On the North side of Diagon alley sits Quality Quidditch Supplies, a shop where the British Quidditch teams buy their brooms and where, in Harry's third year, he salivates over a Firebolt. World class, it blows his existing broom, last year's Nimbus 2000, out_ of_ the_ water__.
Fortunately Harry was leery of the tag: 'price on demand' and rightly so. Goblins are involved in the manufacture of the broom's metal work and their enthusiasm for strikes pushes the price into the stratosphere.
Having is tranquility, wanting is eternal.
Edinburgh's Robert Cressers on the North of Victoria Street went one better, he didn't just resell brooms, he made them.
We pass Number 40 Victoria Street, AKA Diagon Alley, on my tours. Robert Cresser's brush and broom shop was opened here in 1873. It was most recently run by Stephen Gilhooly from youth to retirement and back again. In 1996 when he shut up shop locals clamoured for him to get back to work!
Originally the Cresser family lived on the top floor, making brushes & broomsticks on the middle floor and selling them from the ground floor shop.
Each brush was made from a particular type of animal bristle and each one had a distinctive smell. They made boar bristle clothes brushes, wet and dry chimney brooms, silver brushes, telescopic cornice brooms, hog's-hair 'fitches' for artists watercolours, bagpipe brushes. He could make you a Nimbus 2000 to order, the old man said “There's not a broom we can't do”.
In 2004, after 130 years, it was swept away. Replaced by a shop selling T-towels with instructions on how to deep fat fry your Mars Bars. Although some of the Harry Potter memorabilia on their lofty top shelves makes me want to fly.
Creating the cinematic Q.Q.S.
When the set decorator for the Philosopher's stone was stocking Quality Quidditch Supplies, no one on her team was allowed to reveal they were purchasing for the Harry Potter films. So when she put in an order for brooms in bulk and the retailer asked ‘what do you want them all for?’, she said she had a lot of sweeping to do.
Exterior photo from Lost Edinburgh Diagon Alley art sold by Society 6
Comment
Was this blog interesting or useful to you? Could it be bettered? Please react, it encourages me to improve.
indepth
writing 
magic