All the fun of the fair
sturdy set of metal and wood bistro chairs with curving wooden arms and a table; the chairs were £35 and the table £55. Add a lick of paint and they would be far superior to modern equivalents. A harlequin set using two or more colours would lift a terrace. Jacqui from Country Collectables also had lots of pots, planters, jugs and baths, all in galvanised metal. On a stand nearby, Lynda North (01442 833808) had several good-sized riveted coppers (2ft diameter, from £150), and some fabulous iron deckchairs (£380 for the pair). Lynda is setting up a website, although whenever she finds things, they tend to be snapped up at the next fair. She puts prices on her goods, but few fair-goers will pay the price on the label – half the fun of buying from fairs is the sense of achievement that you paid less than the “proper” price. An antique pharmacist’s chest was temptingly unloaded in front of me, it had hundreds of deep drawers and would be perfect for storing seeds, twine, labels and more. Another stallholder had a table of old door knockers, large hinges and knobs perfect for elevating a garden gate or door. There were also some impressive bells that would be ideal for calling the gardener in at sunset. The stallholder would only say his name was “Smith” with a laugh and refused to give me any contact details – I wonder why? Many stalls had items that were not antiques but manufactured by or for the stallholder at trade prices. Examples with garden appeal included driftwood sculptures of horses for £360 wholesale (kingsofbicester. com), although not of the calibre of Heather Jansch’s amazing art (heatherjansch. com). There were also sculptures made of horseshoes from Feathers Home and Garden (you can find them at feathershomeand garden.com). Elsewhere were stacks of stencilled wooden boxes, crates for eggs (a best seller) and seedling trays with smaller seedling trays inside (three for £10; The New Rustic Pine Workshop). I spotted some eyecatching silhouettes of boxing hares (from £12), cockerels, greyhounds and more, made from metal with soft, attractive weathered zinc finish or in rust in a wide range of shapes and sizes that I thought were great value. PJH Designs (pjhgardenfurniture.com), who make these as well as a range of metal furniture and obelisks, describe their wares as antique-style home and garden items. Unique and unusual Bird houses and dovecotes filled a whole stand. The Beautiful Birdhouse Company make just that, with different styles including the triangular traditional dovecotes that range from two tiers with three pop holes to huge ones, taller than me, with eight tiers. The design, the distressed finish and the rounded shingle roof tiles set them apart from many I have seen before. They range from £45-£450. For those seeking a cast iron boar, a bronze hare or iron gazebo, Elizabeth and Stevens (elizabethandstevens. com) was the stand. The boar was £450 and impressive, but too heavy for my car and, more importantly, it would not really work in my garden. I finally saw some railings, on a Hungarian stand, which could have been cut and made into one single and one pair of gates. For £400, I was sorely tempted, but we would have needed to spend the same again with a metal worker to rework them. As with auctions, you have to rein yourself in and make sure what you get is what you want.