Readers' tips: unusual UK shops

If you're after an unusual shopping experience or a quirky gift, Been there readers have the answer, from an ammonite store in Edinburgh to Staffordshire's last surviving front-room oatcake shop? Add a tip for next week and you could win a digital cameraWINNING TIP: Blade Rubber Stamps, LondonI have spent hours enthralled by the weird and wacky stamp designs on display at this wonderful shop. There are seasonal designs and plenty of stamps featuring Santa, angels and snowmen ready to be stamped on to personalised cards for Christmas. The shop stocks everything for making beautifully designed scrapbooks, including glitter, stickers and buttons. They even offer classes to help improve your decorating skills. 12 Bury Place, WC1, bladerubberstamps.co.uk SaraLondonLondonFarm:shop With the chaos and cars of Dalston's busy high street just around the corner, the Farm:shop on Dalston Lane makes a welcome escape. Slightly bizarre stark white decor greets you in the first room, with aquaponic fish tanks and a wall of plants. There are signs explaining that the water is circulated between the fish tanks and the plants and this is all collected from the roof ? which, incidentally, is where they keep their chickens! Wandering through the shop is more like a science museum, with gems of sustainable inspiration, and you can even hire out the polytunnels for parties, complete with a disco ball. The shop sells a range of delicious foods ? from London honey to fish to Fairtrade organic coffee. The cafe serves the best bacon sandwich in London (�4.50). Much loved and recommended ? who knows, you could come away with a hen! 07736 002006, 20 Dalston Lane, E8, farmlondon.weebly.com rachelmillar2Sylvanian Families Let's be honest. You thought they were pretty weird as a child ? small, furry animals, dressed in clothes? But still, stumble on Sylvanian Families, tucked away in residential Islington, and you'll start to develop a nostalgia you never knew you had. They sell solely the little critters and their paraphernalia ? it's a great opportunity to drag the kids away from the computer and show them exactly what fun Mum had when she was young. 68 Mountgrove Road, N5, 020-7226 1329, sylvanianfamilies.com cburgessViktor Wynd's Little Shop of HorrorsUpon entering you are greeted by a party of giant taxidermied antelope heads and African voodoo masks. Tomes of mythology and the occult line the bookshelves while armies of butterflies and beetles roam any left over spaces on the walls.The resulting experience is a bit like falling down Alice's rabbit hole and re-emerging in a world that is part-17th century curiosity cabinet, part-70s sci-fi movie gone wrong.As well as being toted as a museum of the weird and wonderful, the shop also holds regular art exhibitions. Framed works by the likes of Mervyn Peake and the surrealist Leonora Carrington have recently been displayed. There are also regular lectures (on subjects you never knew existed), workshops, puppet shows and films. 11 Mare Street E8, 020-7998 3617, viktorwyndofhackney.co.uk micahelameadowPostcard Teas Minutes from Oxford Street, this shop sells rare and unusual teas and tea paraphernalia. If you want to learn about tea, have a tea-tasting session.9 Dering Street, W1, 020-7629 3654, postcardteas.com NantwichBillNorthern EnglandTea & Tranquility, Cockermouth, Cumbria A shop selling specialist teas and delicious homemade light bites, and offering a range of holistic therapies. I only popped in for a free cuppa on opening day and booked myself in for a treatment the next. 21 Market Place, 01900 827752, teaandtranquility.co.uk LiniRaehseDuttons for Buttons, Harrogate, North YorkshireIf you like customising everything under the sun with quirky buttons, buckles, ribbons and trim, then this is the place for you. The first shop opened in Harrogate in 1956, and there is another in Ilkley, and a third in a wonderful medieval building in York. Drusilla White, the daughter of Duttons founder, travels the world in search of fabulous buttons, and sells more than 12,000 to be precise. They range from sparkly diamante to vintage glass, shell, wood and ceramic. They sell a great hessian bag for you to customise, and every other haberdashery item you could ever need. Buttons from Duttons can even be spotted in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean. Oxford Street, 01423 502 092, duttonsforbuttons.co.uk TroutiemcfishAlex's Spice Stall, Todmorden, Lancashire/Yorkshire border Alex sources spices, chocolate, garlic and olives mostly from the Mediterranean; what he doesn't know about which hillside which olive came from isn't worth knowing. His stall is stunning, the colours rich and the smells irresistible. Pinch yourself ? you're in a Pennine town ? and take home Spanish saffron, Tuscan olive oil, figs, pasta and chorizo. Brook Street mrsfiftiesBombay Stores, Bradford This Asian department store is a local institution good for all things bling and Bollywood. It has a big sari fabric department, rails of shimmering traditional salwar kameez and other Asian-style outfits, shoe departments with gorgeous sequined creations and curled-toe slippers, a jewellery department filled with elaborate gold and silver, and loads more. It's more like downtown Mumbai than the UK. Bombay Buildings, Shearbridge Road, 01274 729993, bombaystores.biz EssssThe MidlandsThe Hole in the Wall, Stoke-on-Trent This is Staffordshire's last surviving front-room oatcake shop. They're cheap and tasty and made to order. 62 Waterloo Street, Hanley, 01782 261883, oatcakes.org NantwichbillChristmas Corner, Bourton-on- the-Water, Gloucestershire This year-round magical Christmas experience is full of exquisite and imaginative decorations from around the world. We visited in the height of summer and it felt incredibly odd perusing decorations, baubles and Christmas nativity scenes, hidden among huge Christmas trees, and listening to hymns, while standing in just a T-shirt, shorts and sunglasses. Quite possibly the strangest Christmas shopping I'll ever do. High St, 01451 822622, christmasshopbourton.com ChudiesSouth-west EnglandThe Wool Shop, Pewsey, Wiltshire When I want to be a mermaid I step inside Pewsey Wool Shop. Pewsey carnival fortnight sees it full of fraught fancy dressers looking for a Mr Benn fix for the procession, and proprietor Ruth Cope is always full of tips on simplifying elaborate transformations. Knitting patterns muddle along with sequins, ribbons, beads, buttons, faux fur, fabric glue and safety pins. But, among a clutter of curios, you might also find a melodeon, old-fashioned coffee grinder or antique clock. 45-47 North Street, 01672 564 585 BethWatersScotlandPillars of Hercules, Falkland, Fife This is an organic farm shop and cafe with a difference. Set at the edge of the forest just outside the picturesque town of Falkland in Fife, it sells organic, local and tasty foods, including lovely homemade breads, chilled foods, household items, wines, beers, and the freshest of fresh veg and fruit, most of it grown on-site. In season they sell plants in their little nursery. As well as a shop it's a bit of a "holiday destination", as you can camp there and eat in the cafe or, for a little more comfort, rent the bothy with its woodburning stove. 01337 857749, pillars.co.uk AnshirEnchantment, Edinburgh This is a strange little shop, filled to bursting with fairy, gnome, imp and pixie figurines. The whole place is like entering the underworld. The shop itself is definitely on the cosy side, and with fairies hanging from the ceiling and surrounding you it seems positively minuscule. The fairies and pixies definitely rule this shop ? humans can only visit for as long as they can stand the powerful aroma of incense that fills whatever space is left. 57 Cockburn Street, 0131-225 8207 PatrickOliverMr Wood's Fossils, Edinburgh This shop has large slabs of rock with a lot of fossils in them and huge ammonites, but also plenty of interesting smaller specimens, as well as some that are pocket-money-sized. They also have the most amazing fossils of fish and shrimp-like creatures. When you've done the tartan and whisky bit in Edinburgh, this is the place to go. 5 Cowgatehead, Grassmarket, 0131-220 1344, mrwoodsfossils.co.uk brummiebirdCocoa Mountain, Durness, Lairg There's already enough reasons to visit north-west Sutherland ? stunning beaches, great cycling roads, mountains galore ? but one more to add to the list is Cocoa Mountain in Durness, with its seemingly endless choice of hand-made chocolate treats. And those surfers and cyclists can replace lost calories by enjoying the best hot chocolate ever in the cafe. 8 Balnakeil, 01971 511233, cocoamountain.co.uk thisisayeWalesHobo's, Swansea I love Hobo's. It's the only place I've ever been where I can buy vintage clothes, a retro bag, the wrapping paper and a card all at once. It's perfect for little off-the-wall gifts and is a hippy's paradise. The 60s-themed decor is very inviting. They also do a 10% student discount ? great for us lot on budgets. For something unique and a little crazy, this is the place to go. 214 Oxford St, 01792 654586, hobosswansea.blogspot.com KaySmytheCheck out our readers' tips on foursquare.comShopping tripsUnited Kingdomguardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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