Latest News Articles by Joan Porter
First Swallow (fair) of spring
30 April 2018The first of Arthur Swallow Fairs’ Decorative Home and Salvage Shows this year kicks off on Friday, May 11, and runs to Sunday, May 13, at Ripley Castle near Harrogate.
Buyers dip into the modern movement for design festival at south London lido
23 April 2018The lone swimmer at the Brockwell Lido pictured here appears oblivious to what’s going on alongside the walkways.
Get into a great Tis in Wiltshire for brocante market
23 April 2018The third Great Tisbury Brocante will run on the spring bank holiday, Monday, May 7, all through the streets of the Wiltshire town.
Go with the grain (and cheese) for vintage market in Somerset
23 April 2018Eight years ago textiles dealers Liz van Hasselt and Clare Powell came up with the idea of holding a monthly vintage bazaar in the Somerset market town of Frome, which has a cluster of vintage shops on Catherine Hill.
The background to a glass act: how Knebworth and Solihull fairs emerged
23 April 2018A look at how specialist events at Knebworth and Solihull are now under the same banner.
Reclamation for dummies and a market winning idea
23 April 2018Artist Mel Winning runs a reclamation business in the medieval market town of Manningtree in Essex.
Two becomes three as York festival expands its line-up
16 April 2018Keeley Harris of Discover Vintage launched the ambitious Festival of Vintage at York Racecourse in 2011 and each year the line-up gets bigger.
Time to locate your own vintage pocket watch
16 April 2018Celebrated in the thoroughly modern way with a Google Doodle on April 3 on what would have been his 325th birthday was John Harrison.
Racecourse day off to good start
16 April 2018Organiser of new Surrey event pleased at positive reaction and trader response.
Go for a sunny day out at the Mills
16 April 2018A reminder of a fair we previewed in January: Caroline Brown’s second vintage furniture and homewares fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29.
Haddon powers on in Essex
09 April 2018Steve Cooper of Haddon Events is such a keen supporter of the Museum of Power at Maldon in Essex that he holds a biannual antiques and collectors’ fair at the venue.
Spooky research centre puts the frighteners on antiques
09 April 2018Neil Packer’s day job as a warehouse manager may seem tame compared to his out-of-hours activities.
Llanelly soaks up the spongeware interest
09 April 2018The designer Emma Bridgewater began experimenting with what are now her signature sponge-painted ceramics in the bedroom of a former squat in Brixton.
Adams brings brocante back to Chelsea by popular demand
09 April 2018One of the best-known faces on the fairs circuit is Matthew Adams, who has organised for nearly 40 years a monthly antiques fair at the Royal Horticultural Fair in London.
Stake your reclaim at a new Cotswolds event
09 April 2018New on the block is the Reclaimed Home Fair, running on Saturday, April 14, at the town hall in Chipping Norton.
Antiques fair and fleamarket are part of a 500-year-old tradition at Norwich's St Andrews Hall
02 April 2018The first civic event in the St Andrews Hall in Norwich took place in 1544. Five centuries later, the City Antiques Fair and Fleamarket runs monthly in the medieval surroundings of the Grade I-listed hall.
Grandma’s Attic has plenty in store
02 April 2018Dealer Chris Brown is a busy man. A specialist in Poole pottery, for a start he organises the twice-yearly dedicated sale at Cottees Auctions in Poole, Dorset.
Mount your own Everest ascent
02 April 2018In answer to the question “why do you want to climb Mount Everest?” mountaineer George Mallory, who died on it in 1924, famously replied “because it’s there”.
Bengal and Bauer both on sale at the textiles fair
02 April 2018The panel of kantha stitching from West Bengal shown below will be for sale with dealer Jennifer Evans, aka Jenpatola, for £79 at The Textile Society’s antique and vintage textile fair at the Armitage Centre in Manchester on Sunday April 15.
Firm foundations: IACF’s operations director describes the value of experience in the organising world
02 April 2018One of the aspects of the antiques fairs which are so much a part of the trade’s lifeblood is often their sheer longevity.