Meet our Christmas Fair Stallholders

Posted on 26th November 202129th November 2021 by Delapré Abbey

This past week, we have been showcasing some of our lovely Christmas Fair stallholders. Visit us this weekend to browse through unique and special gifts for your loved ones and meet the stallholders below!

Meet Sixty Two

Two close friends, Tina Gummery and Trisha Elkington, are growing their small business, Sixty Two, by exhibiting at this year’s Christmas Fair…

“We sell home gifts that visitors can buy for Christmas, we also have a few Christmas specialties that they can look forward to. Although this is our first year exhibiting at Delapré Abbey, we are so excited as we know that they have a good footfall each year. We think that the event could see some real potential for us as a small business and we can continue to grow.”

Meet The Little Smokehouse

After eight years of trading, The Little Smokehouse will be making their first ever appearance at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair this year, hear from Keith Meredith…

“We have attended trade fairs at Delapré Abbey before and they were a huge success. We’re looking forward to continuing to share The Little Smokehouse products with existing customers and meeting new customers who haven’t come across us yet.

As well as our usual range of apple-smoked cheeses and smoked spices, we’ll also be producing our green spice gift sets (all packaging compostable or recyclable). New this year is a very strong cheddar called Taw Valley Crunch, on a strength scale of 1 to 5 it scores 7. All cheeses can be tasted before guests purchase.”

Meet Fridge Street

Kardi Somerfield of Fridge Street will be exhibiting locally illustrated products at our Christmas Fair for the first time…

“I haven’t exhibited at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair before, but I have been throughout the season and know that it will be really festive. I have been illustrating buildings of Northampton for almost three years and have drawn around 300 places so far. My range of products includes tea towels, aprons, mugs and magnets. A new Christmas product is a Northampton jigsaw and ceramic Christmas ornaments.

We will bring as much stock as we can manage, we’re so excited to be wrapping up warm, meeting our customers and hopefully do some Christmas shopping of our own.”

Meet Maria of Forever Living Products

Maria Fish of Forever Living Products cannot wait to make a return to the magical Delapré Abbey this Christmas…

“I love exhibiting at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair as they are always so accommodating to my every need, it’s always a busy event and such a magical environment to meet new people in. Last time I sold out of my Forever Aloe Lips with jojoba and the Avocado soaps.

This year, I will be selling small gifts, with my favourite Forever Living Products and the opportunity to win a hamper, with a raffle. There will be a selection of aloe gel drinks, skincare, personal care and bee products.

All my products will have a Christmas theme, alongside a Christmas tree and table decorations. I will have our new Aloe Mango drinking gel on sale, the new aloe liquid Soap and our new shampoo and conditioner.”

Meet Time for Me

Rebecca Cottingham of Time for Me will be bringing a selection of products to exhibit at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair…

“We will be selling a mixture of Christmas décor, skincare, makeup and a selection of gifts. We have gifts for animal lovers, gardeners and children. We’re such chatterboxes and we cannot wait to be able to meet new people at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair. You can’t beat the happiness that everyone exudes at a Christmas event like this, no matter how tired you are at the end of the day, you always leave feeling happy.”

Meet Tingdene Crafts

Peter Ayres of Tingdene Crafts will make his first appearance at the Delapré Abbey Christmas Fair, exhibiting his unique products…

“I have never visited Delapré Abbey so it will be new territory for me and I’m really looking forward to the fair. After 40 years of experience with ironwork, I’ll be selling my horseshoe nail figures. I have a complete range of items including a new “mobile” cyclist. Although some can be challenging, I can also make figures on request. The fair will be a great opportunity for guests to handle my products and find out more about what I do.”

june, 2023

Filter Events

thu25mayAll Daythu13julThis Grief ThingGrief gatherings are small, free group conversations about grief and they're open to all.(All Day)

Event Details

Thu 25th May – Sat 29th July, various times and locations
Free, booking required
Sessions will last a maximum of 2 hours

This Grief Thing is a project that invites people to think, talk and learn about grief. We’re living at a time when many people find death and grief – our own grief or other people’s – almost impossible to talk about. We don’t know what to say, what to do, or how to act. So we stay silent, we pretend that grief doesn’t exist, or we hide it. This Grief Thing pushes against this, by opening up conversations about grief and making it visible.

As part of our wellbeing programme we are pleased to be working with Fevered Sleep who have created Grief Gatherings. They’re small, free group conversations about grief and they’re open to all. They’re for people who have experienced grief, and for people who haven’t. This will be an inclusive space. Any age, gender, race, faith welcome.
We’ll share thoughts, feelings, ideas and experiences. If you don’t wish to talk that’s fine, people are welcome to just be present.

This project is a partnership between Delapré Abbey and Fevered Sleep and is funded by Northamptonshire Community Foundation.

Dates and Locations

Thu 25th May, 2-4pm, Umbrella Fair
This Grief Thing host: Laura Graham

Mon 5th June, 6:30-8:30pm, Saints Coffee
This Grief Thing host: David Bowden

Thu 15th June, 2-4pm, Umbrella Fair
This Grief Thing host: Laura Graham

Sat 24th June, 2-4pm, Delapré Abbey
This Grief Thing host: Lisa Lovett

Mon 10th July, 6:30pm-8:30pm, Saints Coffee
This Grief Thing host: David Bowden

Thu 13th July, 2-4pm, Umbrella Fair
This Grief Thing host: Laura Graham

Sat 29th July, 2-4pm, Delapré Abbey
This Grief Thing host: Lisa Lovett

How to get to each location

Saints Coffee: 62 St Giles’ St, Northampton NN1 1JW (map)

Umbrella Fair: Racecourse Pavilion, Kettering Rd, Northampton NN1 4LG (map)

Delapré Abbey (this session will be held in our Library): London Road, Northampton, NN4 8AW (map)

Meet the hosts

Laura Graham
Laura Graham is a freelance writer and content creator based in Northampton. In 2009 she lost her mum to breast cancer, a loss that changed her life and taught her about the complexities of grief. She went on to work for a local charity on a project to support people coming towards the end of life. She believes that grief is the last taboo and hopes that grief gatherings will enable participants to feel connected and seen by their community.

David Bowden
Dave Bowden – A.K.A Word Guerrilla – is a poet and performer. Utilising beatboxing, live looping and multi-instrumentalism, he delivers Word Guerrilla’s unique brand of spoken word poetry performances and workshops to a variety of different educational settings, workplaces and events across the country. As an educator and creative facilitator, he seeks to generate creativity in people through writing, empowering them with language and words.
He believes that grief is ever- present, and like bits of glitter: long after you think it has gone, it continues to turn up everywhere, often unexpectedly. It can be challenging to make sense of grief and adapt to it. Dave wants to facilitate grief gatherings to help others understand the experience, giving them a space to articulate how they think and feel about the process of grieving and help others adapt to the experience of grief.

Time

May 25 (Thursday) - July 13 (Thursday)

Buy here

Book Tickets

Calendar GoogleCal

sun28may(may 28)11:00 amsun29oct(oct 29)4:00 amExhibition: "The Walled Garden Was Magical"An exhibition of your memories of the gardens.(may 28) 11:00 am - (october 29) 4:00 am

Event Details

Sunday 28th May – Sunday 29th October
11am-4pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
Entry included in the price of general admission (£8 adults, under 18s free)

“The walled garden was magical… the absolute treasure.” Councillor David Smith

This exhibition explores the vast history of Delapré Abbey’s gardens and tells the stories of those who have worked here over the centuries to make beautiful outdoor spaces for the house owners and, subsequently, for the general public to enjoy.

There have been gardens here since the opening of the nunnery in 1145. On Saturday 19^th July 1952, Delapré Abbey’s gardens opened to the public and have continued to be a place open for all to enjoy. As Alderman J.V. Collier said upon their opening 71 years ago: “The gardens offer a haven of rest away from the milling crowds. Within almost a stone’s throw of the centre of the town, we have something unique.”

Timed to coincide with the centenary year of Delapré Abbey’s water garden, the exhibition captures and celebrates the local communities’ memories of Delapré through photos, text, ephemera and oral history.

Whether you enjoyed the walled garden as a child, have attended a wedding here, or discovered the grounds during one of the Covid-19 lockdowns, we want this exhibition to encourage visitors to tell their friends and loved ones about any existing memories they have made here while making new ones together.

Photo: John Pettitt