ROCKING HORSE IN BILLINGSHURST

Published on 1st December 2024
An emporium of arts, crafts and unique gifts has opened on Billingshurst High Street. Rocking Horse has been a fixture in the village for some time, previously selling furniture, antiques and plants. However, the shop is now under new management and showcases the work of more than 30 small businesses.
These include Wool Shred, which sells festive baubles filled with South Downs wool, sausage dog-shaped chopping boards by Hearts and Chillies and Bakewell-flavoured treats by Annie George’s Fudge. Having taken over the shop in May, a consortium of seven small business owners now offer shelf space at an affordable price, with the doors of the new-look shop opening for the first time on 2 November.
Jean Farnes established Jeanious Designs 10 years ago. Jean specialises in book folding, often adding names or images such as baby feet and paw prints into books to create ornamental gifts. She said: ‘We know one of the ladies who worked at Rocking Horse when it was an antiques and gift shop. We heard they were looking for somebody to take it over and felt there was an opportunity to do something different.’
‘Several of us were involved in a pop-up shop that opened in Swan Walk three years ago. We enjoyed the shared experience and kept in touch, hoping we would one day be able to have a shop of our own. Opportunities arose but the rent was always too high, but in this case, it was manageable. We met at Newbridge Nurseries for coffee and cake and put together a plan. It has been a whirlwind ride, with lots of hard work to redecorate and find space for everyone’s products, but the response from customers has blown us away and the opening went better than we ever envisaged.’

SHARED SPACE
While only one room is visible from the front window, the shop has three different rooms and the team has created points of interest in each of them. While seven manage the shop, more than 30 rent shelf space, meaning many small businesses can have a presence on the High Street.
By renting shelf space elsewhere, Deborah Jannels is able to sell her custom-made bags across the country. Now, she’s involved at Rocking Horse too, offering somewhere for local people to discover Janorah Handcrafted, including popular dog-walking bags. Deborah said: ‘The great thing about Rocking Horse is that we can be part of a shop without committing to being there every day. By sharing the load, we can work around other commitments, as many small business owners also look after children or grandchildren, have part-time jobs, or run market stalls on certain days. Between us, we can work out a schedule that suits everyone.’
Most of the of businesses are local, including Soap Posies, which sells scented soap flowers, and The Posie Basket, which creates beautiful bouquets from dried flowers. However, some are based further afield, including a Scottish craftswoman who creates beautiful seascapes from resin. Rather than renting space on just one shelf, the products are often distributed around the shop to create points of interest. Variety is key too, with Rocking Horse keen to avoid duplication. So, a waiting list has been established as others are keen to benefit from the concept.
One local business involved is Horsham-based Fruitology. Owner Michelle Pratt took over the company in May 2023 and relaunched the brand with new products four months later. Michelle said: ‘We offer a range of fruit infusions in bottles and all you need to do is to add alcohol, be it vodka, rum, gin or any other spirit, which brings out the flavour of the fruits. We have three core flavours (Blackcurrant Burst, Berry Blast and Strawberry Cooler) as well as seasonal specials which currently include Winter Spice and Plum Pudding, available in two different sized bottles, as well as gift boxes. The idea is that you fill up your bottle with alcohol and leave it to infuse for three to four weeks. After that, you can enjoy it as you would any spirit, adding a mixer such as tonic or lemonade. Some like to add sparkling wine or create cocktails, while with our festive varieties, we recommend adding heated apple juice as it makes a wonderful winter warmer.’
‘As a mother of two small children, shops like Rocking Horse give me the flexibility I need. We sell Fruitology in about 10 farm shops across the country and this presence helps us with our online sales too. We also attend trade shows, with the Good Food Winter Show and Hampton Court Festive Fayre coming up. We have also been featured in The Guardian, so we hope to continue growing the brand. In future, we hope to secure an alcohol license to sell complete gift sets with alcoholic products, and perhaps even take a pop-up Fruitology bar to markets and festivals.’

FIND YOUR MOJO
Opening in time for Christmas has been a dream come true for the new team and naturally, many items on display have a festive theme. These include advent calendars made by Jeanious Designs that can be hand-filled with treats, stained-glass angels for the Christmas tree by Carole’s Glass, and wooden reindeer statues by Nini’s Boutique Reflections of Home.
Another offering Christmas gifts is Mojo Craft Creations, run by Nikki Bristo. Nikki used to work as a pharmacist but after developing fibromyalgia, turned to her love of crocheting and established the business in 2020. She sells crafts at local markets, fairs and pop-up shops, as well as Rocking Horse and a similar enterprise in the Carfax, Natty Noo Designs.
Nikki said: ‘I love colour and sparkle and my knitted hats, scarves and other winter warmers tend to reflect that. They are all unique, so they make for great Christmas gifts, but as they’re seasonal, I also make crocheted items that can be sold all-year round, including happy and chill pills, both a nod to my former career as a pharmacist! Being involved in Rocking Horse is great for me and I couldn’t have wished for a better group of people to work with. Running a market stall can be great, but it was becoming difficult with my health condition. Here, I have a warm indoor space where I can interact with customers and continue to do what I love doing!’
WORDS: Ben Morris / PHOTOS: Alan Wright
Further information: Rocking Horse opens Monday – Sunday, 10am – 4.30pm (2.30pm on Sundays).