On Saturday we braved the bitter cold (minus 2c, to be precise), wrapped up in our woollies and headed to the Windermere Christmas market.
The town held this for the first time last year, and great fun it was too. It was called ‘Ja Windermere’ in a slightly odd nod to German Christmas markets elsewhere, but had very little German content and this year they’d dropped the ‘Ja’ bit. Sadly, they also seemed to have dropped most of the very stuff that made it so enjoyable. Where there’d been a good range of stalls selling local crafts, gifts and produce, this year most of those had disappeared. All that was left was hot food, and drink. In other words, a whole market full of takeaway stalls.
It still seemed very popular, but I can’t help feeling that food and drink stalls are an addition, not the main event themselves. It felt rather like going to a rock concert where the band doesn’t show up, and the whole gig consists of watching the roadies assemble and disassemble the stage. I’d hoped to buy a Christmas present for my cousin, but I didn’t really think a plastic cup of mulled wine, or a cold congealed burger, would go down too well. And there wasn’t much else. We trailed up one side of the market and back down the other in about ten minutes flat, then visited some of the other shops in the town and headed home.
It’s still early days, and I’m hoping that one, it generated some useful revenue for the town, and two, they manage to bring back the local content next year. If not, I probably won’t bother going again.
FIONA GLASS 