A little patch of hometown heaven.

So every Thursday in Gloucester Green, Oxford City Centre, a market is held. And not just any market. Flaunting their wares to the world, one can find stalls selling old coins, antique perfume bottles, vintage clothing, polished wooden boxes, shelves of tattered hardback books, and piles upon piles of bric-a-brac. The colour and diversity seen in this space is remarkable. Last Thursday I spent four to five hours in Gloucester Green, browsing and taking photos. Take a look:

A beautiful old dress-maker's dummy that I fell in love with. Sadly it was already sold - but the guy it who was selling it has many more in store, and I now have contact details! Watch this space...

The man running this stall selling old coins was lovely - he told me how the tiniest circles of silver were used as coins in the British Protectorate in India. When I asked to take photos, he graciously allowed me to. Apparently he has a bucket of water under his table for the cameras of people who don't ask permission. I'm not sure I believed him, but I'm glad I asked all the same!

Yes, this is a wedding dress! Hanging forlornly between jackets and waistcoats.. It was the drift of white netting spilling out onto the pavement that caught my attention.

I'll admit that when I entered the market I was determined not to spend any money. However, by the end of my time there, my purse was about twenty pounds lighter. Some things just must not be walked away from! I found a beautiful, tissue-paper thin ruffled shirt for a fiver.

And then at a stall selling rails of vintagy clothes (my favourite stall, as you can imagine) I picked up this gorgeous jumpsuit. It came with a belt of the same pattern, also. The lovely man who owns the stall had no problems with me taking the jumpsuit to try on in the nearby cafe - on the contrary, he stuffed it into a bag for me, and handed it to me with a "See you later, then!" That's one thing I love about this market - although you get a few stick-in-the-muds who don't like having photos taken of their stalls, or overprice their items (as in every market) - most of the people there are friendly and happy to go out of their way and help, in exchange for a smile and a brief chat.

I feel kind of pirate-like in it, it's wonderful.