Shopping for Treasures

The area surrounding Isleham has a wealth of antique and second-hand shops, charity warehouses and shops, markets, boot sales and auction houses.  An enormous Boot Sale is held every other Sunday morning during summertime from about May-September at Fordham and there are numerous regular auctions.

Cambridgeshire is full of talented artists and there is no better time to discover them than the Open Studios weekends during July. Hundreds of the most talented artists display their work and open their studios for visitors to browse. www.cambridgeopenstudios.co.uk

Cambridge has a wealth of galleries and a regular craft market, Balthazar Craft Market, Trinity Street .

For an interesting rummage for old and new furniture and homeware Newmarket has Treasures on Rous Road and for Vintage clothing and treats Vintage Angel on Old Station Road , both in easy reach of each other near the clock tower.  Easy and cheap parking is available behind TKMax for an all round shopping experience!

Worth a special mention is a shop situated at Ely station called Rosie & Dolly.  An absolute treasure trove of soft furnishing made from beautiful fabrics, bags, accessories and gifts.  Rosie & Dolly is constantly expending their stock with a variety of handmade items from all over the world, it’s open 7 days a week and has a stall on Ely market each Saturday.

A must whilst in Ely is a visit to the wonderful bookshop Topping & Co. http://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/

A great way to spend an afternoon in Ely would be by the river.  This can include a gastro pub lunch, antiquing at the area’s larges antiques emporium, Waterside Antiques http://www.ely.org.uk/waterside.html and tea at the famous Peacocks Tea Shop. www.peacockstearoom.co.uk.

There is also a fabulous soft ice cream vendor situated there all year round.

There are several regular auction houses around dealing in furniture, china, paintings and curios including monthly, Saturday auctions.

Rowley Auctioneers in Ely www.rowleyfineart.com,

Willinghams and Eriswell Hall auction barns http://www.willinghamauctions.com/calendar www.eriswellhallbarns.co.uk/

Newmarket race course has four antiques fairs a year for dates check with http://www.nelsonevents.co.uk/

The country livestock auction near Mildenhall held every Wednesday is a delightful experience for the young and the young at heart. http://www.miscanthuspure.co.uk/Auction.htm

In addition to the numerous charity shops, Ely has no less than 6 well run charity shops all in about a quarter of a mile stretch, the area is home to two charity warehouses;

Newmarket Open Door Charity Superstore, Craven Way, Newmarket www.newmarketopendoor.org.uk

Emmaus Charity Warehouse, Green End, Landbeach, Cambridge CB25 9FD www.emmaus.org.uk

If food is your thing you won’t want to go home with out some fabulous local produce available from various farm shops, some that rival Selfridges Food Hall and those genuinely selling their home grown produce from a stall outside with an honesty box.  Local pork and beef can be purchased direct from the farmer.
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