I went into Kingston today to get some new Windsor and Newton series 7 brushes and popped into ModelZone. What a sorry sight it was, with gradually emptying shelves and an air of doom about the place (it is scheduled to close in mid-September).
I picked up a few paints at half price but nearly all the Humbrols had gone, although there were a lot of Vallejo paints left.
I thought I might pick up a model kit or two, almost for old time's sake, but the range was disappointing and the discounts only 20%. Nearly all the Airfix kits had gone with just a few small aircraft and some HO/OO figures left. ModelZone are not selling off an existing shop's stock in one go, they are gradually shifting stock to other branches leaving strange batches in the shops still open. They must have had twenty of the big Airfix HMS Illustrious kits, for example, and quite a lot of the modern 1/48th Afghanistan range but no other big models. If they had had the Mosquito or the new Lancaster I might have been tempted.
Quite a few ship models were left including the massive Tamiya USS Enterprise at 20% off. They also had the Revell 1/32nd Heinkel 111 which I nearly bought, but not at just 20% discount. A lot of Star Trek models too but even with the discount these were £30-£40.
Today was even more depressing as we exchanged contracts on my mother's house. I lived there from 1968 until 1988. My sister had the house cleared while I was in South America so I didn't get the chance to collect some of the things I wanted from there. I also think I still had some model kits in the loft. Fortunately, over the last year I have got out nearly all the important stuff like family photos and books.
My room was at top left
When I looked on Streetview to get a picture of the house for this posting I found that the Google camera had captured my mother throwing another meal into the dustbin. The main reason we put her into the care home, not long after this picture was taken last summer, was because she wasn't eating. A spooky end to a faintly depressing day.
Maybe I'll have one of my remaining bottles of Chateau Giscours 78 tonight, as it dates from nicely halfway through my time at the house.
Enjoy your wine, and the better memories.
ReplyDeleteFMB
I second what FMB said. A toast to the good times.
ReplyDeleteyes loosing links to the past are thought provoking.....my parents illness has raised the issue of the family home with me, and Kingston Modelzone although I've never visited it I remember it in happier times as the bigger Beatties shop with an upstairs full of kits. Also in Kingston there was a games shop 'games unlimited'
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in nearby Teddington (where my parents still live), I spent many happy hours at that shop in its Beatties incarnation. In fact I bought most of my first Ospreys there - they had a great slsection on the first floor where all the model kits were (I recall the ground floor was full of "He-Man" and Star Wars toys etc). But Fraxinus reminds me that I spent even more time in Games Unlimited around the corner. In fact, my mother basically used it as a creche, leaving me there for anything up to an hour while I chatted to Eammon.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to recall happy times - enjoy the wine.
PS You've been mentioned in my latest blog post!
Yes, I remember when it was Beatties too and the upstairs bit was the only place to go.
ReplyDeleteDon't remember Games Unlimited though!
There was a book shop just around the corner (Waterstones? Dillons?) where I bought some military themed books.