This month we had a visit from the lovely Francesca Milton pictured here with our Vanessa and her latest purchase. Francesca is an avid collector of bears, in particular the world famous Steiff brand! On her visit Francesca found a very special bear here at the Arcade called “Dylan” from our stall holder Brenda (unit 4). Dylan is a hansom limited edition Grizly Bear byJanet Reeves, No:18 of only 444!
As we got chatting away with Francesca, she told us about one of her very treasured bears “Old Ted” a 1904 Steiff pictured in these fabulous before and after photos. Old Ted was owned by Francesca’s godmother since new in 1904 right up to 1988 when he was left to Francesca. As you can see on the right, Francesca had the bear restored by non other than the famous “Amanda & Julie” from the well know TV program “The Repair Shop”. Amanda and Julie are known as the ‘Teddy Bear Ladies’ in The Repair Shop thanks to their expertise of repairing vintage bears and soft toys.
As well as appearing on the BBC programme, Amanda and Julie have been working together and running their own business, Bear It In Mind, since 2006. The pair often post their charming creations and restorations on their Instagram @theteddybearladies.
With all of us here at the Arcade being great fans of old
Teddy’s, we are always pleased when they go to a special home. We think Dylan has landed on his feet with Francesca and feel he will get the best care and attention an old bear can receive!
As you can see, Dylan has now clearly made him self quite at home with Old Ted and we wish them both many more happy days to come with Francesca!
So, the Great British Summer is officially here! What better a way to spend it than eating Ice Cream! Cosy Coffee Shop here at the Hungerford Arcade has just expanded into the Ice Cream world delivering the most superb Ice Cream from a local supplier “Rowdey Cow” in Devizes.
Rowdey Cows fresh Ice Cream is made on their farm from their own cows’ milk! This delicious fresh ice cream is available in up to 16 different flavours! They are also “Taste Of The West Gold Award” winners for 8 years running!
Make sure not to miss out next time your here and take a visit to the garden dining area to enjoy not only the delicious Ice Cream but all that Cosy Coffee have to offer. After your exhilarating shopping experience with us at the Arcade, take a break and relax in the outdoor sunshine or upstairs in the beautiful eaves of our historic old building.
Last month we met long term customers Fiona and Sian, who have been visiting our Arcade since the 1980’s. They popped in again while on their barge holiday for a spot of shopping.
While chatting it was interesting to hear, that back in 2018, Fiona and her daughter Sian were contestants on Bargain Hunt, and that they actually won their episode!
This got me thinking, what would I pick with a limited budget / time frame?
So I bamboozled Brenda from Unit 4 to join me in a Junk Shop challenge, we named ourselves ‘Jubilee Queens’
I made up the rules on the spot and decided we had 15 minutes and a £10 budget each to find an item in our Junk Shop that we think would make a profit at our fictional auction. I obviously should have given ourselves more time from the get go, as we were feeling the pressure looking for our items, we gave up on tactics and just picked what we liked in the end.
Brenda picked a signed studio pottery owl money box for £4.50 and I picked a Victorian pressed glass pedestal trophy bowl with a horse racing theme for £6.50
We needed an experts opinion on our selections and the unlucky pair happened to be standing at the front desk as came back with our items, Francis from Unit 46 has a wealth of experience and knowledge and long time friend of the Arcade Susan kindly stepped in as fictional auctioneer. Slightly concerning when we showed our items to both Francis and Susan and asked what would a auctioneer think, Susan’s reply was, ‘They’d laugh’ We all laughed at that comment and Francis very kindly gave her opinion and auction estimate. Luckily it seems Brenda and myself made a small fictional profit on both of our items.
The pottery owl was valued at £10.00 and the Victorian trophy bowl was valued at £20.00.
Hungerford Arcade loves all things Royal and has pulled out all the stops for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee!
Vanessa and Jacque have produced this wonderful summer meadow inspired window display to celebrate, complete with crown and commemorative tot glasses so we can all raise a toast to Her Majesty. The tea service is gorgeous and a reminder of a time before we all grabbed the nearest mug for our drinks!
The Arcade is looking particularly colourful and has been strewn with bunting.
Chris and Susan at the front desk.
The archway into unit 34
.. and the corridors have bunting from the beams.
No special occasion would be complete without a themed cabinet from Ann Parker.
It is the most wonderful collection of commemorative china, miniatures and busts. I particularly love the carriage procession based on the journey down the Mall for the Trooping of the Colour ceremony.
We are so very lucky to have had this gracious, amazing lady as our Queen for 70 glorious years. She is an example and an inspiration to us all. We are all looking forward to the rest of the weekend’s festivities and to raising a toast to Her Majesty.
This week we had a visit from “Chris the Hombre”! Chris is a musician having played all his life and still going strong today! Chris has 2 albums “The Answer To Everything” and “I Remember”. When we got chatting to Chris he told us he remembers playing a live gig just next door to the Arcade at the Hungerford Town Hall 55 years ago!
Back then he was in a band called “The Insects” (Maybe some of our local customers were there?) Although it seems the Beetles won the era it was great to chat to a 60’s musician and especially one that knows Hungerford. Chris’s visit was not about music though, he came to the Hungerford in search of a pair of ornate vase’s.
Chris found just what he was looking for in our window and purchased the beautiful vase’s from Vanessa at unit 127. Many thanks for paying us a visit Chris and we hope to see you again! Keep on Rockin’!
Earlier this month we had a visit from a very talented Dominic Barnes. Dominic came to us looking specifically for some old cigar boxes and tins for what turned out to be rather an unusual project. When we asked if they were for cigars we received an answer that was certainly not expected!
As it happens Dominic has great skill is transforming these cigar boxes and old tins in to some very quirky musical instruments! More specifically into guitars and Canjos! Above you can see the finished result of the old cocktail tin purchased from us here at the Hungerford Arcade.
Here are some more examples or recent transformations but you can also see more of Dominic’s fabulous designs on his Instagram: @dbscbgs.
Dominic is also going to be at the Retro Festival in August this year with a stall full of his musical wonders. He will be there along side our very own Chula Bishop (Unit 22) with all her beautiful retro clothing and much more from @beatnixvintage! Be sure to go a long and take a look at all there is offer!
We were thrilled to meet Grace Dearing, aged 13 and Hope Dennis, aged 11 on their first ever trip to The Hungerford Arcade. They are cousins and were on a day out with their Grandparents.
They brought a lovely handmade large oriental fan from unit 32s!
Grace and Hope also left with one of our worldwide famous old coins. We give these out to all our young visitors on their first visit to our fabulous arcade.
When you pay us a visit with any young family or friends, don’t forget to pick up one up and start their historical journey of antiques and collectibles!
We were thrilled to see the return of Judy Hutson and Amber Sutton at The Hungerford Arcade. Judy is not only an interior designer but also the founder of the chain of 8 hotels in the South of England called “The Pig Hotels”.
Judy has been coming to our wonderful Arcade for around 10 years, in that time purchasing a wide range of vintage and antique items such as glass ware, cutlery, china, mirrors and pictures that have been used to furnish her hotels. Judy is very keen on recycle, reuse and repurpose so The Hungerford Arcade is a great place to shop.
This month our very own Brenda (Unit 4) has been expanding. Brenda has taken on another large unit which she has completely revamped and it looks stunning! A lot of hard work went in to cleaning and painting the entire room and a fabulous new royal blue carpet certainly pops when you enter!
There are some stunning and grand pieces of art to admire or purchase hanging on the walls. Do come and take a look when you next visit!
Brenda has a fabulous collection of fine Royal Crown Derby for sale. High-quality bone china, ranging from various tableware and dining sets to cake stands and unusual ornamental items.
Brenda also has a beautiful selection of Waterford Crystal available. From small ornaments and picture frames up to very large and heavy vases!
There is a fantastic selection of weird and wonderful Lalique. Unusual and beautiful ornamental pieces as well as a large selection of pendants and jewellery.
Another great example is this wonderful bronze of “The Three Graces. The Three Graces is a Neoclassical sculpture, in marble, of the mythological three charites, daughters of Zeus – identified on some engravings of the statue as, from left to right, Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia – who were said to represent youth/beauty, mirth, and elegance!
pictured here with our Vanessa and her latest purchase. Francesca is an avid collector of bears, in particular the world famous Steiff brand! On her visit Francesca found a very special bear here at the Arcade called “Dylan” from our stall holder Brenda (unit 4). Dylan is a hansom limited edition Grizly Bear byJanet Reeves, No:18 of only 444!
As we got chatting away with Francesca, she told us about one of her very treasured bears “Old Ted” a 1904 Steiff pictured in these fabulous before and after photos. Old Ted was owned by Francesca’s godmother since new in 1904 right up to 1988 when he was left to Francesca. As you can see on the right, Francesca had the bear restored by non other than the famous “Amanda & Julie” from the well know TV program “The Repair Shop”. Amanda and Julie are known as the ‘Teddy Bear Ladies’ in The Repair Shop thanks to their expertise of repairing vintage bears and soft toys.
As well as appearing on the BBC programme, Amanda and Julie have been working together and running their own business, Bear It In Mind, since 2006. The pair often post their charming creations and restorations on their Instagram @theteddybearladies.
We were thrilled to see the return of Judy Hutson and Amber Sutton at The Hungerford Arcade. Judy is not only an interior designer but also the founder of the chain of 8 hotels in the South of England called “The Pig Hotels”. 
