A sad loss

I paid a rare visit to Woking Town centre today and was very sorry to read this notice in the window of Harpers photography shop. It turns out it closed at the end of June after nearly a century of trading in Woking, brought  down by the passing of its owner in January and a combination of the effects of lockdown and the reduced footfall since then, and the increasing domination of Internet shopping. The use of camera phones which, ironically, is what I used to take this picture, hasn't helped either of course!  I always found the staff at Harpers very knowledgeable and very friendly. Sadly, I fear that specialist shops like this will become more and more rare.