Latest News Articles by Joan Porter
Ex-courthouse venue in Pontefract judged to be just right
21 January 2019Former courthouse in West Yorkshire opens as antiques centre and community hub.
Fair back at the Mills
21 January 2019Back by popular demand, says Caroline Brown of Rose & Brown Vintage, is her biannual Vintage Furniture and Home Fair held in the Old Woollen Room at the atmospheric Sunny Bank Mills, a former textiles mill in Farsley near Leeds.
Strong field at racecourse fairs
14 January 2019As testament to the popularity of Love Fairs’ antiques and vintage events at both Brighton and Lingfield racecourses, the waiting list for both is in the hundreds, reports organiser Donny Mann.
On the Devon antiques trail in Ashburton
14 January 2019Edinburgh offers an antiques trail as does Carmarthenshire in Wales. Now it’s the turn of Ashburton, a small town in south Devon on the edge of Dartmoor with a population of 4000.
It’s time for a clock and watch fair venue change
14 January 2019Time has moved on for events at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull organised by Liz and Carl Barnes of Time Fairs.
B2B hopes for fine conditions in 2019
14 January 2019Speaking before Parliament’s vote on Brexit scheduled for the week beginning January 14, Helen Yourston, director of B2B Events, said: “Obviously that is a real concern for dealers at our fairs, but so far bookings for 2019 are looking buoyant.”
Swallow dips in to open another salvage event
07 January 2019Organiser launches Malvern fair to run alongside existing venues.
Glad as a Flatter to be selling glass
07 January 2019Glass specialists Liz and Mike Flatter will be first-time exhibitors at the IACF Shepton Mallet antiques and collectors’ fair at the Bath and West Showground on Friday to Sunday, January 18-20.
Dorking fair doubles up to take a second room
07 January 2019Jane Alexander of Dovehouse Fine Antiques Fairs reports that 2018 was another busy year for her fairs at the Dorking Halls, particularly as she has managed to organise a second room at this Surrey venue.
East Anglian folk get together for new trade association
21 December 2018Philip and Claire Crosthwaite, who run Hingham Antiques Fairs in the south Norfolk town, have embarked on a new venture: launching the Norfolk and Suffolk Antique Dealers Association (NASADA).
Organisers sow seeds for two fairs
21 December 2018The two-day Big Brocante held at the Hop Farm in Paddock Wood, near Maidstone in Kent, is organised by Katrina Palsager and her family who also run the well-regarded 150-dealer annual Firle Vintage Fair at Firle Place near Lewes.
It’s a ‘copper comeback’, says Hungerford dealer
21 December 2018An antiques dealer for nearly 40 years and the long-time owner of Below Stairs in Hungerford, Stewart Hofgartner, pictured below, is a colourful character.
Croydon event ready for lift-off
21 December 2018Organised for more than 20 years by aviation enthusiasts Dave Sutton and Alistair White in conjunction with the Croydon Airport Society, the annual Croydon Aviation and Military Fair is run on a charity basis aiming to keep the history of Croydon aerodrome alive.
Fairs & Markets 2018: review of the year
17 December 2018It’s been a packed year with new fairs starting up as well as relaunches.
Make a clip top purchase in Woodbridge
10 December 2018When Natalie Smith opened the Woodbridge Antiques Centre in the pretty Suffolk town 11 years ago, she said she was given a great piece of advice: never compromise on quality and presentation.
Antiques centres in Hungerford and Banbury bucking the retail trend
10 December 2018Doom and gloom surrounds retailing in the UK but in the trade plenty of antique centres are bucking the trend. Here we bring you a short focus on a few of them – ideal places to buy a variety of stock offered from a number of dealers in one spot.
Hop to it in Nottingham
10 December 2018A regular stallholder at Arthur Swallow Fairs is Liam Woodgates, director of the Hopkinson Vintage Antique and Art Centre in Nottingham, where a corner display is pictured below.
Be festive in France: two fairs in Paris before Christmas and another in Bordeaux
03 December 2018A trip to France before Christmas to buy unusual gifts is always a good plan. Here are three antiques and vintage brocantes to visit: two well-known weeklies in Paris and a biannual event in Bordeaux.
Scarf collector reflects on eight years of east London vintage fairs
03 December 2018Cary Whitley has been running her biannual Love Vintage brocantes in June and December in Wanstead, east London, for eight years, with the next on Saturday, December 8.
Where to shop in style: Three antiques fairs in fine settings including Ludlow Castle in Shropshire
03 December 2018Events at Ludlow Castle, St Stephen's Church and Hodson Hall