England trip - LNS recs?

"Candy Murphy" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

As a stitcher, I would drop the trip to the British Museum in favour of visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum which is close to where you are staying. They have stitching to boggle the mind.

You can get an idea of the type of 'museum' it is here

I have spent a total of days there over the years and you have just whetted my appetite to visit again while I am in the UK. I think I would call it a living museum whereas the British Museum is more of a dead museum.

I acknowledge that statement is likely controversial, but then, ask me how much I care lol

Candy, You'll find some small cross stitch kits in the various gift shops at the Tower. They are mostly small items, a bookmark, a needlecase, etc. I can't comment on either of the museums as I've yet to visit either one of them. I was close to the British Museum last trip, but the cold wind and my hips just didn't agree, so after seeing the changing of the Horse Guard, I ended up back at the Tower. Not that I minded, since I think I could spend days cheerfully poking around there. I'm ashamed to admit, Claire did take me to a small shop "somewhere" outside of London, but I was still (and am forced to admit still am) very confused about where I was, so I can't tell you the area it was in. I don't know if they still have it, but on my first visit, we went to Harrod's and there was a small needlework section, mostly devoted to needlepoint, but you could get floss there, if I recall correctly. I don't know if it's still there, as the last visit was over Christmas and while doing any shopping at Harrod's is a novelty, the Christmas crowd was a bit more than I can take so we didn't stay long. As Sheena said, I've heard that the V&A Museum is really the one to see, so if there's anyway you can get there, I'd go for it! I do envy you! I can't wait until the next trip I manage to make over! Tegan

"Tegan" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

There really aren't LNS in London much more. Liberty's on Regent Street has a good department, and John Lewis on Oxford Street used to have a wonderful one, but they downsized it somewhat in recent years, so much so, I actually found the John Lewis in Kingston on Thames was slightly better. They also had some lovely yarns there.

A friend was with me and bought a pattern to knit a lacy evening sweater. In each hole of the lace, there was a small silver bead. She got it done and it is a lovely thing, it used over 8000 beads argggh! I know there was an LNS in Shepherds Bush, but whether it is still there, I am not sure.

The British Museum trip is a group thing, so not optional. But we are staying very close to the V&A, and we do get some free time to ourselves, so I will definitely try to check it out.

Liberty's on Regent had a fair selection of cross stitch kits and needlepoint. John Lewis in the sewing department had mostly accessories, eg:cards, little jars, boxes with lid inserts for needlework, that kind of thing.

Perhaps you could contact them via emailand inquire as to what they carry at present. Street

I hope you do find time to check out the V&A . it is not a museum one can do in a day or even a couple. It is such a vast museum that I would strongly suggest that rather than try to do it all you might concentrate on a couple of areas of particular interest. It is not to be missed if you are a needlework enthusiast. The items displayed change frequently, there are numerous pull out drawer type displays. the other section that is interesting from a needlework point of view is the costume display area. Ruby

Stepping in mid-thread:

Has anyone suggested the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court? For information on exhibits and their shop:

Felice

"Felice Friese" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

That is not too near Kensington and I don't believe you can see many of their items unless you have booked first. Unless they have put something out on general display in the last couple of years, there is nothing and their shop contained not a single needlework related item, only the usual things one finds in National Trust shops.

"lucretia borgia" wrote

Thanks, Lucretia. I must have missed an earlier post about proximity to Kensington. However, their website does show some 18 kits that seem to be available in their shop and I did buy a pillow kit there a while back.

Felice

"Felice Friese" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

That's new, must take a trip over by bus from my aunt's when I am there. Thanks.

Most needlework shops seem to be in villages in the UK and a lot of them are closing and turning into mail order only.

There's a very good (though small and crowded) one near Swindon at Cricklade (only about 10 mins drive but you would need a car): Cricklade Needlecrafts

89a, High St, Cricklade, Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 6DF Tel: 01793 750604. I use this one, and the excellent one that was at Burford, but which has closed temporarily to relocate when they can find premises.

In Bristol, near(ish) to the zoo, is Creativity, 7-9, Worrall Rd, Bristol, Avon BS8 2UF Tel: 0117 973 1710 I've never been there but someone told me it was good. Put the post code into Multimap.co.uk to get a map of how to get there..

Salisbury had a brilliant one but it closed and relocated as a mail order only business. Then the one nearby turned into a scrapbooking shop. . .

Most of the attractions will only have small items, although occasionally National Trust shops have larger ones - there might be more at Lacock Abbey if you get to go into the NT shop.

Lesley

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I will freely admit my information is out of date, it's been 5 years since I've been over. However, there were two cross stitch shops in Bath, both right in the main "tourist" district, and quite close to each other. The tourist information booth was able to direct me to one of them, it might have been this one: (all I could find with a quick google search, the street name is familiar, but I've spent a total of 2 months in Bath over several visits) Susannah

142-4 Walcot Street, Bath, England

I did pick up some lovely "local" kits. But I was astounded by the cost of floss. Ouch! I needed two skeins for the project I'd brought with me (which was what sent me searching for a store). I could have bought 10 skeins for the cost at home. Learned my lesson! Harrods in London had a small selection of kits available each time I went (three different times of year), as did many of the historical places I visited. Some of those were spectacular.

Your trip interary sounds wonderful. You'll be going to some of my favourite places in England. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Lacock in particular was wonderful to see. And I deffinately remember being able to find stitching there, it's still in my "to be started" pile!

Enjoy your trip! Heather

Candy Murphy wrote:

Sadly one of the shops (both owned by the same people) has closed and the other in the Podium sells less and less needlework supplies. They have had some 'Bath special' kits, but I've not been in there for a while so I'm not sure if they still have them.

By the way, I looked at the itinerary and I'm puzzled..................the concert in Bath is said to be in the Abbey gardens.....................no such place in Bath!!

Sorry for the confusion...that is what our itinerary said...but I got some clarification that the concert is in the Bath Parade Gardens, which are apparently close to the Abbey.

I will (hopefully) be blogging regularly for the benefit of our members who couldn't join us for the trip -

anyone wants to check it out.Candy Murphy