Orkney Image Library

Aaaaa, remember it weel.Bouncy, wonky floor and all!
And the allure of the electric organs in the back end of the store that were put there to tempt small hands......

Imagine the fuss now if you went to the planners and said 'I want to paint my shop black and red'!

I loved this shop and the A-Team van I got there. After saving for ages I went in and spent what felt like an hour on whether to buy the Knight Rider car or the A-Team van!

I couldn't run round the corner quick enough when I was a kid, to get to Leonards. It was paradise for me and my pal Debbie.

Highlight of a Saturday was a walk around Leonards with Grandad and getting another Corgi car or Airfix model to add to the collection. Oh happy days, where did they go?? Thanks for the memory Sandy.

I remember Leonards well, I had a paper round out of there, which I did after school. I shared it with Ian Croy, he usually did a Saturday

loved the shop when i came in to the mainland when i was a peedie fulla they had so much toys and mrs shearer i think that was her name worked there..

Remember it well ! I was friends with the Leonard family who lived at Park Cottage up Berstane Road, I met them through Orkney Pony Club in the early 1970s

I spent time working here and at Stevenson's when I was a student - such a variety of "stuff".

I remember running up the lane to gaze in wonder at the toys in Leonards upper window. As a peedie boy that was the highlight of a trip to the toon before the war.

Loved the shop too; you never knew what you might find. Always wondered about its name. Can't think of another similarly-named shop, eg The Stevensons, The Croys, The Argos etc. Is there a 'back story' to the name?

It might make a bit more sense if there was an apostrophe before the 'S'.

Not sure I agree with you Neil. To me it's the 'THE' that sticks out like the proverbial canine gonads, and I wondered if there was a particular reason for it. (The full-stop at the end is unusual too.) Incidentally, what an inadequate warning 'Books' and 'Stationers' gave of the temptations lurking within.

Originally, there might have been more than one Leonard! I seem to remember 'Dod' Leonard in the early 1950's (note apostrophe!) and he seemed quite old then.

It could be that 'Books' and 'Sationery' were the original items sold, long before the more recent items of musical instruments. glassware.toys and a thousand other items of modern necessity came along.

Does anyone remember Edwin Work

A wonder house of surprises