The Weald and Downland recommends a trip to Sussex in order to:"Come and discover traditional buildings in a rural landscape that tell the story of the men, women and children who lived and worked in them over a 600-year period." |
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Many chose to combine this interesting educational journey with the splendid annual Christmas Fair at the Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton, a village set in the stunning South Downs during the weekend 15th and 16th of November 2014. | |
Our team at Create Display were lucky enough to join forces with other designer makers and craftspeople, to present a festive treat for thousands of visitors. |
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Many of which had made their way across the country, to enjoy the Autumn colours and see all the historic buildings. The official site at Singleton continues invitingly: | |
"Find that perfect gift and enjoy a great day out." As the Weald and Downland team promised, everyone enjoyed the bustling Christmas market and 130 craft and trade stands made the most of the sunshine that came out after a rainy week on the south coast. |
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As advertised the hot chestnuts were roasted and proved very popular as was the hog roast and an abundant supply of hot drinks to keep guests going as they rambled around the ancient village. | |
Festive music and carols gave us all some extra seasonal spirit and we were treated to beautiful views and we also admired the shire horses and some donkeys that were taking their strolls around the countryside. |
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Our Pop Up shop was a bit of a challenge this time, as we had decided to 'move house' to a new stand location this year, in order to keep things lively and make a change. |
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Poplar cottage was originally a craft and farm workers cottage in Washington village, built in the 1650's.The complete Poplar building and its contents has been carefully moved from its original location on the outskirts of Washington and delivered to its current position and painstakingly restored. |
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This has 'saved' the cottage as part of the buildings on display for the public to learn all about architectural history and also enjoy themselves outdoors. |
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We weren't able to hang our logo and signage above the displays as usual. Undeterred we improvised and used the shoemakers hooks that were already part of the existing cottage interior to provide an ideal attachment for our banner. |
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Unsurprisingly electricity sockets and powerful lighting were also in short supply in 17th century cottages it seems.We used additional battery powered lighting and borrowed an extra strip of spot lighting from our friendly fair stall neighbours to ensure everything could be seen successfully. |
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The1650's interior ceiling were so low some of the visitors had to duck to gain access and walk around. This shows how much the average person has grown! At Create Display our pre-made display stands are designed to make sure all the stock can be hung from the rails and no nails are necessary, that might damage the old walls. |
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Mini LED strings of star lights added a festive feel to the stand without detracting from the hand crafted original textiles in our unique store. |
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Several customers had fun choosing their gifts from our stand and mirrors, wall hangings and jewellery hangers were all snapped up as well as other interior accessories in our range. Many people delighted in admiring Mel Howse stained glass mini decorative pieces and choosing them as presents that will brighten up a variety of windows come Christmas Day. |
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We happily shared the special Poplar cottage with Tim Bartell and his wife and their wonderful pottery at Selsdon Ceramics. |
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This fair is a truly magical combination of jolly folk, waggy dogs, country fun and hand crafted products, with plenty of mince pies and live music to help everything along merrily. |
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We are really fortunate to have Singleton village nearby in West Sussex and it was a privilege to be part of it all at the Christmas fair again this year. |
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References: | |
Weald & Downland Museum, Singleton, Sussex | |
http://www.wealddown.com/ | |
Selsdon Ceramics, Selsdon, Greater London | |
http://www.selsdonceramics.wordpress.com/ |