A lovely trip to Uppingham

In case you are wracking your brains and just can't quite place it, Uppingham is a small town in Rutland, which is the smallest county in England.  We visited last Saturday as my best friend, Maria, who now lives in Canada, was over here visiting family, so we met up with her and had a little wander round.  I have many memories of Uppingham as it was the nearest town to us when I was little and mum did most of her shopping there.  Nowadays, it has quite a smart and upmarket feel to it - even the charity shops have their own coffee shops! Above shows the market square, with a wonderful traditional ironmonger's shop on the corner, which has an old plough above the door.

 The main street, snaking off into the distance.

Here's a close up of the lovely stained glass at the ironmonger's shop.

 Here is Maria, doing a bit of window shopping.  This shop also has many memories as it was the sweet shop when I was little and was painted pale blue, I think.  Inside, the walls were lined with shelves on which were bottles, jars and boxes full of the most tempting things.  My favourites were fruit salads, white chocolate mice and chewing nuts, while my sisters liked flying saucers, sherbet fountains, shrimps and floral gems.

 Another shop which holds many memories was Baines the bakers.  We would often stop there after school and Mum would buy a white loaf, which we three children would nibble on the way home.  By the time we arrived home, there would be some holes in the sides of the loaf as if little mice had been at it!  We used to buy shop made fancy cakes on very special occasions and I think there were six in the box, all with delicious icing and little flower decorations on them...

Well, we had to buy something to remind us of our trip, so while Maria bought some Cath Kidston and Emma Bridgwater textiles, we saw these little decorations (which were half price), so they came home with us and were on the Christmas tree for two days, before being packed away for next Christmas.  When we get them out next year, we'll be reminded of a lovely day spent with a good friend in a pretty market town.