An award winning aquatic shop will soon close its doors for the last time. Alex says goodbye to Maidenhead Aquatics at Truro.
Seeing yet another store close down is always heartbreaking for us hobbyists. Even more so when it is one that you have visited from time to time. While I am far from a local, I do make the journey to Cornwall often during the summer months. While I am there, as I do whenever I visit other parts of the country, I like to pop into the Cornish fish shops.
This goes back many years, to when my parents would take the family to Cornwall for a summer holiday. I would often pester them to take me to Carnon Downs garden centre to visit the Maidenhead Aquatics store. Occasionally they would oblige. This store has been around for over 20 years, so I am sure this is a familiar story for many other hobbyists.
The joy of visiting this aquarium shop continued, and even now when my wife and I visit Kernow I would often pop in. The store was well known for their fresh and saltwater offerings, and they never did disappoint. However, I will not be able to pop in again after early August when they close the doors for the final time.
Why are they closing?
While we have seen fish stores closing, and even people leaving the aquarium hobby completely, because of rising costs. This closure is a little different.
Maidenhead aquatics at Truro is an excellent and well loved store, winning multiple awards throughout the years. The most recent being in the top 40 shops in the most recent Readers' Poll (2024). However, they were unable to renew the lease of the store and as such have had to close at no fault of the staff. There are talks of a new independent store opening here to replace the current Maidenhead store.
The final day of opening will be Sunday the 3rd of August, 2025. If you do want to pop in and say thanks to the staff for their help throughout the years, you will need to be quick!
What's next for Cornwall's Fishkeepers?
While this is certainly a sad story, the future remains bright for Cornish aquarists. As the Truro store are joining forces with Fishkeeper Southwest in Par. Both stores have a great reputation, so together I can only image things are about to get even better.
Of course, this may mean customers have to travel further. However, just let the staff know you have travelled far and they can bag the fish accordingly. I always do this, and the fish make it back across the Cornish border just fine.
In fact, Practical Fishkeeping will be descending on Cornwall this summer on August the 30th 2025. As we will be hosting our On The Road event at Fishkeeper Southwest. There hasn't been a better time to visit and see what the future holds for the Cornish fishkeeping community.
Alternatively, it sounds like a new independent store will be opening in Carnon Downs in the future so keep a look out for that.
