Newcastleton Craft Fair

Our trip out this week was to Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders. It is an attractive village laid out along one very long high street, with a river running parallel. There are lots of flower boxes in the street; the local people are very friendly, and there are a handful of interesting shops, cafes and pubs, plus a museum, music festival, and lots of walks locally. 

It was the 27th annual craft fair (running 27 May to 5 June, 11am - 5pm this year) in the village hall. Actually we were a bit early, but were let in anyway as it was all set up. The sale of teas, coffees, cakes etc raise money for the upkeep of the hall. It was 50p for entrance, and all the stalls are set out by the individual crafts people and artists, with a single payment point - quite a good system, speaking from experience. 

There were all sorts of crafts, including woodwork, pencil drawing, household sewn goods, plants, cakes, chocolates, cards, horn craft, furniture, jewellery, painted wooden objects, hand painted jugs and peg boards, fimo figures, decorative objects and more!

We had coffee and delicious homemade cakes in the dining area, and admired these beautiful miniature flower displays, which were on every table.

Here's what we bought:-

• Little dog bag/key charm from Jo's Little People
• 3 x cards featuring prints taken from original pencil drawings by David Mandle
• 2 x 3-D decoupage cards by Mary Johnson from Cumbria
• 6 x fused glass pendants with rubber chokers
• a vintage chunky pale green plastic three strand necklace from Isabel's Antique/Bric a Brac/card shop in the main street (this little shop is lovely; full of a mixture of vintage fabrics, jewellery, interesting objects, and lovely cards, together with locally made chutneys/jams etc)
• an Argyranthemum daisy plant from Holm Hardware.

We ended up in the Olive Tree cafe for lunch. Rob had eggs, chips and beans; I ate jacket potato with cheese savoury and salad. With a pot of tea and a bottle of mineral water, the bill came to under £12. The food was quite nice, but I would have preferred an oven-baked rather than a microwaved potato. The cafe also sells bread, rolls, pastries,cakes etc to take away. It has a nice airy interior with modern furniture and artwork on the walls.