A bright fuschia
SO it’s that time of year again. The clocks have gone back, the days are getting shorter the evenings longer and, during these strange times it’s never been more important to make the most of those daylight hours.
Where better now to spend some of your town centre time than at Ashbourne’s Thursday Shrovetide Walk, where, with Ashcom’s and your determination, we can do our best to bring back the vitality to the market that we invariably associate with Ashbourne’s rich market history.
Each of our traders provides something different within an easy, safe and open-air shopping experience.
Ian Wren joined us just before lockdown and was among the first to come back to us.
Ian is selling mainly plants and is known locally as “The Fuchsia Man”.
He rightly prides himself in offering plants and plantings appropriate for the season.
He says: “During the winter months I will be selling winter pansies, violas and winter hanging baskets.
“Also a variety of spring bulbs, daffodils, snowdrops, hyacinths and tulips ready to be planted into your garden ready for full bloom in the spring.”
On hanging baskets Ian explains: “All hanging baskets, summer or winter, can be made to order, pick your plants and I will provide them in beautiful baskets of your choice or why not bring along your last year’s baskets to recycle into this Autumn’s colourful bloom.”
Ian’s stall also sells a variety of shrubs, heathers and alpines all year round as well bags of compost.
If you find them too heavy to carry, Ian offers a delivery service to your door.
Looking forward to the spring Ian will be providing a wide selection of bedding plants and hanging baskets and fuchsias.
“So you can look forward to lovely bright colours for your garden,” he says.
Having joined us selling plants and hanging baskets, Ian realised that there was not a regular fruit and vegetable stall.
He is now establishing this every week.
He also is suggesting that
EACH week the News Telegraph will be taking a closer look at our weekly Thursday market, which is once again fighting its way back to full strength after having to interrupt its revival through the coronavirus lockdown. We start our new series, written by the market’s custodians Ashbourne
Communities CIC (Ashcom), with a focus on plant-seller IAN WREN. And we’ll introduce another of the stallholders next week. visitors might ht like to pick fruit for a lovely gift ft hamper or r basket.
Over the coming weeks we will introduce our other traders to you.
Regular tradders need regular ular and growing grow visitors and that su supports a vibrant m market. A successful market, alongs side the in initiatives of other vol volunteer group groups, such as Ashbourne Festival, Town Team, The Clayrooms, is just one of the activities across the town over the coming months that we will all be able to enjoy over the winter and through the Covid residual period.
So why not take a little time and head off to Ashbourne’s Thursday market and help Ashcom and the traders build the market into something it once was.
During the winter months I will be selling winter pansies, violas and winter hanging baskets.
Ian Wren