There is a well known phrase in this hobby which points out that if you want to make a small fortune out of model railways, it pays to start with a large one……….  As I doubt that many proprietors of model shops even start with a large fortune, it is perhaps not all that surprising, in this modern era of the internet, that model shops are becoming more rare in most places.

For many years in my home town, Guildford in Surrey, there was an independent model shop.  A fair amount of my money passed over this counter and I dare say the odd birthday or Christmas present idea germinated within its walls.  Even after I left the area for the fleshpots of university and then the big smog to start my career, the model shop continued to operate even it was taken over by one of the chains.  However, it must been almost twenty years since this closed down and quite a big area was left bereft of somewhere to buy bits or the latest ready to run offerings.  

I was thus pleased to pick up from Graham Muz’s blog that in at least this location, there is to be a reversal of this trend.   A well known and vigorous model shop – Kernow Model Rail Centre – is venturing forward to open their second branch in Guildford.  Although I no longer live in close proximity, Guildford is only 45 minutes away and I will definitely seek to offer my support and get a tad of retail therapy before long after they open.

In a further twist to make this news even more personal to me, the shop will open in what is presently Guildford’s independent bicycle shop – Pedal Pushers.  My other principal hobby when I lived in Guildford was cycling and this was my shop of choice; so many more pennies crossed this counter.  Whilst I think this means that the bike shop is closing, there is a certain symmetry to Kernow’s taking on of the shop.

I wish them well and I do hope that it proves successful for them.