Our roots were as a camping shop based in Littlehampton, Sussex, on the south coast of England alongside the beautiful chalk Downs. Since the beginning in 1986 our policy has always been to stock spares for the products we sell which originally included camping stoves and lamps. Over time we became the main supplier for traditional stove spares in the South as other businesses moved to stocking ga
s stoves. In the early 1990's we acquired the entire stove spares stock from a wholesaler who was also moving away from traditional stoves. We built a basic Website and offered parts to customers outside of our local area. We were contacted by stove and lamp enthusiasts all over the World, keen to keep their favorites going or get them back into service again. The spares side of the business moved out of the shop and upstairs to a separate office and store to cope with picking and packing of the orders. Stocking of lamp glass led to inquiries for oil lamp chimneys which were added to the range. This led to enquiries for oil lamp wick which was also added...! Then the local Garden Centre decided to end selling wicks and parts for paraffin heaters and, as we sold wicks already, we purchased their stocks and took over those customers too..! Our range of liquid fuel spares grew as did the Website and an increasing amount of time was being spent on helping and advising customers with traditional stoves, lamps & heaters. Major Town Centre development dealt a serious blow to the camping business followed one year later by the Foot & Mouth disease outbreak which closed campsites, footpaths & holiday centres across the Country. The camping shop was unable to continue despite eighteen months of struggling to survive. After a sale the remaining camping stock was sold to Ockendens, a 200 year old Hardware business just next door, who turned this into a small camping department in their own store. Behind Ockendens was an unused area with a room right at the top of the building, referred to as 'The Loft'. After the disposal of our shop this became our office and renamed the 'Lamp Loft'. In September 2006 we bought all our stock under one roof with a shop and storerooms in an old bakery building in Littlehampton just off the High Street. The shop had the largest display of unrestored lamps, stoves and heaters in the country and was viewed by hundreds of enthusiasts over the years. In 2019 time came again to move premises, 175 miles away in Cambridgeshire. A warehouse was found just outside Peterborough and gradually all the stock has been transferred. The Museum items are still in storage until we are properly settled. However we remain a small family business working hard to help our customers. Our stocks continue to grow though we strongly resist moving far out of our core range of liquid fuel stove, lantern, lamp & heater spares. Our aim and policy:-
Our main aim is to provide a complete range of parts for current and obsolete paraffin products with a leaning towards outdoors and leisure. The area of blowlamps is out of our sphere although we stock a number of parts which do cross over. Orders are picked, packed and despatched usually within three days, customers are not charged until the package is sent for despatch. The obsolete nature of much of our stock means we cannot just order another fifty 'widgets' for a 1930 'Pump & Splutter patent stove'. Parts have to be sourced, found or made which can sometimes mean they disappear from stock for months or even years..! Our Webpages are updated regularly with out of stocks and our 'News' page will give progress on problem items. Surplus or wrongly ordered parts can be returned for exchange or refund, we do not issue credit notes and are glad to get rare spares back for other customers. Postage and packing materials are a major expense and cannot generally be refunded. If the error is our fault, (incorrect picking, packing shortages, faulty parts for example), then we will bear the cost of the postage to correct the mistake. Above all, we are here to help and love to hear from customers old and new. Even after 30 years we are still amazed and enthralled every week with the precious items and stories our customers share with us. If we talk too much when you call, just tell us and we will stop! We know sometimes customers have a busy life but it is perhaps a little sad in this modern age we can’t spend a little time talking and getting to know each other better ?
