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the Prisoner Shop - Portmeirion
When Max Hora left Portmeirion, many of us thought that it would also be
the end of a Prisoner Shop in the Village. It came as something of a
surprise then that Portmeirion themselves intended to reopen the shop. To
some society members, this was seen as the end of the World, to others
(myself included) possibly a brave new World?...
The photographs on this page (taken Spring 1999, above) certainly didn’t
give too much of a clue as to how the shop would eventually turn out but
my first visit to the newly reopened shop in May last year convinced me
that Portmeirion had got it just about right. Admittedly, there’s no Max
and no real link to Six of One (though they do have flyers on how to join
on display) but the shop is certainly impressive with it’s bright lights
and shiny displays. For the first time you can now get a ready piped
blazer - just need a convention at which you can wear it now, don’t you?!!
The shop has an interesting array of Prisoner goodies ranging from cheap
and cheerful to elegant and downright expensive. If you must have every
Prisoner souvenir going, then you’ll probably need to save hard before
paying a visit!
There is also an impressive display of Prisoner memorabilia loaned by
people from the area who appeared as extras in the TV series. This is a
nice touch. One of the ladies who works in the shop, Heulwen, was herself
an extra in the Prisoner.
There are also two computer stations in the shop where visitors can surf
the net, particularly Portmeirion’s own site and other linked village and
Prisoner websites including Six of One. Naturally, I had to try this and
you can probably guess which website I left up on the screen when I left
the shop!
The variety of goods is quite wide and grows as Portmeirion get the rights
to produce further items from Carlton. Remember those great white
t-shirts with the colour pennyfarthing logo on them that Max sold years
ago? Well, the same logo (though admittedly, not quite as bright in
colour) is now available on a black t-shirt for £9.99. Another nice
little item is a tiny pin badge featuring a small Number Six pennyfarthing at
just £1.00. So, you pays your money and you takes your choice (literally!). To some, this will never be as good as the old shop but judging by the numbers of visitors who have crammed into it on each of my visits, the new Prisoner Shop is a great success. It is also a firm affirmation of the publicity that the Prisoner has given to Portmeirion and acknowledgement that many people are drawn to the Village each year primarily because the series was filmed there. |
