Monday 23 September 2013

A day out at Malvern Fleamarket


Our eldest daughter arrived back for the week on Saturday.  Yesterday morning, cruel parents that we are, we dragged her out of bed at first sparrow f*rt to drive well over the English border to visit the Malvern Fleamarket.  We had not been before, and she has only been to the local Carmarthen Fleamarket - which is very small compared with Malvern.  

We spent five hours wandering round, and in the end, came away tired out, spent up and still a good few stalls unseen, and there were apparently  not as many stalls outside as there usually are!  Sometimes up to a thousand.  Ye Gods!

I wish I could say that I bought the patchwork above.  Probably 30s.  She wanted £45, and came down to £35, but it was the first row we were walking up and I didn't dare blow all my money so early in the day.  I thought about this LOTS, and philosophically thought if it's meant for me, it'll not go by me.  It was still there after lunch, but then outside folks began packing up and so we had to get a move on as we had only seen perhaps 1/3 of the entire site.  When we had been around, she too had packed up and left . . .  Ah well.



A rather monochrome photo of the spine of the Malvern Hills.  You can just see specks which are people up there walking.  Many MANY years ago I was fit enough to get up there and the views were amazing.  As we were coming in to Little Malvern yesterday, the views were stunning, but I was driving and there was nowhere to stop and capture the scenery.  The showground has the backdrop of  the Malvern Hills and is a beautiful spot.


I loved this beautiful stained glass window (wish it had the light behind it).  It wouldn't suit in our current house, style-wise, and I doubt the price would have suited our pocket either!  Probably £200 worth.





A typical stall.  Lots of these folks do house clearance, and of course, buy stuff from auctions and car boot sales, so you normally get a totally eclectic mix.


A real Man's Stall this one.  I thought Morning's Minion's husband would probably appreciate this display!


This was beautiful and I loved the faces in the design - one at the bottom of the handle, and another (or is it an owl?) just below the central blank.  Probably silver and almost certainly beyond my price range . . .


Another pretty hexagon quilt, but sadly some ofthe silks used in it had perished or were very fragile.


There were all sorts of interesting stalls . . .




Jewellery galore . . .


And some very strange items on some stalls . . .  Doll's Houses and, erm, African figures . . .  

Oh, and a lot of bad taxidermy.  If you don't care for stuffed animals, look away now!  Having been shown a Bad Taxidermy site by my daughter the night before, I am afraid I couldn't resist taking some photos of my own yesterday . . .



A moth-eaten fox who looked like a visit to the dentist and perhaps the optician might be in order . . .  The title for this is "Sausages" as he reminded me of the little rough hairy dog on Esther Rantzen's programme all those years ago who used to "say" that word!


Various examples of the art . . .


A splendid Capercaillie.


A rather leary looking fox strikes a pose . . .


A most curious collection here, inluding a . . . lamb?  Do you think the taxidermist had ever SEEN a lamb in real life?


Hmmm . . .

And what did I buy?


This beautifully depicted cast iron horse, anatomically correct (!) and it reminded me so much of my lovely Arab, Fahly, in a bad mood!  He cost me just £4 . . .


And an early (and new-to-me) design and shape Torquay jug.  £4 again . . .  I came home happy : )

T bought a ring, a 1930s necklace, a French tray-topped 1960s table, and a tie . . .

My husband bought various edged weapons and a HUGE cigar box.  It was solid mahogany and when he asked the price (£5) he was expecting the chap to say £45 or £50.  He nearly ripped his hand off trying to get the money out of his pocket quickly!!! 

So all in all, a really LOVELY day . . .

10 comments:

  1. I would love to have gone round - five hours though....you must have been dead on your feet! I think you were very restrained and I love the horse. What a bargain. I got a new (ish) pair of very expensive school shoes on ebay (usually £50.00) for 99p so I'm feeling bargain happy too. I thought of you as I clapped my hands together in glee!

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  2. Gosh - what a bargain. Perhaps the seller was a bit miffed though, that they didn't make more! But they chose to set the price . . .

    If I am honest, there wasn't that much at either Builth recently, or at Malvern, that I really really wanted. I would have LIKED the patchwork, but can survive without it. If the little horse (made in Coalbrookedale, I've since found out) had been too expensive for me to buy, I would have been sad, but as it is . . . HAPPY : )

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  3. lots of lovely goodies on display! I was interested to see the hexy quilts, with black "paths" amongst the "flowers".

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  4. I missed it!!!!!!! Next year this event is getting a priority booking in my diary. Jx

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  5. I loved the "Real Mans" stall I love rusty old parts to machinery and the jewelry stall.
    Lovely day out.

    cheers, parsnip

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  6. I think I would have been unable to resist that top quilt, it is so colourful. I could certainly have resisted the stuffed animals, they all look so moth eaten! But what a marvellous day out you had.

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  7. Fascinating post - a shame about the quilt but glad you managed to buy some lovely items :) Stuffed animals are incredibly awful!!! - such strange postures in some of them!! Sounds like a wonderful day out all round.

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  9. You are a lucky creature to live so near all those wonderful flea markets, the only GOOD thing for me is that I have made a vow not to collect stuff anymore ;) the quilts though are fascinating and as Kath says the black pathways on the first quilt is really unusual..

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  10. You have the most incredible flea markets! Ah, to be able to stroll around there too would be a dream! I do love the treasures everyone brought home!

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