RC India

Many of us would have built and flown Mercury Models, the cream of the offering from India Hobby Centre. The Gnome, Magpie, Marauder, Mentor et al gave a lot of thrills.

They were all the creation of Henry J Nicholls, who passed away in September 2000. I cam across his obituary in The Telegraph:

Designer of the first British radio remote control system for model aeroplanes
HENRY NICHOLLS, who has died aged 90, developed the first British radio remote control systems for model aeroplanes and became a leading manufacturer and retailer of model aircraft.
Nicholls had taken up flying model aeroplanes as a child, with aircraft propelled by rubber bands. He built his first model in 1919, and launched it on Parliament Hill in London. He eventually decided to turn his hobby into a profession, and in 1946 opened a model aircraft shop at 308 Holloway Road, Islington, rebuilding the premises from a gutted bomb site.
The Americans had already led the way in developing "hands-free" radio-control systems for model aircraft and during the late 1940s Nicholls, by then a trained engineer, developed the first British system. To begin with, this system, known as the Mercury Cossor, was manufactured under contract by the radio company Cossor; but many of their circuits were faulty and Nicholls found that customers were returning models to his shop.
After a protracted legal battle, Nicholls won compensation from Cossor and in 1948, after launching a new engine - the Alien Mercury diesel engine - founded his own manufacturing company, Mercury Model Aircraft.
Nicholls built Mercury Model Aircraft into an international business, turning out design after design. His models established an unrivalled reputation among enthusiasts for neatness and ease of handling. Customers at 308 Holloway Road included Stewart Grainger, Al Mancini and Sir Basil Spence.
Henry James Nicholls was born on September 11 1909 and educated at University College School, Hampstead, then at University College, London, where he read Metallurgy and Engineering.
A keen jazz musician, Nicholls played the tenor saxophone. On graduating, he set up his own band, the Henry Nicholls Dance Band, which won the All-British Band championship in 1936. They were about to take up residence at the Dorchester when war broke out in 1939.
During the war, Nicholls became Chief Instructor for Southern Command's anti-aircraft batteries, rising to the rank of major. His knowledge of the calibration of proximity fuses on anti-aircraft shells enabled him to play a leading role in combatting German flying bomb attacks on London. The Evening Standard called him "Major Joe Reliable" for his achievement in bringing down more V1 rockets than anyone else.
In 1947, Nicholls became technical secretary of the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers, and, in 1962, president of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale's Models Commission, attending championships in 10 countries. In 1990, he was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Club's Bronze Medal by the Duke of York.
At his home in East Finchley, Nicholls became a champion rose grower. He was also a noted photographer and an accomplished angler, setting a record with a rainbow trout weighing 18 lb 1.75 oz caught at March, Cambridgeshire.
Henry Nicholls married first, in 1938, Dora Parkes, who died in 1977. He married secondly, in 1990, Maureen Duggan, who survives him, together with two sons of his first marriage.

In 1996,
We searched and searched for 308, Holloway Road.
No one had heard of it.
Finally we went to Hamley's, which was ok for the kids, but not for aeromodellers.
I believe 308 Holloway Road has since started again as an aeromodelling shop.

Are there any places left for oldies with memories to go to?