Not another Christmas market I hear you mutter. Exactly. That’s what I thought as well as we drove into Chichester and saw the signs at every roundabout. Another market, same stalls, same goods on offer but I was delighted to find that it wasn’t like that at all. It was perfect serendipity – we had arrived for a business meeting and stumbled upon something quite special.
The tree was up in the square, the choir singing carols, lights lit a little too early but then it is Christmas after all. Even Joseph was there with the baby Jesus and two Donkeys – although Mary was nowhere to be seen.
We wandered along the stalls drinking in what each one had to offer. Yes, some stalls were repetitions of what you would find on any market but I was delighted to find most of them weren’t. I was immediately tempted by the festive wreaths at Farmyard Flowers, two of the florists busily working in the background to finish orders. They really were quite stunning and very affordable. A festive table decoration was £10 which won’t break the bank.
West Green Pottery offered something different for those wanting something more lasting. Potter Sue Mills has been hand-throwing stoneware pottery since 1976 and each item is beautifully decorated with hares, owls, mice, birds, butterflies and oak leaves. She also has an Etsy shop.
Dog lovers could be satisfied with the items on Bottle Green Homes. I immediately checked out the Springer Spaniel Tea towels – quite accurate with The VeryVeryVery Spirited Springer. Oh yes, I’ll have one of those.
Artist Rob Huxley was hard at work behind a beautiful display of his paintings and I was happy to stop for a moment to watch him transform a small canvas into a boat awash on a dark sea. I hope he didn’t mind me looking over his shoulder, it would drive me mad. Suddenly conscious of this I moved swiftly on.
Working my way among the stalls I slowly filled my bags with a little something for everyone else but managed to rein myself in before I damaged my credit rating. I’ve always fancied my very own War Horse and this family would look lovely in my garden but sad to say it was still there when we left. I didn’t think I could squash it into a Mini Cooper.
We finished off with a pot of tea and a toasted teacake at The Buttery which is housed in an old crypt. It felt very Christmassy sitting there in the golden glow of the afternoon and I was loathe to leave but an aversion to traffic jams galvanised me to move.
The market is certainly something to plan for next year. There is a free park and ride but we always park in the Festival Theatre car park. It’s relatively cheap and you can use the underpass to get straight on to the main shopping thoroughfares.