The Old Bottle Shop

Hands up who remembers the Village Market? It's not a year yet since the market closed, and yet it seems like forever ago. The site sits forlornly waiting for anything to happen while the traders have been scattered to the four winds.

The Old Bottle Shop lady made a stab at keeping going - from that secretive little upstairs warehouse marked only by a giant plastic geisha (whatever happened to her?) - to what some consider to be even more secretive Trafalgar Road - one of the many, many many empty shops along a sad-sack street that desperately needs a revamp.

She certainly shared the space with some oddities. Whenever I went by there was something new jostling with the assortment of vintage glassware - ladies' knickers, grow-bags, saucy stockings. But it's been closed for some time now.

Adrian was curious, and the next time he saw her, asked her what was going on. It's a sad story. He says "Apparently, she has been evicted by the landlord and her stock seized by the bailiffs. And sure enough, Saturday's catalogue at the Greenwich Auction was full of beautiful old bottles of all shapes, sizes and hues - a life's work of collecting under the hammer. "

Adrian tells me she has still has some stock in a small space in the basement of the Junk Shop (where several Village Market refugees seem to have established themselves) and was talking also about doing more car boot sales, etc. but she won't be taking on another shop.

Perhaps it was inevitable. Tourists just don't get down as far as Trafalgar Road - and let's face it, why should they? It's just a bog-standard, local street full of takeaways and a few decent shops, but with a constant flow of heavy goods traffic and narrow pavements that don't invite browsing. The shops are tiny - and would be perfect as cutesy little gift stores (I wish The Home Front every good thing, btw - a lovely shop, and a brave move) but anyone stopping to look in a window would hold up the entire street.

The East Greenwich Traders Association are keen to make Trafalgar Road a 'cultural corridor' for the Olympics. I guess if nobody's allowed to cars during the games, they could spill out onto the road, but personally, I think they have an uphill struggle ahead. Any ideas for how Trafalgar Road could be made - well - a bit nicer than it is?

Greenwich Book Place At Last

Remember the long saga of 258 Creek Road? We visited it again and again and again and again and once again. In fact I'm quite surprised at myself - I thought I'd only talked about it once or twice.

Well, after yesterday's moan about the possible loss of a truly historic and curious building, I bring you the good news that another - well, at least old-ish - building has been saved. It may not have even the beginnings of the kind of importance that the Rotunda has but it's David Herbert's home and he's finally had the right thing done by him.

I've been watching the scaffolding turn into proper, standing-up walls over the past few months and now Sridevi tells me:

"I was walking home today from Cutty Sark DLR station today, when I noticed that the Greenwich Books and Gallery was open! It's been shuttered for so long and it used to have the scaffolding all around it, that I thought it was abandoned."

Sridevi went in and was impressed with the selection (the last time I went in, I got the feeling that things were definitely being run-down, so it sounds like it's now worth a peek...) Sridevi tells me "they now plan to keep the shop open regularly from mid-day onwards till 6-7pm, no fixed hours yet. They want to see if they get any customers, if its worth opening the shop.

I do think people should go and check it out- they had such lovely looking really-old books and prints, many first-editions, the kind of hard-back books that look so gorgeous on the bookcase and give the thrill of reading once more a treasured book that has passed through many gentle hands over time!"

I couldn't have put it better myself, Sridevi. Sounds like we have a 'new' Greenwich secondhand bookshop - and that can never be a bad thing.

Incidentally - in case you haven't been following yesterday's post about the Rotunda, it's occurred to me that we could possibly suggest that its preservation be part of the Woolwich Olympics legacy (seems as good as any...) - there is a list of useful people to pester on the comments section...

David Herbert, triumphant at last...

Make Do And Mend

I've come over all "Dig For Victory" after having visited the latest pop-up shop* in Greenwich. I wasn't going to talk about it until I did a post about Christmas shopping, but then Annette from North West London asked me about it and - well, I might as well rave about it now, I guess. Carpe Diem, eh, Annette...

The shop doesn't have a name, as such, as far as I can tell, though it might be called "Authentic Parachute." It's next door to Johnny Rocket and it's run by a lovely artist from Cockpit Arts called Debbi Little.

The most instantly-arresting things about the window display are the curious printed-cloth Union Flag items that look like a cross between Punk London c. 1977 and something your Great Gran would have in the Best Sitting Room , but once you're looking, it's the parachute stuff that grabs you.

Making dresses out of parachute silk was a bit of a no-brainer in wartime Britain - fabric was rationed, and women soon caught onto a whole bunch of silk going begging, whatever the source. Wedding dresses and ballgowns with big flowy skirts were particularly popular. But I haven't seen it done by anyone since (come to think of it, despite my feeling 900 years old, I didn't actually see it done the first time either...)

Debbi Little does just that, though, dying old parachutes funky colours and creating timeless little strappy dresses. Some of them are original '50s models; others are modern ones - and she designs each one slightly differently according to the 'chute in question. The blood-red one is particularly fabulous. She describes them as 'ballgowns in a bag' - I assume that they fold up into the original parachute cases, but I didn't see any.

They're not cheap - but they're not going to date, either. I can't think of an era in the last - well, the last 60-odd years - when they would have looked out of place. Spaghetti straps and flouncy skirts just always look good on a girl...

There are some great young artists around just now and many of them sell things on Greenwich Market. Few of them are able to afford actual shops, despite the sheer number of empty premises, which I find frustrating.

Of course, every so often you can visit them on Open Studios days - Blackheath, Greenwich and Deptford all do them from time to time. Cockpit Arts has one this weekend, if you're at a loose end. You could even win this year's Christmas Tree, decorated with designer baubles...


* I know, I know - 'pop-up' sounds like one of those kiddie books with 3D pages, but it's actually just a fancy name for short-lease shops, which suit people who can't afford the astronomical rates charged by a certain Hospital Trust...

If You Knit It, They Will Come...

Greenwich must be enjoying some kind of baby boom all of its own - in the last couple of years it's sprouted at least four shops for well-heeled kiddies. Presumably there is a lot of cash to be had in tiny trews - as long as they're well-made, bright and cute, there will always be a doting granny, uncle or Phantom...

United Ideas specialises in home-made woollies. They're designed in England, but made in Peru. I'm assuming it's all fair trade (note no capital letters) and peasant-friendly, though there is no mention of that on their website. I reckon that they've not bothered to go to the huge (and frankly prohibitively expensive for small traders) effort of getting it Fair Trade (with capital letters) certified but given that their Peruvian knitters have names and personalities, I'm guessing they're not oppressed.

The designs are funky and quirky and brightly embroidered with houses, anchors and, my favourite, a rather fetching rocket design which if they did in Phantom size, I'd be buying myself. I was particularly taken, too, with the knitted finger puppets of all manner of animals and people at a pound a pop. The penguin and the hummingbird were my personal choices. They currently have several woollies on 'sale' - I'm assuming that there will be new designs in time for the Christmas rush.

Green Baby (a name I wouldn't have chosen, especially given that when I tried to google it, I was given two 'automatic' options - the shop and the subject 'green baby poop.' Ick.) Approximately where the old coins and medals shop was. It's ok - a chain, albeit a small one - and it sells all the usual stuff, with the not-so-USP-these days of it all being organic. It's perfectly nice gear, and not just clothes. You can get eco-nappies and washables, if you're really brave, equipment and furniture (though obviously not on display in store - it's only tiny.) But when my testers-for-all-things-under-five went in they were depressed by the staff - who seemed to have very little English, slim knowledge of the stock and virtually no concern as to whether or even how they could get specific items ordered-in if they weren't on show.

Another unpromisingly-named baby shop,Beauty and the Bib (it makes me squirm just to write it) is, despite its moniker, my favourite of the kiddiewear shops tested so far. In the place where Essential Music was, it's bright, pretty and really rather girly (the pink chandelier's a bit of a giveaway.) No prizes for guessing the main attraction. Bibs in the shape of strawberries, fairy cakes, bees and stars, bibs with pirates, spots and ladybirds - all sorts. There are bibs in flowery oilcloth, bibs in soft terry, bibs with backs, bibs with bows. Even special-needs bibs for larger children, with apples and hearts and stars.

This store's mainly for new-borns and very tinies. There are hats and all-in-ones, bootees and changing mats, usually in themes. You can get boxes and gift sets too - I'm guessing that that's their market - bemused relatives desperately searching for something to present to the stork-botherers.

There's definitely a cup-cake theme - knitted cake-shaped boxes containing (somewhat randomly) socks, egg cosies and cuddly slices of cake (a strange concept, I know, but it does work. You have to be there.) There are even soap-and-towel sets done up to look like chocolate cakes - perfect gifts for new mums. They come in gold gauze drawstring bags, an added draw for a Phantom too lazy to wrap things up...

Party On, Dude...

...but at Matalan? Who'd have believed it.

People who know me find it highly amusing that the only chain I actually miss in Greenwich is the very wonderful Woolworths. I have always loved Woollies - ever since I was a kid - the pick & mix racks, the plastic picnicware, the chart CDs, the toys, the mop-and-bucket sets...

I can't really explain why Woollies garish strip lighting, bright colours and cheerful tat have always held an almost mesmeric attraction for me - and let's face it, I'm alone in this. Hell - the store announced £100m losses only yesterday as it slipped further in the public's affections.

OK - They've made mistakes - remember when they tried to go up market a few years ago with 'designer' chocs and celebrity cappuccino-whisks? No? Nor does anyone else. But I still have a soft spot for Woollies and my mates always know where to find me if I go missing in a strange town...

But - well, we haven't got one and that's that. I have to go to Eltham or Lewisham if I want a Woolworths fix. In a jam, Wilkinson will do - in fact, even for die hard Woolworths fanatics like me Wilkinson is beginning to represent what Woollies used to be, but there ain't one of them in Greenwich either.

Sorry. I just had to get that off my chest. And I am receiving therapy for this embarrassing affliction. But there is a reason why I'm wittering on about Woollies. Because that's where I used to go to find bargain party stuff. I remember a couple of years ago trudging to Lewisham and buying a charming string of pumpkin Halloween fairy lights, that looked from a distance like a row of orange lollipops. I may even still have them. There's therapy for that too.

But I have found a pretender to the party-throne.

Some clever person at Matalan - purveyor of cheapo clothing that falls apart the day after you buy it - has hit on the perfect product. Party stuff that dresses your home, your kids and yourself, which doesn't matter if it falls apart the day after you use it.

The section started out small, with just a few balloons and paper chains, then it got in banners and a couple of hats. Since then it has been slowly getting bigger and bigger over the past few months.

Now it's pretty large, selling happy-tat to decorate your home in any style you like. 70s disco? No problem. Western Saloon? It's yours. Haunted house? We aim to please.

Large paper posters that give the impression of panelled rooms or cacti, a graveyard or a princess's castle. Lanterns to hang from the ceiling. Balloons a go-go. Costumes (albeit not of the very top quality and mainly of the 'sexy witch/nurse/cheerleader' variety) for adults and children (less sexy for the kiddies, thank god) accessories that outshine the pathetic selection in Angels (which I was in yesterday but will not bother with again - now there's a place that doesn't care about its customers - rude, unhelpful staff, piss-poor selection (no better than Matalan and very much of the Smiffy-sort) and outrageous prices - avoid them, guys...) cards, badges, party poppers, make up, wigs - you name it.

Turnover is fast, so don't count on any particular thing being there when you go. At the moment, it's all Halloween stuff - loads of frankly horrid gore and unidentified plastic creatures with red lighting-up eyes - perfect for scaring the kiddies - I assume that as Christmas approaches, different fancy-dress stuff will supplant the horror. But I first noted this section back in May - so I think it's going to be permanent.

I don't know whether it's a general thing with all Matalans or whether the buyer at the Charlton store is some kind of genius, but this to me is a great first-stop if you're having a party. You MAY end up trekking into town for that extra-special piece of sparkly rubbish - but, if you're having a bit of a do, do check at Matalan first. What it loses in quality, it makes up for in fun.

For somewhat better quality I'll be looking at Prangsta another day...