Southport

Forty-one years in the same Southport shopping centre, selling fountain pens and doing the trade that goes with them — servicing and repairs at the counter, engraving, monogramming and calligraphy by hand. Montblanc, Montegrappa, Pelikan and Graf von Faber-Castell on the shelves, alongside glass dip pens, quills, bottled ink and Traveler's Company notebooks from Japan. The setting is a level-one mall shopfront. The servicing is the reason to go.

This family-run shopfront specialises in self-watering plants, pre-made terrariums and self-watering bonsais, aimed at making greenery thrive with little daily maintenance. Alongside ready-made pieces, hands-on workshops let visitors build their own terrarium ecosystems, while gift cards and pre-made designs suit those after an easy, beautiful present.