Irregular forays
Occasionally the four of us will pop into town. Such irregular forays always involve a tour of the same shops.
We start off in Debenhams, wander round to Waterstones for a browse and a coffee, then walk round to Game, then the other Game in High Street West, then Marks and Spencer's, then BHS, then Joplings, then back into The Bridges via WH Smith. Before we get back into the car, I always insist on a rummage through TK Maxx.
Our route very rarely differs and the range of shops visited seems to keeps everyone happy.
Last week, however, I was thinking how different these shopping trips were to the ones of my youth.
Binns was always my favourite. I loved the smells and colours of the place, which always seemed so posh and exotic. The underground tunnel which linked the two buildings under Fawcett Street also added an element of mystery.
For toys, of course, it had to be Joseph's at the bottom of Holmeside. Most of my pocket money was spent there over the years, either on Airfix models, footballs, darts or board games. There always seemed so much packed inside what was quite a small shop.
Round the corner was Hills, a place I grew to love after initially hating the place and all its books. The same books eventually became an attraction, a process that Gabriel has gone through at 13, but 10-year-old Isaac is still resisting. Gabriel loves Waterstone's, Isaac doesn't.
While at that side of town, I would walk up to the Durham Book Centre, which was very popular for a number of years but has now become a club.
There I would buy comics, posters, records and second-hand books. It was also one of the meetings places for my schoolfriends and I.
Round the corner from Albion Place and Vine Place there was an old-fashioned shop selling coins and medals. I'm sure it was called Hunter's. A number of medals had been passed on to me by grandparents and I started a small collection.
The shop-owner would take the time to identify the medals to me, and on the rare occasion I'd saved enough money, would sell me campaign medals from the Second World War. I still cherish these in my grandad's old handcrafted sailor's box.
I can also remember strolling through the old Palmer's Arcade, though I can't recall any of the individual shops.
Blandford Street also had its attractions for me – namely Thornton's and Muller's (thankfully still there).
When I was thinking about the retail landscape I knew as a lad compared with what Gabriel and Isaac are used to, I realised the main difference now is the complete lack of individual shops.
My boys shop in chain stores, which look and feel the same in London as they do here.
Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but I feel they're missing out on what used to be a unique experience.
Or am I just looking back at my own youth with rose-tinted spectacles?
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Friday 10 February 2012
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