Fairs & Markets (print edition)

Organiser Colin Caygill’s antiques and vintage fairs portfolio, established in 1981, now covers an impressive list running regularly at 12 long-standing venues across Northumberland, Durham, Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Michaela Millard of Rafael Fairs launched a monthly vintage and retro fleamarket at Chepstow Racecourse in Monmouthshire in August, and the next is on Sunday, October 20.

As an alternative to shopping in the high-street chains, a group of independents have set up a hub at 53 Bo’ Grove in Grove Road, Harrogate, with 20 traders selling art, antiques, decorative salvage and Mid-century pieces.

Donny Mann of Love Fairs, who organises regular antiques, collectables and vintage events at Lingfield Racecourse in Surrey and Brighton Racecourse in East Sussex, tells ATG that all the events are busy with lots of bookings.

Judy Berger of Judy’s Vintage Fairs runs three regular vintage furniture fleas held in Leeds and London.

Under the Discover Vintage banner, Keeley Rosendale’s vintage home shows in Manchester and the Midlands continue to demonstrate the popularity of well-priced Mid-century furniture.

For the first Peterborough Festival of Antiques under IACF ownership, continuity was the order of the day. In future, however, the fair organiser will look to extend the appeal of this public-oriented event.

Malvern event organisers have fully booked halls and hope for more exhibitors outside.

Taiwanese couple Haiwei Shao (left) and Daniel Hong travel regularly to the UK to buy antique jewellery at fairs and auctions as stock for their business in the South China Sea island state. The pair sell period jewellery online, at a local Taiwanese fair and by appointment.

Timing is important. Talking about her September Bath Vintage and Antiques Market, held every month in Bath’s old Green Park Station, Naomi Knight said: “Although we have lost some space over the years, we were fully booked with 45 high-quality dealers and there was a great atmosphere."

Carol and Robert Pugh of Towy Events are expecting a good turn-out of up to 200 standholders inside and out at their antiques and flea market at the Carmarthen Showground on Sunday, October 20.

Emporium Antiques in Liskeard currently has on its site an item of local interest. This is a memorial shield, below, to the Honourable Thomas Agar-Robartes (1880-1915) who was elected as a Liberal MP for his home town of Bodmin in the 1906 general election.

Built in the 1960s, the family-owned Bedruthan Hotel at Mawgan Porth, near Newquay on the north Cornish coast, is set in a dramatic clifftop location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

The Lostwithiel Antique Fair was started by Lynne and Richard Bonehill (the late actor and sabre champion). The current organisers Anne and Nigel Allen will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the monthly fair on Sunday, October 13, in the town’s community centre.

The 19-acre former South Crofty tin and copper mine in the village of Pool, near Redruth in west Cornwall, closed as recently as 1996 and is now part of a local mining landscape World Heritage Site.

Antiques Fairs Cornwall, which runs a biannual two-day fair at the Royal Cornwall Showground, holds its regular monthly antiques and collectors’ fair at Pensilva near Liskeard. This is the largest one-day fair in Cornwall with up to 74 stands.

Spotlight on the county’s many opportunities for antiques hunting.

The Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society hosts its annual antique and collectable tile fair on Saturday October 5 at St Jude’s Hall, Mapperley, Nottingham.

Close to 2000 dealers are booked for the Peterborough Festival of Antiques on Friday and Saturday, September 27-28.

Dealers who give up trading up from shop premises in favour of a unit or units at an antiques centre have differing stories as to why they make that choice.