would he need the incentive of concurrently documenting all the nation's Greggs?
I have the weird hybrid shop “anything and everything” Half old school ironmongers half full of bongs, grinders and rolling papers.
I do like a good wierd mix shop. Used to be one at the top of Leith Walk with one side of the shop second hand TVs and the other side darts and dartboards.
When I lived in Cessnock/ Ibrox there was a tiny shop that was half army surplus and combat knives on one side and half lace and haberdashery on the other
Anyone for a game of corson?
Genius. Low Fell Cycles in Gateshead operate this exact ruleset.
Yep, the same family have run it in the same location since 1912…
https://www.mackay.co.uk/about-us.html/blockquote >
Odell's in Stony Stratford has been on the same site for 275+ years. And even better, there's still a Mr Odell working the shop floor!
No-one mentioned Webb's of Crickhowell? Picked up some Danish oil and a nice fireproof gauntlet there a few months back. Was quite tempted by a very snazzy log splitter device, but unfortunately I never actually have cause to split any logs.
there is one here in devizes called roses ironmongers (now called roses of devizes).
i used to work there back in 1992-94 in the garden section (was my first job).
i would post a link/pic but cannot work out how to do it doh!
TJ has already mentioned the appropriately named 'Anything & Everything' down the road from him. When I was up there earlier this week we tried to see if we could get them done under the trades description act for false advertising
We couldn't. It literally has 'Anything & Everything'
Also Highland Industrial Supplies but in Fort William
There used to be one in Park Lane here in Chippenham, called Denton’s. Bare wooden floorboards, and that wonderful indefinable smell, a mixture of paraffin, grass seed, and metal tools, but it closed several years ago. It belonged to my mates family, but they were retiring and had no one to take it on, sadly. There were a couple of shops and a car park there that were turned into accommodation.
I’ve got a set of needle files I bought from them when I was at school, that I still use - it’s my 69th birthday today so they’ve lasted pretty well!
Dentons were the shop on the right, the one on the left was a hifi shop for a while, but when the parking area was turned into accommodation, (you can just see the end wall on the extreme left), it killed off the trade, because there was nowhere to park that was handy.
@spin, the only problem with HIS in Inverness is you have no idea what you will pay- sometimes you pay VAT, others not- sometimes discount, sometimes not. Otherwise it is good.
I wonder whatever happened to catlitter Ken on Lark lane, he had two jokes which he used at every opportunity, If you asked for nails he said 'whats this- an ale house' If you asked for a sack of cat litter which he would deliver, it was 'If your not in ill put it through the letter box'
Every bloody week 🙂
Baker & Sons. It was always my go-to place for all my DIY needs. Unfortunately it closed down last year after about 110 years.
Damn, that's a shame. It would only have been about 80 years old when I was last in there.
Weaverham Hardware not so ancient but has this vibe.
I do like a good wierd mix shop. Used to be one at the top of Leith Walk with one side of the shop second hand TVs and the other side darts and dartboards.
When I lived in Cessnock/ Ibrox there was a tiny shop that was half army surplus and combat knives on one side and half lace and haberdashery on the other
There was one near me that was half a florists and half motorbikes.
Best smell in a shop was Blakes Sports in Reading. A sports version of the hardware above, everything was in drawers. A pair of navy blue football socks, size 4-7.....up the ladder open a couple of drawers to find them. Cricket whites, 28 waist? In a drawer....
They sold all sorts, but specialised in cricket and it smelt of batting gloves and linseed oil. My Dad and his workmate Tim who played Berks Minor Counties took me in to buy my first bat there where the proprietor refused to sell me a DF Attack by Ian Botham because he thought it was too heavy for me. He was right, he sold me a GN World Cup and I scored a (comparative) ton of runs with that stick in the next couple of years. And always used comparatively lightweight bats right through my adult career too.
Then asked me, “how many do you need?” Slightly thrown, I said “uh… maybe half a dozen?” whereupon she cracked open the box and counted them out for me, 1… 2… 3… before charging me something mortgage-threatening like about 4p.
That reminded of a trip to Gulzar's Fancy Goods on St Marks Road in Bristol. Tiny place, stuffed to the gills with random stock, I felt a bit sad seeing things like brand new kitchen devices in their yellowing boxes.
Lovely chap though, and insisted on selling me only the three or four hooks or whatever that I needed, when I'd have been perfectly happy to spend 79p on a whole box.
I just looked it up on Google maps, and there's this cracking quote in the top review:
"It is true that in the past keys did not always work ( with all due respect to the late Mr.Gulzar who was amazing in many ways)..."
Might have to pop in one of these days.
the only problem with HIS in Inverness is you have no idea what you will pay- sometimes you pay VAT, others not- sometimes discount, sometimes not. Otherwise it is good.
I've never once paid the ticket price, always less! Exactly what you will pay is indeed a mystery.
Came here to mention JB Banks of Cockermouth for it to be in the opening post.
Museum out the back is very good 👍
I do love a hardware shop and frequently get mocked by the family when I go to explore them on holiday. The range of products means there is something for everyone though. There are a lot in Scotland that I like, the absence of nearby B&Q type ‘sheds’ helps. I was really tempted to look at buying the Grantown on Spey one when it was for sale a few years back.
I used to work at Jennings brewery many years ago so know JB Banks well.
Still in Cumbria Pigneys at Appleby is one of those long sprawling shops, similar to Home Hardware in Kirkwall.
Does TW Ralph’s at Yanwath count, it has a lot of big agricultural stuff but a good shop, like HIS you usually have no idea what things cost. You cannot make a rush purchase as there is always a farmer at the front of the queue talking for ages
I like to shop locally, and theoretically, I love shops like this. I’m even happy to pay a premium over the chain retailers. Unfortunately I find it hard to give these guys my money. They always seem to try their very best to not actually sell me anything.
I'm an engineer - I know exactly what I want/need but unfortunately I don't bother with these places for the reasons mentioned above.
I've rung one of my local places enquiring about £500 of Lindaptors I'm wanting that has stocked them previously "we'll ring you back". Still waiting.
35mm socket required. Still waiting. Many more examples.
Another place - the old boy in his blue smock takes forever to one finger type all the invoice product codes that I don't have the patience to use them anymore. Shame as they are just round the corner and a Gedore stockists.
Internet or Screwfix, click and collect. Evolve or die......or just offer better service.
They are not really aimed at engineers or tradespeople though are they? More at Mrs Miggins who wants a 13 amp fuse, a bog brush, some mothballs and a chat.
Screwfix is better in the same way Amazon is better than other independent high street places. Cheaper yes, more choice yes. As long as you don't value human interaction, supporting local businesses, a sense of history and community and high streets holding on to some independent shops instead of cloned national or global chains.
I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I do use Screwfix, but I do like to give these places some business too.
Morons of Ilkley for DIY, kitchen stuff, electrical, gardening etc. Feels like several shops knocked through. Last I heard they were struggling unfortunately and closing some of the departments.
They are not really aimed at engineers or tradespeople though are they? More at Mrs Miggins who wants a 13 amp fuse, a bog brush, some mothballs and a chat.
Some of the places I deal with are a bit of both/open to the public, the ones I mentioned above are. We are a big multinational company and I have authority for setting up accounts wherever I want. Given a choice I'll go with local / independent.
I have justified many times higher costs for comparable items due to superior service from a company. Unfortunately a lot of places fail on the service side, whereas RS (a glorified hardware store)/ internet/Screwfix etc deliver without fail.
I used to work in McKinnels in Kirkcudbright. It had everything you could want. Selling a 3/4" brass countersunk screw to old Mrs miggins for 2p to huge stainless coach bolts to the fishing boats.
I loved cutting keys on a hand turned key cutter. Didn't so much enjoy selling blood, fish and bone by the hundredweight.
Actually just walked past it and although Graham has been dead a good few year and the shop is no longer a hardware shop I can still see him standing there arms crossed watching the world go by.
My mum reckons we did more talking than working and she's not wrong.
Haven't lived there for fifteen years, but Southdown Hardware in Harpenden was a great little hardware shop (Google Street view suggests it was still there recently). Only as big as an average living room but somehow stocked everything that a massive superstore does.
In terms of smell, for me nothing beats Motorways in Alsager (the 'parent' shop from which Sideways Cycles is an offshoot). It's the motoring equivalent of the hardware shops described in this thread. Smells of new tyres, old tools, and a hint of WD-40.
the old boy in his blue smock takes forever to one finger type all the invoice product codes
That's the chippie round the corner. I was in there just yesterday because the good one up the road was closed.
A fish, £5.
Two lots of chips, £2 each.
Gravy, £1.
Curry, £1.30.
Woman behind the counter starts hammering at a calculator. The 30p aside she's adding up 5, 2, 2, 1 and 1. "That'll be £11.40, love." I gave her the £11.30 I already had ready, she didn't question it.
They have previous though. The last time I was in they overcharged me by a few pence, underchanged me by a tenner, then copped an attitude when I questioned it. I don't actually think it's intentionally deceptional, I think they're just dim, but a response to a customer of "YEAH, ALRIGHT!!" when I asked for my ten quid back is the reason I stopped going despite being like three doors down the road.
@onehundredthidiot I used to buy brass screws and other stuff including fishing line / hooks from Graham Mckinnels. If it wasn't there Dalziels 50yds up the road had it. Two hardware shops just yards apart, and Willie laws bike shop and electrical goods in between...
Jones Home Hardware in Hay-on-Wye is spread across several buildings and even more rooms, or certainly feels like that once you enter.
Macsalvors in Redruth cover most things from socks to ships anchors.
Laws is still there.
Is there a good one in St Ives? Arrived on holiday yesterday, between all the surf shops, posh coffee shops and trendy bars and pubs it feels like there should be.
J Raine and Son - aka the corner shop in Middleton in Teesdale, website covers everything you need to know!
Two within 5 minutes walk of my house - Bishopston Hardware & DIY and Pearce's Hardware Store - in Bristol. The former is used by both the public but also by tradesmen, the latter more focussed to the public.
If only we knew someone on the forum who was handy with the crayons…
Yeah but how is he with a box brownie? And would he need the incentive of concurrently documenting all the nation’s Greggs?
Should Binners take up the challenge there is a Greggs which opened earlier this week right opposite Bishopston Hardware!