Free - Up My Street By Anna Rowsell, October 2026
After selling her estate agency business in 2024, Anna Rowsell turned years of understanding homes and interiors, along with her passion for antiques, into The Blue Loft, her online vintage and antiques store. The Blue Loft celebrates colourful, spirited interiors with a touch of whimsy, specialising in vintage and antique oil paintings and complemented by bold, joyful accessories.
My ideal high street is lined with the places I keep going back to: a café with thirty flavours of macaron, a farm shop that's grown watercress since 1854, and a bear called George who greets you at the door.
1 High Street, Dorking, RH4 1AR
Every high street visit should start with coffee and mine starts here. The smell of coffee meets you at the door, local art adorns the walls and indoor plants grow in every corner. It feels like stepping into someone's front room and you can tell it's a passion. There are homemade cakes, but the macarons are the real stars, in what must be at least thirty rotating flavours. It's the only place I'll order a caramel frappé.
12a Bishopsmead Parade, East Horsley, KT24 6RT
What's a high street without a florist? Here the flowers are always beautiful and wildly varied, and the windows are forever being refreshed. The staff are so friendly and help you choose your stems to make a perfect and personal bouquet. I was once here buying flowers for someone when my husband rang. It was my birthday the next day, and he suggested that, since I was already at the florist and he hadn't bought me anything, I might as well choose my own. Naturally, I made sure he paid for the most exquisite bunch imaginable.
Guildford Road, Abinger Hammer, RH5 6QX
You can't get more farm-to-fork than this. The same family has grown watercress here, in natural spring water, since 1854 and the beds are right on site. Their stockists are just as local. The trout comes from Tillingbourne Trout Farm, less than half a mile down the road, and the Mandira's Kitchen curries are cooked a few miles away beside the Silent Pool. It's where I want to be at Christmas, when I know there'll be special little snacks I can't find anywhere else.
Bishopsmead Parade, East Horsley, KT24 6RT
A few doors along, it's time for another coffee at this family-run Italian café and deli. The stuffed red peppers are my 12-year-old's favourite midweek supper. I, meanwhile, am helpless in front of the raspberry muffins. Don't picture an ordinary muffin: these aren't greasy or heavy, but the lightest, fluffiest things, studded with fresh raspberries. There's Italian red wine and homemade gelato too, so you can make a proper meal of it. I've been known to buy six portions of their lasagne, frittata and peppers rather than cook for my own dinner party.
Soil & Soul is the epitome of stylish, calm, considered living. It's a lifestyle store of beautiful homeware, soft furnishings and thoughtful gifts, all chosen with real care. The aromatherapy oils are a particular favourite of mine, especially the Before Sleep roll-on and pillow mist. There's a café, Salt Kitchen, in the same space, and a studio at the back for workshops and classes. It feels less like a shop and more like somewhere to linger.
165 High Street, Dorking, RH4 1AD
It wouldn't be my high street without a vintage shop, and you'll know this one by George: a life-size, cuddly bear who stands outside the front, welcoming browsers in. Inside, it's a real family affair. Lucy runs the store, with Lucy's mum and sister helping out and Richard does the buying from house clearances and auction houses. They have a sister shop, Palace Vintage, on Church Road in Crystal Palace, which has been going since 2010. In the last month alone, I've bought two bedside tables for my daughter's room, a bamboo and wicker shelving unit and the most amazing bar cart. This was me practising restraint. Last week I was in the store with a chap who had driven from Fulham to collect a piece of furniture so it's fast becoming a destination store.
15 - 19 High Street, Cobham, KT11 3DH
Farrants is a Cobham institution. It's been delivering the news since 1896, and it sells an eclectic mix: greetings cards, stationery, old-fashioned confectionary, and even has a humidor. For years it sat at the very top of my daughter's favourite places, for the sweets alone. It's been a while since I popped in but I'll always try and buy my greetings cards here.
1 Oakdene Parade, Cobham, KT11 2LP
I love Evie Loves Toast, frankly, for the name alone, but it's also pretty awesome. I love their offering, there must be a very skilled buyer at the heart of the operation. Pop in to treat yourself to a piece of colourful knitwear for the new season, nip in for a gift for a friend, or simply to have a good mooch. It ticks every one of these boxes.
Evie Loves Toast Evie Loves Toast
1 & 2 Unsworths Yard, Cartmel, Cumbria, LA11 6PG
We visit idyllic Cartmel at least once a year to see my in-laws, and never does a trip go by without my husband and me spending a small fortune here. You step in from the yard into a crisp, cool room, kept that way for the cheese, and the staff know every one of them inside out. It's probably my husband's favourite shop in the country and makes a weekend with the in laws more than bearable!
Evie Loves Toast Evie Loves Toast
Norfolk House, 80 High St, Bletchingley, Redhill, RH1 4PA
My dream high street would need an auction house (or 5), and my choice is Lawrences. It's enormous, two floors of it, and the main sales run over three whole days, with thousands of lots going under the hammer. I rarely come home without at least one piece of artwork. Sarah, one of the directors, always looks absolutely thrilled to see me, even though I must be one of their cheapest customers. The whole team is like that: friendly, knowledgeable and clearly having a lot of fun.
Lawrences Auctioneers Lawrences Auctioneers Lawrences Auctioneers
Upperton Road, Tillington, near Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 9AF
Now it's time for a pint, and not in some ghastly gastropub. The Horse Guards is a proper 350-year-old pub that happens to serve really, good food. The country set pop in from hunting, shooting and fishing, muddy dogs in tow. Someone has given the interiors and the garden a wonderfully feminine touch. It's so cute it's an Instagram content goldmine. There are three en-suite rooms, so you could make a weekend of it, though I've never yet had the pleasure. It's the sweetest, most beautifully English pub you could dream of stumbling across.
Gomshall Lane, Shere, GU5 9HE
For dinner, Kinghams would be on my perfect high street. We celebrated my mum's 70th birthday here, and it was a really special meal. It isn't one of those fancy restaurants where you feel you're entering a church, expected to talk in hushed whispers out of respect for the dishes. Kinghams strikes just the right balance of formality and relaxed hospitality. The 17th-century building is lovely, and the village is stunning. Shere has starred in The Holiday and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and once you've seen it, it's easy to see why.
