Today I visited the town of Ramsbottom to visit both the farmers market and also to see the Black Pudding Throwing Championship. Thanks to my parents for clueing me up on this one! This traditional event, which involves aiming black puddings at Yorkshire puddings balanced on high platforms to knock them off, is meant to symbolise Lancashire getting one over on Yorkshire. In reality it’s a bit of good fun, and the Hairy Bikers made an appearance too!
Ramsbottom is a really nice little town with loads of nice shops. A couple which caught my eye…
The Hidden Jem – a treasure trove of household trinkets and shabby chic furnishings and accessories. They feature brands such as Liesbeth Dahl (I’m a fan of the umbrellas!).
Memories Antiques and Collectors Centre – stood out from the various charity shops (there are plenty of good ones too!) as an exciting Aladdin’s cave of vintage jewellery, tea sets, bric a brac and other antiques. Quite exciting to walk around, and I bought this cute ring for £5.
The Chocolate Café – a café upstairs and a cute chocolate shop downstairs. They sell classy and unusual chocolate products which would be great as gifts, including the Chocolate Pizza! (Image from The Chocolate Cafe website)
The Farmers Market – a nice range of food stalls offering samples, and includes breads, soups and sauces, pies, sausages, fruit and veg, cheese, cakes, chocolates and more. I was quite excited to see a hog roast!
Victoria Wild Jewellery – one of the stands on the market sold particularly nice jewellery, which was more expensive than I could afford in cash at the time (about £35 for the necklace I liked), but the items would make nice gifts and I’m considering going back.
I’ll definitely be revisiting Ramsbottom for a bit of Christmas shopping, and perhaps also for the annual chocolate festival next Spring.
I also wanted to mention a namesake, the English Rose bakery, which caught my eye at another market this weekend – the Manchester Market. They specialise in French macaroons which come in lovely pretty pastel colours, but they were also selling cute gifts such as candles in vintage teacups. Another one to remember! (Image from their website)
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