Back to Basics Part 3

Slightly delayed version so a number of reasons – not least because we are moving house!
Remembrance Sunday was a moving occasion, my second in the extreme heat of November on St Helena. A year on, it still felt odd to not be wrapped up warm. Although I don’t think there were quite as many in attendance this year, it is still a pretty impressive turn out – proportional to the population and the ceremony was moving and fitting for the 100th anniversary.
We had a lovely meal out on Saturday night at Tasty Bites, a fairly new venture situated at the top of Ladder Hill to celebrate friends and neighbours 29th wedding anniversary – Congratulations Hazel and David.

Back to shopping on St Helena

Bank of St Helena

We stopped at Tinkers going up the street. Next door is
· The London Gift Shop with a range of odds and sods, but including old magazines, some musical instruments, cards etc. Carrying on up towards the hospital on the left you’ll find Options.
· Options stock some clothing, make-up and toiletries – worth a look!
There are one or two more little shops up the street.
· Romans is worthy of a mention. It is about half way between the market and the hospital. A fairly long slog on foot. Romans has St Helena T-shirts and other souvenirs such as tea towels, peg bags. I also found a bow tie here amongst other things. They have a reasonable range of printed balloons (we got our silver wedding and 18th birthday ones here)
Coming back down the street towards the market, there’s a steep street on the left hand side. This is where you will find
· ‘Victoria’s’ – sister shop to the Queen Mary Store. Best place on the island (in my opinion) for cheese. You will also find a range of fresh produce when the ship comes in and some of the more unusual items (for the Island that is, not in mainstream world!!) such as mushrooms, blueberries, strawberries and yoghurt. I am a regular visitor here.

Coming back down the street now towards the market, you will find
· The Rose and Crown (which has sister shops in Longwood – Longwood Supermarket and Maisie’s Hardware and DIY) Here you might find a range of packet goods, cereal, toiletries, frozen goods, corner shop type range, but in addition you might find some white goods and also the best place for coin type batteries.
Next door is
· The Hive – also part of the Rose and Crown group. The Hive sells a good range of gift ideas, cards, some diving equipment and stationary.
· The Inkwell is next - a small coffee shop and bookstore – lovely for coffee and cake
Now you come to
· Thorpe’s, owners of Tinkers (opposite) and the Emporium around the corner. This is a slightly bigger store with a full range of groceries and occasionally the place to buy seasonal vegetables like corn on the cob – but you have to be quick!
They also have a Wholesale shop next door where you can order in bulk and get you turkey order in for Christmas! We bought a bulk load of dog food when we went on leave, which was useful.

You will then come to the White Horse pub which is a favourite of the teenagers on a night out as there is a pool table upstairs!
Now we come to the Market.

Inside you will find
· Steven’s the butchers. You need to order your meat the week before, so place your order on a Friday and collect the following Friday (They are usually only open one day a week) The meat is lovely, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security! You will get meat, but not always what you order as availability varies! The minced beef is fab and incredibly lean and you can ask for sausages/burgers, which may or may not appear. Steak is good too. You can pretty much get most things apart from chicken.
Next to the butchers is
· The fish monger. Here you can buy fresh fish – whatever has been caught cheaply and it is open every day. It’s mainly tuna fillets, but incredible value. Wahoo is my favourite fish, but it’s not always available.
Also on the ground floor of the Market is the
· St Helena Growers, where you can buy whatever the seasonal vegetables are directly from the people who grow it! I like to support local produce so I go in nearly every day just to see what they have in.
Upstairs there are a couple of clothing stores (more cupboard size than actual shops) and
· G-Unique Jewellery. I have a fair bit now of the jewellery locally made and very pretty. You can also commission one off pieces too.
Heading back down the street towards the seafront you will find
· Little Gems – newly opened (located from a smaller shop) They sell a range of children’s bits and pieces, including fresh popcorn, candyfloss and other sweets (AKA Fowlers Candy) They also stock some shoes and gifts too – Always something interesting to find.
Now for the final run of shops!
· Brown’s DVD and Video Hire shop, cheap hire here
· The Star – one of the Solomon outlets. It’s a reasonable size ‘supermarket’ similar to a Tesco Express – size-wise. They have meat and veg on Thursdays and a day or so after the ship comes in from Cape Town. They also stock a range of ASDA goods as well as Iceland frozen items (approximately 100% mark-up and a bit) They also have fresh bread on several days a week.

Next along is the Customer Service Centre and Post Office. This is where you need to apply for your driving licence/dog licence/MOT etc etc.

· Solomon’s DIY shop is next with a car parts department upstairs. The DIY store stocks a wide range of garden and DIY goods as well as limited furniture and white goods
· Warren’s – also part of the Solomon’s group is next door and describes itself as a department store, which it might be if it was 20 times larger, but it is useful for pharmacy items, a small selection of clothes and Avon make-up
· Wellington’s is next which has a fascinating range of herbs and spices as well as a few odd items. I always get my spices here and it is very reasonably priced. You can also sign up to buy a fruit bag which is available a day or so after the ship arrives.
We are nearly there now with two more places to mention. The Sandwich Bar and Sally’s DVD Hire are together through a little arch.
And lastly
· Y and T – They are closing at the end of 2014 – a tragedy as far as I am concerned – best place on the Island for toilet roll!! Amongst other things – They stock things like prawn crackers, soy sauce, tahini paste – the more unusual items. It was here I found toasted sesame oil!

So that’s Jamestown as at November 2014