Bargain Hunt springs back to film antiques fair and vintage market
SET in the heart of picturesque and historic Carmarthenshire and yet minutes away from the M4 corridor, lies the impressive National Botanic Garden of Wales. It’s a hidden gem, just as are the array of antiques that you will find on display at the antiques and vintage market held at the garden on April 22 and 23.
The fair has grown steadily over the past seven years in both size and popularity. Visitors will be impressed at the variety of antiques on offer in this unique and amazing setting, and the fact that they can wander around the gardens at leisure. Demand is high, so our botanic gardens series of fairs now includes an extra date in July, making four fairs for 2017.
It is in the impressive Sir Norman Foster-designed glasshouse that the fair will be showcasing the antiques fair as well as in Principality House, which is situated adjacent to the glasshouse, Theatre Botanica and the large wedding marquee. The fair has also expanded into the Millennium Courtyard filling it with a vintage antiques market. The vintage market, houses smaller marquees showing off vintage toys, clothing and retro furniture, plus numerous up-cycled furniture and quirky items. This is a new and exciting addition to the established inside section of the fair
The National Botanic Garden of Wales’ fair has a reputation for discovering rare items to whet people’s appetites. One such item that will feature is an original photograph taken at one of the early Grand Prix of the legendary F1 driver Sir Sterling Moss. Sterling Moss was born to racing with both parents involved in motor sports. At the age of nine his father bought him an old Austin 7 in which he would drive around the fields of his home. He raced from 1948 to 1962, winning 212 of the 529 races he entered, including 16 Formula 1 Grand Prix.
He would compete in as many as 62 races in a single year and drove 84 different makes of car over the course of his racing career, including Cooper 500, ERA , Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Vanwall single-seaters, Aston Martin, Maserati, Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes Benz sports cars, and Jaguar saloons. Like many drivers of the era, he competed in several formulae, often on the same day.
Retiring from the sport in the early ’60s, he became a regular TV presenter and personality.
The action photograph taken at one of his F1 races shows him hurtling along the track at speed – probably shot in the 1950s. It’s a must-have souvenir for any F1 racing collector. The photo is an enlargement and has been framed. It will be on display in the Great Glasshouse among other fine pictures.
There will be an abundance of Welsh pottery ranging from Swansea, Glamorgan, Llanelli and the increasinglypopular Ewenny. Welsh textiles will also be on display with a large range of tapestry blankets with their extensive colour range and intrinsic patterns.
There will be stands displaying Victorian linen, vintage clothes, costume jewellery and an appealing display of nostalgic interior designs and an impressive collection of books. There will also be fishing reels, pewter and collections of historic maps and beautiful Persian rugs and carpets together with militaria stands, displaying some very unusual items from the past including rare medals, military swords and vintage fire arms.
If you want to invest in that special piece of glass or an item of jewellery or silver, then you will find them at this fair.
An exceptional display of impressive Worcester pieces, including Stinton, will also take centre stage, together with other collections of Wemys and Moorcroft. There will also be a range of furniture from an extensive collection of oak and period mahogany pieces, to an array of country pine and a fine collection of period clocks, together with the more traditional long-case clocks.
Bargain Hunt will be making a return visit and will be filming over the weekend. The presenter will be the enigmatic Charlie Ross and the experts are Nick Hall and Gary Pe who will be assisting the two teams to seek out three bargains with a budget of £300. The teams have just one hour to find the items that they will then be taking to Peter Francis Auction House in Carmarthen on Wednesday, May 31, in the hope that they make profits and win the golden gavel.
The National Botanic Garden of Wales can be found at Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire SA32 8HG at the end of the M4. The fair is open from 10am to 4.30pm; admission is £4 to both the gardens and the fair and there’s ample free parking.
For more information contact Brita Rogers on 01267 220260/07790 293367 or visit www.derwenantiques.co.uk or follow on Facebook.