The next Sunday Supplement is on Sunday May 5th with the first ever Leeks Totally Acoustic festival organised by local musician Dom Morgan – also playing will be the Totally Locally youth band who have been rehearsing over the last few months for their 2nd gig.

As usual the Sunday Supplement has a makers market with over 30 stalls of locally produced food and artisan crafts people making jewellery, glassware, original art, photography, cushions, homeware and loads more – with the independent shops open, cafes, pubs, arts centre, gallery, heritage display it’s going to be a fab day.

Unique is probably the perfect shop for men as well – “in what way?” we here you ask. Well you know the thing that men never really know what to buy – they know their wife shops in Unique but doesn’t really know the range – struggle no more for expert help is at hand – picking an anniversary gift, wedding, engagement, birthday and of course Christmas – there is plenty of choice at Unique, and it doesn’t stop at jewellery either – they have a lovingly selected range of  tip top quality handbags, purses and accessories as well.

So why not pop in, say Hi!,  have a gander at the loveliness in Unique.

Unique, 72 Derby St, Leek, ST13 5AJ  01538 383800

We’d like to think that both of these community ventures have added to Leek’s vibe over the last year, one visitors’s comment summed up so much – Leek’s got its mojo back!

Anyway enough wittering, here are some pictures of the party events – including a balloon cake! Childrens activites and games all provided by local businesses, artists and shops – a small but perfectly formed Totally Locally market with hand made chocolates and truffles, jams, chutneys, glass and button, jewelery, art and photography, cup cake decorating workshops and mono printing and collage workshop.

We then held the big raffle draw, with prizes donated by local shops (including a bike worth £189!), then the 2012 Totally Locally awards and finally the debut of the Totally Locally Electric Youth Orchestra, a band formed by teenagers over the summer holidays tutored by local music teachers. They were followed by another youth band and four local bands.

A great day and night, we hope everyone enjoyed themselves – here’s to next year!

Celebrating one whole year of Totally Locally in Leek we’re having a birthday bash on Sunday September 16th.
From 10am – 11.30pm we’ve organised a great day at the Foxlowe arts centre.

Lego Monster building competition, rocket making, face painting, story telling tent, craft workshops, badge making, mono printing workshop, cup cake decorating, uni cycle lessons and more stuff and that’s just in the day 11am – 4pm.

Then we’ll have the first totally locally awards (don’t forget to place your votes here) and Leek’s Totally Locally video followed by 5 local bands for £5 (well 6 actually). This includes the premiere of the Totally Locally Electric Youth Orchestra, a band put together by three local music teachers for teens interested in being in a band but weren’t in a band if that makes sense – followed by Vertigo Fish, Sub Zero Busking Club, Rollin’ Home featuring Dominic ‘Chuck Berry’ Cooper and The Bluesmakers – tickets available from Flashback, Colloco & Odeon Antiques / Sherratt & Reece.

We’ll keep updating you but keep a note in your diary / iThing / calendar, this will be a great day and it’s all to raise a bit of money to do more fantastic Totally Locally things in Leek.

Just to help you out with your diary the dates are 11am – 3pm, Sunday September 2nd, Sunday 7th October, Sunday 4th November and Sunday 2nd December – and by then you’ll be in the habit of coming into Leek on a Sunday many of the shops will be open every Sunday in December.

Nestled in Den Engel yard (so just behind another Totally Locally eat-and drinkery of a slightly different kind!) is this friendly little joint full of delicious cupcakes, other cakes, home made savouries for lunch and really great coffee…and really great people!

You can guess by the name that scrumptious cupcakes are a speciality.  Flavours change each week and recent stars of the show have included   chocolate and raspberry, eggnog, elderflower, cappuccino, rosewater, bannoffee earl grey, lemon and lavender….oh heavens!  And no-one need miss out: dairy or gluten-free?  No problem! The variety of  is amazing and a credit to the lovely Jess and her baking skills.

And there’s so much more here – fancy a home-made light lunch? soup, quiche, baguettes….the menu changes often and it’s all served in a lovely light atmosphere.

Delicious, great value and a warm and friendly welcome. What’s not to love?  Go on – you know you want to!

Cupcake Cafe and Bakery, Den Engel Yard, Stanley Street, Leek ST13 5HG

Established in 1964, this Leek gem has been run by Alan & Pauline for the last 11 years.

Open every day at 5am(!!!) and closing at 1pm –  you can be sure of a tasty, delicious oatcake as fresh as they come. And how fresh is fresh? Well, how about standing in the serving area and watching the oatcakes for the day being made in front of you – the magical (and secret) recipe mix is ladled on to the two hot plates, left a minute or so to cook and then flipped – bingo! hot fresh deee-licious oatcakes.

And then you’ve got the difficult decision of the filling and the lingo – a bit like coffee house talk – a double bacon with cheese and brown (notice no mention of oatcake) is two oatcakes together with bacon, melted cheese and HP sauce.  No prizes for guessing red is ketchup.  Note a double is different than asking for two separate oatcakes.  They do sandwiches as well – or ‘on bread’ as you may hear when they are ordered.

Cos they’re such a local delicacy nearly every visitor to Leek will be treated to an oatcake by their host.  And more often then not they’ll be seen with a dozen in their luggage on their trip back home – and this then creates another responsibility. If you are visiting your friends who have got the oatcake bug you can bet they’ll be asking you to bring a few up (or down) with you when you visit.  Blimey, sometimes you don’t realise just how lucky you are when you’ve got a hidden gem like Leek Oatcakes on your doorstep.

As well as being up at silly o’clock every day of the week (they open Sunday as well) Alan and Pauline supply a large number of Leek’s corner shops, butchers, pubs and cafés with fresh, made in Leek oatcakes – a really Totally Locally product and company.  Are you hungry yet?

Leek Oatcakes, 2 Heywood Street, Leek,  ST13 5JX
Tel: 01538 387556

This lovely little emporium is just bursting at the seams with delicious clothes and gifts for kids.  Suzanna’s as warm and welcoming as can be whether you’re just browsing or on a serious mission – and full of ideas if you’re struggling for inspiration.  Hard to imagine that you would be here though – from the moment you walk through the door you’re surrounded by fab things to brighten the life of you and your little ones…or indeed any little one!  In fact, even just a visit is guaranteed to do that.

Pop in and see Suzanna and explore her gorgeous, covetable, loveable, huggable (toys), wearable (clothes) and just generally beautiful things.  Go on, why wouldn’t you?

7 Stanley Street, Leek, ST13 5HG

Tel 01538 383452

email sales@bo-belles.co.uk

Chorley Mill, 1 West Street, Leek, ST13 7AF.

http://www.pandjantiques.co.uk/

Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm.  Weekends by appointment. Tel : 01538 386745

“The shop is beautifully set up, the service is great, and my girlfriend loved her flowers (which they put together in 15 minutes for me, as I was in a hurry)! They also supply the flowers for us at The Roebuck and they really do a fantastic and personal job with every arrangement that they bring us! If you’re ever in the dog house or just want to treat a special someone, go to Possibilities!”

We could go on about the fantastic service from Simon & Meg, the brilliant range of flowers they have in, the lovely shop space, the amazing window displays they do, but, you know, this  can be summed up so much better with the single line from Possibilities recommendation as a hidden gem  ”If you’re ever in the dog house or just want to treat a special someone, go to Possibilities!”