Monday 29 June 2015

Another busy weekend - Towy Valley vintage fair first



We spent Saturday doing a car boot sale associated with our local Vintage Show.  It was a long day and I was glad I took a good book to read.  I did have a wander round a little bit though, and took some photos to share with you.  It is a rather "blokey" type of event, and if I an honest, the way they have it now, without a main central arena for tractors to parade round in the afternoon, spoilt it for me.


. . . and the dog came along too!


Other canine visitors were enjoying the sunshine.


This is Molly, a rescue dog.  She had been used for breeding on a farm somewhere, and when no longer producing puppies, was driven a long way from home and dumped.  Neighbours of our friends who took her in after she was found wandering and starving, said that they had heard a dog yelping in pain, with much shouting and presume this was Milly being chucked out and beaten to chase her away.  All good puppy farming practice - though tieing their legs together and chucking in the river used to be favoured . . .   This usually happens around the age of 7 for brood bitches like this one, who had never seen the outside of the barn where she was kept to produce endless litters.  Only now, after several months of love and care is she starting to relax and realize that not all people are out to hurt her.  She's a lovely little dog and starting to become more friendly now, bless her.  We were lucky to have our stall next door to our friends and so we could chat all day.


A sneaky and rather blurred photo of our friend with his t-shirt sunhat!


Above and below, a steam powered mill for flour.




Another static engine, producing boiling water.


Some for Pat's (Weaver of Grass) husband and Sharon's (Mornings Minion) and any other tractor fans out there.




This is from a horticultural tools display.

Now - my OH's next project:


This one was my idea, after spotting it at an auction when we viewed last week.  It is solid oak and VERY heavy, but fortunately we managed to get it onto our wheeled trolley and down to the workshop without too much effort.




The ancient brown paint on the sides and very bottom of the front will have to go (mask on though, as it will be lead-based.)

Below: note the date carved inside under the - fetching! - blue paint.  1740.  When George II was on the throne and the year of the Great Frost, when the lowest average temperatures ever were recorded. On 1 August, the song "Rule Britannia!" was first performed at Cliveden, home of the Prince of Wales and three weeks later, the first issue of grog was handed out to the sailors of the Royal Navy . . .
I will show you the "after" photos in due course.  This is a "keeper".

12 comments:

  1. we missed the steam fair right up Martins street although I think there is another one in Pembery later in the year :-)

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  2. Is there anything more boring to look at than Stationary Engines?!
    Seriously old coffer, hope you will show us pictures of it after restoration

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  3. Dawn - Pembrey's a better setting for it, tbh. More room and you can always buzz off to the beach afterwards, or have a nice walk in the woods. I was glad we got in free, as I thought £5 a head was OTT for what you got.

    Sue - I can live without them too, although the little one grinding the corn at least had a purpose! Of course I'll show the coffer when it's done. So far K has replaced two broken feet - though you should have heard him muttering darkly as he had to saw through a length of old oak he had (finding a stray nail or two). I have polished the brass escutcheon which is the original one and nicely engraved. We will leave the blue paint on the inside, but rub down the outside completely to get all the brown paint off the panels - WHY did they paint it? It's brown already and much nicer than dull finish brown paint.

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  4. I confess that tractors don't do much for me - the dogs were nice though:) That chest is great, it will be wonderful when Keith has restored it.

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  5. Jim viewed the tractor photos and was. of course, identifying various models. I'm thinking the noise and belching fumes as they trundled about might have been a bit off-putting.

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  6. Rowan - me neither. They are slightly better than looking at boxes of rusty "man jewels" at car boot sales!! Keith - and every man I know - always makes a beeline for the rusty junk!

    Sharon - I knew Jim would enjoy them. Tell him I shall take more photos another time! These all went on a little road road mid-afternoon, so we were spared the fumes and belching!

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  7. My village friend`s OH would have loved the stationary engines :-)

    I prefer the dogs and it was lovely to see Molly the rescued spaniel. Your friends are doing a great job with her!

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  8. how lovely to see little Molly thriving. I was disappointed when in Wales, to see puppies advertised at the road side, with sellers offering up to 10 different breeds on the same premises. At least this sweet dog has been rehabilitated.

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  9. This looks the farmers sort of gathering. I would never have got him past that first tractor you show!

    Have you ever been to Tennants - our very posh Auction House? They are lovely people, local and started from quite humble beginnings but have built the business up - the buildings alone have cost several million to build and they have a huge specialist staff. The next fine art sale is mid July and my friend and I went round looking at some of the beautiful stuff on offer. (Bosendorfer Grand, Rolls Royce, Porsche, beautiful china and furniture). The cafe, which is open all day and has a constant stream of customers, is lovely and there is also a conference room which can be hired and a top class restaurant. If you are ever in the area do call in. Go on Tennants Leyburn to see what it is like.

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  10. DW - I prefer the dogs too, but can take a certain amount of old tractors before my eyes glaze over!

    Kath - if they are advertising on the roadside, then those are the better puppy farms. The worst ones used to sell to the bloke with the van on the market, who then took the puppies (no questions asked) and sold them wherever he could get a profit. They probably still do sell in a similar way. There used to be regular stories of convictions in the local rag too . . .

    Pat - We would LOVE to go to Tennants - we know of it, and how good it is, but not very local for us! It looks like our eldest daughter is going to be staying in Yorkshire for the forseeable future so perhaps we should get someone to cat-sit and give ourselves an auction away . . .

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  11. Molly is lovely, hateful puppy breeders should be imprisoned for cruelty. Of course Jennie please come and visit us in Normanby as well, and stay, you would be most welcome. But allow a couple of months to move all the stuff out of the guest room into the chest of drawers we don't have;)

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  12. Molly is lovely, hateful puppy breeders should be imprisoned for cruelty. Of course Jennie please come and visit us in Normanby as well, and stay, you would be most welcome. But allow a couple of months to move all the stuff out of the guest room into the chest of drawers we don't have;)

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