The History of Magpie by Monika Bainbridge

 My boots from Marrakech! 

I was born and brought up in Sweden by my parents. My mother has always had a passion for textiles and taught me many things about the industry including techniques, styles, colour but most importantly the recognition of good quality.

As I grew up in the sixties I travelled and spent a lot of time in North Africa and the middle east. I spent quite a long period of this time living amongst the Berber and Bedouin people discovering the magical Marrakech.

Marrakech is the most colourful place I have ever seen, set against the backdrop of the breathtaking snowcapped Atlas mountains lay a beautiful city that glowed a luscious red with glorious textiles draped everywhere. The spices, fruits and olives, the drumming and the sounds of Omar the snake charmer captivated my senses like no other place had ever done before. There I learned a great deal more about how textiles and pieces of fine jewellery were made.

In the seventies I settled in the English lake district and ran a market stall selling goods that I made myself (I didnt have enough money to buy anyone elses). From these beginnings Magpie was born.

In 1985 I met Jo Bright and Magpie moved to permanent premises in the town of Keswick, The lake district.
The business grew from strength to strength and we found the need to employ another - Ali.
We work together as a very happy team and whilst I am away travelling and buying goods to sell in the shop, the girls and our staff keep the business rolling.

Keswick on Derwentwater

Magpie at Maysons 'Something for everyone'

The shop is situated in a spledid Victorian building (Maysons) on the main walkway to Derwentwater.
In the centre of the shop is the beautiful original glass counter which holds our stunning selection of silver jewellery set with precious and semi-precious stones. Our enormous range of Amber jewellery is specifically made for us by leading contemporary designers in Poland.

Most of our Jewellery is bought direct and is usually sold by weight
so our prices are hard to beat - see for yourself!.

Other glass display cases in the shop house antique ethnic pieces bought directly from Berber and Bedouin tribes people of North Africa. You can also find numerous Tuareg pieces including hands of Fatima. You may also notice the boots I wore during my time in Marrakech - I cannot bear to part with them!.

The diversity of our jewellery range cannot be surpassed and originate from countries as far away as Mexico, Bali, India, Israel, Turkey and Poland as well as England.
We also sell many other gift items which include intricate hand-carvings, costume jewellery, glassware, ceramics, furniture and much much more.

Our amazing textiles department is a wonderful kaleidoscope of colour, texture and pattern, containing many unique pieces of outstanding work. We pride ourselves on our rug selection - you can choose from over 400 hand made 100% wool rugs from various regions of Turkey and the Caucasus.
The collection are all hand picked by myself in order that we can maintain the widest possible variety of top quality styles and colours.

Our Indian textiles are exclusive to us and are made by the best Indian crafts people. We have hundreds of fabulous hand embroidered and beaded wedding shawls that come in possibly every colour you can imagine. In addition to these we have a full range of both silk and chiffon Sari's.
The workmanship in Indian textiles is very impressive and we strive to bring you the best quality items at the right price.

Best wishes

Monika