Toy shops 50s and 60s

I have no idea of the number of toy shops in the UK when I was a lad - but there must have been many more than now as it seemed as if there was always one close enough to be able to stand and stare at the tempting array of wonderful things in the window; I am pretty certain that there were no chains of toy supermarkets although I think that Hamleys, in London, did exist as the dream destination for most children. I remember regularly checking that the wonderful sailing boat, with a keel, the hull light blue and a yellow line all around it was still there - I doubt that it was more than 10" (25 cms) long and it had little detail - no remote control, no engine, just a simple boat - but to me when I was about 8 or 9, it was the height desire. Later (maybe a year or so) I saw a submarine . . .this one was controlled by two bulbs, the first one pressed to fill or empty the ballast and thus make it sink below the waves or rise above them, and the second was the propulsion unit, squirting water out of the back of the sub. I was lucky enough to get both of these (Christmas a year apart) and the sailing boat may well be circumnavigating the world as I last saw it sailing strongly away from a beach; the submarine was the winner of many sea battles in the bath.