My grand tour! ;-)

Travelling conditions, if you are taking the train from Exeter to Barnstaple,

are not what I would call luxury! LOL.

It's a cattle truck, of sorts!

However, it's quite a pleasant journey, scenery wise.

I haven't visited Barnstaple (or Barum as the Romans called it) for many years and

although Mr S warned me not to expect much.

So I went with low expectations... and I was pleasantly surprised.

For a start, Barnstaple has a lovely old market hall and I do have a thing about market halls.

The market hall in my own town of Newton Abbot,

has been ruined with the 'refurbishment'.

They've put up these awful high booths/stalls and I hate it with a passion

as you don't get an overview of what's on offer and so the character

has been knocked well and truly out of the place.

It's not the market hall that I once knew and loved.

Not so with Barnstaple market hall!

I also found one or two new little haunts in Barnstaple...

For instance, Lytton and Lily...

A lovely kitchen shop...

This gorgeous little flower/plants/accessories shop...

And just across the road was this wonderful shop, which I'd heard about from Donna,

as some of the cushions in the window are made from her fabric!

'cool calm collected'

(Just like me! I wish!)

There's everything you want in here to give someone like me a good time at Christmas!!

Well almost! ;-)

Gorgeous modern fabrics.

Fabulous kitchen ware...

Plenty of Orla Kiely to 'oooh' and 'ahhh' over!

All in all, enough to get me into the Christmas spirit!

So that's it...Barnstaple was ok...and a great start

to my 'grand Christmas shopping tour'!

I've planned it well! ;-)

Next week it's the Vintage and Handmade Fair in Chipping Sodbury.

I can't wait for that one as not only do I get to have a stall there but I

also get to take my purse on a jolly jaunt around the gorgeous, vintage stalls!

Followed swiftly, the following week, by... Bath!! Way hay!

Then it's Totnes late night shopping! Well, say no more about that

(for the time being)!

The week after that, it's ..Salisbury!

I am so looking forward to this as it's years since I visited!

What more could a girl want?

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

;-)

P.S. There's still time to enter the competition below!