As I was walking Olga to the Heath on Sunday, we passed this old camera shop, Photo Craft, in Hampstead. We've been walking past it almost every week for a year and a half, and sometimes I'd look at the lenses in the windows and think, "I need to check that place out." It seemed like a bit of an anachronism. How many family-run independent camera shops do you see these days?
And then suddenly, in October, it closed. So much for that.
When I stopped to take these photos Sunday, workmen were dismantling the facade. (The guy on the bottom, hiding his face, told me he's "camera shy.") They told me the shop had been there for 50 years, and sure enough, when I looked it up online, I found a couple of news articles about the closing that said the same thing.
I was interested in this even older sign underneath the photo shop facade. The workmen had no idea what Leonards might have been. A cursory Google search couldn't tell me either. Maybe when they take the rest of that old clapboard away, all will be revealed.
Unfortunately I may not be here to see it, since we'll be gone this weekend. It depends on how quickly the new tenant, a beauty shop, moves in.
We're having a rainy, wet, cold morning here. I slept until 6:30, about an hour later than usual -- Dave even got up before me, which almost never happens. Olga, however, is still in bed.
Los Angeles still has some old camera stores, probably sustained by "the business," as we call it here. Samy's is still a booming place and actually a fun stop when I have out of town guests. This post, though, makes me yearn for the old days of film and bringing it to be developed -- even developing it yourself.
ReplyDeleteA beauty shop ey? Make sure you are there on the opening morning as you will probably get a good deal with discount vouchers and sample products. Alternatively, you could wear a burkha. As a bonus, Olga could walk under it when it's raining.
ReplyDeleteThere's a camera shop in my old stomping grounds in the city. I guess it's still there. been over a year since I've driven that stretch of road.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine getting up as early as you do. even at 6:30, we're still in bed for at least another hour.
Leonards
ReplyDeleteSounds like a 1950 hairdresser
With a closset queen in charge
Good Lord. It seems like every other shop in London is a beauty shop. No excuse for not being well-groomed!
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the weather made me pop over to Abbey Road webcam to check out the weather. I was just in time to see a big truck pull in to the studios that said "Creative Cocktails" on the side. I think there's going to be a party tonight!
ReplyDeleteIntriguing sign underneath. We still have a camera shop downtown; I'm not sure how they keep going except the next closest one is about two hours away, so maybe there is still enough business here.
ReplyDeleteOlga is smart. And lucky :)
6:30 is my time to get up if I have to drive into the office - but otherwise I'm still in bed at 7:30 or 8:00 (and on Saturdays I've been known to sleep until after 10:00!). Not a morning person :)
ReplyDelete