Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Friday 4 December 2015

Victorian Christmas Fayre




We did consider returning to the Ludlow Medieval Fayre again this year as we enjoyed it so much but, in the end, as we had visited Ludlow a few months ago, we decided to try a different Christmas Fayre. We did consider Gloucester but in the end decided to go to Worcester's Victorian Fayre last weekend mainly because its closer to home!





Morris Dancers






Here's just a few of the 100's of stalls.








There was a very good Craft Fayre in the Guildhall although it was absolutely heaving with people. In fact, if I am honest the whole of Worcester was just teeming and it was a trifle too busy for me!




Some rather lovely glass in the Guild Hall loos!









The Morris Dancers again



Elgar


I managed to lose B and D at one point and spent three quarters of an hour waiting by the Elgar Statue in the hope they would retrace their steps! I was very tempted to sneak off and have a look around the cathedral which was opposite. In the end I returned to the car sending out telephathic messages that I was doing this. Not sure if they did pick them up but within 5 minutes of my return they re-appeared. In the end they went back to the Victorian Fayre leaving me with an hour to look round the cathedral which I'll cover in another post.





Sorry for lack of comments on your posts this week - the cold which accompanied me as I traipsed round Worcester has developed into a chest infection and I've spent the entire week curled up surrounded by books. Have some antibiotics now so hopefully will be feeling better and back on the computer more soon. Trying very hard not to think of all the Christmas Shopping and Baking that remains to be done let alone a week's housework to catch up on!

11 comments:

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Nice bit of Border Morris there. Our local Border side sport black and yellow

Bovey Belle said...

What a lovely day out that was. Here in West Wales, not a great deal happening - though apparently we missed the Reindeer Parade a couple of weeks ago . . . I used to meet up with a friend for the Bath Christmas Market, which was always very enjoyable. Hopefully when we move we will have a choice of ones to visit.

I hope your chest infection is soon on the mend - I can sympathise having had a long spell of them myself. What books have you been reading? I've just got a Phil Rickman I read a few years back (December) and wanted a copy of for me. Another on the way too . . .

Ragged Robin said...

Simon Douglas Thompson - Thanks Simon - the Morris Dancers were great :) Probably my favourite part although I think there were other things going on in the part I didn't visit.

Bovey Belle - Thanks so much especially the good wishes. Have some antibiotics now so hoping they will do the trick! They can be good these Christmas events (apart from the hordes of people!!) - quite a lot going on or near the area you hope to move to. The Ludlow one was brilliant and I think there is one in Leominster and, of course, Gloucester and Worcester won't be that far away :)

Reading wise I've stuck with fiction that doesn't require so much attention! Finished the Blind Assassin which was good once I got into it. Then uploaded the latest Kate Morton onto my Kindle which was good - quite light and held the interest. Trouble was Kindle battery goes down quite quick when you read for hours so picked up an old Susan Howatch paperback - Glittering Images (from the Starbridge series which I adored) first read in 1989. Nearly finished that now (one of those books you just can't put down) and luckily, although its vaguely familiar, I don't remember enough to spoil the pleasure of a second reading! I may continue with the rest of the series. I was tempted by the new Phil Rickman but will leave that until I am in the mood to fully enjoy it. Off to make myself do some ironing now before I start the second Howatch book!! :)

Millymollymandy said...

Another fun outing even though I am very bah humbug about Xmas but looks like there was enough interest there that even I would have enjoyed it! ;-)

Sorry I am keeping my comments to the bare min of words due to my neuropathy and difficulty typing.

Anonymous said...

I hope that you don't take too long to recover from the infection, they can hang on sometimes, I find.

My favourite picture is the one of the front of the Guildhall, the detail in the carving at the top is amazing.

I don't so well in crowds either, so you have my sympathy.

Anonymous said...

Oh poor you, hope you're feeling better. The Victorian Christmas looks great x

Ragged Robin said...

Millymollymandy - Thank you and please don't apologise re: short comment - I realise the huge problems you are having at the moment and really do feel for you.

Worcester is another of those places I would like to go back when its quieter!! Lots of history there!

Toffeeapple - Thanks so much - am hoping the same here! Colds these days seem much worse than they used to be and can weeks to go let alone infections - not sure if its because I am getting old or the viruses worse :(

Just mentioned to Mandy that I would like to go back to Worcester one day - the Guildhall building was very interesting and there is so much history there.

I had the complete horrors when we arrived as the pavement along both sides of stalls was just jammed with people shuffling along at a snail's pace and there was no chance to see what was for sale. Horrendous :( It was quieter along other streets though but all in all I was glad to eventually reach the peace and tranquillity of the Cathedral!!

Countryside Tales - Thanks very much CT. Interesting sometimes to visit these events - Worcester certainly goes to a lot of effort :)

Deb said...

The Victorian Christmas Fayre looks great. I love the flowerpot men, especially the one on the sun lounger reading a book!
Sorry to hear about your chest infection, hope you feel better soon. :-)

Ragged Robin said...

Deb - thanks so much Deb especially for kind get well message :)Finally, feeling a bit better today :) I loved those Flowerpot men items too - if I'd been feeling a bit better I think I would have been dropping out hints for my birthday :)

Grosmontine said...

An interesting and seasonal looking event, though I am not sure I would have enjoyed those crowds!

Hope you are feeling better and kindest regards to all :-)

Ragged Robin said...

David - Thanks very much David - must admit the crowds were far too much for me even if I had felt better - stuck in a situation like that I always feel the urge to scream and run!! Glad I was able to go in the Cathedral though - quiet there and they had some great craft stalls in the cloisters - bought a holly wreath for the front door :)

Feeling much better now thanks so much. Hope you are all well and best wishes to you all :)