The thing about doing a blog from France is that all the material is French. I would like to give a more balanced view but, inevitably, from an English perspective there is quite a lot that seems bizarre and amusing here in France (as well as lots of things that are wonderful). We did spot this, though, on a recent trip to Buxton.
All the things in the window of Hallam Pine certainly looked like pine. One wonders where the solid oak comes in then (so solidly proclaimed in a rather forceful, solid typeface). Perhaps the furniture is actually oak and then (very expensively) painted and grained to look like pine. Or perhaps the white painted pieces in the window are in the style of white painted pine pieces but, in fact, they are made of solid oak. Whatever the truth, it is certainly confusing for the unwary amateur collector.
Buxton is, altogether, a rather strange place; almost surreal. Part of it has these rather spectacular pleasure gardens, with one of the most splendid band stands I have ever seen. Sadly there were no bands, presumably because there are no longer any bandsmen . Being a spa
town, it has the most enormous extravagant edifice housing the baths, where you (used to) take the waters. These, however are closed, presumably because they’ve run out of water.
town, it has the most enormous extravagant edifice housing the baths, where you (used to) take the waters. These, however are closed, presumably because they’ve run out of water.
Then there’s the main street, only one, which doesn’t even appear to have any side streets running off it. Despite its status as a spar town and holiday resort, the town is rather seedy. The shopkeepers seem to be vying with each other to see who can be the most down market (rather like some sort of Chamber of Commerce limbo dance competition). I would guess Pound World opened first, and then some enterprising shopkeeper had the bright idea of going one better with everything 99p or less. Quite clever, this. You could, for instance, sell Polos for, say, 30p, pencils for 50p, or apple pies for 80p. The possibilities are endless. If, however, everything has to be exactly one pound, customers who only want one packet of Polos will have to buy three (and pay over the odds), if they want just one pencil, they will have to buy a pack of two, and so on. Surely only one of these shops can succeed? My money is on the 99p chap.
If you look very closely, the pound shop man has, in fact, already bottled out. There are a number of (rather scruffy and un-professional) notices stuck in his window advertising items for sale at £2. Clearly he is a man who does not have the courage of his convictions, and is thus almost certainly doomed to failure.
Someone kindly pointed out that I had miss-spelt "spa" in the present post. Sadly my spelling is attrocious, so I usually rely on the spell check to pick me up. Also it has been pointed out that Hallam Pine (of solid oak fame) is actually in Sheffield not Buxton - apologies Buxton (and also to the Spar supermarket chain who have nothing to do with the dysfunctional waterworks in Buxton.)
