A floating shop of 'hippie' goods and arts which is run by a married couple has announced it will be mooring in Oldham this weekend.
The Hippie Boat, a wandering shop which sells clothes, art, festival gear, incense and more, has arrived in Diggle today (Saturday) to sell its gear from the side of the canal behind Diggle Lock.
The narrowboat, which is owned and lived in by the married couple, Jules and Pete Arman, will sit by the Lock all weekend long to sell its fairtrade and ethical festival clothing and hippie gear, from 11am until 5pm today and from 11am until 4pm on Sunday.
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The pair also promise to bring a "boat size floating gallery" of Jan Vallance's artwork, as well as a changing room tent and mirror so customers can try on their wares before buying.
The boat life for the couple, who have been together for 20 years and will be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary next month, all started in 2009 when they decided to leave Anglesey for an adventure.
Jules and Pete initially wanted to take a year out to "cruise here, there and everywhere" - but 14 years later, they can't imagine returning to a life on land.
Jules said: "We had both fallen completely in love with the cut, the people on the cut and boat life, so I took on various freelance drama coaching jobs and Pete became a boat husband."
In 2012, the pair had to sell their boat to return back to their physical home, with the sole mission of improving it, selling it and getting back on the canal with their brand-new boat.
To stay afloat financially, they both worked various jobs here and there before they came up with the idea of becoming "roving traders" in the summer of 2015.
They cruised from the Kennet and Avon to Manchester where they met other roving traders and floating shops to draw inspiration from.
Jules continued: "We went to festivals and we looked for a Pete and Jules-style gap in the market.
"By December 1st, the Hippie Boat was a reality and we were officially licenced traders.
"We left our mooring in Radcot in March 2016, armed with abundant enthusiasm and lots of lovely fair trade stock.
"Our trading journey had begun in earnest and we were finally, truly free spirits.
"We travelled over 1000 miles in our boat in that first year, from London to Cheshire and Wales, returning to the Kennet and Avon for our final market of the year, the Christmas market in Bradford-On-Avon."
The demand for their specially imported stock from India became so high that space was short on the boat, meaning they took the plunge to buy their current Hippie Boat, called Molly, which has side hatches which enable them to trade from both sides of the boat.
Now, the pair said they are looking forward to their stop off in Diggle and said they can be found under the What3Words location 'entitled.pushed.slices'.
Then, next weekend (July 22 and 23), the Hippie Boat will moor up near the Lime Kiln Cafe in Dobcross.
If you have a story, I cover all things Oldham from food reviews and local business news to music and events, pubs, education, crime, property, health, community concerns and much more. Please email me at Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk or send me a message on Twitter @Livbridge with your news.
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