walking back from a cuppa with friends,
I passed shops, salons, spaces:
shiny buildings of glass:
people bustle past:
no time to stop and stare:
but I wander:
this little shop has caught my eye before:
I needed some paper bags for a fair:
so I stepped inside to be greeted by a
man with a pleasant smile:
soft grey curls:
'you're lucky I'm open' he said:
'I usually shut early on a wednesday':
the shop piled high with every kind
of bag and label:
teetering layers of brown and colour:
I wonder how this little time capsule has survived:
supplying bags to public and trade since 1870:
a family business he tells me:
saved from the brink of closing,
by a blogger and the bbc:
he's thinking of having a website:
a new generation of bag selling:
far from the days of his great grandfather:
I take my bundle of bright stripey paper:
a bargain £2.50:
and smile as he shows me an old sign ~
'todays price
2/8 per qtr':
I shall definitely shop there again:
I recommend it:
