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On the 26th July 2012 at Chatham Dockyard, Bigjigs Toys will be attemping to break The Guiness World Record for the longest wooden toy train track ever laid. They are expecting to use over 10,000 pieces of track to reach their target of 2012 metres which would well and truly beat the excisting record of 1650 metres. Doors will be open at 10am and Bigjigs are promising this to be a fun packed enjoyable family day with games, competitions and a childrens play area and best of all it will be free to members of the public to come along and watch this monumental attempt being made and cheer the team on. This is all being done for charity and Bigjigs are hoping that the public will involve themselves by sponsoring pieces of track at a cost of £1 each with all monies raised being split between the Chatham Dockyard Locomotive Restoration Fun and Demelza House Children's Charity. If you are unable to make it on the day then please follow the link http://www.justgiving.com/bigjigstoy...

On my recent trip to Italy I found the most amazing shop. Actually I think they have more than one shop like this there and that they're designed to Lure in tourists like me but it worked, I was lured in. The whole shop was designed to look like Geppetto's workshop with Pinocchio on the door and wood every where. It even had an old guy behind the counter doing some carpentry. The was a whole wall of clocks some with moving eyes that I can imagine would fascinate a child. Much of what they sold was wooden gifts for children rather than toys as with toy safety laws now you wouldn't be able to just knock up something unique and sell it as a toy. There were lots of personalised items for sale which I bet are really popular judging from how popular are wooden letter trains are. With my love for wooden toys I could have brought the whole shop if it wasn't for the fact that I was sharing a suitcase with my sister and I doubt she would have been impressed if I filled it...

Another grey day in Looe today. The perfect excuse to mosey around the shops instead of just sitting on the beach. A walk along the river and then you wouldn't be able to pass our road. I may be a little biased but I think the best shops in Looe are down our end. On the corner in this photo can you spot the Rodda's Cornish Clotted Cream bucket outside Robbies Ice creams? Us Cornish are fiercely proud of our clotted cream and these ice creams are full of the stuff. All their ice creams are homemade on the premises and they have a huge range of flavours, from classic Vanilla to typically British apple crumble. Then on the end of our row is a clothes shop with some big brands and surf wear. This came in really handy when Adam had to buy a jumper after work as we were heading straight to a party. In the middle of this row of shops is us! I love the reaction when people spot our window. "Oh look at all those lovely traditional toys" "I remember having one of th...

June has so far been another wet and windy month here in Totnes, but lets hope the rain clears for next weekend's festival in Dartington.  Although they've planned this well by organising lots of events for indoors and out with a wet weather option for campers so any possible mud filled tents can be avoided! Home festival is on Fri 22 June & Sat 23 June, with folk & world music, workshops, films, and food & craft stalls for all the family.  It's a celebration and exploration of different cultures and languages, set to feature unplugged sets from a wide range of outstanding UK and international artists, as well as some of the best local talent, including Matthew & Me. Last years festival sold out so make sure you get your tickets asap from the Dartington website.

My name is Renato and I come from Thiene, a nice town not too far from Venice. I'm 17 years old and I'm attending the 4th year of high school. I came here a week ago and I spent my first days in Totnes studying at the Language in Totnes. I found my lessons really helpful, because we studied formal English to be used when you work in a shop. A few days ago I also started working at the Toyday toyshop, a place where you can find lots of old-fashioned toys. I got really impressed because I've never found a place like this in Italy, where you can buy just new toys, and the older ones are getting completely forgotten. My working experience is really nice: I'm working at the desk selling toys to costumers and translating the website in Italian. I think it could be a really useful job, because the shop sells a lot of items on the Internet and my translation could make lots of new Italian costumers. It is a new experience for me, because I've never tried to work in Italy, a...

This video clip shows how a Mattell toy factory worked in the 1950's. I'm sure it would look a bit different today, for a start it would be based in Asia. At the beginning of the clip they show some lovely wind up toys that I wish I could buy but they are probably no longer made due to price or safety restrictions. The video follows the process of bringing a Jack in the Box to the market, thankfully we can still buy similar jack in the boxes. We sell some lovely jack in the boxes which look a lot safer and sturdier than the one filmed. They are still made of metal and look just as retro. They haven't changed the tune either, pop goes the weasel seems to be the classic tune for a jack in the box.

When a box of stock arrives that I haven't seen before it's always exciting but lately there has been something new arriving on almost every delivery. We have been working fast to try and get it all on the website which most of the toys now are. I've already starting thinking about Christmas as there are some great new stocking fillers that Blake will love, I just have to hope he doesn't spot them before. Magnetic crazy faces (the monster version), tadpole to frog flick book , sling shot aeroplane , hair razin hedz ball and a creepeez wall tumbler are a few things on my shopping list this year. It's always hard to not get too carried away when we sell some many fun things. There is a lots of crafty things to keep children entertained this half term while we wait patiently for the sun to come back out. Boys could paint there own racing car while girls mix up there own lip glosses . Do you remember hama beads? Well if you don't it's a perfect rainy d...

The Jubilee week is here and Looe is already busy this morning with the beach starting to fill up when I walked past at 10am. All along the streets, outside every shop and on every boat are flags, bunting and balloons and looks like everyone is making an effort to support the Queen's Jubilee and bring some fun to Looe. There are tasting events along the Quay all weekend where you can sample local produce and test your taste buds and if I get a chance I will be in the queue. Our window has a selection of beautiful wooden toys to celebrate this week with a set of 8 Soldier Skittles in a Bag , a painted red and blue London Bus , our popular London in a Bag , which features  famous landmarks including 10 Downing Street, Tower Bridge, the London Eye and many more, a Coronation Scot Railway Board game to test your skills and many other ideas and games in our Looe and Totnes shops. As I write this the street is becoming busy outside and I know many people will be having pa...