About us

The Toy Box IronbridgeThe Toybox is an independent toy store, situated in the heart of the famous World Heritage Site of Ironbridge.

34 High Street Ironbridge Shropshire TF8 7AG

Update: we now have a second Store at 11 Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury, SY1 1XB

A family business, run by me Vonny and my husband Adrian, with help from some of our children, Gemma, Ellie and Will.

Adrian has a proper job, in the NHS but is really enjoying playing shop-keepers and fixing things at the weekend. He's also the accountant, the legal boffin and my calming influence when it all gets a bit hectic! 

Gemma, is our social media guru and takes care of all those lovely images and Instagram thingies you may have seen. She has her own well established Dance School, Gem Academy, and a large following of lovely loyal parents and dancers.

Ellie is our early years expert, she's a local primary school teacher and advises us on child development, early years topics and the importance of good open-ended and imaginative play... I have to run all my ideas past Elles for approval and tweaking.

Both Ellie and Gemma have given us the wonderful gift of grandchildren; Rory, Hettie and very recently Beatrix - Im sure you'll be seeing lots more of them in our future images and events.

Then there's Will, or Woodrow Young to use his stage name. Will is a musical theatre actor - recently graduating from the prestigious ArtsEd school in London. Like so many others his career in London came crashing down after Covid reared its head, and now he's having to 'slum it' at home with us... Great news for The Toybox though as he's a real showman in store and is just lovely to the customers.

With four more children, Alice, Izzy, Ed and Harry, dotted around the UK, making their way through their careers and uni, its not hard to see that our family life (of seven children and one son in law - Dan the Man) is full of fun and laughter ... most of the time!
In bringing this tribe up, Adrian and I shared strong beliefs that bedtime stories are a must, that playing outside and getting messy is vital, that choosing toys that spark imagination and creativity is so important, and that freedom to express yourself in an unhindered way is the most important gift you can give to a child.

We don't think you need many toys, but what you do choose should be made to last, and shared, and while we're on the subject, it should be produced ethically and sustainably and not made by other less fortunate children around the world.

Our aim is to bring you a selection of excellent quality toys, books, crafts and games that fit that bill as much as possible - we're not quite plastic free but thanks to some very earth conscious suppliers we're heading that way. We recycle as much as we can and you'll see your packages often arrive wrapped in previously used boxes. Our toys are not only chosen for their sustainable qualities though... if they have a good strong and positive message along with being fun, then they'll also make the cut!

So that's us - in a nutshell, we've got lots of plans for the future, (for now we're still learning) but we plan to bring you events, activities and lots of laughs as we build our little home at The Toybox Ironbridge.

Vonny