Mark the owners Musical Journey

I suppose my collecting started when I was about 11 years old.

I lived with my family above a pub in Caterham, Surrey, called The Caterham Arms, which my dad owned. Dad was quite an unusual character because he liked owning things — and that included a jukebox in the private bar.
Of course, if you owned a jukebox, you had to keep changing the records.
Every week or so, Dad would buy the latest records that were appearing in the charts, and my brother and I would get the singles he had finished with. I still have some of those records today.
I think the first two I kept were The Tams – “Hey Girl” and Tammy Lynn – “I'm Gonna Run Away with You.”
Those early 45s were really the beginning of my collecting journey, and I've never lost my love for the 7-inch 45 RPM Singles.

THE CATERHAM ARMS Caterham Surrey.
Growing up in the pub probably had just as much influence on my musical tastes as the jukebox did.
Dad had bands playing during the week. Thursday nights were often country and western, while Fridays could be almost anything.
I remember one punk band turning up one night, swearing and causing a bit of chaos. Dad wasn't impressed. He simply turned the electricity off and told them to leave — in no uncertain terms!
Looking back, it was a pretty interesting place to grow up if you loved music.

FROM 45s TO EVERYTHING MUSIC

As I got older, I played in various rock bands and eventually my brother and I ran a discotheque together, until he went into the RAF.
I've really been collecting ever since.
Over the years that has meant LPs, vinyl, 45s, 78s, CDs, tapes, memorabilia and pretty much anything else connected with music.
I've always enjoyed buying things, finding things and, just as importantly, learning about them.
I got involved with eBay very early in the 1990s, back when it was actually free to sell things. People would send you money CASH— and sometimes even cheques — through the post!

BUDE AND MY FIRST RECORD SHOP

I moved down to Bude in the 1980s, and by the mid-1990s I decided to open a little record shop in Julia's Arcade, along The Strand in Bude.
That was a really important part of my musical journey. I was able to combine collecting, buying, selling and meeting other people who loved music.
Eventually, family circumstances and other work meant that I moved to Bridport in Dorset.
In 2002, I took everything out of the shop and went back online, selling records and other items through places such as Amazon and eBay.

BACK INTO THE SHOP

Then, around 2016–17, I became involved with Roy Gregory and we started what became Clocktower Music.
Roy and I were partners in the business at the beginning, although eventually we decided to go our separate ways.
I continued with my other work, including running my pet shop, Animal House, in Bridport.
Then came the opportunity to take on Bridport Music Centre.The previous owners, Piers and Stephanie retired after 45 years. The New owners Benny and Jane bought the shop at 33A South Street, but COVID arrived not long afterwards and made running a retail business incredibly difficult.
Running a shop isn't easy. There are days when you can sit there for hours without seeing anyone, only for somebody to walk through the door five minutes before closing and make a purchase.
That's retail!
Eventually, Benny and Jane decided to move on, and I took over the shop in September 2022.

BRIDPORT MUSIC CENTRE TODAY

Since then, we've been building the business and doing what we've always loved — buying, selling and talking about music.
The shop has continued to grow, and eventually we reached the point where the music shop was simply bursting at the seams, while the pet shop needed less space.
So, after a bit of thought, we decided to swap the two businesses around.
Today, Bridport Music Centre is at 8 South Street, opposite Bucky Do and the Town Hall.
Animal House has moved down to 33A South Street, next to the Electric Palace and Coo's & Banjo.
And so, after all these years, I'm still doing what I started doing when I was 11 years old:
buying records, selling records, collecting records and, most importantly, enjoying music.
Some things never change.

57 years Collecting and I have only just Started !!!