10 August 2020
|
On the 2 August the sound of rummaging through boxes was no longer just a happy memory.
That's right, Ashington Toy and Collectors Fair returned and this time it was outside! The much loved and much missed toy fair, now in its tenth year, received an exceptionally good turnout.
The weather was ideal and with people wearing masks, 2 sanitising stations, numerous signs and ample room to observe the government recommended social distancing, one visitor commented that there was no safer way to have a toy fair.
Another customer pointed out that large the numbers of people leaving with boxes and bags full of collectables “there must certainly be some bargains to be had”. Every stallholder had a good day and anyone that didn’t turn up missed out on a brilliant fair.
Organiser Pete Homes said “With no toy fairs running since mid-March there is a lot of pent-up demand for collectables, which I discovered when I attended one of the first car boot sales which re-opened in July. There were many toy sellers at the car boot sale and many hungry toy buyers! At this point the penny dropped and I thought let's try a summer toy fair outside”. He continued: “Yes, of course it depends on the weather, but so does any outdoor antique or collectors fair. So, we decided to run an outdoor summer Ashington Toy and Train Collectors Fair. The hall owners kindly agreed to using the grassed area as well as the tarmac car park which could accommodate up to 100 cars and we also had access to the toilets inside the hall itself. Obviously, all Covid-19 rules are going to be enforced with sanitizing stations available”.
Moreover, nearly £100 was raised for the Barnardos charity on the day by Clive from Clive’s Collectables.
Building on the tremendous success Pete quickly added 2 more dates in the diary – these are 30th August and 27th September.