Bumblebouncer I have a place near me in Chesham called Workaid and they refurbish old sewing machines and send these along with other tools - woodwork and gardening - to East Africa.
The tiny shop that I knew in Beccles was called Snippets, and I think their number was 15b, and the shop next door which was the handicraft place was 15a, and I think these two have merged together and now it is Beccles Sewing and Handicrafts. There is also a totally different needlecraft shop elsewhere in Beccles that deals with embroidery, tatting, etc. - I have been there but cannot say exactly where it was.
Recently I was given a cast iron treadle base in excellent order, I might well give this a coat of Hammerite to smarten this up, and hopefully over the weekend I am going off to see a wooden top with yet another hand crank machine attached, with the intention that I use the wooden parts for the top of my base and put my lovely 201 machine in to this, and depending on the state of I believe a 1914 28K I may keep this or donate to Workaid - until I see these I don't know. Trying to find a wooden top for a treadle so that it can still be used as a treadle is not easy, and someone about an hours drive away from me has 5 of these for sale, one wooden top looks a lot better than the others, but I am prepared to have a go at sanding down and treating with polish or varnish as I want to actually use the treadle.
As you know so many fabric and sewing machine shops have disappeared over the years they are few and far between these days, so it is always nice to learn of new places. If we go further afield I always take a list with me of any possible fabric shops nearby and that is really how I found the place in Beccles at that time and as my parents lived up that way every visit we made I went up to Beccles and came home laden with fabric - yes I have enough to stock a shop!!!!