Week #5 of my NEW52 life ...

I've lived in the same town for almost 18 years now, so I guess I should consider it "my home town". Yet despite living here for that length of time, there are still towns and villages within a 10 mile radius of "my home town" that I've never explored ... until TODAY that is!

I'd read about an antiques & collectibles fair that was being held in the town of Wallingford, which is only 8 miles down the road. I'd mentioned to DH that I'd like to go, just to have a browse around, but is facial expression said it all ... not really his type of thing. Not one to be easily deterred, I decided to venture out on my own, jumped in my car and started driving in the rough direction of Wallingford. At this point, it should be said that I'm not a sat-nav kind of girl ... oh no! I prefer the old fashioned method of map and/or road sign reading (both of which are dying art-forms I fear) and with the need for only one U-turn, I found Wallingford town centre and more importantly, somewhere to safely park my car.

You're probably thinking now would be a good time to insert a photo. Well yes it would ... HOWEVER ... I actually forgot to take my camera with me (shock! gasp! horror!), so you'll either just have to take my word for it, when I tell you that Wallingford is one of the most charming towns I've ever visited, or you'll have to come and visit for yourself (and I'd do the later if I were you!).

The town has an abundance of antique shops, little treasure troves, Aladdin's caves full of curiosities and collectibles from every era imaginable. By far my favourite find of the day was The Lamb Arcade. It's a fabulous historic building that has 40+ small businesses spread over the three uneven, creaky floors. It's full of cubby-holes, alcoves and rooms packed to the rafters with charming nic-nacs and beautiful objet d'art.

(c) Anne Brewer Antiques, Furnishings & Gifts

One of the nicest things about Wallingford town, is the selection of independently owned shops. There were thankfully very few of the usual high street chain stores and the town has capitalised on it's quaint, twisty narrow streets and alleyways, as every time you turn a corner, you come across another unique little shop selling things that you never realised you needed, hand-made soaps, hand-made shoes, hand-made jewellery, hand-made cards ... LOTS of hand-made, custom creations ... my kind of town.