Our Blogs - Hungerford Arcade

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – A MARVELLOUS MATRIARCH

We love chatting to our visitors and learning about their families and lives.

I was privileged to meet a remarkable lady yesterday. Olive Hobbs is 100 years and 5 months old. She may well be one of our oldest visitors! She is fascinating to talk with and is matriarch of a large clan, with a son and a daughter, 6 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, who keep her busy!

We had a grand chat, while the younger members of the family explored the Arcade and her daughter found 28 pieces of a dinner service in the Junk Shop that she was thrilled with as she now has plenty of spares for future breakages!!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – LEST WE FORGET – REMEMBRANCE 2024

Hungerford Arcade are firm supporters of our Armed Forces and the Royal British Legion. We are also a sponsor of Walking with the Wounded.

As part of the annual commemorations which culminate in the national service at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday, we decorate the Arcade with commemorative items. We also host a display of vintage Military Vehicles on the preceding Sunday, each year.

The wonderful display of the silhouettes of Tommies with our collection box for the Royal British Legion in the Arcade.

Ann Parker always has an impressive display of miniature military figures

The outside of our building was decorated with this huge historic flag, which came from HMS Ark Royal. Ark Royal was involved in several naval actions during World War 11, the most famous of which was the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941. Swordfish squadrons from Ark Royal and her sister ship, HMS Victorious launched torpedoes against the Bismarck which helped to disable her and allowed other ships, notably HMS Devonshire to sink her. However, her luck ran out and she was torpedoed on 13 November 1941, just off Gibraltar and sank the following day – luckily with the loss of only one life.

The vehicles were on show from 10.00 am with their owners happy to talk about them and their histories.

George, Bob and Gary swapping stories!

This fabulous armoured vehicle with the Tommy silhouettes was a fitting display.

Our precious Poppy getting ready to drive!

Jeeps galore!

We were also lucky to have Monty’s Misfits with us, who brought with them a wonderful display of vintage military equipment. The long socks are particularly familiar to me as Mum used Dad’s old Army socks for my Christmas stocking!!

It was a great day and we extend our grateful thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it a success and a fitting commemoration for all our Armed Forces past and present.

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – HUNGERFORD IN BLOOM 2024

We are very lucky to have good friends in Nicola Wood and Susan Mayes of Smarten Up Hungerford. They have, once again, excelled themselves with the planting scheme for the stone troughs on either side of our front door, so much so that we have won the Commercial Shops category of Hungerford in Bloom for the third year running!

The judges commented on the stunning purple colour combinations. They went on to say how lovely and vibrant the colours were, which looked so pretty with the lavender.

I was delighted to represent the Arcade at the presentation of the winners’ certificates on 7th September. I never realised there were so many categories in the competition! The pictures of the winning gardens were spectacular.

Helen Simpson (the mayor), Nicola Wood, Wendy from the Arcade and Susan Mayes at the presentation of our winning certificate!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – HE WHO DARES, WINS!

We’ve had a really busy and fun-filled morning today. We were entertaining our good friends from SAS (Special Auction Services www.specialauctionservices.com) for one of their regular charity Bargain Hunts in aid of the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service.

Today’s group was larger than usual with three experts and six competitors. Thomas and Jessica Forrester and Neil Shuttleworth provided the expertise; each guiding two competitors in selecting pieces for a charity auction at SAS in Newbury on 5th November 2024. We were kept on our toes, opening cabinets and contacting the dealers for them, as they aimed to get the most for their £300 stake money.

Neil Forrester with Debbie Tonkinson and Fiona Devine, one of the founders of the charity on the right.

Jessica Forrester with Ann Workman and Pauline Brown.

Thomas Forrester with Susan (aka Mona Lisa, by her husband!) and Michael Bruton.

The competitors bid for their places at the Heaven Sent Ball last May. SAS always ensure that they have a memorable day. They met in the Plume for coffee before coming over the road to us. Afterwards, they went back for lunch where they compared notes on what they had all bought and speculated as to whose purchase would do best at the auction!

Thomas catching up with all the scuttlebutt with Frances Jones!

The Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service was founded in 2007 to provide a hospice service for children in Berkshire and the surrounding counties. Set up by Fiona and John Devine to honour their son, Alexander, who sadly died, aged 8, after treatment for a brain tumour. We are delighted to have been chosen by SAS (their charity partner) to do our bit to support this worthy cause. Further information can be found at www.alexanderdevine.org

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – Love is all around us!

We are sometimes privileged at Hungerford Arcade to be part of the memorable moments in the lives of our customers.

One such occurred recently when Paula Dabovich and David Crone from Adelaide, Australia came to explore the Arcade as part of their trip. They spent some time looking at rings from several cabinets and narrowed it down to two. We were all asked our opinion as to which suited Paula more. She finally chose this stunning ring which looked wonderful on her.

Before we knew it, David was down on one knee, holding the ring box! It was a magical moment and we were so lucky to be part of it. They very kindly let me take a photo of the happy occasion.

We are honoured that they chose to share a very special moment with us and wish them a long and happy life together.

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – HUNGERFORD’S 80TH D DAY ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

The whole of Hungerford came together to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, over the course of one weekend at the end of June.

We at the Arcade did our bit to join in with all the events going on over the weekend. Unit holder Jacque who has one of the front window units (unit 109) decided to go back in time to the 1940’s when the Arcade was then the local Grocery shop – Alexander’s.

The window became a grocers window during war time Britain, with great help and knowledge from local resident Susan Mayes who had some original 1940’s packaging and managed to source replica WW2 food labels etc for the display.

Jacque and Brenda, in her poppy dress, by the front desk

It was a fantastic weekend, the sun was shining, the bunting was out and on the Saturday (also Armed Forces Day), we were treated to a 60+ vintage military vehicle convoy through Hungerford High Street.

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – Bermudan Buyers

We love the summer at Hungerford Arcade. Whilst we have international visitors throughout the year, the numbers increase in summer, as well as the variety of the places where they come from.

Jenna Yee and Edward Wilmott hail from Bermuda, although Edward is practically local as he was born in Berkshire and his parents still live in a nearby village.

We were thrilled to meet them and hear about their life on the island, where Edward has been for the last 7 years. They spent some time browsing and chose a pocket watch and silver Albert chain. Just as they were about to settle up, Edward caught sight of a Kukri (Ghurka knife) in the unit behind the desk. He told us it would be ideal for gutting Mako shark, blue marlin and tuna when they go out deep-sea fishing on his boat!

It sounds idyllic!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – Happily Ever After!

Following on from our ‘Wedding Bells’ blog, we are delighted to share a photo of the new Mr and Mrs Dixon, Poppy and Harvey, on their wedding day.

It’s a wonderfully atmospheric picture and they are so happy together. They were kind enough to pop in with a bunch of flowers to say thank you to Brenda Neale of the Blue Room, for her work in sourcing and re-sizing their wedding rings.

We wish them a long, happy and prosperous life together and look forward to seeing them again soon.

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – IT’S ALL HAPPENING AT HENRY’S!

The renovation of our cafe, now renamed Henry’s, is gathering speed before its re-opening under new management at the beginning of July.

The impala that arrived on the same day as the buffalo (see ‘A Walk on the Wild Side’) has now been fixed above the stairs where he keeps a watchful eye on proceedings.

Adrian has been very busy installing display items and shelves and painting and, with the help of our friends Pete and Cameron from Pipes and Wires, the electricity supply has been upgraded and new lighting and an extractor fan installed.

A pause for a cup of coffee!

The new lights are striking and really make a statement. They are particularly eye-catching when on and really add to the ambience.

A seriously heavy duty coffee machine has arrived and is ready to be moved to its final position. We love that there are two coffee grinders and can’t wait to try it!

..and a noticeboard has been installed on the stairs leading to the mezzanine floor to tempt you with treats!

It’s all go here and that’s before we get started on the outside in the garden!

HUNGERFORD ARCADE – A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE!

I realise that taxidermy is not to everyone’s taste but one can appreciate the care and attention to detail that goes into preparing a piece.

This magnificent vintage buffalo head was recently brought into the Arcade, by Katya Pilkington of unit 123, with the intention of adding it to the display in the Square.

However, before we could even install it, it was sold and we only had it for a couple of hours to appreciate!

Watching it being loaded into the car gives you some idea of its size. I think Adrian may have been secretly relieved that he didn’t have to hoist it into position!

Taxidermy was developed in Ancient Egypt as a means of preserving pet animals and birds to be buried with their Pharoah. After this, the use of spices and oils was used predominantly to preserve animal skins and hides for use as shelter, clothing and bedding.

It wasn’t until the Renaissance that there was a renewed interest in whole animals for people to view and for scientific study. One of the earliest examples was in the 1500s in the Royal Museum in Florence, where there was a rhinoceros display for people to marvel at.

The British Museum contributed greatly to the development of modern taxidermy. By the late 1700s it had acquired the world’s largest collection of animal skins, skeletons and specimens. The life-like animal displays probably reached their apotheosis in 1851 with the displays for the Great Exhibition.

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