Last summer we featured the busy, buzzy So Last Century Vintage and Retro Fair held six times annually at an arts venue in Beckenham.
The south London event is run by local dealers Alison Davis, who sells vintage jewellery and Ladybird books, and Alan Old, whose speciality is mid-century homeware.
It takes place at Venue 28, which was originally a Victorian technical school.
Davis and Old have launched a biannual vintage and retro fair and, in keeping with a theme of Victorian educational establishments, it is at St Dunstan’s College in Catford.
Although originally founded in the 15th century by King Henry VI, the college was refounded in 1888. The next Catford fair is on Sunday, October 22.
Davis said: “Our aim is to put on high-quality vintage events in buildings of historic interest and St Dunstan’s College is notable for its two grand exhibition spaces.
“The high Victorian galleried grand hall with its stained glass windows and organ pipes is a stately setting for Scandinavian furniture and lighting.
“In stark contrast is the college’s 1960s refectory which has a Pringleshaped truncated hyperbolic paraboloid roof, like the Olympic Velodrome in London. This hall sets off nicely collections of vivid 1960s textiles, original children’s fiction illustrations and gardenalia.”
The Catford event is So Last Century’s biggest fair with space for 50-plus stallholders, including “London’s best and most diverse vintage dealers”, added Davis, with the fair attracting 1000 visitors at its first outing in February.
Staying with the imposing architecture theme, the fair organisers have taken on a third historic venue, the Grade II-Listed Palladian mansion at Beckenham Place Park, where they are running a vintage fair on Sunday, December 10.
