08/11/2012

THEY’VE GOT IT RIGHT FOR ONCE!



At last! Somebody is thinking in the right direction.

Whilst wandering around Hyde on Wednesday morning, it was a pleasure to see a number of different stalls housed in mini- marquees selling a range of European delicacies, sweets, fine foods and crafts at a continental market in Hyde, and apparently, it’s on for the rest of this week.

On sale were: Stuffed and flavoured olives, Tarts and Pastries, Turkish delight, Dutch cookies, Belgium chocolates, Chorizo, Italian deli, Turkish dry fruits and nuts, Caramelised roast nuts, sweets and nougats, Pyrenees Jams , Honey and mustard, Chocolates and fudges and much more than I can remember.

Ideal for gifts were colourful handmade Children’s winter cardigans, Scarves, Gloves, Handbags and other leather items, Remedial hand-crafted jewellery, Watches and cashmere jumpers.

Not only that, the vendors were friendly and enthusiastic; a far cry from some of the frosty faces that normally greet shoppers on Hyde’s new shrunken market. There was music, which created a jovial atmosphere. It was well managed, the products on sale were of good quality, well priced and the market for once was, reasonably clean and tidy!

Unusually, for a mid-week, the place oozed energy, atmosphere and street vitality, and if the powers that be could organise some good up-front publicity, it’s exactly the type of shopping experience that could bring in people from outside the area!

With such diversity on offer and with Christmas coming up, its themes like this that will encourage far more people to visit and shop locally. It would be nice however if someone could arrange to empty the bins and sweep away the dog ends a bit more often!

If you’re reading this and find you’ve missed this event, don’t panic; according to the council’s web site, the continental market is also expected to pitch-up at Ashton’s Market from 11 to 15 December.

Now back to my irascible, cantankerous self….

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