IF YOU have a sweet tooth, then Masham's the place to be... This small town not only has two breweries, but also, barely a stone's throw from each other on different sides of the splendid market place, are two sweet shops, both of them designed to make your mouth water.

Bah Humbugs is only tiny, but, thanks to the Internet, Lucy Scott Paul sends sweets all over the world from the small premises.

"There's a guy working in films in Paris who loves American Jelly Belly Beans but can't get them in France, so we send him regular supplies," says Lucy. "We have people from America asking us to send sweets to Australia and we have orders going all over Europe - Pontefract Cakes to Rome, Midget Gems to Madrid."

Local girl Lucy has a degree in sociology and anthropology and worked in the White Bear and then for an IT company before deciding she'd had enough of other people's offices and had to work for herself. "Dad's a farmer, my mother has a caf in the Market Place, so it's in the blood," she says.

At the time, there wasn't a shop in Masham selling the old fashioned sweets we all remember from our childhood - Sweet Tobacco, Sherbet Pips, Cherry Lips, Rhubarb and Custards...

"When people come in and see those, it's like reliving their childhood. They have to taste them again. The flavour and the memory is so intense, that you end up having amazing conversations with people. And, of course, there's a whole new generation of children getting to know them."

As well as packing and posting the ever-growing number of Internet orders, she weighs and packs all the sweets in the 100g packs that line the shelves of the shop. It's going well, sometimes too well.

"I do all the food festivals. The first time I did the Leyburn Food Festival I had no idea what to expect and sold out on each day, which meant on Saturday and Sunday night I was up till well past midnight bagging up for the next day before getting up at the crack of dawn to set out my stall again. But I'm not complaining!"

She tries, where possible, to deal with small manufacturers. "It's nice to deal with small family firms that have been making sweets in the same way for years. They really care about them."

She's even got a seasonal range. "With autumn and winter coming, we have to stock up on Cough Candy, Kopp Kops, Herbal Tablets, Army and Navy Mixture, Uncle Mac's Drops, Winter Mixture. All very warming or soothing."

More romantically, she does wedding favours, hampers and goodie parcels. "I just want people to find sweets they like and enjoy themselves. It's a very happy business to be in."

* Bah Humbugs, 12 Market Place, Masham. www.bahhumbugs.com

MEANWHILE, just a few yards away at 7 Market Place is another sweet delight - Joneva, run by John and Mary Reah, who keep trying to retire but haven't quite got the knack yet.

They left Joneva some years ago to pursue other interests, but bought the business back last summer, have revamped the shop and have restored it to its former glory. As well as sweets, it also has a good range of chocolates, fudges and a selection of interesting and unusual food.

These range from 50 local and speciality cheeses - including Mrs Bell's Buffalo white cheese - caviar, smoked oysters, Manuka honey and a host of pates and olives, and a selection of gluten-free cakes, biscuits and Christmas puds.

"There's always something new and interesting. It's surprising how much tastes in food change in quite a short time," says John Reah.

But two thirds of the business is still sweet treats.

"We have over 30 different types of liquorice, including Triple Salt Dutch liquorice and some from New Zealand. We've developed our fudge range so we have new flavours there," says John.

"People's taste in chocolate are changing too. We have 99 per cent cocoa content chocolate, but we also have a new and unusual range. Womersley Hall have worked with Browns Chocolates, truffle makers, and come up with some great new flavours - cranberry and vanilla, orange and mace, strawberry and mint.

"And yes, we still do things like aniseed balls, blackjacks and cinder toffee," he adds.

Just don't tell your dentist.

Charity Catalogues

l Air Tattoo, supporting the RAF Charitable Trust, is full of anything and everything to do with planes - from DVDs of the RAF at war through to Red Arrows teddy bears. Books, prints, jigsaws, mugs, mousemats, models, jewellery, jackets and chocolates, all with an aviation theme. Lots on vulcans and Concorde. There are even posh pedal planes for tiny pilots - £295 in silver or pink.

RAF Charitable Trust, Dept XMA 005, PO Box 1940, Fairford, Gloucestershire, GL7 4NA. Tel: 0870 758 1940. www.airtattooshop.com.

l Despatches is the catalogue of the Army Benevolent Fund and includes many gifts on a military theme, including prints by artist Terence Cuneo, regimental cufflinks, tankards and even regimental ice buckets.

ABF Enterprises, PO Box 262, Bicester, OX25 2ZN. Tel: 0870 7743820. www.armybenfundshop.com.