Sunday 27 May 2018

The Cabinet of Curiosities

During a recent jaunt to Yorkshire to visit the charming East Riddlesden Hall, I was on the look out for other places to tie in with the day trip when I stumbled upon The Cabinet of Curiosities on Tripadvisor. As you might imagine, immediately grabbed by the name, I investigated further. And they were open, fantastic! The village of Haworth was only a short drive away and looked quite interesting, so perfect!

Upon our arrival at the village we became quite alarmed by the amount of traffic and distinct lack of parking spaces. It became apparent after the sudden appearance of a vintage bus and some military vehicles we hadn't arrived on a normal weekend, and some posters later informed us it was a 1940's weekend! That was certainly a surprise! Eventually we managed to squeeze into a small car park and headed off to find the Cabinet of Curiosities.

The village of Haworth, it soon became apparent, is steeped in history, with literary connections and a thriving old fashioned high street the place was teeming with people in all manner of 1940's dress, even a Winston Churchill lookalike. The weekend's festivities meant my browse wasn't quite the quiet, relaxed affair I had imagined. With hustle and bustle, folks pushing past and the general throng of people quite off putting for someone wanting to absorb the atmosphere and ponder the trinkets, trust me to turn up on the busiest weekend of the year!

The shop certainly had character from the moment you see it, with a Victorian style sign and old facade setting the scene for within. 
The interior of the store was fitted out like an old chemists, with beautiful wooden shelving, bottles and jars everywhere and anatomical models dotted here and there. One lady was heard to remark 'what are all these skeletons everywhere? I don't understand they're everywhere, it's very strange, I don't like it.' To which I wanted to answer 'well there's one inside of you right now so it's not that strange ...' But as I often do in these situations I bit my tongue and walked away.

The shop in general was a riot of pattern, illustration and medical memorabilia, with the bath bombs and salts giving the place a heady, exotic scent to tantalise the senses that little bit more. The store was a temple to all the curios which utterly fascinate me, Palmistry hands, Phrenology heads, a whole manner of bottles, jars and the like, skeletons, medical dioramas, insects, books, the list is endless; a true Cabinet of Curiosities!

With an incredible host of interesting, macabre, bizarre items on offer from bat tea pots to muscle rubs from shaving paraphernalia to incredibly ornate journals and notebooks the Cabinet of Curiosities has something on offer for all of you curiously inclined out there! Check out their website here!





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