An impromptu Bank Holiday outing

We had no real plans for the Bank Holiday.  An extra day to catch up with house chores or completing some paperwork, reading and meal prep for the week ahead.  C had noticed an advert for our local RHS Garden Craft Fair.  It’s only about 10 miles away, so we jumped in the car and headed off.

The weather wasn’t that great, overcast and occasionally spotting with drizzle but it didn’t really rain with menace, and it wasn’t too cold.  The fair was on it’s last day and I’m not sure whether it had quite the volume they’d hoped for but there were still plenty of people about. Maybe some didn’t realise that the fair was on and just came out for the day anyway.

We meandered around the stalls. There were a few outdoorsy booths selling garden furniture and ornaments; one guy was whittling furniture out of ash.  There were a few food stalls but nothing that tickled our taste buds particularly.  There were three main, large marquees with small, individual “booths” within.  Most of them were jewellery, glass or wood crafted objects.  There were some clothes made of wool and yak’s wool.  There were a couple of stalls selling soaps and hand creams in all sorts of strange combinations of scents.

We went round everything once before deciding to go to one of the main Garden cafes for a soup lunch and had a bit of a wander around the top garden areas. 

Then we went round everything again.  This time with intent to purchase.  C bought something for his granddaughter for Christmas.  I bought a couple of real leather belts; one brown, one black.  I also bought myself a gold necklace and a pair or pearl earrings.  I found a couple of cute tea light stands in the shape of Santa and a Christmas Tree that would look cute on the mantle at Christmas. 

I did look at a gold bangle on another stand which was simple but rather nice. Then I turned the price tag over.  £850.  The woman thought that we were genuinely interested and let me try in on. It was the only one there in gold and I feigned that it was too small.  She decided that she would write a full quote for me to have one custom made, took measurements and wrote it all down and may be expecting us to call her to confirm a purchase.  Luckily, we didn’t give her any of our contact details so she can’t chase us.  It was a nice bangle and all, but fairly simple in design.  I wouldn’t have though it worth that much.

As usually at these things there are lots of lovely things, lots of tactile objects and if you have the right home and the right budget you could spend a small fortune.  My few purchases cost enough as it was and I didn’t see anyone taking larger objects, unless they could order them for delivery later on.  I wonder how much these exhibitors have to pay for their space for the weekend and whether the actually get enough custom to cover their outlay.  I guess they must otherwise they wouldn’t do it.

It was a pleasant enough way to spend a few hours, got my daily step count in and still left time to get the chores done when we got back home.

How did you spend your Bank Holiday?