Round 3 part 2 – Douai Pavilion

Douai Pavilion, Woolhampton, is the bar/club house/uniform shop set on the playing fields opposite the beautiful Douai Abbey. This year, with the pavilion under energetic new management was the first year that the location had hosted a Christmas market.

The location of the market was easy enough to find; once you were in the vicinity of the abbey there were even signs to follow. We were the first to arrive (a novelty for us – I am reliably the last person to arrive, and we have often been the ones putting the finishing touches on the stand even as the shoppers arrive!), and were all ready to go well ahead of time.

The shoppers, on the other hand, were not so enthusiastic on Sunday morning. Perhaps it was the cold, perhaps it was church, or perhaps it was just Sunday morning, but practically no one arrived before mid day. The afternoon, on the other hand, was not so bad. There was a choir that performed around lunch time and a saxophonist that performed at about three, and with them came a steady flow of people through the door.

It wasn’t very eventful, nor was it particularly successful – for anyone from what we can gather. It had the feel of a village spectical rather than a committed Christmas market. But both Ali and I sold stuff, so it wasn’t a dead loss. Plus it was indoors so we were at least warm, comfortable and well lit, so it was a definite improvement on Tithe Barn.