Today was expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year. On the news this morning reporters were excitedly talking of today seeing sales of over ONE BILLION POUNDS across the UK today.
Well, I took a walk into Chelmsford town centre to soak up the Christmas spirit and was surprised at how quiet it was. I was in town from around midday and all was (relatively) quiet. Well, the Salvation Army band were striking up some great festive tunes!
Well, I took a walk into Chelmsford town centre to soak up the Christmas spirit and was surprised at how quiet it was. I was in town from around midday and all was (relatively) quiet. Well, the Salvation Army band were striking up some great festive tunes!
They got a few claps and the odd cheer from shoppers, but there was not exactly a bustling crowd in festive spirit.
I took the opportunity to check out the farmers market stalls that are now a regular feature of the town centre. As usual these were popular (I sampled the £2 sausage rolls and they were fine) and the burgers, sausages, crepes and bread stalls were all in high demand. The fruit sellers were a little quieter though, although maybe most shoppers prefer to buy their groceries last.
Usually this part of town is bustling and a photographer would never normally get a clean shot of the stalls. Maybe it picked up later in the day.
The rest of the town was also quiet. The market square was more tranquil than festive, the closure of the Sony shop and the new JJB seems to have made the square a colder area, although fortunately Lek’s Thai Food is still there on the corner pumping out the most delicious curries and snacks. I treated myself to a couple of pork and prawn spring rolls with chill sauce (£1.60) and they were delicious.
Inside the market was a little busier, there was a lot of activity around the butchers and some of the other food stalls but the retail stalls seemed much quieter. I noticed a new Asian Food stall inside the market that looked interesting if you are in need of some ingredients.
One new addition to the town that I had not noticed before (admittedly they may have been there for a while) is the Community Book Shop on Market Road. They sell second hand books and support the local mobility charity that provides mobility scooters for the less abled to get around town. They have a sofa and chairs in the shop, it is a nice and relaxed place to stop for a book. There collection is diverse, I saw a few things that I may have been tempted to pick up had I not been walking.
I stopped in HMV today too, more for old-times-sake. In Christmases gone by, before I had children and a much tighter budget, I would spend a small fortune in there. This year I still managed to break my budget by picking up a few DVDs plus Hugh Laurie’s blues CD and DVD. HMV was busy as usual, although even there the queue was not huge (previous years the queue would have stretched the length of the shop on the Saturday before Christmas).
Town had a good atmosphere today overall, although nothing compared to the Christmas lights switch onfrom a few weeks ago. There were two other buskers in town, a lady playing a clarinet and a guy playing a bluesy electric guitar. Both were good.
