The National Trust mansion Kedleston Hall near Derby
- On Friday to Sunday, June 24-26, Lyn and Alan Cartwright of Jaguar Fairs hold the first of their three-day flagship biannual Antiques in the Park events, run in June and September.
They are held at the 820-acre neoclassical National Trust mansion, Kedleston Hall near Derby (right). This was the former home of George Curzon, the lst Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India, who once made the sweeping assertion that “the best work in the world was always done by members of aristocracy”.
With 1000-plus outdoor stalls, many from dealers making a weekend of it, in a tented village before a stately backdrop, this is a much visited and anticipated fair.
- Chiddingstone Castle’s annual summer vintage fair is held this Sunday, June 19, in marquees in the grounds of the 17th century castle, near Edenbridge. Forty stands, dancing, a hair-salon and cocktails are on the menu, so a bit of a party atmosphere is guaranteed.
This is the former home of collector Denys Eyre Bower (1905-77) whose passions and expertise focused on Egyptian antiquities, Buddhism, Stuart and Jacobite history and Japanese swords. A darker side to the Bower story exists, involving attempted murder and imprisonment.
The castle is now run by a trust which holds events to raise monies for the castle’s upkeep including an annual literary festival held for the first time this year over the May bank holiday weekend, which was a big success. Entry to the Chiddingstone Castle Vintage Fair is £4, while entry to the Bower collections is £5 (usually £9).
- A small bi-monthly antiques and collectables fair was launched last year by Beverley and Graham Innes in the 11th century ruined setting of Ludlow Castle, built on a rocky promontory above the medieval Welsh Marches market town of Ludlow near Shrewsbury, famous for its annual food and drink festival in September.
Held in the castle’s Beacon Rooms, part of the castle’s library, on a Saturday – when the town is packed out with visitors and locals – the next fair is on Saturday, June 18.
