IF Father Christmas set up his grotto in The Tardis, the result would probably look a lot like Connelly's. From the outside, Connelly's toy shop on The Bank, in Barnard Castle, looks pretty small. But once you're inside it, room leads to room leads to room. And in every room, shelves are crammed from floor to ceiling with just about every toy you can think of. There are Beyblades and Bionicles; train sets and Turtles; My Little Pony, bikes, bats, balls and fishing sets; jigsaws, board games, dolls, drums, roller skates and hula hoops.

There are toys you recognise instantly from your own childhood and others that you probably need a PhD - or to be eight years old - to fathom out.

The assistants all look happy and cheerful ("Who wouldn't, working in a place like this?" asks one) and there's a daft dog that keeps getting trodden on but seems remarkably good-tempered all the same.

When proper, privately-owned toy shops are a dying breed, it is a fine example of what a toy shop should be - not least because Pauline Connelly is an instant source of all wisdom and knowledge. Well, about toys at least.

You want something for a sporty ten-year-old boy? A quiet five-year-old girl? A present for brothers and sisters to share? You want to spend a lot? Not much? You haven't a clue?

Relax. Pauline will come up with plenty of suggestions to suit.

The business has been in the family for nearly 80 years, though for much of that it was also a printer's. (If you've been to Beamish and seen the Eagles press in the print shop there, that used to be theirs.) In those days it was Ascoughs - Pauline's mum, Eileen, who runs part of the shop was an Ascough before she became a Connelly - and really specialised in toys after the war.

"Everything was much simpler then," says Eileen. "There were no electrical toys or batteries. We had a lot of clockwork toys. But really it was the same ideas as now, only now it's more sophisticated. And now children seem to like things done for them."

Since Pauline joined the family firm, she reckons the big difference is theming.

"You used to have Lego - plain and simple, a lot of bricks with maybe wheels and windows. But now there are Bionicles - figures that fit together. And there is Star Wars Lego, Harry Potter Lego, Bob the Builder Lego. It all has to have something extra to it.

"Then you have things like Warhammer or Turtles or trading cards - all very collectable so you keep getting more."

And dolls are so much more sophisticated, says Eileen. "Not just the dolls, but their clothes - absolutely beautiful. And very well-made."

So much so, that they occasionally sell dolls' clothes for new born premature babies.

The great difficulty for toy shops these days is that most toys are made abroad - Lego from Denmark and Playmobil from Germany are some of the nearest.

"So many toys these days are made in the Far East and come here by boat. They spend nine weeks on the water, so you have to plan far ahead," says Pauline.

To prove it, she has already ordered next summer's consignment of paddling pools.

Some things have changed, of course.

"We used to sell air pistols and rifles and archery sets," says Eileen.

"Now, there's too much risk to children - and to other people - to sell those any more."

Though Dennis the Menace would be delighted to learn that they still sell pea shooters.

"The really big difference is that we stock so much more now than we ever did years ago," says Eileen. "There's far more for children to choose from. There are new toys all the time. And yet, really, most of them are just updated versions of old ideas."

Maybe children - or their toys - haven't really changed that much after all.