By Ronan McSherry
A walk down Church Street in Dungannon can be a surreal experience. Two years ago, you could have encountered heavily armed police herding cattle, sheep and a donkey onto a lorry while they also placed an American cop under arrest. Then there is Santa Claus standing between Elvis Presley and Betty Boo while a dog chases Laurel and Hardy up a wall under the watchful eye of an Apache chief.
It is the unique landmark on the corner of Northland Row that is the business of Robert Nash. For the past 20 years, Robert has been selling everything from life-sized plastic goats to wooden roosters and jukeboxes to leprechaun toilet-roll holders. It is the only shop of its type in the North. Alas, the end is nigh, as Robert has decided to wind up his showroom and, as his hero John Wayne would say, "saddle up and ride on out of here."
Originally from Dromore, this colourful character moved to Dungannon in 1980.
"I traded in Union Lane for 12 years selling kitchenware. The business expanded and the diversity of merchandise evolved as I was travelling to shows all over the world and realised there was a market for just about everything. There was nothing like that here and so it took off."
Robert's motto has been, "If you enjoy your work, you never have to work a day in your life."
He continued, "My wife Norma and I visited America and discovered that the still life of animals and other life-size figures is an unforgettable item. Say if someone buys a life-sized cow and puts it in their garden and somebody sees it, they will never as long as they live, forget where they saw it. That landmark will live long in the memory."
The day the law rode in to remove the display from the front of Robert's showroom is certainly one that will live long in the memory of those who witnessed the bizarre event. Robert explained, "We display some items on the footpath and it is lawful as long as the way is not blocked. Out of the blue the local council along with the Roads Service and Police Liaison Committee decided to show their authority. The police arrived with machine-guns, something we hadn't seen in the town for ten years. They confiscated all my stuff off the footpath and I had to pay £90 to get it back. They also managed to damage items as they confiscated them but there was no restitution made for that."
The draconian law-makers went down like a lead balloon with the many supporters of the shop and adversely gave Robert plenty of welcome publicity.
"The general public were up in arms because the children of the whole community loved my display and wouldn't go home from school without their mothers bringing them past my door. It had become an iconic local site and a massive landmark in the town. If someone phones me from Dublin and I tell them I was the guy with the cows and horses on the footpath, they have no problem locating me."
As it turned out, the local stormtroopers were a blessing in disguise.
"What the Roads Service did not realise was they handed me £30,000 of advertising free because of the publicity. It worked out well, a negative turned into a positive. With all the publicity anyone who didn't know I was here before that, knew then."
Robert laughed, "Probably some of the policemen called back later to buy something."
The shop is a wonderful treasure trove of items. At a glance there is a giant pig wearing a chef's hat, a bear's head trophy mounted on a wall, figures climbing to the ceiling, buffalos, antique guns and blunderbusses, dolls and fire items including old-time bellows. That is just at first glance, mind you.
On further investigation Hollywood meets Dungannon. John Wayne, Marilyn Munroe, James Dean, Laurel and Hardy and many other iconic movie greats are represented in portraits, lampshades, statuettes big and small, and depictions from their most memorable starring roles. As well, there is John Wayne in The Quiet Man and his other films, James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and a massive scene of Yul Brynner leading the Magnificent Seven on horse back across the Dungannon store.
Elvis is also presented and the irrepressible Blues Brothers. Robert says, 'The King' will never be dead. There are a lot of Elvis followers in Tyrone, a lot more than people realise. We sold a lot of Elvises to people with private collections. There is an Elvis Fan Club here in Dungannon. They are fanatics and very dedicated to him. They have always kept an eye to what has come into the shop."
"The Duke too is still a legend. John Wayne is one of the best actors ever lived and has not lost his appeal. He is one of the best-selling pieces we have in stock."
It would be impossible to list the diversity of weird and wonderful objects in Robert's store. Add in letterboxes, model London buses, Harley Davidson models, nostalgic telephones, a large conch and a wooden grandfather clock just for starters. Aye, and rocking horses, wooden motor-bikes, water pumps... I could go on but everything it seems comes to an end. Sadly this remarkable shop is about to wind up as well.
On each Saturday from October 28, all the goods will be going under the auctioneer's hammer. As the Von Trapp family sang in another iconic movie, The Sound of Music, "So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye..."
Robert is sad to be winding up the business which has brought so much joy to the lives of others.
"We've had visitors from all over Ireland and Britain, Europe and America. We have welcomed well-known personalities such as snooker star Jimmy White who called a few times and bought memorabilia for his home. It has been a very difficult decision to wind up the operation. I have enjoyed every minute of it."
