During lockdown urban vintage hunters became enforced couch detectives. But hours spent trawling through online vintage marketplaces has taken the thrill out of the chase. A picture might tell a thousand words, but it’s touch and smell that will get you off the couch to go looking for that next big find.
In the Victorian goldfields village of Inglewood it’s known that nothing can replace the thrill of the hunt. While work from home has become the norm, searching for something you ‘must have’ and stumbling across something you never knew you needed isn’t an activity you can do remotely.
Tucked away in the Loddon Valley, about 30 minutes north-west of Bendigo, Inglewood is already well-known to collectors from regional Victoria. Now it’s ripe for the picking for Melbourne-based vintage shoppers.
Framed by gold rush era façades, the Calder Highway slows to a crawl as it passes through the heart of town. It’s along this picturesque streetscape you’ll discover a collection of vintage retailers, all with a myriad of surprises waiting to be unearthed.
As travel into regional Victoria has been forced into vogue, the ‘holiday here’ year is well and truly here. Local curios dealers have noticed a distinct increase in traffic both through town and people returning seem to linger. Some have come from near, like Bendigo and Castlemaine, others from far, but not too far, places like Melbourne and Adelaide.
Travellers heading north towards Mildura, the Mallee and Lake Tyrrell are amazed at the vintage this tiny town offers. Local dealers are also sure that visitors to well-known Victorian vintage attractions like The Mill in Castlemaine will be happy to travel that little bit further up the Calder to visit this unique collection of vintage retailers hidden in plain view in this pretty little goldfields village.
While in town, be sure to stop and take a look through:
• Inglewood Emporium
• Sharps Bazaar
• Fusspots At Inglewood