W H Smith, Colwyn Bay - 2 July 2013

The towns of North Wales feature in their architecture some often intricate iron and glass work. The first example which caught my eye was in Station Road, Colwyn Bay, a street disfigured on the day of my visit by a weekday market. The proliferation of tatty stalls prevented me from getting a full shot of this shop. The stained glass commemorates (l-r) Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens and I wondered at first if the building had formerly been a theatre although, on reflection, those named are not all immediately associated with plays. The inside of the shop, however, is remarkable, the walls and ceiling revealing a past which staff thought might have been a courtroom. Although faded, it is quite unlike any other W H Smith I have been in to.

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