Finding The Curiosity Shop
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Out of all the series which featured the curiosity shop as the starting and ending point of every series only Wonders In Letterland features scenes outside of the shop. The inside of the shop was a set (used throughout the subsequent series and last seen in T. Bag and the Rings Of Olympus). The starting scene of Wonders In Letterland was filmed using the exterior of a shop in Twickenham in London. Debbie is seen walking down towards the shop, crossing the road and entering the shop after being beckoned in by the clown puppet. As she is entering the shop we can briefly see the Milestone & Collis estate agent over the road from the shop.
The shop as seen in the episode in 1985
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The shop in 2007
The shop is still there in Twickenham and I've got some photographs of the shop exterior - it has hardly changed (maybe only a lick of paint). The door is still the same and so is the window. Have a look at the photographs below in comparison to the shots from Wonders In Letterland.
When the scene was filmed for Wonders in Letterland the shop was called 'Papillon Toys' which opened in 1982 but closed in 2008.
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The shop in 2025
The shop is now part of the restaurant Osteria Pulcinella which occupies the adjoining property of 36 Church Street, there are tables and chairs outside so customers can enjoy alfresco dining.
Photographs of what it looks like can be seen below alongside the Milestone & Collis estate agent also seen in the episode.
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More information...
If you want to go see the curiosity shop, the address is:
37 Church Street
TWICKENHAM
TW1 3NR
If you want to find out more about the shops on Church Street please visit churchstreetoftwickenham.org.
Many thanks goes to Paul for finding the shop (after searching through half of London) and for his photographs from 2007 of the shop.
The High-T Website