Sucking gob-stoppers, chewing fruit salads and having sherbet flying saucers melt in your mouth are memories most of us have grudgingly accepted belong to days gone by.

Just the mention of sugar mice, candy necklaces and rhubarb and custards can spark sweet memories of happy times with old friends.

The demise of favourite sweets - including candy sticks, bulls' eyes and cola bottles - is a common topic among men debating important issues over a beer.

But the opening of a new traditional sweet shop means people no longer have to yearn for the past and can treat themselves to the real thing.

Since opening two weeks ago Ba Humbug has become a popular haunt for the sweet-toothed of all ages.

The shop, which is inside outdoor-clothing store Out in the High Street, Steyning, boasts a colourful feast of sweets lined up in tall jars.

Sherbet lemons, chocolate raisins, small chewy millions, toffee crumble and candy canes tantalise passers-by.

Schoolchildren line up outside waiting their turn to buy themselves a well-earned treat on their way home.

Barry Goodman, 53, decided to become a real-life Willy Wonka after hearing people nostalgically talk about Betty's - a traditional sweet shop in the village which closed four years ago.

He and his wife, Nicky, 44, wanted to use spare space in their shop, where they have been for about 18 months, for another venture.

He said: "We put signs up in the window to get people to list their favourite sweets and we got a fantastic list. People came in and shouted names.

"One girl went round her friends at school and came in with a huge list. We used all this to decide on our orders and we've just gone from there.

"The area we have the sweets in is quite small but it's so colourful and with the spotlights on them the kids are often taken aback by what they see and can take ages trying to choose.

"We have a real mix of people coming in. During the day it varies but at about 3.30 when the schools break but it gets a bit hectic. It's surprising he number of children who know the old sweets and everybody who comes in reminisces or has a story to tell about one sweet or another - it's a real pleasure."

Chocolate raisins, humbugs, cherry lips, Kendal mint cake, fudge, and bonfire toffee are among the delights, along with cherry lines, candy canes bubble gum and cola or cherry fizzies.

Barry's stepson Jack, 13, helps fill Retro Bags, which are stuffed with some of the classics such as flying saucers, black jacks and sherbets.

Barry said: "The first Saturday we were open somebody dropped off the Steyning Strikers Football team outside and they all came in.

We've all kinds of traditional sweets and they're so colourful that they normally speak for themselves. It has just been fantastic."

Friday, February 17, 2006