Our Blogs - Hungerford Arcade

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – GOLDEN CELEBRATIONS

Hungerford Arcade is delighted to send our warmest congratulations to Gloria and Trevor Smith on the occasion of their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 14th June 2025

The couple, from Shipton Bellinger, recently spent some time in the Arcade looking for a suitable item of jewellery to commemorate the occasion.

They chose this stunning ruby and diamond ring from Unit 9, Nelly’s Collectables

We wish them a wonderful day and many more years together!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE CLASSIC CAR SHOW

The sun was shining, the cars were glistening and the West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club was in its element.

We all had a fantastic time with tea and coffee, cakes, jam and cream scones, courtesy of Wendy. Our customers and the general public were in awe of these amazing vehicles and the friendliness of all the owners. There was a red, 1963 Heinkel Trojan 200 bubble car that kept everyone entertained all day. Most people had never seen one and they were allowed to sit in it to see what it felt like to be behind the wheel!

Stunning Rover V8 3500 litre

Ford Sierra Estate Triumph Spitfire

Mark I Ford Consul Ford Prefect

Ford Escort RS 2000

Triumph Stag

Martin in his amazing classic Fire Engine

also pictured above

Thank you Colleen, Mike and all the fabulous classic car owners

(and fire engine) who made today so special

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – FABULOUS AT FIFTY!

We all love meeting new customers, especially if they are celebrating milestones with a visit to the Arcade.

Deb recently turned fifty (wouldn’t it be nice to be as young again?!) and chose to come down from London with a group of friends for the day.

They spent a happy time with us looking in all the units before Deb decided to treat herself to some jewelllery.

Deb, the birthday girl, with Emma, with the pixie cut, Julia and Helen in the green coat.

They are a great group of girls who we hope we’ll see again soon!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – FOOD, FUN, FASHION AND FROLICS!

Hungerford Arcade loves our celebrity visitors so we were particularly delighted when Clodagh McKenna Herbert popped in last week. Even more so, when she posted a video of her visit on Instagram – our feed has been very busy with queries!

Clodagh was looking for items both for her home in London and for pieces to use to display food for her next book. We had a lovely chat talking all things culinary and she passed on a recipe for a Frittart, which is really easy to make and delicious (See her Instagram page if you would like to try it).

From there, she went rummaging in Chula’s retro fashion unit 37, where she found this fabulous fake fur coat and vintage leather Kelly bag. She plans to wear them at the Cheltenham Festival, which is on between 11th and 14th March, so watch out for her!

We look forward to welcoming her back soon.

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – FOUR LEGGED PROTECTORS

Hungerford Arcade always gives a warm welcome to our doggy visitors – we have treats behind the desk if their owners say we can spoil them!

We recently met these two very special visitors – look at those wonderful faces, so attentive and alert.

Bracey, the labrador, and Percy, the spaniel, are both Hampshire Police dogs. Bracey is in training as a Police sniffer dog (we are pleased to say he didn’t find anything untoward in the Arcade!), whereas Percy is a Well-being dog.

They were a delight and so friendly and behaved impeccably for their owner, Jane Liming. Truly a credit to the Force.

Follow their exploits on X on HantsTVPolDogs

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – A MARVELLOUS MATRIARCH

We love chatting to our visitors and learning about their families and lives.

I was privileged to meet a remarkable lady yesterday. Olive Hobbs is 100 years and 5 months old. She may well be one of our oldest visitors! She is fascinating to talk with and is matriarch of a large clan, with a son and a daughter, 6 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, who keep her busy!

We had a grand chat, while the younger members of the family explored the Arcade and her daughter found 28 pieces of a dinner service in the Junk Shop that she was thrilled with as she now has plenty of spares for future breakages!!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – LEST WE FORGET – REMEMBRANCE 2024

Hungerford Arcade are firm supporters of our Armed Forces and the Royal British Legion. We are also a sponsor of Walking with the Wounded.

As part of the annual commemorations which culminate in the national service at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday, we decorate the Arcade with commemorative items. We also host a display of vintage Military Vehicles on the preceding Sunday, each year.

The wonderful display of the silhouettes of Tommies with our collection box for the Royal British Legion in the Arcade.

Ann Parker always has an impressive display of miniature military figures

The outside of our building was decorated with this huge historic flag, which came from HMS Ark Royal. Ark Royal was involved in several naval actions during World War 11, the most famous of which was the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941. Swordfish squadrons from Ark Royal and her sister ship, HMS Victorious launched torpedoes against the Bismarck which helped to disable her and allowed other ships, notably HMS Devonshire to sink her. However, her luck ran out and she was torpedoed on 13 November 1941, just off Gibraltar and sank the following day – luckily with the loss of only one life.

The vehicles were on show from 10.00 am with their owners happy to talk about them and their histories.

George, Bob and Gary swapping stories!

This fabulous armoured vehicle with the Tommy silhouettes was a fitting display.

Our precious Poppy getting ready to drive!

Jeeps galore!

We were also lucky to have Monty’s Misfits with us, who brought with them a wonderful display of vintage military equipment. The long socks are particularly familiar to me as Mum used Dad’s old Army socks for my Christmas stocking!!

It was a great day and we extend our grateful thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it a success and a fitting commemoration for all our Armed Forces past and present.

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – HUNGERFORD IN BLOOM 2024

We are very lucky to have good friends in Nicola Wood and Susan Mayes of Smarten Up Hungerford. They have, once again, excelled themselves with the planting scheme for the stone troughs on either side of our front door, so much so that we have won the Commercial Shops category of Hungerford in Bloom for the third year running!

The judges commented on the stunning purple colour combinations. They went on to say how lovely and vibrant the colours were, which looked so pretty with the lavender.

I was delighted to represent the Arcade at the presentation of the winners’ certificates on 7th September. I never realised there were so many categories in the competition! The pictures of the winning gardens were spectacular.

Helen Simpson (the mayor), Nicola Wood, Wendy from the Arcade and Susan Mayes at the presentation of our winning certificate!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – HE WHO DARES, WINS!

We’ve had a really busy and fun-filled morning today. We were entertaining our good friends from SAS (Special Auction Services www.specialauctionservices.com) for one of their regular charity Bargain Hunts in aid of the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service.

Today’s group was larger than usual with three experts and six competitors. Thomas and Jessica Forrester and Neil Shuttleworth provided the expertise; each guiding two competitors in selecting pieces for a charity auction at SAS in Newbury on 5th November 2024. We were kept on our toes, opening cabinets and contacting the dealers for them, as they aimed to get the most for their £300 stake money.

Neil Forrester with Debbie Tonkinson and Fiona Devine, one of the founders of the charity on the right.

Jessica Forrester with Ann Workman and Pauline Brown.

Thomas Forrester with Susan (aka Mona Lisa, by her husband!) and Michael Bruton.

The competitors bid for their places at the Heaven Sent Ball last May. SAS always ensure that they have a memorable day. They met in the Plume for coffee before coming over the road to us. Afterwards, they went back for lunch where they compared notes on what they had all bought and speculated as to whose purchase would do best at the auction!

Thomas catching up with all the scuttlebutt with Frances Jones!

The Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service was founded in 2007 to provide a hospice service for children in Berkshire and the surrounding counties. Set up by Fiona and John Devine to honour their son, Alexander, who sadly died, aged 8, after treatment for a brain tumour. We are delighted to have been chosen by SAS (their charity partner) to do our bit to support this worthy cause. Further information can be found at www.alexanderdevine.org

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – Love is all around us!

We are sometimes privileged at Hungerford Arcade to be part of the memorable moments in the lives of our customers.

One such occurred recently when Paula Dabovich and David Crone from Adelaide, Australia came to explore the Arcade as part of their trip. They spent some time looking at rings from several cabinets and narrowed it down to two. We were all asked our opinion as to which suited Paula more. She finally chose this stunning ring which looked wonderful on her.

Before we knew it, David was down on one knee, holding the ring box! It was a magical moment and we were so lucky to be part of it. They very kindly let me take a photo of the happy occasion.

We are honoured that they chose to share a very special moment with us and wish them a long and happy life together.

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