Grasmere Gingerbread, Cumbria
Church Cottage, Grasmere, Ambleside, grasmeregingerbread.co.uk
At this quirky shop, the gingerbread recipe hasn't changed since the late 1800s when it was established here. It is exceptionally delicious – one taste and you'll work out why founder and cook Sarah Nelson kept the recipe in a bank vault for years. Look out, too, for the rum butter (£2.50 for a 6oz jar), another local speciality.
Hogspear, Shaftesbury
Mustons Mews, hogspear.com
This Dorset-based military dealer specialises in genuine vintage British and overseas army, navy and air force uniforms and accessories from centuries past, as well as books, weapons and war photography. Early 19th-century livery coat from the Royal House of Hanover, £320.
The Mystic Moon Shop, Nottingham
29 Hall Street, Sherwood, themysticmoonshop.com
Soroya Cordery runs a number of workshops from her new-age shop in Sherwood, including tarot card reading and "dragon spirituality". Paraphernalia from healing crystals and packs of tarot cards to pagan jewellery are also on sale here.
The Garlic Farm, Isle of Wight
Mersley Lane, Newchurch, Sandown, thegarlicfarm.co.uk
This is a farm dedicated to growing, making and selling all things garlic. Pick up some homemade/home-grown garlic products, including oak-smoked garlic butter (£3.60 for 200g) and a bunch of the largest member of the garlic family - colossal elephant garlic (pictured, £4.20 a bulb), or even garlic beer (£3.50 for a 500ml bottle).
Pretty Eccentric, Brighton
Meeting House Lane, prettyeccentric.co.uk
This quirky boutique specialises in unusual and eye-catching fashion, from handbags shaped like strawberries (£149) to cufflinks made from old 1920s watches (£50).
Murder and Mayhem bookshop, Hay-on-Wye
5 Lion Street, hay-on-wyebooks.com
In the town of Hay-on-Wye, which is famous for its array of bookshops and literary festival, sits Murder and Mayhem – an extravagantly decorated bookshop dedicated to crime, detective and horror fiction. Forgotten gems include early editions of John Rhode's Mystery at Greycombe Farm, Leslie Charteris's The Saint series and Operation Julie by Dick Lee and Colin Pratt
Tam Shepherd's Trick Shop, Glasgow
33 Queen Street, tamshepherds trickshop.co.uk
Whoopee cushions, fake dog poos, silly wigs, costumes and tricks ... if only all the youth of today were satisfied with such harmless-but-ever-so-slightly-naughty fun. One of the UK's oldest joke shops, Tam Shepherd's is a family-run business more than 100 years old, now managed by Roy Walton, a magician for 50 years.
The Cat and Cauldron, Glastonbury
7 Market Place, witchcraftshop.co.uk
Basic magic practice workshops are offered at this unique witchcraft shop in the heart of Glastonbury, as well as a range of magical Wicca, Druid and Voodoo healing supplies.
Roys of Wroxham, Norfolk
Visitors to Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads may sail away with a gnawing sense of deja vu. The town's buildings are covered with the repeated branding of Roys of Wroxham, the self-styled "World's Largest Village Store". With the town's entire retail market, from lingerie to ironmongery, pretty much covered, it's the kind of monopoly usually reserved for board games.
Regalos western store, Blackpool
256-258 Dickson Road, linedancing-shop.co.uk
Iron-on diamante transfers saying "dance", replica holsters, spurs, western ankle boots and cowboy boots... If it's a deep south cowboy kind of vibe you're looking for, head on down to Blackpool, y'all, to Regalos, a specialist line-dancing shop.
Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors, Hackney, London
11 Mare St, viktorwyndofhackney.co.uk
This quirky curiosity shop attempts to recreate a 17th-century "Wunderkabinett" – a collection of strange and rather dark objects, including taxidermy, artificialia, disturbing and bizarre objects such as skulls, trophy animal heads, creepy dolls, fossilised fish, and even an old-fashioned nitrous oxide dispenser used by midwives. Even the looters up the road were too frightened to take anything.
Exotic Pets Cumbria, Carlisle
39 Wigtown Road, exoticpetscumbria.co.uk
Pygmy hedgehogs, frogs, snakes, insects and all kinds of amphibians are for sale at this exotic pet shop – it also sells related products so you can care for your new friends, including, we presume, a lead for walking your new giant centipede.
Compiled by Jessica Edwards, Johanna Derry and Vanessa Morrish. See also: nothingtoseehere.net and theukcuriosityblog.com
