IT’S SO nice to have Valentine’s Day in the middle of the, generally accepted, ‘horrible’ month of February, a day of loving warmth in the midst of a dark cold month.

Of course our wonderful market has the ability to turn despair into hope every Saturday what with all those smiling faces and nice people everywhere but even so, let’s spread the love this Valentine’s Day with some great local treats for the one who holds our heart.

Of course we have one or two bookings that are especially for Valentine’s day; The Artisan baker, whose bread has proved such a hit at the market, will be having a second stall this week for his chocolate truffles.

Going under the label of Costello and Hellerstein, they produce four different types of truffle, chocolate orange, hazelnut praline, raspberry and coconut and sea salt caramel.

Customers may remember the extra stall of chocolates from the Christmas markets where they sold out in no time. We also have occasional silver and gold jewellers Flora and Rose this week plus Sibling Distillery Gin, Ye Green Men fused glass, Cotswold Soaps, Anne Sohn Rethel ceramics, Cymbal Knits (Say it with socks!), VQ Country wines and Ascott gardens with their great range of rustic pottery and extraordinary dried flower arrangements.

Once again I’m delighted to be able to introduce two new stallholders to the market; Painswick Honey, a small scale honey and beeswax producer, and Nom Nom Cupcakery from Thrupp who will, undoubtedly, have love inspired cakey treats on sale for the first time.

It is the biggest, market stalls wise, since Christmas so maybe bring two bags with you instead of one! We always have a lot of once per month stalls on the second Saturday so look out for The Old Cheese Room, Stainswick farm rapeseed oils, the Veggie Deli, Fair and Square Brownies, Woodchester Chopping Boards, Trealy Farm Charcuterie, Stroud Brewery and The Cotswold Pudding Company not to mention all the regulars. Finally it is the end of the season for Adeline Farm vegetables who will be at their last market this week.