Llandeilo Antiques Fair has a touch of Spring
THE NExT Antiques and Vintage Fair to be held at the Civic hall Llandeilo , will be bursting with variety and good quality antiques on Saturday 4 th May.
Nestling into the Carmarthenshire countryside Llandeilo is a busy town ,lying on the outskirts of Carmarthen and just 15 minutes away from the end of the M4, it’s conveniently situated.
The fair boasts record attendance this year and May hopefully will continue this pattern .The Civic Hall can be found right in the Centre of the town ,opposite the main Car park. Here you will find a bustling, vibrant Fair with lots of antiques and vintage on display. The variety is impressive ,with lots of variety to keep your interest.There will be a number of outside stands to compliment the inside displays.Here you will find a good selection of gardening tools and pots.
May is the season where we get inspired to get planting and sowing our seeds ,as the weather gets milder.
Look out for the huge collection of gardinalia that will be on display. This is an area of collecting that has grown in popularity over the past few years and especially after lockdown. People have begun to realise that growing your own vegetables , can prove to be both frugal and satisfying .There are many benefits from growing your own produce ,both mentally and physically.Turning over fresh soil on a spring day with a spade that has been handed down over the generations , doesn’t come better than that. The satisfaction from sewing your own seeds ,to watching them grow and mature and finally the joy from harvesting your own crop of potatoes or tomatoes. If you fancy taking up the spade or fork , then there will be a good selection of tools for sale .From spades ,forks and hoes , to garden buckets , watering cans plus axes and garden stakes and supportsMost of these vintage garden tools which have been loving restored and ready to have their place in a new garden .Fundamentally nothing has changed in the shape of garden tools except perhaps for the quality. They were certainly made to last and people knew how to care for them and look after their garden tools , so that they would last for years to come.
It’s this time of year when the the threat of frost have receded ,that we begin to plan our planting of our patio pots. Just recently there has been a trend of using and repurposing leaky old watering cans and buckets into attractive flower containers. Galvanised containers have risen in popularity as they do not rust .A old watering can,galvanised bucket , baths or even a churn can be recycled into attractive garden containers .
The trusty watering can hasn’t changed a lot over time . As gardeners and vintage enthusiasts, we often take for granted the tools we use. One such tool that has always been around is the watering can. It may seem a simple device, but it has played an essential role in keeping our gardens and greenhouses functioning for centuries.
So let’s have a meander through the history of watering cans. Where did they come from? How have they evolved over time?
The first documented use of anything resembling a watering can was found in a painting from ancient Egypt ,depicting a gardener using a vessel with a long spout ,to water plants. In Rome, metal vessels were used by farmers to water their crops. There are a few early paintings showing people watering plants with “ordinary” jugs but we know that pots specially for watering begin to make an appearance in early medieval documents about gardens, which were of course largely utilitarian rather than ornamental. They had presumably evolved to be as efficient as possible given the constraints of material and ease of use.
The term ‘watering can’ was first used in 1692 by the cottage gardener Lord Timothy George of Cornwall, and various design types existed at that time. This was a watering pot of copper, having a big belly and a narrow neck, a strong handle of metal was now attached to the belly and head of the can to enable the gardener to carry the pot from place to place in the garden. The big revelation came in 1886 when John Haws patented a new design incorporating the sprinkler end to the spout or rose as we now call it. The Haws company remains one of the world’s premier watering can companies to this day. They would produce watering cans that were of metal but galvanised to protect them from rusting and were much lighter than the previous copper ones.This method is still used today . And not just on watering cans ,It’s used to protect lots of garden equipment.
Galvanisation or galvanising is the process of applying a protective zinccoating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hotdip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of hot, molten zinc. This will protect the steel from rusting. However it will in time wear off with continued use and exposure to the elements .Ironically it’s this rustic look that has proved most popular and is on trend at the moment. I can remember the old dustbins 50 years ago , we’re all galvanised .The sound of the lids being clattered by the bin men , early in the morning has stayed in my memory , as they formed an early morning wake up call. In those bye gone days. These bins now make make ideal Flower containers , as do the old humble washing dolly tubs that every house had before the arrival of washing machines .They have become a fashionable must have container for a patio or balcony and now command a large price tag. Even galvanised animals feeders and troughs have become hugely popular as planters.In these times of being mindful of limiting waste ,it’s nice to see this recycling, up cycling and repurposing of items going on in our gardens. The displays at the fair will be eye catching and inspirational.
There’s always something interesting and new at this popular fair, one of the new attractions is Helen Brind’s ( designernell) collection of interior design and textiles . She has an impressive collection of handmade cushions and some beautiful material.Her displays are always colourful and eye catching.
The Llandeilo fair has a rich cross section of antiques and vintage on offer, including collections of rare Welsh pottery, art and textiles. Wales is a country known for its textile treasures and especially hand stitched quilts.
The fair is located in the heart of Llandeilo, close to the main car park.Here you will find a bustling, vibrant Fair with lots of antiques and vintage on display. The variety is impressive , which is why over 500 visitors attended the fair in April.
The Llandeilo fair has a rich cross section of antiques and vintage on display, from jewellery,watches, books and silver , coins and postcards, ephemera, militaria and vintage clothes and accessories. There will also be collections of art glass and up cycled and pre loved furniture, art and textiles plus interior design pieces. I’m sure visitors will not be disappointed with the selection on offer at this popular vibrant fair.
Homemade refreshments will be available and doors open at 10 am until 4pm. Admission is just £2