Rochester Market

We started our December activities and visited the Christmas market in Rochester.

I have to admit that this is the first time that I had visited a Christmas market and although I have heard and seen lots about them I was quite excited to see what was in store!

With a warm welcome we were opened up to lots of stalls and the funfair.

The entire castle grounds were full and filled with amazing stalls. Some were arts and crafts, some were clothing, specialised food and gifts.

Despite it being a Friday and having most people at work the market was still quite busy so the bustling atmosphere was lovely but it did give me a clear mind-set of what the weekend would be like with the Dickensian Christmas festival; busy and full of different fun loving characters.

Although we found this lovely guy!

With the fairground to the side, the stalls along the side you can also find a variety of food venders at the heart of it all.

If only I could eat roasted chestnuts! Yum!

We did get a chance to try out some lovely burgers though!

And, for anyone who wants to join in the festivities with a drink then you can find a festive bar ;)

There were some fantastic stalls selling such an array of different products but after several trips round I found my favourite three that I wanted to feature.

CCB Sewing Limited



CCB are a family run business located in the historic town of Rochester. This wonderful little stall is just a shadow of the shop with a collection of different fabrics and materials and gifts for young children which are cleverly sewing/embroidery by their own machines.

As well as this they do repairs and sales of new and used sewing machines.

I had to stop at this little stall mostly because I saw this beautiful towel that I thought would be perfect for my friend who has had a new baby. With the added personalised touch that was done on site within 10 minutes made this a little treasured gift that I couldn't turn down.

If you don't get a chance to visit you can find them either on the link above or via Twitter here.

Mr Greens Barbers

This may have been a slightly random choice here but I am proud to have found it!

Mr Greens Barbers is not only a Baber shop located in Chatham but also a tattoo parlour!

For anyone not following me on my various social media accounts you may not know that I am currently sporting my "Winter Beard". It is something I always do and have done; from the beginning of September to the end of January I usually just go all scruffy and let my normal quite well trimmed beard grow out.

This year I have been really enjoying it, even if it has hundreds of grey hairs growing through it!

Walking past this stall and their display for oils and wax and other accessories caught my eye. I have never been one for using any product on my beard but I hear lots of good things about doing so.

After trying a few of the samples available we purchased 2 of the different scented oils; Woodsman and Bourbon Gent. They both smell fantastic and do numerous different things like weighting your hair down and moisturising your skin.

Admittedly, I might have chosen to feature this little stall for my own personal reasons but after chatting away and learning more, as well as purchasing some oil, I think this would be a perfect place to stop by and treat the bearded men in your life! You can visit them in the link above or find them on Twitter here.

Wooden Pop- Ups

I have searched hi and low to find any form of online sourcing for this little stall and I can't for the life of me find anything! But, I will feature them nonetheless!

This cute little stall was very selective in what it offered but the moment I saw it I had to rush over and buy!

Wooden Pop-Ups are basically wooden baskets for your kitchen. Each basket is designed with a specific theme. For example, the one above shaped like an Apple would be a perfect fruit bowl and the one shaped like a Chicken would be perfect for your eggs.

But what made them special?

Each of these pop-ups started off flat. Which made storage and transfer perfect.

Each board is cleverly designed to twist in the middle and be jointed with ridges from top to bottom to form the basket and a simple twist at the bottom to create a sturdy stand.

I might be missing something here but I have never seen anything like this before and, as mentioned above, have struggled to find these online.

I had to purchase these (One for myself and one for a gift for my Aunt) We love having fruit in this house and sadly we either go from having a bowl overfilling or an empty bowl sitting in the corner for a couple of weeks. This seemed to be the perfect medium for us.

I loved the Christmas Market and I truly believe that there is something there for everyone. None of the above have asked me to review or feature them in this post but I wanted to nonetheless for the reasons stated. However, they are all local businesses coming together for a local event and without them we couldn't experience all the fun and enjoyment there is to have.

The Christmas Market is still open this weekend and coupled with the Dickensian festival so should be fuller and packed with lots of fun so if you get a chance to come down then please do! If not, check out a couple of the above mentioned companies!