Hungerford Arcade “Eggs and Hungerford”

Here is a question.   Have you noticed that our little town is full of eggs?  Yes, Hungerford is full of eggs; they are in the shops ready for Easter (£6.00 now and 50p on the day after Easter).  Tesco’s and our other supermarkets stock eggs and our two rivers and the canal are full of eggs (that is if you survive the savage trout to find them).  The wild birds that frequent the town and our beloved pigeons are all presenting us with eggs.  Even the Arcade is full of eggs.

 

This thought did not really occur to me until I came across a poster for the forthcoming movie Mary Magdelane which features Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara (who I am told are an item in real life).  Like most men, I do not have a clue when Easter is, it just shows up and passes without a murmur (which I find is a little sad).  But the movie was a prompt.

 

One’s children and grandchildren hint broadly at the Easter egg of their choice which is usually a tie-in with the latest mind numbing television show or film. (I am half expecting to see a Mary Magdalene Easter egg with Joaquin and Rooney staring deeply in to each other’s eyes).

 

 

Caron and I normally purchase Easter eggs for all of our many grandchildren (forty-three at the last count but there seems to be more each time we receive a visit).  Within hours, the wrappings are discarded on the lounge floor and the little darlings sit there looking green and not looking forward to their car ride home.  

 

Hell is Easter eggs as Sartre once put it.

 

I do not really care to eat eggs for a number of reasons.  I do not like their texture and since childhood, I have not really come to terms with what constitutes an egg.  This said, I do like scrambled egg on toast and in the late summer of 2017, I tasted what I consider to be the best scrambled egg in history in a cafe in Lewes.  But what of the Arcade.  I know that Rafters most likely serve a variety of egg dishes but what other eggs might you find in the Arcade?  Well, unless you are very lucky, you will not find a Faberge Egg as usually one is talking ££££millions for these exquisite decorated eggs.  Even good copies of these eggs cost thousands.  But if you look, there are many Eggs to be found in the arcade.  The most common are the alabaster and marble eggs which one can normally find when visiting.  I quietly collected these eggs but have slowed down recently as the grandchildren began using them as hand grenades.  These eggs usually cost a pound or two and if displayed in a bowl can add that extra joie de vie to any room.  Or you can be surreal by keeping one in a small ornate bird cage with a stuffed cat.  Seriously, I have seen this when using my friends lobster telephone).

 

If you do not want to do this, then papier mache eggs can often be found and these hollow eggs can be fun if you want to be different when exchanging gifts.  What about an alabaster egg inside a papier mache egg now there’s an idea.  I quite frequently carry a small marble egg in my coat pocket as it relaxes me to just roll it in the palm of my hand when I am out and about.  Although I did find it hard to explain away when I went to a football match about twenty years ago and was frisked before entering (this said, my explanation was accepted by the dull steward after a consultation with a rather disinterested policeman).

 

One of my favourite sculptors, Constantin Brancusi created an egg shaped sculpture which he called Sculpture for the Blind which in my view, is minimalism at its most organic.  You cannot get a more basic shape than an egg and unconsciously, the shape pleases each and every one of us.  Eggs do not start or finish they are infinite.  But enough of this metaphysical wandering for I have strayed far.

 

This is a short article about eggs and Hungerford.  Hopefully, by the time you read this, Easter will be in full swing, the Beast from the East 3 will be upon us and our beloved common will be covered with snow once more.  Or, it will rain, but what better time to come to Hungerford and explore this lovely town and visit the Arcade.

 

Eggs might not be your thing and after being subjected to buying millions of the chocolate ones, you most probably never want an Easter Bunny or an Easter Chick or an Easter Egg ever again.  If that is the case, just pop into one of many fine pubs we have here in Hungerford and watch our feathered friends (and that includes the pigeons) contribute towards the cause.

 

Happy Easter and Happy Hunting

 

Stuart Miller-Osborne