A curious and wonderful thing has appeared in Alton, the town where I live. A town which is actually currently in a state of regeneration - the likes of the high street chain store is moving on and instead, a new breed of independent masterpiece is making its presence known. The Old Curiosity shop is a brilliant example of how someone's passion and eye for detail can manifest itself into what can only be described as a treasure trove designed for the imagination. Carefully selected items sit alongside each other in quiet disparity and clearly evidence a proprietor who thinks about a diverse clientèle. The friendly skeleton who presides over the shop and would have been openly embraced by Lord Sugar as a worthy task purchase, heads up the twitter feed for the bright yet retiring mind whose brainchild it is, and you can follow him right here - http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitter.com%2Fcuriosityalton&h=aAQGEXOQ0
Just so you know.....
The Old Curiosity Shop opened on the 6th December and can be found at 26 Normandy Street. If you want to know who owns it you will just have to visit as he is a little on the shy side and didn't want to pose for a photo, although if you look closely you will find him lurking in one! It is open 10-5 Tuesday to Saturday and 11-3 on Sundays. I might be biased because I do like a bit of a rummage through all things curious, but I sped some quality stuff on my visit last weekend, some of which you will find pictured below. The shop is designed to be somewhere you can become immersed in, it changes in layout twice weekly and from what I can gather the turn over of stock is pretty rapid, so if you see something you like jump on it before someone else does! I know that for me it is going to be a godsend with lots of students looking to style shoots and not having the right props to really make things look interesting - in this instance rather than buying objects they can hire them! So, if you have a special event coming up why not pop in and see what you can find, equally there is a search service which can be implemented for a fee.
Go on, go and have a look!
Go on, go and have a look!
The Old Curiosity Shop, a veritable Aladdin's Cave to stumble across on a visit to Alton.
ReplyDeleteAlton is not on the up, far from it, and when a town centre collapses, that collapse can be rapid.
Each time a local business closes, one less reason to visit Alton.
Brock’s closed, Mog’s Deli closed and the general state of Alton.
Alton a few years ago had an excellent food festival. What happened? Sponsorship by Costa one year, Iceland another year, which somewhat lost the plot for a celebration of local food. Then taken over by Hampshire farmers markets, which killed it.
What is Alton Town Council doing? Godalming Town Council is very proactive. Maybe the example of Frome should be followed, a Flatpack Democracy revolution, ordinary citizens take over the Town Hall.