Life imitates art

This shop on New Malden High Street is one of those sadly all too rare little gems, the independent DIY store.

The place literally sells everything you could think of in the home improvement/hardware line and if they don't have it in stock they can and will get it for you in a few days. You might pay a little more than at the local DIY megastore but the level of service and knowledge that the two guys who run it can provide make it so much nicer to shop there.

This morning I called in just as they were opening as I needed some white spirit (for external use only!) and a few other bits. There was one other customer ahead of me who proceeded to produce the prongs of broken garden fork from his bag and enquired whether the shop keeper sold handles. I'm afraid I was unable to contain my laughter at the sight of this and fortunately both the customer and the shop keeper were on the same wavelength.

If this means nothing to you then I can only direct you here to one of the BBC's most requested comedy sketches of all time which was one of the televisual touchstones of my generation.

Sadly I didn't have the presence of mind to ask the customer and shopkeeper to pose for a photo - in any event they might have thought me just a little odd. It's also a shame the Kingston Council chose that spot to plant a tree as it rather spoils the shot!