SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL – SEASONAL SNAPSHOT 20

To model enthusiasts, Harburn Hobbies is like Santa’s grotto all year round, but at this time of year it’s particularly alluring.

A family-run firm established in the 1930s, it is now one of the oldest model shops in the UK and boasts an amazing range of goods behind its modest frontage at 67 Elm Row.

The tag ‘Plains, trains and automobiles’ in all shapes and sizes hardly does justice to the stock. Here, too, you’ll find doll’s-house furniture, craft supplies, station and scenic structures, buses, motorbikes, post boxes, and two varieties of miniature Father Christmas.

Exclusive to the shop is ‘Harburn Hamlet’ – a range of ‘ready made, ready coloured, ready-to-use’ accessories for ‘00’ and ‘H0’ gauges produced by local professional sculptor and modelmaker James Burns. Perfect for the doting parent with five trembling thumbs on each hand and failing eyesight.

For reasons Spurtle does not fully understand, Harburn’s is apparently a firm favourite with 'entertainer' Jimmy Osmond, and featured early last month in a Sky News item about alcohol testing in the workplace.

Where shall we go now? Send your photo or suggestions for our next seasonal snapshot by email spurtle@hotmail.co.uk on Facebook Broughton Spurtle or Twitter @theSpurtle