On a trip to the local supermarket a couple of weeks ago I discovered an antiques shop I’d never noticed before even though it’s been there for months, apparently. I bought a 580-page, half-leather-bound, gold-embossed book called The Universe for just a pound. It’s a very late 1909 edition of a book that was first published in French in 1865, but it’s still a pretty good bargain. The shop is called Loopy’s “Antique – Modern – Retro” and it’s right opposite the Crewkerne branch of Lidl… and equally good value.

read more Retro-Forteana: Frog Falls, Dragons and the Universe.