Toy shop owner Louise Heard: ‘Living in a city is like time travel’

Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop is one of the oldest shops in London…and Louise Heard has been involved with it for than 30 years.

She began working there in 1985 aged 15, initially only coming in on Saturdays to do odd jobs like “sorting through doll’s eyes”.

When ex-owner and Coronation Street actor, Peter Baldwin, died in 2015 she took over, and ever since has kept the shelves stocked with nostalgic toys like wind-up music boxes and toy theatres.

Louise Heard reveals her favourite haunts, memories, pet hates and everything in between with Robert Elms.