End for Maplins?

[Brian Spearing]

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 02/03/2018 16:28:02:

It's an institution in Derby. Are there similar shops elsewhere?

There’s Gee’s in Cambridge **LINK**

[Alan Jarvis]

Wish I had ESR and Gees near me. However I will give ESR first choice on my purchases providing postage is reasonable.

[Brian Dorricott 1]

Don't forget J Birkett Lincoln that's still going and a treasure trove of bits you barely new were still around , lots of new parts that were first new in the 1940s . It has resolutely avoided having a modern webpage just a page with opening hours etc . Bought old round ammeters from him years ago came wrapped in greaseproof WD cardboard boxes - lovely .

[Cuban8]

If anyone knows North London, then they'll remember Frank Mozer..................interesting memories here **LINK**

[Don Fry]

Newport, Gwent had Charlie Marks.

Until 2013 when it went online only.

[Glyn44]

It was Mays of Churchgate in Leicester. They had two outlets, on opposite sides of the road (town centre) one sold the TVs, radios, toasters etc. and the other components, cabling etc.

Along with Geoff, I got all my stuff via work as an apprentice at AEI. Disappeared some time ago.

[Alan H]

Many years ago when I was a lad and RCM&E had real electronic projects in every issue I used to be a regular visitor to Watts Radio in the Apple Market in Kingston Upon Thames. I can't remember when it closed but I think it was some time in the 1980's. It was a Mecca for home electronic enthusiasts and staffed by people who actually new something.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by Cuban8 on 03/03/2018 10:13:46:

If anyone knows North London, then they'll remember Frank Mozer..................interesting memories here **LINK**

Popped in there on several occasions when I used to work around North London in the late 70s/80s. It seemed that every town had at least one component and/or surplus electrical/electronic stock dealer.

We made the pilgrimage to Lisle Street in the West End a few times when I was in my teens where there were numerous establishments of these types. It was curious that it also seemed to be a hotbed of model related activity but the ladies that answered the doorbells that advertised models didn't seem to have any idea of what DC Merlins or Kiel Kraft Snipes were...

Edited By Martin Harris on 03/03/2018 12:12:22

[PatMc]

Posted by John Privett on 02/03/2018 21:29:13:

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 02/03/2018 16:28:02:

It's an institution in Derby. Are there similar shops elsewhere?

I've no idea if it's still there, but 'back in the day' (I'm thinking 1970's) Aitken Bros. was a shop that sounds very similar in Newcastle.

Tucked away down a little back lane off Bigg Market they sold electronic components and some larger electronic gear. It was a tiny shop, somewhat in the style of the "four candles" (Two Ronnies) shop with a counter and lots of shelves and drawers behind it. The knowledgeable staff there would turn to these drawers, get you your 1k 1/4W resistors, couple of 2N29296's, a BC109, some ceramic capacitors etc. etc. and quickly have you on your way to build whatever it was you were building. Always busy, but never too long to wait to be served.

They were of course a little more expensive than the mail order shops of the day - Electrovalue was the one I used a few times - but not too much more, and somewhat quicker. I recall Tandys opening a shop in an expensive shopping centre in Newcastle and I had to laugh at their prices when I first went in there for a look. 1/4W resistors would be about 1p each from Electrovalue, maybe 1.5p or 2p from Aitken Bros, but from Tandys you had to buy a pair of them on a blister-pack card for something like 30 or 40p! I feel Maplin headed in that sort of direction too...

[EDIT] Well, I'm not altogether surprised, but a quick "google" took me to this picture (from April 2011) and the following text;

"Until recently, this was the famous Aitken Brothers electronics store. Everything from a resistor to an an oscilloscope was obtainable here. Latterly it had morphed into disco balls and boom box mixers. Part of the Newcastle scene vanished with the demise of first one and then the second of the brothers and their quirky, yet popular store."

Edited By John Privett on 02/03/2018 21:34:40

IIRC apart from Atken's there was a similar shop in the Bigg Market next to the, now also defunct, camera shop.
As your link shows Aitken's shop was in High Bridge. For a few years when I worked in the Toon it was from an office/workshop in High Bridge but on the other side of Grey street. I spent many a lunch break picking up components from Aitken's then making single channel Rx's etc back at the workshop.

[John Privett]

High Bridge - that's it, Pat!

I couldn't remember the name of the lane. I could have looked on a map I guess, but you got there first!

I think I know the camera shop (now defunct, you say?) opposite High Bridge in the Bigg Market. Was it Bonsers? I bought a second-hand Canon AE-1 there shortly after I graduated and could afford to splash out the necessary funds. All through my university years using a Zenit E SLR I had my eye on the AE-1 and bought one as soon as I could afford it. Both cameras served me well. What I don't recall is another electronics shop there. Maybe before my time!

[Former Member]

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[Former Member]

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[Cuban8]

Yep also had a Zenit -E camera but it suffered from a sticky shutter, so I chopped it in for a Pentax. Still have my Russian Cosmic 35 which was my first 35mm camera (non-SLR) at about age 14. Bought it from the USSR trade shop somewhere in London's west end (forgotten where it was exactly) for a fiver. Totally manual (including a timer) and it gave excellent results.

Sorry, a bit off topic.............

Edited By Cuban8 on 03/03/2018 18:00:34

[Former Member]

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[Gary Manuel]

My first camera was a Zenit-E. Some of my best shots were taken with this camera. I used it for years even though I had better cameras as well. I got some grit / sand in the shutter - tried to strip it down and fix it and that was the end of that.

In some ways, it was a much better photographers camera than modern offerings. You needed to think about what you were doing - not just let the camera do the work. Wouldn't swap it for my Nikon D7100 though!

Oh and back on topic - another great electronics / gadget / everything shop that went under last year was Bardwell's of Sheffield. I'm sure the 3 guys in the photo were serving the last time I visited.

Edited By Gary Manuel on 03/03/2018 19:46:24

[kc]

In the late 1950's to early 60's Tottenham Court Road was the place for radio stuff, or Dukes of Manor Park. All full of amazing exWD radio that was never quite what you wanted but cheap & almost irresistable. Now you see the same gear in Bletchley Park computer museum.

Then electronic stuff in the later 60's -70's came from LST Components or Bi PrePack which seem strangely similar to the later Maplin adverts. Essex based so maybe the staff started Maplin? But the point about all these shops was the staff were knowledgeable and Maplin still seem to be -at least in the component section.

[Former Member]

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[Former Member]

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[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Leica?

[Howard Winwood]

just clicked on the link to Bardwells and would you believe it, the guy in front of the counter is me. Used to use Bardwells a lot, especially in the 70's and 80's. Guys behind the counter were great, always had a laugh.

I remember them gluing a pound coin to the floor in front of the counter, and laughing at the antics of customers trying to pick it up discreetly.

It was at its best when the old man ran it, loads of army surplus gear.

Lots of good memories, sad to see them go.

[jrman]

Praktica ?

[Denis Watkins]

The Russians did copy the Leica, with the FED, but using German optics meant it was a class act, despite being a relatively rough copy

I still use my Practica JR, they are making a comeback

Pictures were a bit more " considered " when you knew that you had only 24 or 36 frames to go.

Now we can click clack 500 digital off over Barkston weekend

[Tony Harrison 2]

Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 03/03/2018 17:48:00:

I too had a Zenit camera, a bit cheap and chunky but gave excellent results.

Can't resist commenting on this O/T though it might be: in a former life I was in retail management with Dixons, and we sold thousands (millions?) of Zenits. They were truly awful. If you and others had one that worked and kept working, well done! Rubbish materials and poorly asembled - remember, this was a product of the USSR, which built its weaponry well but consumer goods didn't matter... A very high proportion of Zenits sold used to come back, and were often chucked away instead of trying to repair them. Tat - like much other flimsy, ill conceived, badly made, overpriced stuff sold at the time by Dixons...

Re Maplins, I see others have recalled Tandy Shops - when that outfit closed, it was a loss, used to love wandering around and seeing all sorts of components and tools one just couldn't find elsewhere. To some extent Maplins filled this gap, especially for cool small tools. Clearly they took a wrong turn and over-reached themselves, tried to do/sell too many different things. Pity.

[Tony Harrison 2]

Posted by Denis Watkins on 04/03/2018 10:18:32:

The Russians did copy the Leica, with the FED, but using German optics meant it was a class act, despite being a relatively rough copy

I still use my Practica JR, they are making a comeback

Pictures were a bit more " considered " when you knew that you had only 24 or 36 frames to go.

Now we can click clack 500 digital off over Barkston weekend

 

The Fed [think it was "Fed 4L"] was only a very general sort of copy, in the simplest terms, of the Leica. It could never, ever be considered in the same breath as a Leica. The glass (think it was Soviet not E.German) could be quite good for a cheap camera, but quality control on Soviet stuff was very bad indeed, quite apart from shortcomings in manufacture.

The only genuine high-quality copies of the Leica were made in England! Check out the Reid III, built here using machinery seized from Germany as war reparations: fitted as standard with a Ross (or maybe a TTH?) lens that was itself a copy of the original Leitz glass, it was as least as good as the original - and some thought even slightly better... I handled quite a few back in the '70s, wish I'd bought one and kept it, beautiful cameras.

I'm a professional and believe me, pictures are just as "considered" now as when using film! I went 100% digital around 13 years ago, after moving slowly into it over the preceding 2-3 years. Unlike a very few (mostly non-pros) I am not nostalgic for film at all, though in a way it's a shame to have lost so many craft skills associated with it.

Edited By Tony Harrison 2 on 04/03/2018 10:52:54

Edited By Tony Harrison 2 on 04/03/2018 10:53:19

[kc]

It was Zeiss who got caught in the Eastern Zone and their Contax camera making equip got shipped off to Russia. In the post war era there was Zeiss in East Germany still making cameras and Zeiss Ikon in West Germany. Both parts of Germany made high quality cameras in that era. The Russian made Contax 2 and 3 clones were branded KIEV and were considered adequate but not quite up to the German standard. Same with Leica copies - Fed and Zorki but they were based on the older screw thread Leica and not the later (1950) bayonet Leica M series.

Interesting to note that up until the mid 1960's camera imports into Britain for normal buyers were restricted to under 20 pound retail ( approx) to give UK camera makers a chance. Only professionals could buy Leica etc! But those in the know took a holiday and brought in a camera paid duty and then sold at a profit, so you could buy secondhand Leica etc but not new. High quality British camera flourished only until that situation changed - so the Reid ( Leica 3F improved copy) and the MPP Microflex and Microcord ( Rollei Rollieflex and Rolleicord improved copies ) were available. Reid cameras were made by Reid & Sigrest who also made aicraft & components I believe.

( the improved copies were mostly just flash synchro sockets installed on the pre war designs )

Edited By kc on 04/03/2018 11:27:55