The Village of Grantham

Not far from Harlaxton College is the village of Grantham. After lunch we all decided to take the shuttle into the village to buy supplies at the grocery store for late night snacking. Grantham is the childhood home of Sir Isaac Newton, whose statue stands proudly in the town square, right in front of the Grantham Museum. This side of town looks very much as I expected: old-world style buildings, lots of old mossy stone work, neat old churches, most buildings two stories, no higher. It was charming and very "English."

Do not be deceived, however. Directly across from the memorial to Sir Isaac is the Isaac Newton Shopping Center. I'm not sure how Sir Isaac would feel about this particular commercialized tribute to his name, but it made me laugh and made me a little sad at the same time. After all, what does shopping have to do with Newton? Was the shopping mall named this to capitalize on Newton's name or simply because it was across from the famous statue? In America we tend to name shopping malls in an "olde England" style, as if Eastgate Mall was the East gate into the walled city. I suppose I shouldn't judge, since the English have every right to decide how to honor their heroes. This, too, seems to be very "English."

One thing different about this mall, which was mostly very much like any American mall, was the proliferation of thrift shops. I was in heaven!! If you look closely you can see one under the shopping center sign. I found three of these shops in this mall, each one dedicated to a different charity: charitable veterenarians, dignified living for older people, and the association for the blind. Each shop was small, very well organized,tastefully arranged, and best of all, CHEAP!! I was impressed that here in England, thrift store shopping is not relegated to the abandoned shabby store front, and those shopping have a better sense of the charity it will benefit, rather than just how big a bargain they can find. While in one store buying this very cute scarf for £1, a lady walked up to the counter and gave a handful of change to the clerk for "the lovely animals."

How refreshing!