We've Got Some Brass

Last week was the quarterly combination of the Swinderby and Newark antique fairs took place. Swinderby takes place on the Tuesday/Wednesday and Newark on the Thursday/Friday. We used to only go to Swinderby but now only got to Newark. They're only held a couple of miles apart and the lots of stall holders attend both, but we've found Newark to be of much better quality.

We went there - as usual - knowing what it is we wanted. Like with all shopping Karen likes to browse and buy on impulse, whereas I prefer to know what I want and just track that down. On this occasion I knew I needed a load of brass and knew exactly which stalls to visit to get it.

Here's the haul I came away with:

It's made up of:

Two brass reproduction finger-plates	£22
Two chrome-plated reproduction finger-plates for bathroom door	£22
Four coat hooks	£14
Four pairs of reproductions beehive door handles	£56
Eight original brass handles complete with "character"	£40
Sash window latch and lifting handle	£30
Chandelier hook	£16
Total	£200

To me this seems like a bit of a bargain to me. All of what I bought is solid metal and the two bags I came away were reassuringly weighty. I don't know how much it all would have cost had I bought elsewhere but I'm sure there's nowhere you can find it any cheaper. That's what I love about "Swinderby" (as we tend to call whichever one we go to).

If you haven't been before you really should check out what's available and how much cheaper it is than the shops. The next Newark fair is in February. Check the DMG website for more details.