[cmjones01]

I'm glad that everyone who was in the building is safe, but I'm heartbroken that the shop has finally gone. It had rather gone to seed in the last couple of years. Last summer I had some short conversations with Phil Gee, who'd been running it, and it seemed to be just pottering along although the whole place was piled up with cardboard boxes and old newspapers.

I've known the interior intimately since childhood, and could tell you exactly which of the hundreds of cracked perspex storage drawers contained 10k resistors, or crocodile clips, or pots ("lin or log?" said Mrs Gee). All gone now, I guess, along with the glass cabinets containing mysterious surplus relays, transformers and motors.

Though it would be marvellous to revive it (I'll have to have a word with my bank manager!), I suspect there's little chance. My home town being what it is today, the shop is likely to become yet another cafe or hairdresser, topped with 'luxury apartments'. I can only hope that the Raspberry Pi shop picks up the mantle.

Chris