Thursday, July 03, 2008

 

3rd July To be a Pilgrim over the rainbow

This was our first day as Pilgrims!
We drove to Dorking with a little of the nerves a child feels on joining a new class.
Would they like us? Would we fit in? Would we make mistakes? Had we got the right stuff?
Jill is on duty every Thursday and we had met her once when we went over to Dorking a couple of weeks ago. Her friend, Hilary, was there too; she is not always on duty on a Thursday. But I have a feeling that she will be there almost always when we are.
Jill sells mostly glass and Hilary is a jewellery expert. What is an expert?
We found, during the day, that once you get past their manner of being the grand antiques dealers, they both are in fact down to earth and very pleasant.

I think they were both excited and on edge about a new venture, as we were. This Saturday a large grand antiques shop opens just along the road and each will have a cabinet there. Today they were filling their cabinets.
Jill has always had other outlets; Hilary decided to move into Hampshires with Jill as a sort of insurance policy. She needs to feel part of an antiques shop and she has some fears that when the lease for Pilgrims comes to be renewed, Stephen might feel that he can't afford it. I don't know that he can charge all the sellers very much more for their spaces.

Oh dear! We have been in this situation before at Rocking Horse. It would be a shame not to get even 6 months in the shop.

Bill set to work early - once we had all had a cup of tea of course!
He had constructed additional shelving to go into his cabinet - so everything had to come out and be re -arranged. This picture of model cars maybe shows the perspex shelf on the dowel legs that he made yesterday.
I also got Bill to remove the cabinet door on my section. I would much rather have my things accessible to the customers.
I have learned the Pilgrims way of dealing with sales and who owns which spaces and cabinets. At least I now know the names of people.
I popped out to buy some lunch and a few bits which we ate in the now redundant tea room. It would be good to find somebody else to run it - but it would hardly be fair to allow somebody to start that project with the prospect of possible closure hanging over our heads.
There has been lots of talking and fun and laughter - so rather like Rocking Horse really. I think the sales for the day were rather similar too - a quiet mid week day.
This is a quiet time of year and of course at the moment people are feeling the need to be a bit more careful with money.
The good news is that Paula and Bill have taken money since Tuesday - well, Bill has!
But this is a joint venture so we will cherish each other's successes. He sold 4 model soldiers for £25.
I noticed this morning that he had got into conversation with a few men who had come into the shop - I think they will appreciate the "boy's toys".
During the afternoon Bill popped out of the shop and took a few photos.
Immediately opposite the shop is a blue plaque showing that the shop name derives from The Pilgrim fathers rather than Dorking being a watering hole along the Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury.




There are old buildings opposite, with ground floors turned into antiques shops. West Street is renowned for antiques, collectables, arts and crafts and stylish gifts.

This is Pilgrims. It looks small, but the space inside goes back quite a long way.
It is a bit of a higgledy piggledy shop with steps and a side alley.
It used to be a butcher's shop and there are still cast iron loops in the ceiling for the hooks which would hold large carcasses of meat.
If you click on this one to enlarge it, you can just see me through the window.
We left just before 5 o'clock and the journey back through the lanes (the lanes of Bill's ancestors) was smooth and we were home by half past five.
After dinner we rushed outdoors in the rain to take pictures of a fine rainbow.







Goodnight - after a happy day.
Strange really to think I don't do another duty now for 3 weeks. We will have to go over there before then to sort things out of course.

3rd July To be a Pilgrim over the rainbow
posted by Grandma P on Thursday, July 03, 2008