Well, that is how it was advertised. Last went there with Granny June when Michael and Robert were very young. That is where we started our day out. Well, to be perfectly honest we started where we always start, the Sandbanks Cafe for breakfast. Michael and Kate joined us and that is where we laid our plans for a trip to Milton Abbas Street Fair and then on to watching Gary and Dan play Cerne Abbas Saturday cricket match.
Milton Abbas Street Fair was one of those Street Fairs where you would find all the locals, displaying their skills. Not anymore, now filled with all those normal street market traders. Dorset Chutney, Dorset Ice cream, Dorset dog tags, you name it there was a stall selling you something. My point, they were not from the Milton Abbas area, anyone who wanted a stall was there and that was a disappointment. Even the ales and ciders were from far a field. Let us not forget the blouses and shirts from Thailand, dog tags from China and knife sharpeners from South Korea.
On arrival we were directed to a parking area well before the town and it was free. Michael commented that it was rather refreshing not have to pay to park your car, hopefully more areas will do the same. That sentiment was short lived, we arrived, after a reasonable walks from the free car park, to the start of the Street Fair and were unwelcome by a sign saying adults £ 6 , a donation, but without you paying the donation you were not going to get in. Susan somehow paid £ 20 for 4 of us and we were allowed in. Jenson was not impressed by the loud music and had dragged Michael and Kate passed the ticket/donation control and were heading up the street. Michael, always the opportunist was on the hunt for a local ale, sadly we had to settle for an ale from Bath. I enjoyed mine and Michael rounded his off with 4 cinnamon doughnuts. Good healthy food on any given day. Susan tasted all the samples and bought some chutneys from a chutney maker, Bramble Foods, just outside Birmingham. My point!
The stalls were as described above, all over priced and not really worth the ticket/donation we had to pay. A pity as this is a town of history.
Milton Abbas dates back to 934 AD. In 1773, Joseph Damer, Earl of Dorchester, decided that he did not want the town so close to his new mansion. He moved the town away from his mansion. The famous Capability Brown was commissioned and together they created the village of Milton Abbas. Who lives there now, I do not know but it is just another street fair, selling cheap products and labelling them as local, any street market has them and they are free. Give this one a miss, definitely not worth the effort.
We ended with a picnic at Cerne Abbas Village cricket match and Michael was talked into fielding as they were a man short. Fitting ending to what was rather a very cluttered street of foreign market traders, plying their products, today Milton Abbas, Street Fair, tomorrow Wimborne Market and the next Christchurch Town Market.
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