“I think it’s the tonic that everyone needed at the end of a tough and testing 18 months,” says Sunbury Antiques’ Edward Cruttenden.
“With the reopening of the main grandstand at Kempton Park for our antiques market on September 14 it’s a really positive step towards normality,” he said.
Sunbury Antiques’ last Tuesday market at the racecourse when the main grandstand area was open was on March 10 last year. The longawaited return to indoor trading at the course is finally over.
The organiser has rejigged the floor plan to create wider thoroughfares throughout the inside areas which means that all the inside areas will be down around 20% across the board. This translates at around 300 indoor pitches – which are nearly fully booked for September 14.
Cruttenden adds: “We will still have to operate a staggered admission system but we have adapted the timings and will now revert back to free admission from 8am onwards with a £10 entry charge from 6.30-8am on the gate.”
Standholder focus: Antique Guys
Andrew Parker and Mark Austick of Antique Guys have been dealing from the grandstand at Sunbury Antiques’ Kempton Park Racecourse markets for 10 years selling a broad mix of pieces including tribal, militaria, watches and jewellery. It is the only fair they do, apart from specialist events, said Parker.
The dealers’ main speciality is ethnographica, which stems from Parker’s nationality as a New Zealander and has led to his large personal collection of Maori, Kiwi and Polynesian pieces.
19th century albumen print of the Maori chief Anehana, photographed by Elizabeth Pulman, priced at £2750 from Antique Guys.
The dealers’ stock includes this 19th century albumen print of the Maori chief Anehana which is priced at £2750.
Photographed by Elizabeth Pulman (1836-1900), originally from the village of Lymm in Cheshire, Pulman is regarded as the first female professional photographer in New Zealand, running a studio in Auckland with her husband George.
