Chorlton sets its stall out for Jumble Trail
IT’S a summer’s day in Manchester – which means it’s overcast and muggy, just teetering on the verge of a downpour.
Not that it puts a dampener on the Chorlton Summer Jumble Trail, a community initiative that popped up in streets all across the leafy suburb on Saturday.
Jumble Trails have been growing in popularity across the country since Martina Randles hosted the first one in 2013, and the whole event is coordinated online, providing visitors with a colour coded map to track down the various treasures on sale.
Despite being a national concept, the vibe is very much do-ityourself – for just a few pounds, you sign up, get your stall on the map and wait for the punters.
With 55 stalls taking part, it’s something that has been embraced not only by the vintage clothes and record stores that Chorlton is known for, but by ordinary residents who manned the trail with a refreshing lack of professionalism, with their makeshift stalls leaning erratically bowing under the weight of toys which seemed to have experienced too much life already, dolls with not enough hair and crockery and ornaments that have all seen better days.
And there are the odd gems and the quirky finds – the ancient three-volume ‘complete guide to gardening,’ an original gooey alien still in its egg circa 1998, what looks to be a Chinese imperial bedspread and a framed hologram painting of two puppies.
If that doesn’t take your fancy there’s home-made cakes galore, pressed lemonade or original Gambian street food – it’s all very ‘Chorlton.’
And while the streets aren’t packed, there is a steady trickle of families and bargain hunters clutching map print-outs navigating around the trail, which stretches across a two-mile radius.
But most of the stallholders say it’s not about the money really – it’s about the community.
On Cranbourne Road, artist couple Ainhoa De Sola and Jon Solaun, originally from Spain, have filled their front room with colourful prints, drawings and bright textile seascapes.
“We are not expecting to sell too much, it’s more about meeting people and being involved with the community”, says painter Jon.
Further down the trail, model booker Lydia Marley is having a clear-out. She and housemate Rachel Burns have filled their stall off Barlow Moor Road with jewellery, retro cameras, photographs, vintage clothes and accessories.
The 23-year-old says: “It has got a yard sale feeling because a lot of the people coming by are our neighbours. We even had a guy we didn’t know come and give us some of his old PS2 games to sell.”
And while the Jumble Trail is a rich seam for design and fashion enthusiasts, it’s children who seem to be getting the best haul from other families’ unwanted toys.
On Torbay Road, friends Kate Forshaw and Amanda Myerscough have a stall piled high with lampshades, clothes, pictures, toys, headscarves and Lego.
Kate says the Jumble Trail was an opportunity to de-clutter. “It seemed to work pretty well, people have been coming round and generally it’s a nice communal way of doing it. Everyone needs a clear out now and again – we all have too much stuff,” she says.
Just by taking part, stallholders have benefited a good cause as most of the £5 fee is being donated to the Alzheimer’s Society.