Tuesday 13 October 2015

Malvern, before it's a memory


As you can see, we had lovely weather on Sunday for the big Fleamarket there.  I went in search of views afterwards, driving along the back of the Malvern Hills until I could find somewhere to stop and a view which wasn't totally behind a screen of trees.  More at the end of this post.  The header, by the way, is also taken from the same spot.


A nice little assemblage of Kitchenalia.  I would have quite liked those sifters.


At the back of the sheds, some forlorn soft toys from bygone years.  The little dawg at the back was SO sweet.


Altogether now: "Coats comes up from Somerset, where the cider apples grow."  I was singing that all day.  I have no room in my kitchen for it, but liked it all the same, just couldn't justify spending £45 on it.


One of the better stalls.  He has some nice furniture and interesting things.


This was my favourite amongst the stalls though.  Some nice pieces of treen, two lovely horses top left by the flour bin, and some good stuff generally.


We had a lovely chat with the chap, who had come down from Yorkshire.  I was fascinated by the little "whisk" in front of the dark stool.  Apparently it came from Norway, and is one of those bits of inspiration (or desperation!) when a wife asks her husband to make her a whisk.  Stood up on end, it became obvious what it had been made from - a section from a well-grown Christmas tree!!!  Back left was a fabulous pestle and mortar (the latter made from a hollowed-oat piece of oak), and I also liked the painted candle box to its right.


A close-up of those horses.  I would have LOVED to get that little farm horse by the flour bin.  I should have checked the price. . . though looking sideways at it I think it is £40 or so.


A selection of quilts - though many of them were the modern Made in India patchworks which seem to sell dearer 2nd hand than they ever did new!


Some more here.  The yellow and pinks one is definitely a home-made quilt from the 30s probably, and I think the 3rd one from the left was too.


I quite liked this hand-made hexagon quilt.  It was £45, but having bought the partly-made one for a fiver first thing, I can now make that up myself instead.


'Yer 'tis - not a Granny's Flower Garden like the other one, but a nice one all the same with lots of Laura Ashley material in it.   I then had a wonderful time just going round all the stalls again looking for Laura Ashley or small print material to use, and came up with these:


The green print was £3 and the other two good lengths were £2 each.


This was the box of left-over bits of mostly Laura Ashley material, so will go into the main quilt in the fullness of time.  I like to have a hexie on the go - it's portable and I have LOTS of fabrics, including lots of 70s fabrics still which I can use up.


For £6 I bought this still-wrapped roll of 70s wallpaper ("Ascot") for our eldest daughter, as she has 70s china of a similar design and colourway and I thought would probably use this in her kitchen (perhaps on the cupboard doors).


I went to chat to the lady (Torquay Pottery collector) who I was talking with last time.  She showed me her rare (and valuable) vase which was one of a pair someone was buying off her.  I have committed it to memory and will know it when I see it if one turns up in my travels.


A sad reminder of a much-loved pony, whose hoof was turned into an ink well (common back in the day).  I have to say, Shamrock had quite the most low at the heel and long in the toe feet I have ever seen . . .


Then there was Jimmy, whose hoof care was also lacking, and he had a very upright boxy foot.


There seemed to have been a job lot of these skep style beehives, made from basketwork covered in dung.  European without a doubt.


Rocky Raccoon . . .


Lastly, some more splendid scenery.




I'd climbed up onto this pathway which ran alongside and above the road.  You don't know how much I wanted to just carry on walking and find my way up onto the top of the Malvern Hills.


Lastly, the Cats Cottage which is at Willersley, near where we turn off to/from the Hereford road on our way to Malvern.  It was still to be found with smoke coming out of the chimney and cats on the remaining upright window sill until a couple of years ago.  This is for Blue Shed Thinking who knows it well.

15 comments:

  1. Looks like a good day out. I like the wooden horses but there are lots of interesting things.

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  2. There were a lot of stalls there, and the longest queue of people waiting to get in at 7.15 a.m. that I'd ever seen! It was a busy day - took us 5 hours to walk round, but we did some bits twice. Lots to see (and buy!)

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  3. There is so much to look at but it's the Cornishware that always catches my eye. X

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  4. When my husband (who died in 1991) was alive we lived in the Midlands andMalvern was always a special day out for lunch and then a walk. Beautiful countryside and your photographs bring it back splendidly.

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  5. Jules - Some of it is T G Green, but a lot is the more modern Cookware stuff. You never know till you upend it. I have a matching milk jug and sugar bowl in constant use, but it's the Cookware type.

    Pat - you would have loved the views yesterday. I really had to drag myself back into the car to go home. I am so glad I am able to bring back a few happy memories for you.

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  6. Looks like lots of nice goodies .. but I hate to think of the prices! Doubtless there were good deals there too .. you did well with your hexi quilt to complete .. There were bits of treen and enamel ware I could see in the pics that I use everyday .. its got me thinking should I be using them willy nilly? Mind you .. they were made to be used .. and I intend to use and enjoy them .. whhen I am gone they can do as they please with them.
    Glad you had a nice day .. and hasn't the weather been a treat!
    x

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  7. I have seen bee skeps exactly like those in Greece, a country which really loves its honey!

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  8. Vicky - no complaints about the weather, as it's the summer we never had! I would say use your enamel things - that's what they are meant for, not just to put on a shelf for a "look". I was thinking the other day, as I picked through some embroidered bits, some day someone will be doing this with my stuff . . . A bit sobering.

    Rosemary - Hello. Thank you for the info on the bee skeps. Perhaps these are either from Greece, or else similar things are used across Europe. There are people who come across from Holland regularly to sell at Malvern, so no reason people shouldn't go "shopping" further afield. Someone in Hay-on-Wye used to have stuff from way off - I think it was Estonia they did their shopping!

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  9. I so want that larger wooden horse that looks perhaps big enough for a child to sit on. No matter the size he is a beauty. You are showing me a lot of treasures that in no way show up at sales where I live in California.

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  10. Seems like that I always miss the flea market when I am over in Worcester. Lovely things you showed!
    We have tons of those Chinese quilts here, too, bought eagerly by the unknowing....
    Great scenes of the hills! I always know I am officially back when I see them!

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  11. Terra - he might have been big enough for a toddler, and was on wheels so I think was intended to help a little one learn to walk at age 1 or so. You would have a field day if you came shopping at Malvern or somewhere similar!

    lynda - The next Fleamarket is the 13th December. How many stalls will set up depends on the weather, but the inside ones are always there and make it worth going. Then there's an Antique fair there in November (Sunday 8th) in the Severn Hall, which is the civilized one with lights and HEATING!

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  12. Not over again until Dec 19, so will have missed it again! Have to remember to check next time before I book. I did, out of pure chance, get there in August in time to get to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC....
    I always like the outside stalls at any flea market. True or not, I always feel like I am getting a better bargain. Not that I need a THING.....

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  13. Love that wall paper... My mum had it in her kitchen...but in Orange!!

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  14. You live a lovely life style Jennie, very envious of all the stuff!

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  15. You live a lovely life style Jennie, very envious of all the stuff!

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