What a lovely day out! It was so nice it’s hard to say who enjoyed it most, the shoppers or the exhibitors.
We had a little difficulty finding Bantock Park. On Rita’s ancient Ordinance Survey map, it appeared to be a triangular field in the middle of the country. On my simplified Google map it appeared to be a triangular field in the middle of the country. I daresay in the 1930s it was a triangular field in the middle of the country. Then Wolverhampton occurred. Lots of it. Eventually we turned around and asked at the MacDonalds I’d spotted, several side streets and a Ring Road ago. After some complex directions involving pubs and rows of shops, we found it, about five streets away, the only green triangle as far as the eye could see.
Of course it would have been easier if we’d had the Sat Nav my other half spent my carefully collected (for a year) nectar points on, thinking they were his, and then lost. We could find the Sat Nav, I’m sure, if we had some means of looking for it, such as, oh I don’t know, a thing that would tell you how to get to places such as fairs and the location of the Sat Nav.
I never got to see Bantock House apart from the bit of the stable yard that backed on to the bit we were in, which I think had been the stables. It was poshly tiled and perfect apart from the ceiling which was too low for me to get my sign pole up, so I had to trade incognito. Rita had the end of the table and finished her display quite quickly and then helped me, which I really needed because I hadn’t scaled down my usual display, in fact I’d scaled it up so much the glass shelves with the ornaments on them never got put out.
I had taken along a picture of me, doing the porcelain in full rig of protective clothing and respirator and was glad I had because there were so many proto miniaturists and visitors new to the idea of a dolls’ house being an adult hobby, I explained about making porcelain quite a lot. I do hope if you are a new reader who found me at the fair that you have enjoyed reading the permanent content on this website and now have more understanding of what you were seeing.
The wonderful freedom that this venue offered for entire families to have a low-cost day out with something for everyone and a chance for the miniaturist, or proto miniaturist to have a good look, was marvellous. Most of the big fairs can cost at least £10 entrance and usually the same again for parking, especially in the centre of large cities. For someone who isn’t sure if the hobby is for them and just wants to have a look, this is a big outlay.
Little well-run fairs such as Bantock House are a good introduction to the hobby. The fair had, I think 15 stands, a good mixture of general dealers and the specialist, craftsman exhibitor that you’d usually only find at a big fair, so it was a chance for people thinking about taking up this hobby to get an idea of the range of items that are available. Also, it has to be said, Wolverhampton is not too far from the NEC if one day out has created any really ambitious shoppers.
Some years ago there was a proliferation of smaller fairs, that were not well run and full of similar, mass-produced miniatures. I think they were arranged for the enrichment of the organisers sometimes, rather than providing a well-orchestrated show case for the hobby. After a while when there was one, somewhere, every weekend, predictably, they crashed and burned. Now that there survive only the big well established fairs, perhaps it’s time that there were a smattering of little fairs such as this one, that don’t cost much to exhibit at or to visit and where there is something for the rest of the family to do on a day out.
I have a feeling after the Bantock House fair there are going to be new miniaturists getting creative, getting happy and enjoying the therapeutic benefits of an absorbing hobby that starts with a day out and ends with an heirloom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JaneLaverick.com – out and about