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Time stood still in Beccles!


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Was wandering in Beccles and came across Mr Tilney's gunsmith shop

 

Fantastic, I was transported back a 100 years!

 

Lovely to see, only in Suffolk !!

Are there any other shops stuck in time or is this the only one?

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Try Richardsons Halesworth too. They have a shop strewn with guns/parts and it never ceases to amaze me how my guns always seem to come back serviced, in one piece and without someone else's bits. A lovely experience.

 

I have used Robert Tilney but got slightly brassed off with the amount of time he spent out shooting! Tried to see him a few times and shutters up. Now tend to go to Halesworth.

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have used leon in halesworth for the last 16 years..........i was up there last month picking the aya up after having pins made up for it.......those boys never change,....its always very confusing when i go there as you have to multi task....have 3 different conversations with 3 people at the same time....always come out of the shop totally befuddled...

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Is it just me or do gunshops always have 1 or two older gents in there that don't actually work there just seem to be part of the furniture, they normally have a wealth of knowledge on all things shooting too!

I went in that gun dealers in Chester (which was pretty naff to be honest) but there were the obligatory 'old boys' chewing the cud and passing round some bullet moulds in the back room, and in Lakeland Guns Ian has installed a settee and armchair for people to sit and chinwag while they have a brew between perusing the wares. With the Carnegie tea rooms just across the road serving full English breakfasts it is a marvellous way to start the day. Just drop off your guns in the shop and cross the road for breakfast. :yes:

I always thought York Guns was a bit of a proper gunshop when it was in the city centre; haven't visited it's present location. I can't think of one around here that is frozen in time unfortunately, as they are great places to visit.

We had a garage like in town that until last year when the owner, a fabulous bloke and proper mechanic, unexpectedly and long before his time, died.

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There was once an Anglia TV programme about Robert Tilney's dad which might be out there somewhere. I think the firm goes back at least two generations.

While you can understand the reasons for gunsmiths moving out to indistrial estates - Jason Harris, Phil Webster, Dave Shipman for example in the east - these places will take years to mature.

 

I recall one Saturday in Andy Cochrane's old shop on the North Brink in Wisbech, some time in the seventies. Andy, I , and two other chaps got so engrossed in discussing something or other that one of them went next door to the Red Lion for pints all round on a tray. It seemd quite normal back then.

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I knew the old Mr Tilney and he, in a lot of peoples opinion was far better at training gun dogs ( and very successful in field trials ) than he was as a gun smith .

 

And as already mentioned Richardsons of Halesworth take some beating for going back in time with a punt gun hanging on the wall and guns stacked in most corners of the shop .

 

I once went in to get the estates cartridges and after twenty minutes of yarning and the offer of a cup of tea, neither of the three people in the shop had asked me what I was after , lovely people and well worth a visit .

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I visited tilneys about 5 years ago and as you say a bygone age with guns all over the place window displays og old sxs etc

 

Anyway poped in and whilst talking mentioned the navy so he dived in this pile and brought out a Lanchester and said do you remember these, ( jolly jack with a Lanchester plus 18 inch bayonet was the most dangerouse thing in the world, if dropped it would fire off all I think 30 round in the mag in one go)

 

Next he brought out a blunderbuss which had brass barrel but found out to be a exact replica but still black powder I seem to remember

 

It would be nice to go back and chin wag again but seldom open when I pass through

 

Sort of place I imagine wabitbosher has, a aladin's cave

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