Mrs. Pratchett’s Sweet Shop


Sweetsnifer Nalewicki)
As a young boy, Dahl would frequent Mrs. Pratchett’s Sweet Shop at 11 High Street in Cardiff’s Llandaff district, saving up his sterling to stock up on gobstoppers, toffees and other sweets. The shop clearly left a mark on the author, as he gave it mention in his 1984 autobiography titled Boy: Tales of Childhood and it later inspired his book The Great Mouse Plot. In his autobiography, Dahl describes the shop as “the very centre (sic) of our lives. To us, it was what a bar is to a drunk, or a church to a Bishop,” and confesses to a prank he played on the proprietor. In the pages of his book, he regales how he and his friends placed a “stinky, dead mouse” in a jar of gobstoppers to terrify Mrs. Pratchett. The antic worked, but Mrs. Pratchett got the last laugh when she informed their school’s headmaster of their hijinks and swiftly got them punished.
Although the sweet shop went out of business years ago, the original whitewashed building still stands and features a blue plaque describing its history and connection to Dahl. Over the years, the property has served as a Chinese take-out eatery, and now it is available to rent for overnight stays.