Friends in the North - quirky creative inspiration and interiors shopping in County Durham & it&
- Ellie
- Jan 25, 2016
- 5 min read
The sculpture 'The Meeting Place' by Paul Day... The best part of leaving London by train to head North East is you have a genuine excuse to go via a visit to St Pancras - most trains in fact leave from Kings Cross- but as it's next door you can have an excuse to pop in and admire one of the most stylish train stations in London - beautiful architecture and a beautiful way to say goodbye to the 'Big Smoke' as you head off on your adventure. Plus lots of places to buy cake ... which is never a bad thing!
I'm a city dweller (London in fact) born and bred - but unlike many city dwellers I have grown up being encouraged to explore much further than my back yard in the UK. It's easy to never leave a city, or very rarely, so much on offer, so much to do but I think those who don't are missing out. If you want your home to feel unique a trip somewhere different in the UK is a great way to find a special item for your styling scheme or see some inspiring things and to expose you to new ideas, people & places.
Many parts of the UK seem to get overlooked when we think of a 'Staycation' - we think of the glorious beaches of the South West coast, the valleys of Wales, the Lochs of Scotland and the moors and dales of the North West, the cultural and heritage spots in the Midlands. When we consider the North East people automatically think Newcastle - a fabulous city full of cultural venues, bars and restaurants. For some reason County Durham and it's surrounds barely get a mention and I cannot for the life of me see why, a wonderful county full of lovely towns, great cultural venues, creative hubs, small business, countryside, heritage sites and very beautiful.
I am lucky enough to go up there regularly as my best friend relocated to Darlington a few years ago and I have come across some wonderful inspirational places, great events and places to buy rather unique things for your home. I always come home feeling inspired and with at least one little treasure under my arm!
If you are anything like us whilst travelling by car in the UK - we prefer travelling up the 'A' Roads - one of the enjoyable stops on our way to Darlington is to one of the OK Diners along the A1 - the interiors are all vintage themed and always make us smile ( the food is pretty yum too!) I think the journey is part of the visit - why stop at a souless motorway services when you can stop here? It's like eating lunch in the diner in Grease!
The pretty back streets of Durham full of lovely architecture and period properties.
The cathederal ...
You cannot visit County Durham with out visiting the city of Durham - many ignore the town to visit York but it's just as beautiful and as a lover of churches & cathedrals ( despite not being religious) a visit to the cathederal is a must - you leave wishing your home was large enough to have vaulted ceilingings! The cathederal shops has a nice array of art prints and small homewares to buy. Including reproductions of their famous door knocker (childish giggles).
My husband and bestfriend playing with the big cathederal door knocker...
Amongst the many other historical buildings and museums you can visit for inspiration
( Durham is classed as a UNESCO world heritage site) , the shopping streets of Durham have a few lovely independent craft and home/interior stores, you have to wonder of the main drag to investigate - but if you are anything like us we always do - as this is how you discover the best finds! It's definatley worth a trip to the riverside where you can view the cathederal from the banks. I place where you could take a lot of photographs worthy of printing up and framing to display on your walls at home.
The Bowes Museum
The town in County Durham with perhaps the most varied second hand, vintage, antique, home and interior shops is the small but perectly formed Barnard Castle... I got so over excited whilst shopping here I forget to take any photos after we left the fabulous historic house we visited that now holds the ecclectic The Bowes Museum ( see the photo above) ... the museum was wonderful but these shops where right up my street ( and probably yours) rammed to the rafters full of second hand /vintage and antiques... from knifes and forks, to furniture, to bizarre knick nacks and theatre programmes, dolls and toys, upcyled treasures and stuffed animals. If you love the joy of searching through shops like this you will not be disapointed and you will be over stimulated! A great place to support independent retailers and to buy something unique for your home.
Back in 2014 we managed to get up to Darlington the weekend the 'Festival of Thrift' was held. Sadly we missed last years but we would definatley go again and I strongly reccomend a visit to this free festival. It's a festival that essentially celeberates upcyling, reusing, recyling and vintage. Full of free events and classes you can take part in ( but some you have to book in advance on their website) , displays and most importantly a wonderful marketplace full of stalls of upcyled and secondhand or vintage goodies to buy.
The weekends schedule of talks, classes, displays and family activities at the Festival of Thrift
It was founded by Wayne and Gerardine Hemmingway famous for the fashion label Red or Dead. It seems very pro- local community and trying to promote the idea that upcycling and reusing and buy vintage things isn't just a trendy idea or a fashion trend but can be good for the environment and for your bank account. Great ideas and displays for those even on the tightest budget.
So gorgeous - these fantastic vintage suitcases for sale and I wanted to buy them all!
Upcycled cake stands for sale in the market place at the Festival of Thrift
Comments