Provincial dreaming: Alderley Edge, Wilmslow & Cheadle Hulme

Since I last blogged things have looked up considerably on the thrifting front and we’ve had a few truly successful excursions, in various different ways. I’ll report ‘em one by one.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m new-ish to the North West so I’m using secondhand safari as a good excuse to get out and explore. Looking for routes where I could hit a few towns in one day the obvious choice was the Wilmslow/Alderley Edge/Cheadle Hulme run.
For anyone not too familiar with Blighty’s North West, Alderley Edge is famous for being (a) very posh, (b) very expensive and (c) a little tacky at points as the upper classes haven’t worked out how to ringfence Alderley Edge and keep the footballers and their wives out of there. Surely this had to throw up some good thrifting. It’s about half an hour on the train from Manchester Piccadilly and I headed there first.
So, Alderley Edge… rich pickings? Surprisingly not. It was all way too conservative for me, and I should also point out, boasts THE most expensive Oxfam I have ever set foot in. And that really is saying something. A used Marks and Spencers sundress for £28 is just one example. Oxfam is known for overcharging but that place took the biscuit. Still, the other shops weren’t too pricy considering their location. My only actual purchase was a bargain set of vintage egg cups in a wooden stand at £2 from Marie Curie but it was an interesting place to visit. I had a nice chat with a few pensioners, and I overheard the following exchange – these things are the spice of life;
‘What do you think of this hat Muriel? Does it suit me?’
‘Well, I think if you were off to the palace again then maybe, but it might be a little OTT for a normal garden party.’
If Alan Bennett had been there, believe me he would have whipped his notebook out sharpish to record that one. Fabulous!
One stop up on the train was Wilmslow, where I struck gold. Wilmslow is slightly less posh then Alderley Edge, although still expensive, but still has delusions of grandeur with a little more roughness round the edge. I kind of like it there; it’s very British in a provincial kind of way  – I swear I saw one of the Nolans sitting outside a cafe which says it all – and there are at least a few more down to earth people around. The thrifting was FANTASTIC! You can see details on the ‘purchases’ page of this blog if you click on each item, but key finds were a Reiss shirt for Mr SHS for £6 and a summer dress for me, also for £6. I collapsed into a cafe at the end delighted by my day so far. But I realised that I was feeling too fired up to stop so jumped bak on the train and headed up to Cheadle Hulme. My feet were killing me by this point so I only made it to the dreary precinct right by the station, but there were two charity shops and I picked up some really nice jeans, meaning that I can finally throw my threadbare ones away, and a few other kids things.
All in all on this day I spent less than £45, which is about half of what the Reiss shirt alone would have cost, and came away with 13 items of varying value. And I had a lovely time. On the days when secondhand shopping is like this there’s nothing that’s more fun. Bliss…..