Get a fair deal at craft fairs and galleries this Christmas

THE thought of weekend Christmas shopping and the prospect of a rain-sodden experience worsened by the inevitable struggle with an inside-out umbrella, makes me want to take to the sofa with the remote control and a pot of tea — and stay there.

Much as I love beautiful products, I have not inherited the shopping gene, so my relationship with the Christmas retail experience tends to be a strictly organised affair — a list of recipients, an idea of what I want to buy, and where I’m likely to find them, and then I plot my route around town.

The exception, however, is traipsing around an art gallery or craft fair, drifting amongst the stands and chatting with the makers in the all-important warm and dry environment, accompanied by the lure of in-house coffee shops to refuel and sit to review my shopping list.