The Orchard

Now this is old school!
From the sweets to the layout — they have pineapple squares, brings me back!
I went in looking for a pot of Ben & Jerry’s, now that is far to fancy for a spot like this so I walked away with a slab of HB vanilla ice-​cream and that shattered any delusions of worldly grandeur and entitlement I felt.
The lad working the night I went in was so friendly and chatty and insisted and bagging up my ice-​cream and sweets in a cute brown bag.

The Orchard is the kinda place that makes me feel like a little child again. You can still get individual sweets here, which I haven’t seen since I was about 5 I think. And the variety of candy they have on offer– wow! The guy behind the counter was really nice and friendly, one of those people who always has time for a wee chat. I really miss this place since I’ve moved and don’t have to walk past it every day anymore.

This was my favourite newsagent as a whipper snapper, stocking all manner of bizarre sugary concoctions, including bizarre and dangerous sounding caffeinated beverages from exotic places like America or England. Plus a full selection of penny sweets and 10p bars.
The Orchard is run by identical twins, so it was always a lot of fun trying to differentiate between the two. We always thought there was a grumpy one and a friendly one, maybe though, it was the same guy and he just suffered from mood swings, perhaps caused by gorging on the sweets and then crashing, who knows?
The Orchard still supplies all manner of sugary treats, maybe not in pennies anymore, but just as deliciously sickening and, I realised for the first time, a great selection of unusual magazines (not adult, just unusual).
It’s my favourite newsagents in Ranelagh, and has been for many’s a moon, so four stars. One removed because, once, about 15 years ago they were mean to me for no reason.

Very cute — they sell individual lollies here, so little kids can come in and order 2 gummi bears. Classic — you don’t see this kind of thing very often anymore.
Just one problem — my after dinner mints were melted in their packet :-(