Merry Christmas from The Suffolk Wool Towns

We hope you have enjoyed The Suffolk Wool Towns advent, showcasing just a select few of the many shining stars from this wonderful region.

Relaxation & Romance, Inspiration & Indulgence, Culture & Countryside, History & Heritage a RICH experience awaits you in the Suffolk Wool Towns.

We look forward to welcoming you.
Happy New Year!

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Christmas Day Family Services:
10.15am St Peter & St Paul, Lavenham
10.30am Holy Trinity, Long Melford
10.45am St Mary’s, Hadleigh

Pickles & Lillies | Lavenham

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

The shop proudly stocks high-quality organic cotton brands including Frugi, Kite Clothing, Pigeon Organics and Toby Tiger, as well as their own Pickles & Lillies range of children’s nightwear, UK-made from 100% cotton.

In addition, there is also an engaging selection of traditional wooden toys, mobiles, cute hand and finger puppets. children’s accessories, pocket money toys, organic children’s toiletries and natural bristle hair brushes.

The beautiful shop sets out to appeal to parents, grandparents and children alike. This is achieved by combining products loved by the owner and her children and by stocking new ranges each season to include the latest trends.

Pickles & Lillies has a lovely friendly atmosphere and welcomes visitors of all ages.

Pickles & Lillies
92 High Street, Lavenham, CO10 9PZ
Telephone 01787 247938

Rippingales | Clare

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

Situated in the High Street  Rippingales is owned and run by dealer Paula Rippingale Mills who has been trading in Clare for over 10 years.

Having a special interest in childhood collectables, Paula always has a selection of antique and vintage dolls, teddies, toys, books and items such as samplers relating to the history of childhood.

With a varied and constantly changing stock, from Georgian ceramics to advertising to Hornby trains there is always something new to see and buy. You will also always find examples of cottage furniture, silver, jewellery, and garden items.

Rippingales are members of the Essex Antique Dealers Association, an association dedicated to raising the levels of professionalism in the Antiques Trade.

Rippingales
6 High Street, Clare, CO10 6HS
Telephone 01787 278165

Jim Lawrence | Hadleigh

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

The story of Jim Lawrence began in the farm forge in 1993, when Jim started making candlesticks for friends. From their reactions, he realised there was a demand for stylish, designer quality products made with natural materials.

Jim was joined in the forge by the farm stockman and today the company employs a skilled team of 130 engineers, welders, painters, seamstresses, lampshade makers, electrical technicians, customer services assistants – to name just a few!

The business outgrew the farm in 2008 and moved to the nearby market town of Hadleigh. There is now a large showroom displaying the complete range of products, and customers no longer have to bump down a farm track to find them. However, the heart of this country business remains the same – individual, handmade products and the highest possible levels of customer service.

Jim Lawrence is a true family business, run by Jim and his wife Sheena and employing up to three generations of local families as well as several pairs of husbands and wives – mainly amicably!

Jim Lawrence
Lady Lane, Hadleigh, IP7 6BQ
Telephone 01473 826685

Hall Street | Long Melford

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

Delivering on the values of quality, simplicity and trust. Hall Street rewards their customers with a service that they value. The ‘shop-window’ service offers personal appointments with free parking outside, or just for casual perusing within a relaxed laidback environment.

Based in the Suffolk Wool Towns of Long Melford (next to the Long Melford Swan) on Hall Street from where we take our name and also in Hadleigh (by the mid High Street roundabout).

Hall Street welcomes customers from all across East Anglia including Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich, Woodbridge, Colchester, Sudbury, Southwold, Aldeburgh, Framlingham, Thetford, Diss, Norwich and Cambridge.

Brands stocked: Tommy Hilfiger, Fynch-Hatton, Hackett, Eden Park, Gant, Crew, Loake, Olymp, Chatham.

Hall Street
Hall Street, Long Melford, CO10 9JL
Telephone 01787 464828

Cradle | Sudbury

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

Bread is baked on site, with house-milled rye, wheat and spelt flour used in the proper crusty loaves. There’s also some very tempting patisserie on display and a blackboard menu offers an interesting and surprisingly fancy range of dishes –  prime, fresh ingredients superbly cooked!

As featured in ‘Britain’s 20 Best Vegetarian Restaurants’, The Times, 14 July 2018:

“Cradle calls itself a “plant-based café and bakery”, but one look at its Instagram feed will tell you that there’s a lot more going on in this intimate space, with its communal wooden table and stools, than handmade sourdough made from flour that they mill themselves. This eco-friendly, ethical, social enterprise also serves some exquisite looking and delicious sounding dishes, including wild garlic and nettle tortellini with apple cider cauliflower, and spring onion and lemon potato cakes with fresh asparagus, tartare sauce and crisp cavolo nero.”

Cradle is open Wednesday-Saturday 8am-4pm and for dinner on Saturday 7pm to 11pm (on reservation).

Cradle
40 North Street, Sudbury, CO10 1RD
Telephone 01787 464656

Posy | Lavenham

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

Posy is about gorgeousness, cuteness, originality and sparkles! It is jammed packed with all of those, from floor to ceiling, so allow yourself enough time to browse.

Whether it is treating yourself to something you didn’t know you needed or buying a special gift, Posy has something for every pocket.

Lienne (pronounced Lee-N) even has a studio at the back of her shop from where she creates bespoke commissions and original paintings for sale in the shop.

“A treasure chest of earthy goodies and gifts aplenty!! A haven for beautiful jewellery that’s quirky always something a bit different… my daughters and I just love love love!”

Posy
16 High Street, Lavenham, CO10 9PT
Telephone 01787 248080

Harris & Harris Books | Clare

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

Kate Harris will welcome you and offer any help and advice you may require or, if you prefer, you are welcome to browse or take to the comfortable seat upstairs and have a read (or a snooze) amongst the thousands of books and interesting oddities that furnish the shop.

“This is a wonderful bookshop with a really friendly and extremely knowledgeable proprietor and staff. Great care is taken in the selection of the books they stock and helpful advice is on hand for those in need. If purchasing books as a gift they are even wrapped with flair and care – all part of the service. I love my visits as there are always delicious new discoveries to be made.”

Harris & Harris Books
7b High Street, Clare, CO10 8NY
Telephone 01787 277267

Kitty & Em | Hadleigh

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

Meanwhile, Em turned 40 and following a health scare in her family decided life was just too short and that she should search for a new career with a better work/home balance.

Over a ‘catch-up’ dinner, Kitty suggested to Em that they should work together on expanding ‘Kitty’s Jules’ and creating a sister business together.

‘Kitty & Em’ formed in May 2015 as a mobile business, popping up at venues and events in Essex and Suffolk. In April 2016 Kitty & Em found a shop in Hadleigh to call home and the rest, as they say, is history!

A month later they were open for business selling ladies clothes and accessories. “We stock the brand ‘Made in Italy’ – luxurious blends of wool and cashmere, which customers love. The shop is always brimming with bright tones and, as stock turns over so quickly, there is something new to be found every couple of weeks.”

Kitty & Em
79 High Street, Hadleigh, IP7 5EA
Telephone 07900 438399

The Rug & Carpet Studio | Long Melford

Welcome to The Wool Towns Advent – each day, between now and Christmas Eve, we will be opening the doors on one of the region’s shining stars. Oh come all ye faithful, sing in exultation!

They want you to enjoy and understand the extraordinary craftsmanship involved in every aspect of rug making and look with wonder for years to come at the work of art adorning your home.

From visiting nomadic tents in the Zagros mountains of southern Iran to cold, dusty lock-ups in the heart of Peterborough, and all manner of warehouses and bazaars in between, they search relentlessly for the best possible stock.

The Rug & Carpet Studio’s skilled, in-house restoration and conservation team has rescued from neglect beautiful rugs discovered in the grandest of stately homes and the humblest of country cottages and brought them back to life.

The creativity of the weavers is infectious, and our design team is also able to create beautiful rugs and carpets for you, all inspired by the same principles of this traditional art form but with a contemporary twist to suit all locations.

The Rug & Carpet Studio, The Old White Hart, Long Melford, CO10 9HX
Telephone 01787 882214