Cresswell’s weekly Car Boot sale

The weekly car-boot sale on the field opposite The Hunter pub (at the south end of Cresswell) is now back for its summer stint, and is up and running, with around thirty or so sales points at the moment.
Lorna Clay, the farmer who puts up the field for the event, is hoping for more car-booters once the weather gets a little better. In previous years, there have been as many as a hundred there (so there’s plenty of room if you too have an attic you need to clear).

It’s really just a summer-thing because, as she told us, the council only allows her to put on fourteen of these sales a year.  (If one of the sales is  called off due to bad weather, she is allowed that one as a ‘free day’).

Community

We found it a really charming community experience.  Because it’s on a Tuesday morning (from 8am-1pm), it’s mostly older people who come along. They meet up, and everybody seems to know each other; and you can have a bit of breakfast there from the hot-food stall too, as well as browse for a bargain.

Alan Johnson – still riding at 81

We met Alan Johnson – who cycles over from Forsbrook on Tuesdays just to drop in.
He is a former time-triallist (he first raced in 1947!), and is still cycling 100 miles a week, even though he’s now 81…   Pretty amazing.
He told us that the worst thing about road-cycling these days is the potholes. Erm, we know what he means…

Charities

There are also a number of stalls raising money for local charities.
Some fantastic cup-cakes are sold by volunteers from Kirk House, the care home run by the Uttoxeter Old People’s Housing Society. It makes indulging in a cup-cake a worthwhile action somehow!

Incidentally, you may have wondered why there are no signs in Draycott advertising the fact of the car-boot sale.
As Lorna told us, sadly, it’s another council rule – no signage…  So – spread the word!