Yesterday, Saturday, after doing little other than attending a coffee morning and in the afternoon doing things in the home, we have what I can politely say to be a day of surprises.
Our plan was to go to the monthly flea market which is held at an exhibition ground to the south of Frome, at the same venue as the Frome Cheese show, then going to view an exhibition of surrealist and existential art, and thirdly go to the massive Wells Food Festival which is held annually. That was the plan, but synchronicity had other ideas.
The images below are not in chronological order; the events of the day are listed below.
I love the colours of autumn and this picture was taken outside the library in the centre of Frome
I saw this rather enterprising and imaginative ecological diagram showing how the river Frome interacts energetically and organically with the town
This was a modern surrealist and spiritual art exhibition at the Silk Mills gallery and workshop centre in the center of Frome. There were only one or two people there when we arrived so we were able to talk to two of the exhibitors. Style was indeed extraordinary as you can see from the photographs below.
If you look carefully you can see all the recent presidents of the United States writing a bull
This shows about half the gallery area which is a single room but has been host to a wide variety of interesting exhibitions. It is in formal and affordable for smaller groups
This cyclops eye is a wonderful bit of creative art on the jacket of one of the creators who does extraordinary detailed pen drawings which must require a very steady eye. He spoke about his working almost mystical terms and I do very much admire such people which is why I will support all artists in spite of their failings because they are trying to express the inexpressible.
This does not do Justice to the art, I wish I had a better camera
A sad sign because this wonderful bakery shop is to close I guess because it’s lease runs out. There are already too many closed or vacant shops in this charming little lane.
We went into the Cheese and Grain community Centre to have a coffee. I had a latte and Françoise had a Chai tea, a taste she loves. We noticed some activity in the adjacent Hall and I discovered that a food festival was about to start. We had no idea that this event was going to happen.
A list of countries presented with either their culture or food or both. Admission was free.
A traditional band playing it sounded eastern European to me but I forgot to ask someone. The point is that it was authentic
By about 1:00 p.m. the place was heaving and we sampled foods from a number of countries. I got on very well until I had a tiramisu which was a bit much for my digestion. No hard feelings Italy. You see the man in the foreground in the red jersey. I talked to him and he touched me so gently and lovingly on my back. I felt a warm feeling and I knew instinctively that he was a very good father and grandfather and friend to many. I wish I had gone back to talk to him but never mind.
These ladies were from Turkey and we were offered a wonderful selection of moussaka, fig leaves, breads, a selection for five pounds and what a lovely graze I had
another view of the playing groups
Batik from Sri Lanka
Yum yum a lovely sample of polenta and a meat stew
i cannot remember which country these people were representing but it was lovely anyway. I get the impression that the fat used or oil used was of very high quality and very pure
Three young ladies engaged in a very active conversation. It looks like they were of different nationalities. It makes my heart warm when I see such things.
Before we left I had a word with the lady at the welcome table and said what a lovely atmosphere of sharing their words and if we could look at the formula and apply it to other social and culturally events in the area how much enriched would the social life of Frome become.
These are a few pictures from the Frome flea market which is held monthly through the summer. This was the last one of the Year. It consists of some outdoor stalls selling a variety of second-hand products, plus a large area in doors of which half is devoted to an auction where items were typically going for a few pounds. There were many many chainsaws and strimmers going for a song so if you are prepared to wait a long time for the auction to come to your item it will be time well spent
A ridiculous variety of items are for sale at auction. There must have been hundreds if not thousands of lots. Most of them looked serviceable.
A general view
You would need the patience of a a saint to which your turn but as I say it’s probably worth it
At the show I met a young man who specialized in 3D printing of objects ETSY.com/UK/SHOP/3Dprinting.jim I said I wanted a miniature print of myself. He said it would probably cost the best part of 200 pounds which including scanning, photoshopping, and the amount of time it takes to actually print a work I thought that was quite good value.
I recommend this flea market for a number of reasons. There is plenty of space, it is easy to find, there are no queues to get in, the charge per person, adult, is one pound, and there is plenty of variety and good value. However, I do object to profiteering and charging £3.70 for a latte is about the same as you pay in London.
We were going to go on to Wells but decided that another food festival was overkill since we had sampled more than a few items or food so we drove back at the surprisingly early time of 2:15pm where upon I immediately sat down to write this diary.
We met some wonderful people including a South African couple who had been in the area for 18 months and had previously lived in East London. As my readers will know I specialize in talking to complete strangers and either telling them a joke or making some comment to cheer up their day. In this environment i was in my element.
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