One_Stop_Solution photos on Flickr

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It is the perfect one-stop solution for shooting fashion bloggers, pre wedding shoots and more. Panned across a vast 3 acres of land along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, we're located just a 50 minute drive from the bustling city of Mumbai.

Meet Fred: Hightown Hardware by INNES

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There is a small cluster of shops at Hightown just half a mile from my house. There is a hairdresser, a post office, newsagent, fish and chip shop, an 'oriental' take away, an animal feed store, a pharmacy, a curtain fabric shop and the Hightown Hardware shop. Vitally two pubs are located nearby and the Bargain Booze store.

Hightown Hardware shop is a rarity these days. It is what we called an ironmongers when I was young. These were always an Aladdin's cave full of surprises.

I needed some DIY stuff. Yes, you know I very reluctantly started thinking about decorating a few weeks ago. I drew up a mental list of things I needed. Jumping in the car, I reached the end of our road, and pausing to turn left to go on a roundtrip to go to B&Q in Macclesfield, I suddenly thought, why don't I go to that little shop just half a mile away? And so I turned right and a minute later pulled up outside the shop. Walking in I instantly smelt "THAT" smell, the smell of an ironmongers I always remembered from my childhood. Ahhhh Heaven! It's only a small shop perhaps little more than the floor space of a large sitting room, but it is stacked with rows of shelving from floor to ceiling with ..............stuff! What can't you buy in there? Tools, plumbing materials, vacuum bags, house numbers, paint, shower heads, screws, nuts, bolts, glues. lightbulbs, Christmas lights, axes, rakes, spades, sledges, batteries, gas...gas? Yes, gas. Kitchen and houseware items, gardening products, timber. But Fred, the owner, admitted they don't currently sell horse fodder.

I had to take a look around. I wanted sandpaper. It turned out I could buy it by the sheet not in a pack of a minimum 5 sheets as in B&Q. I wanted three. Then I saw rubber feet in a variety of sizes. I ran outside to get my Manfrotto tripod from the car. Two feet were missing off the bottom of the legs and in seconds I had renewed them all and got some spares. I had a browse of the rest of the shop wishing I would find something else I didn't know I needed until I found myself at the counter, Fred opposite. "What is that ironmongery smell you get when you walk in here?" I said. "Well", he said, he wasn't sure himself. But he did think it was a combination of vapour from white spirit and paraffin...........such an evocative aroma."Ah! Paraffin !" I said "I need some paraffin for our old oil lamp and was wondering where I could get some". And Fred placed a 5 litre plastic jerrican of the stuff on the counter with a smile.

I asked if he would mind if I took a photo and he was happy so I popped out once more to get my camera. In the meantime a lady came in looking for someone to cut some logs and Fred provided her with details of someone who would do that, and also suggested she could have a full sized lumber jack's axe and some wedges to split the logs. Another elegant lady came in looking for a simple plastic paint tray. I was kicking myself I had just bought one for three times the price, with a 20 mile round trip journey on my last visit to B&Q. A man came in looking for some part for his car, and Fred rummaged in some boxes, and eureka came out with just what the man needed.

It's fascinating to watch the customers come in. None of this self service nonsense. They wait patiently to speak to Fred and say what they are looking for, or need, and then stand and wait for him to conjure up just what's required.

We're so lucky to have this gem so near, right under our noses. I've been a fool too long heading to the supposed one stop solution B&Q superstore. And B&Q doesn't smell like an ironmongers.

I was just frustrated my informal portrait skills deserted me and I couldn't get Fred nice and sharp.

Business Link Document clearing by muhammadasif5102 asiii

Business Link is a one stop solution for business setup services which a new entrepreneur required. Business Link also provide attestation, document clearing, legal translations, visa processing and lot more.

Couple Tattoo by Tanay Kumar Das

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Your One Stop Solution to all your Tattoo Needs!Get information on all types of tattoo designs and art.Other General tattoo advices and tips also available.

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