Chester Makers Market Was A Great Success
It absolutely hammered down with rain yesterday didn’t it!! I mean it absolutely teemed down. Nevertheless I braved the elements and trudged through the sodden streets (all of 5 minutes walk from where I live!!) to get to the Chester Makers Market event at the Carriage Shed. When I got there, the rain didn’t matter. It may have put some customers off initially but what I experienced was the overriding opinion that Chester Makers Market was a great success.
Chester Makers Market Was A Great Success
Chester Makers Market Was A Great Success
While ambling around the stalls I got into conversation with a fair few of the traders. It was incredible I thought that so many traders travelled from quite a fair distance. Lancaster, Manchester and Sheffield to name just three. Having studied in Sheffield I had quite a good conversation with the jewellery lady from Sheffield. Eee….the conversation was full of “Tha’ knows” and “Gi o’er” and “De Da’s” while I had an impromptu trip down Memory Lane.
As with the previous Chester Makers Market event, there was plenty of stalls and plenty of variety to choose from. Too many to name all the types of stalls but here is a snippet of the few I spoke with. There were some really excellent bespoke cake makers (what happened to my free sample guys!!….only kidding!!), homemade cheesecake makers (thank you for the delicious sample), jewellery stalls, hand pressed paper goods, beeswax food wraps, homemade pates and spreads, homemade chillies and a really impressive display of ornamental lights in gin bottles. Really effective and a great, original, quirky ornament feature for the home.
There was even a trader with a very impressive beard offering to wax your own beard. I thought it was going down well, but one particular lady passing by didn’t think so. I said, “I don’t think he’s talking to you, he’s talking to your husband” – who just happened to be a stride or two directly behind her!! Black eyes averted the trader went on to explain he also offered a variety of men’s grooming products.
Money For Nothing
There was even one of the artisans from BBC’s, “Money For Nothing” TV programme there. A really impressive “found object artworks” stall, where Mark created a variety of unique robotic pieces put together from numerous unwanted, scrap items. Brilliant idea and some excellent creations.
Overall Impression
Despite the rain (there is a glass roof so many of the stalls were under cover – but punters still had to make their way down there), the event was well attended. Without exception all the traders I spoke to were extremely passionate and enthusiastic about their products. None of them complained about the rain and the potential effect it had on business. And, all of them were extremely polite and helpful to the pesky blog writer who was quizzing them about their products and how their day was going. (Just doing a bit of research wasn’t I).
Indeed it seems that yesterday’s Chester Makers Market was a great success. Here’s to the next one on the 28th May (Bank Holiday Monday). More details HERE.
Finally, well done as well to the local artists who entertained the visitors. While none of them actually sang Gene Kelly’s classic “Singing In The Rain”, they were literally singing in the rain. Good effort guys.
