I visited a Birmingham market on an old green and one stall was wiped out in 90 minutes
Walking through Bournville on a gorgeous, sunny Sunday, I felt like the lead role in a live action Disney film. Fluttering cherry blossoms from the trees that line the street, along with those old heritage street lamps, rained over me like confetti, settling in my hair and giving me a heavy dose of Main Character Energy.
I made like Mary Poppins and beamed at the magnolias as little blue tits zipped between trees. It could not have been a more perfect day to be walking to a community market on a village green.
Spring was in the air and my step as I turned the corner on to Sycamore Road. If I had a brolli with me, I'd have attempted to fly it. Instead I half-skipped on to the green, one of the best in all of Britain, to see what was for sale.
Read more: 'Forgotten' suburban park where smell of chocolate hangs in the spring air
Sign up for the Brum Food Club free weekly newsletter for updates on what's happening in the city's food and drink scene.
I don't know heaps about Bournville's history, but I have read enough (and been to Cadbury World enough times) to know that the family that created this neighbourhood, the chocolate guys, did a great deal for the community. So many of the pretty communal areas were built with the sole reason of giving workers a bit of joy, from the garden centre to the pretty little 'hidden' park that even locals say they didn't know existed.
What is a village green if not for being a place where locals can come together to shop brilliant items made by their neighbours? In a world where so much of my shopping is done online, I was giddy to zip between stalls.
First, though, I started off in one of my favourite features of Bournville, the old Rest House. Once a place where you could stop and relax, it's now a visitor centre for the wonderful carillon opposite.
The 48-bell instrument, a gift to Cadbury Workers by George Cadbury back in 1906, is one of my favourite things about Birmingham, let alone just this neighbourhood. It wasn't in full song on Sunday when I went, but I loved visiting the Rest House to learn more about it.
From there, I scoped out every stall, keen to make strategic decisions on where I wanted to spend my cash, just in case I lost the plot on my Disney Movie Perfect Day and spent money I don't have. I made some great choices, I must say.
One stall had the biggest queue and I joined that immediately because I knew I was guaranteed happiness and joy. Lil's Parlour, run by local legend Lucy, had trays and trays of giant brownies, hefty cookies and treats topped with entire Cadbury's Creme Eggs or pink icing and sprinkles.
By the time I got to the front (the queue was long but moved fast) I managed to swipe a caramel pecan brownie and a giant cornflake stack that was so hefty, so gigantic, I could have shared with two friends or used it as a weapon on my enemies. Fortunately, there's no space for cake-based violence in my Disney movie.
Within 90 minutes, every morsel of cake and treat on Lucy's stall was sold out and she said that would pay for three weeks of food for the community larder she runs in Northfield. Beautiful.
I grudgingly had to turn down a beautiful fruity reed diffuser from the Bournville Candle Company and some wicked Brummie cross stitch kits from Needlework on Thursdays because I was saving my money for one of those giant 'Yes Bab' tea mugs from Punks and Chancers and a pair of statement earrings from Cola Cube Clay, bold enough to make Grace Jones jealous.
Cushions, clothing, teas, jams, breads, meats and tons more were for sale. There was even Bournville art, depicting the very neighbourhood we were shopping in! Smashing.
I felt inspired to support not only the sellers, but the businesses who line the green already, so I popped over to the Bournville Bread Basket for focaccia and queued up for coffee at Kafenion too, who had a take-away stall as well as their usual cafe. In the hub, yet more sellers were peddling their wares.
As I strolled off the green, I nodded at the bust of George Cadbury that sits outside the Quaker Meeting House, overlooking the market. "Is that what you hoped for when you created this place?" I asked him in my noggin as I passed by. In the Disney movie of my mind, he waited until I passed by and winked down the lens of the camera.