Crafts, kooky canines, classic cars and all-round family fun
Winslow Show is the biggest annual event on the Winslow calendar and one of the biggest country shows around Milton Keynes. You are guaranteed a great family day out with entertainment for everyone – both young and old!
Discovering the show only this year through a Facebook post, we had to head out this Bank Holiday Monday, and so glad we did!
Despite arriving stylishly late, we blagged a place in the main car park (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!) and after that we headed straight to the stalls for a bit of browsing. Sadly, we mostly had to window-shop as many stalls didn’t accept card payments – perhaps a blessing in disguise! But if you want to take home some of the fresh country produce or handmade goodies from the craft tent, make sure you bring cash!
Some of the standout stalls for me were, in no particular order:
The Happy Elephant
Just opposite the main entrance to the show, what a fabulously colourful stand The Happy Elephant put on.
The brand offers gorgeous jewellery made from the tagua nut, a seed of a palm tree that grows in the Ecuadorian Rainforest.
Tagua, known as “vegetable ivory”, offers a vegan alternative to elephant ivory. It’s beautiful to the touch, takes a high polish, and absorbs vegetable dyes easily.
https://thehappyelephant.co.uk/
Buggle Betty Productions
For a dog-lover, Buggle Betty offers everything from coasters to doodle (no pun intended!) pads. For those wondering who Betty Buggle is, she is a rescue Staffie Cross who, with the help of her adopted family, turns her passion for photography and graphics into lovely items.
The result? A lovely range of gifts and accessories for dog lovers everywhere! What’s more, Betty can also help produce breed-specific gift items for you.
https://www.bugglebettyproductions.co.uk/
The Chocolate Mill
Chocolate truffles and chocolate covered brownies? Bring it on! Which is exactly what Steve Mill did with his homemade artisan chocolates, blending a range of tastes and flavours – from the classic flavours of milk chocolate and chocolate orange to the more bold choices such as the Irish stout truffle and mojito chocolate.
We opted for a box of twelve and devoured half the box before we even left the showgrounds. If you don’t live locally, fear not, they deliver to any UK mainland postcode.
https://thechocolatemillmk.co.uk/
Deco Gecko
I dare you not to walk past this brand without their colourful creations catching your eye and your breath. Deco Gecko specialises in hand-made personalised pictures and decoupage animal kits. Their latest creations are the 3D printed articulated dragons.
What I loved most was the colourful shapes and letters in vibrant patterns framed with the name of the person written out in Scrabble tiles – so much so that one had to come home with me.
https://www.facebook.com/DecoGecko
Caz Interiors
The Afroyinbo in me was drawn like a moth to a flame to this stand. Interiors By Caz is all about stunning, ornamental lighting to enhance any room. As well as their African print lampshades they also had on display cushions in a range of lavish African print. What a fest for your living room if you’re after that eclectic look!
Stitch my Stash Crafts
Another vibrant interiors stand Stitch my Stash had on offer vibrant handmade quilts and cushion covers as well as scarves and shoppers in quirky, colourful prints. Of course, it had to be a Frida Kahlo wall hanging which is a celebration of the artist Annette Fynes-Clinton’s love for all things Frida.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/stitchmystashcrafts
Of course it wasn’t all about crafts though! There were more dogs than you can shake a stick at having the time of their lives, enjoying a glorious day in the park complete with treat vendors and of course a dog show that ran all day with a wide range of categories from breed-specific to novelty ones, such as Best Rescue, Best Trick and the Waggiest Tail. My only gripe, with the field being really big and the bright range soft fencing so high, it wasn’t easy to get a really good look at the prized pooches. But alas, there were still plenty roaming around.
And then of course, the classic cars. I am by no means an expert but I like the look of a vintage ride so I had to explore.
With music, food and hundreds of stalls selling weekly produce and a range of entertainment for adults and children, and the sun shining bright, the Winslow Show had a great carnival vibe. We enjoyed it so much and discovered such lovely new brands that we definitely will be going back next summer!
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