A Dull Shop Enlivened by a Bus Hop & Asda..

[hobbitblue]

I'm beginning to give up hope on finding a decent little shop of the enchanting variety in Liverpool, and especially not one related to dolls or similar.. I was determined to go out on Thursday despite not having quite shifted this virus, and had been reminded of a dolls house shop on Smithdown Road I'd seen mentioned online. There was the prospect

Comments

[ganimede]

Google maps can be very hit and miss. I've found in the past it'll mark a place as being at one end of a road but when I've checked, it's actually in the middle or right down the other end. I always look at Streetview now, that way you can actually see exactly where the place is. And it's handy for familiarising yourself with where you're going, where bus stops are etc.

Buses are there for hopping on and off though, did you only just realise? :P

[hobbitblue]

Yyeah, think I'll use streetview more often, also consider phoning a shop to check they sell what they purport to sell (found a bear possibility in Southport but I shall double check before getting a train across!)

Actually, no lol have always used buses as an A to B thing, and then been walking between places once arriving at B, so this is indeed a novel concept.. *giggle*

[ganimede]

A shop selling teddy bears, you mean? I remember there being a toy shop that sold old-fashioned sorts of toys, lots of wooden toys and the like. It was on Lord Street but way down towards Pleasureland. It's been ages since I've been to Southport, I was only thinking recently maybe I should go again just to see how I am with driving distances now. Plus they have an ice cream shop that sells jammie dodger ice cream which was so yummy ;)

[hobbitblue]

The one i mean is Toy and Gift - which has just updated their website and they do Gotz dolls as well as the bears, ooh. Now if i can work out where it is on Lord Street in relation to the station I'm sorted.. :) Pretty sure this one's not near Pleasureland.. gods, its so long since I went to Southport proper, my grandparents used to live in Ainsdale but that was years ago.

Yes, you should go! Especially while there's a chance of good weather still, ambling along Lord Street on a sunny day is lovely, doing it in the rain rather otherwise.. Where be the ice-cream shop, if you remember? I've been ill again this week (and then a sodding seizure) but I'm determined to get across at some point!

[ganimede]

I'm pretty sure that's the shop I was thinking of. It's next to the Royal Arcade on Lord Street. Lord Street's easy enough to get to from the train station though. The station exit's on Chapel Street which runs parallel to Lord Street, so as you've come out of the station, turn left and go along Chapel Street to the end where it meets Eastbank Street, then turn right onto Eastbank and go all the way down and you're on Lord Street! From there you'd have to go along Lord Street to the left to get to the shop. I worked in Debenhams in Southport for a few years so I know my way round that main central area fairly well. Not that it means much these days when a shop that had been there for years suddenly disappears

[hobbitblue]

Aha, thankyou, that sounds easy enough to get to :) I used to go into Southport often as a child with my granny, then as a teen and older with grandad (would go by train from wigan, meet him at Ainsdale and we'd go into town together) but that was obviously a long time ago, back when woolworths was still there for a start, and it was quite a limited thing with grandad when he was older, just a wee wander and then tea at the station cafe, awww :)

You should go sometime for sure.. don't think I've ever had ice-cream there actually, other than at Pleasureland or on the beach as a kid.. Rossis sounds more promising than Silcocks but clearly I'm mistaken on that. Hmm, will have to have a wander one of these days. So groggy this week with a lurgy I'm not going anywhere except maybe a wee cab ride to Asda to just get out of the house but hopefully next week... :)

[ganimede]

I think I'd only gone to Southport once or twice before I started working there. It's very much a town for the retired though, I know it always got busier from dinnertime onwards into the afternoon and the staff in the shop said it was because the retired folk had got up and gone into town for their dinner!

Better make the most of this nice-ish weather while it lasts, it's supposed to get pretty cold and wet soon after we get into October. Although I'm sure it'll still be fine enough for ice cream ;) Apparently Rossi's used to be the better place for ice cream but it was taken over a few years ago so it's now very expensive and a bit hit and miss. I think that was also why I went to Silcock's, they were cheaper and had a better selection - which you can see here.

[hobbitblue]

Oh yes, full of older folk, though that's no bad thing sometimes, it was the first place i went to as a kid that was full of nice little teashops, long before Starbucks and the like became the norm - in Wigan we just had greasy spoon type things so tea and cakes in Mellors or similar was a delight :) Heh, good that the retired folk were out and about at least!

Its always fine for ice-cream :) was gorgeous today, i only mnaged a wee walk as I'm very groggy but lovely blue skies and gentle breeze, the way september is supposed to be (I know it was dull and grey the rest of this past week as I kept wanting to photograph the dolls and the light was rubbish!)

Ooh, drooling over the ice-cream flavours listed there, will definitely have to get there one day, new york cheesecake, yum. And rum and raisin, my fave of all