Christmas shopping in Thame

THAME has a growing reputation for its choice of interesting independent shops, from prize-winning butchers, gift shops, flower shops, ladies’ and gents’ boutiques and stationers, restaurants, pubs and cafes, to a unique owner-managed Italian deli and a wonderful, independent bookshop, attracting shoppers from all over the district who come to enjoy the festive ambiance of an historic market town with the added bonus of FREE parking close by.

These days local, independent retailers face many challenges, not least the growth of on-line shopping. So, the challenge is to provide good quality goods combined with excellent product knowledge and great customer service – all things you can expect when you shop in your local High Street, and particularly here in Thame.

From Friday, December 6, the Christmas lights will be turned on, the mince pies and mulled wine will be tempting the taste beds of shoppers and visitors in the cafes, and Thame’s shop windows will be looking their seasonal best – all ready to help make present buying an adventure and a pleasure.

So, whether you’ve already made your present-buying list, or looking for some Christmas gift ideas, Thame.Net is here to help and in return, you’ll be supporting the local economy and helping to sustain the vibrancy and choice in your local High Street.

                                                                  Quick links:

Hair Product gift vouchers
Stylish clothes for men
Sledges, bikes & Micro scooters
Books – a gift for everyone
Guitar & Bass lessons
                                                        Christmas shopping break for lunch
                                                        Christmas flowers
                                                        Squash & Gym gift vouchers

Beautiful hair helps save lives

Thame High Street boasts more than its fair share of hair salons and one of the most stylish is Brothers in Buttermarket, where, apart from a perfect coiffeur, the Aveda products used reflect the salon’s ethos to care for the world we live in.

 

 

At Brothers there’s a choice of hair product present ideas to “Give gifts of joy this Christmas and Save lives in Nepal.” The green paper on Brothers’ Aveda gift sets is handcrafted and employs around 5,500 people in Nepal – helping to change lives. With a range of gifts from just £12, there’s something for everyone’s Christmas budget. Visit Brothers’ website or pop into the salon to see the full range.

Help style your man

For the gentleman of any age who loves clothes, a short stroll to the top of Buttermarket, takes you towards Waitrose via Greyhound Walk where, on the left you will find one of Thame’s smartest shops, Gallant. Here something special from their most popular brand, Circle of Gentlemen will make any man happy on Christmas morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circle of Gentlemen shirts retail between £139.95 and £149.95. The jacket pictured is from a range from £395 to £525. The orange jeans and jacket pictured are £485 for the jacket and £145 for the stunning jeans.

Another favourite brand among Gallant’s regular customers is Seven For All Mankind whose wonderfully tactile, Cashmere blend shirts retail between £145 and £200. For those of us on a smaller budget but who still want to give our man something stylishly special, how about a pair of Duchamp socks which retail at £16, or an Alex Begg & Co scarf, Scottish made, at £59.95?

Alternatively a Giorgio Fedon, Italian made wallet would thrill any man.

Ready for snow!

It’s winter, and many of us (including me) are desparately hoping for some proper, seasonal weather – and that means snow! Well, according to the UK Weather Forecast web page  between December and the end of February, colder than average conditions are expected overall and especially when compared with last winter, with a much greater frequency of winter weather which includes                                                           snow, frosts and below average temperatures.

 

Snow means sledging and new in stock at Thame’s bicycle shop, 2 Wheels, is a range of the very latest in sledging, the Boyztoys Snow Mobile at £79.99, the Lowrider, the Dragon Glider at £69.99, the Warp Speed Slider at £99 and a variety of Sound Barrier Sledges – what better present for a boy or a girl, meaning they’ll be ready for some winter fun when the snow comes.

 

A new bike for Christmas is guaranteed to set any child on the path to a pastime that could turn into a healthy interest or sport that can last a life-time. At 2 wheels, in High Street, Thame, Manager Dave and his experienced and knowledgeable staff will help you chose from a fabulous range of Frog Bikes for all ages. These are made of the lightest aluminium – a far cry from the heavy and cumbersum child’s bike of the past. Frog Bikes start with the ‘Tadpole’ balance bike for the very young, priced at £100, through to Frog Bikes for older children costing from £100 to £250. The top size child’s Frog road bike costs between £400 and £450.

The other ‘must have’ for children and young people is the micro scooter, the design and variation of which continues to develop and grow. From the Mini Seat 3-in-1, Micro Scooter for 1 – 5 year-olds, to the Sprite & TRIXX for 6 – 12 year-olds and adult Micro Scooters, 2 Wheels, Thame, has a wide selection to suit any active young person who’s ready to roll! http://www.micro-scooters.co.uk/

 

Books for everyone!

Whilst gift-wrapping a bicycle (Click here if you really want to know how) can be a bit of a challenge, the gift of a book for young readers who like to take a break from out-door fun, or to snuggle up in the corner of the sofa to be read to when it’s raining outside, or at bedtime, is both very acceptable and easy to wrap!

 

Thame’s independent, gem of bookshop, The Book House, at the bottom of the High Street, has been feeding the thirst of Thame’s bookworms for over 35 years and as well as stocking thousands of contemporary fiction, crime, classics or non-fiction books for adults, The Book House is a Children’s Fiction specialist. A charming book guaranteed to delight any child of reading age – and to illicit smiles of pleasure to any dog-loving adult reading the book aloud, is Emma Chichester Clark’s illustrated diary of a cheeky, characterful dog, Plumdog.

 

Written from the dog’s point of view in a neat, child-like lower case print as if in pencil by hand, the illustrated diary records what happens to Plumdog on his walks with his owners, the other dogs he meets and what they get up to, with great wit, humour and – dare I say – aplomb.

Humour of a more adult sort is, as usual, the literary fare dished up by Simon Hoggart, and following on from his hilarious ‘mickey take’ of the sort of excruciatingly, boastful and self-satisfied, Round-robin letters that fall on our doormats at Christmas time, with The Cat That Could Open The Fridge, and The Hamster That Loved Puccini, his latest book, The Round Robin Letters, is an anthology of these. It’s guaranteed to have any reader, but the most thick-skinned proponant of such correspondence, chuckling with mirth over the Christmas Port.

Someone else with a talent to amuse, and well-known here in Thame as our ex Member of Parliament, is Boris Johnson. His latest book however, is a serious and illuminating look at ‘The Churchill Factor‘ and what the fly leaf of the book describes as ‘the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century’.

Not only does the book probingly illuminate  Churchill’s majestic genius as an historian, journalist, a soldier and a peace-maker, but its author reveals aspects of Winston’s personal and private life, including his various ‘youthful daliances’, and climaxes with his wooing of, his relationship with, and the influence of his beloved wife, Clementine.

The Churchill Factor reads as Boris Johnson speaks – chatty yet flowery, spilling over with enthusiasm for the subject, with an overall feel of ‘letting the reader in’ on personal knowledge of the great man ‘with a titanic ego’ that is not common knowledge.

A very informative and entertaining read that celebrates ‘The Greatest Briton’ on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of his death.

The gift of music!

Thame has a very vibrant music scene, especially among the young, as witnessed by the ever-growing popularity of the First Thursday Music Club, open mic nights at The James Figg. Many of the musicians who rock up every month are former pupils of The Lucas Guitar School, from where Kevin Lucas has been nurchering Thame’s bass and guitar players for almost 15 years. One of Kevin’s gift vouchers could well set your son, daughter, granddaughter or grandsonon well on their way to becoming an accomplished musician or just able to play for pleasure – Kevin even has several older pupils, returning to playing the guitar well after leaving their teenage years behind!

Call Kevin on his palendromic phone number, 01844 21712, to discuss how may lessons you would like to give and he will arrange a gift token for you.

Take a break with Christmas lunch!

Taking a break from Christmas shopping in Thame, you’re spoilt for choice. Apart from the many cafes up and down the High Street, the town boasts a wide variety of enticing restaurants, from top notch dining at The Thatch, where their Winter all-day menu and great pub grub offers great quality and value. 

 

If Italian food takes your fancy, Thame’s branch of Prezzo’s Winter lunch offer is very tempting, at two courses and a glass of prosecco for £15.95 or three courses for £17.95. Look out for their Christmas board outside the shop in North Street. “The stars are coming out this Christmas – The party planner, the perfect gift-giver, the friend who treks through the snow or the little angel who steals the show…. celebrate with all your stars at Prezzo this festive season with three set menus, starting from £15.95″  Web link: http://www.prezzorestaurants.co.uk/christmas

 

FRESH flower bouquets make a wonderful gift or bring a touch of natural beauty into your home at Christmas. At BIZZIE LIZZIE in the Upper High Street (close to the Swan pub), Katie Virdi, her mum Billie and their team of experienced and creative florists, offer a stunning range of festive floral designs to chose from and will deliver within a 10 mile radius of Thame.

 

To see the full range of BIZZIE LIZZIE’s Christmas flower bouquets and baskets, visit their website or take a 360 degree tour of their beautiful shop here.

   

 

Bizzie Lizzie also has a fantastic range of Christmas decorations, lights and planters and can offer something beautiful for everyone’s budget.

Gym and racket sports gifts for all ages

A NEW year fitness pledge, or may be a determination to take up a new sport, or re-sharpen the skills of a previous racket sport, can be given a boost with a gift token for any age, from RACQUETS FITNESS CENTRE, in North Street, Thame.

 

RACQUETS Fitness Centre,  has a habit of producing young, quality squash players and coaches, and one of their younger proteges, Nick Harbour, is the new, Under 15s Oxfordshire Junior Closed squash champion. But there’s more to Racquets than just squash. The club has a fully equiped Gym, a function room and bar, personal trainers on hand, and squash and racketball coaching for all ages.

The creche at Racquets means that even the parents of young children can take time out for themselves and take advantage of a coaching session, weight training or general fitness course with the gift of a Christmas Gift Token. Contact the club on 01844 261754 or email: info@racquets-fitness-centre.com to discuss a taylor-made gift token to suit any budget.