Thursday 2 December 2010

Christmas shop

It's that time of year when we're all supposed to be shopping; at least the snow might keep the crowds down! Here are two alternatives to braving the department stores.

First, shop locally. Deptford has a number of events this weekend under the title 'Gifted', and a walk along Creekside may well be enough to finish the seasonal gift shopping. My regular favourite is the open studios at Cockpit Arts, which has everything from greetings cards to homewares to designer jewellery. Its cafe also promises mulled wine with a twist! Newcomer Faircharm Fair, 11-7pm Saturday and 11-5pm Sunday also looks well worth a visit: it promises over thirty artists and designer-makers, as well as a pop-up cafe for that all-important hot drink.

There are more local 'pop-ups' over on Deptford Dame, but if the mere thought of stepping outside makes you shiver, then how about a bit of warming nostalgia? Philip Wilkinson, author of Turn Back Time: The High Street (book of the TV series) has been sharing some fabulous old shops on English Buildings. From Edwardian tiling to 1930s vitrolite, there's a lovely selection. My personal favourite is a pair of Victorian cast-iron shopfronts in Witney.

2 comments:

Philip Wilkinson said...

Thank you, Caroline, for mentioning my posts and linking to me. I'm about to sign off my current bunch of shop posts with an archive roundup of another ten posts on shops from my past couple of years of blogging.

CarolineLD said...

Lovely, I look forward to that! I'm finding the shop posts fascinating.