Adjacent to the railway station at Ford, on the Brighton-Portsmouth line, is possibly the UK's best model railway shop. Selling over 15,000 items - yes, that's fifteen thousand - it's an absolute must for any serious model railway enthusiast.
As well as a wide range of well-known brands, such as Hornby, Bachmann, Graham Farish, Noch, Märklin and many more, they make their own control systems under the 'Gaugemaster' brand.
Staff are (as you might guess) incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, and there's a huge amount of expertise on tap. The shop itself isn't strong on displays (and the building is very unexciting from the outside), although there's enough to excite small children (of all ages) and to tempt you to open your wallet further than you had ever meant to. The website is pretty amazing too, if you can't make it to the shop.
That second childhood starts here... read more