60s FRENCH CHIC!

Bonjour!

Fancy a bit of groovy French 1960s chic?

Well how about sipping your coffee from one of these spectacularly cool coffee cups?!

Made by the venerable French company Vereco, the emerald green cups just ooze 60s cool!

As there are 6 cups and saucers, you can join in with friends for coffee and a munch on a croissant and brush up on your French!

Zip along to my unit on the 2nd floor of The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset and snap them up now!!!

Bonne chance!

DRENCHED IN DORSET!

Had a fantastically British August holiday experience this weekend, SUN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN!!!!!

I was back in West Bay to stock up and tidy up the unit The Customs House. Pleased to say that sales are going very well. So hurry up and get down there to get your hands on some vintage inspired art!!

Ominous clouds over West Bay, run to The Customs House next door for shelter and shopping!!!

The wonderful Arcane Publishing's haul of books!

Rest of the unit, hurry up, the retro footie stuff is going like hot cakes!

Really pleased to have also made it to the Buckham Fair. This fabulous show is organised by the actor Martin Clunes and his wife Philippa. It has become a real part of Dorset's yearly calendar and Martin is very much a hands-on part of it all, he really looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. 
Everyone there braved the awful weather, which finally cleared,  and were treated to some great events. My fave was The Southern Golden Retriever Society Display Team, who were brilliant!

Somme-like conditions at the Buckham Fair!

Cute 'Thelwell' type pony, looking for a Polo!

Martin Clunes judging a dog competition, in his trademark Stetson.

It was all too much for her though!

The brilliant Golden Retriever Display Team!!

Action shot of a clever dog doing the assault course. And just look at that scenery in the background!

The Grand Finale of the day was the Heavy Horse Show. Here is Martin Clunes again, this time proudly showing off his Clydesdale horse, which won 1st Prize in its class.

As the sun decided to hang around a bit we finished our day with a fantastic stroll down at Cogden Beach, which is a lovely stretch of the huge Chesil Beach.

Lovely yellow poppies actually growing on the beach at Cogden.

Just the two of us! Down on Chesil Beach.

RETRO NEWCASTLE UNITED

Welcome to the unveiling of my latest Retro Football collage ... NEWCASTLE UNITED.

A black and white striped tribute to the Toon Army, packed with Geordie heroes!

The legend who leads the way is of course JACKIE MILBURN. Newcastle has always been famous for its legendary no. 9 centre forwards, and Wor Jackie is perhaps their most iconic. Throughout the 1950s he captained them to three F.A. Cup triumphs and bagged a sensational 200 goals.

Other strikers from down the years also get a mention, including 70s marauder Malcolm Macdonald, Bryan 'Pop' Robson and 80s icon Peter Beardsley.
Classic 1970s sticker albums are also in there, alongside original programmes, cards and a commemorative coin from the 1972 Esso F.A. Cup Centenary Coins set.

Fantastic smiley portrait of Super Mac from 1973!

The England striker enjoyed cult status on Tyneside in the 80s.

Great selection of 70s footie cards.

Programme from 1976, costing a whopping 12p!

Newcastle United profile from the Football 79 sticker album.

The most unusual item I had for this collage is a letter from 1983. Clearly showing their distinctive club badge on the letterhead, it concerns their travel arrangements to get to and from a match at Chelsea!

Rare letter from Newcastle secretary R. Cushing, confirming their coach to take them to a match in 1983.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about Newcastle is their lack of silverware in modern times. So I wanted to include their last big successes. There is a feature on Bobby Moncur, who captained and scored in their 1969 Inter-City Fairs Cup victory and original pictures from their last major domestic trophy, the F.A. Cup of 1955.

Bobby Moncur helped end Newcastle Cup famine in 1969.

Great original pictures from their 1955 F.A. Cup win over Man City.

My favourite item of the collage is the fantastic cigarette card of HUGHIE GALLACHER. An extraordinary centre forward and personality who played for the Geordies in the late 20s, scoring an amazing 143 goals in 174 appearances. He fired them to the League Championship in 1926/27 with 36 goals. The card, issued by Player's Cigarettes in 1926, features a brilliant portrait of the impish but fiery Scottish striker.

I hope Newcastle fans young and not-so young enjoy this collage, and hopefully can inspire today's Toons to a bit of success this season!

This weekend I'll be adding a framed picture and some fridge magnets of this collage to my unit at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset. I might see you in there!!

P.S. Some fans may notice a distinct lack of pictures of the legendary KEVIN KEEGAN! The simple reason for this is that, unbelievably, I couldn't find anything on him in my collections!! As with all my collages, I only use vintage items I actually own and don't just take things off the internet. If I get any bits with Kev on it, I'll add it to the collage, watch this space!!

Have a look at the other teams I've done in my RETRO FOOTBALL series HERE

And let me know which team you'd like me to do next!!

TAKING THE BISCUIT!

Take a peep at these fantastic retro biscuit tins from Huntley & Palmers....

The legendary biscuit bakers have been around since 1822, and have a fine tradition of tasty biccies and even tastiest tin designs! Over the years their hallmark has been for innovative and colourful containers for their wares.

These two are a tiny example, and show bright and inviting tins to tempt you!
I love the rich purple of the first tin with the fabulous illustration of the cocktail drinks in the corner. It dates from around the early 1960s, possibly even back into the 50s.

The vibrant red tin is from 1970, where your cocktail party would have been enhanced by this savoury selection!

Of course, now you wouldn't want to store your biccies in them, but they have both become very handy little storage tins!

Anything like spare change, loose buttons and bits of string can be kept together in there. Or perhaps something a little bit more exciting, like a collection of vintage cigarette cards or postcards!

And lucky you, they are both available to buy in my unit at The Customs House!!!
Pop along now to the 2nd floor of the 200-year-old building in West Bay, Dorset right now!!

SKY TV

On a break from setting up our unit at The Customs House in West Bay, we sauntered over to the beach, which is just a few feet away...

While soaking up the views of the sea and the towering East Cliff, I laid back on the huge bank of stones and looked up at the sky and enjoyed the show.

You don't have to pay any subscription fees, this is Dorset's very own free SKY TV!!

Next time you visit us at The Customs House, don't forget to tune in!!

WEST BAY WATCH!

The unit at The Customs House in West Bay is now all set up!!!

After an epic 9 hour journey down to Dorset, that included the worst queues I've ever seen on the A303 and an overheated and smoking van, we collapsed at our favourite B&B overlooking Chesil Beach!

The next morning we began the task of hauling all our boxes and furniture up the stairs onto the 2nd floor of the gorgeous old building.

After a lot of unpacking and deciding what goes where, everything is now in place and awaiting some eager customers!!!

Here is rather a lot of pictures to show you our set-up!

Finally arrived at wonderful West Bay!

The ArtPix Battlebus, that didn't like the lengthy queues on the A303!!

The side entrance to The Customs House.

Open 7 days a week, so no excuses for not visiting!!

A novel way to get to The Customs House!

There is lovely stuff everywhere you look.

This is the fantastic café.

Lots of pooches hang out here!

Here we are at the amazing 200-year-old building.

Which is an unusual L-shape.

At the top of the stairs, looking over at the amazing place!

Gulp, now to unload all the boxes!!

Phew, all done at last!!

This is Bertie, who this season is wearing a classic Paisley shirt!

And introducing Gertie, who is also looking after the unit with Bertie!

Managed to pack in loads of my stuff.

Here are the retro cards!

And my popular Retro Decade Packages!

My fantastic French suitcase filled with loads of vintage stuff!

And here is the amazing Arcane Publishing bit of the unit!

Carya Gish's two published novels are on sale.

Handy information boards, giving you the rundown of all the books available.

Superb selection of new and exciting literature on offer, including books by Joolz Denby, Steve Pottinger and Carl Stanley.

And not forgetting Arcane's excellent range of vintage and hard to find books.

Word has quickly got out of our arrival in West Bay!!