EAT your heart out B&Q! There might be things that the national DIY chain sells that J. Raines doesn't, but you'd be hard pushed to think of them.

Raines seems a tiny shop on the corner in Middleton in Teesdale - till you go in. No wonder the locals call it the Tardis. It's a warren of little rooms that encompasses much of a traditional ironmongers, electricals shop, decorating shop and gift shop.

With loose nails. How many places still sell loose nails these days?

Carry on past the nails, pipe wrap and plungers and you go up the narrow stairs, lined with clocks, to find yourself faced with fridges and microwaves, as well as paint and papers.

There are garden tools and rat poison, coal scuttles, chimney brushes, christening gifts and copper piping.

Oh yes, and Bad Taste Bears. These cuddly little chaps have anatomical details not normally found on your average teddy bear. Many of them are depicted in, er, interesting situations.

"The one with the sheep is particularly popular round here," says shop owner Christine Mitchell, "And it's not the youngsters who buy them but older women from farming families."

Christine, who used to sell advertising on The Northern Echo, and husband Stephen, time served joiner and former fire fighter, have had the shop for 21years and bought it almost on a whim when they both had other full-time jobs.

"Stephen's mam used to look after it all day and cook our teas before we came home," says Christine gratefully.

In those days, it was just a little one room shop, but Christine and Stephen gradually extended it, took more rooms, opened upstairs, spread into next door...

"People kept asking us for things, so we'd get them in and then we'd have to find a space for them," says Christine.

This means that every single scrap of space is used, with shelves at ankle level to above your head and lots of pots and pans hanging from hooks in the ceiling.

The first time the shop was in this column was when we sent Christine the Bouquet of the Week for getting a customer something when she went down to Leeds. It's a regular sort of thing, really.

"Up here, we're a 40-mile round trip from a big DIY store. It means people are more likely to shop with us, but it also means we have to look after them properly and stock what they need. So if they ask us for something, we always try and get it," explains Christine.

All over the country, traditional ironmonger shops are going the way of bakers, butchers, greengrocers and even pharmacists, swallowed up the big national chains. But the Mitchells continue to flourish, competing well on price and certainly on service.

"Most of our customers are locals, though we get quite a few visitors in, which is good, but they're a bonus really," says Christine.

Visitors and locals both must like tractors. I've never seen so many things with tractors on - teapots, trays, toast racks, mugs, mats and lots of models.

Meanwhile, the shop stock has overflowed onto the pavement - dog baskets, firewood, compost, wheelbarrows, bins, baskets and gnomes.

And above it all, the splendid old fashioned shop sign still says - despite the Mitchells' 21 years' ownership - J Raine and Sons in gold lettering.

"We've got papers in the shop going back to 1875 and we really didn't want to change the name. But when we had the sign re-done, we could find only one person in the region who could do it and he'd retired. So he came out of retirement to do it specially," says Christine.

And he did it so well that visitors frequently stop to take photos of it. And all the stock on the pavement in front of it.

The only thing the big out of town stores have that Raines doesn't is probably space. But that's it.

Just mind your head - and beware of low flying frying pans.

A REMINDER...

That next Wednesday and Thursday is the annual Durham Shopping Extravaganza at Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham.

Fifty stalls, including designer clothing, children's toys and clothes, silver, jewellery, fine foods and charity Christmas cards.

All proceeds this year will go to charities in and around County Durham, including Children North East, Macmillan Cancer Relief and St Cuthbert's Hospice.The extravaganza runs from 10am-4pm on both days. Admission £3.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/features/