Hungerford Arcade is always delighted to be involved with the annual Great Antiques Pursuit in aid of the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice.  This year the two pairs of winners, who bid for a place in a local competition, were accompanied by Thomas Forrester and Jonty Hearnden. 

They were treated to morning coffee before arriving at the Arcade where they each had £150 to spend and an hour to find their purchases in a ‘Bargain Hunt’ style competition. 

Thomas and Jonty were on hand throughout with suggestions and advice and Chula Bishop from unit 22 kindly ensured that cabinets were unlocked and deals were struck.

Following this, they had lunch at the Three Swans in Hungerford, where there was a ‘show and tell’ session about the items they had bought. 

Among the items purchased were a ruby ring, a vintage Sheaffer fountain pen, a retro bread bin, cocktail glasses and a cocktail shaker, a vintage wooden chest and a World Cup Willie money box.

The winners drove hard bargains with the dealers as the items purchased will be auctioned by Thomas Forrester on 3rd December, with all proceeds going to the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice.  This charity was established in 2007 with the aim of providing a dedicated children’s hospice service for all children with life limiting and life threatening illnesses in Berkshire. For further information, or to get involved, please click here.

Everyone had a great time and we were very pleased to support this worthy cause.

Hungerford Arcade has its own Coffee Shop, Rafters Cafe which is family owned and, as the name suggests, is actually situated in the rafters of the Arcade.  Judi together with her son, Tim and daughter, Kelly produce wonderful home made food, all ingredients (where possible), are locally sourced.  If you haven’t been before, you are in for a treat.

Yesterday, when Adrian was relocating the Knight to the square (click here to see blog), Judi and Tim suddenly appeared at the beams, making Adrian laugh as he was single-handedly positioning the Knight.  It’s nice to have a little giggle as I am sure you will agree.

Hungerford Arcade’s spectacular Knight was moved to a higher plane today.  Arcade co-owner, Adrian Gilmour decided it was time to elevate the Knight to the top of the Square where there is an amazing display of soldiers, large WWII aeroplanes, ships, flags, pictures and more.  Adrian placed the ladder and clambered up like an athlete!  I must say,  it was petty scary seeing him at such a great height and standing on top of cabinets.  Not only that, he had to rebuild the Knight on site!  Very brave, but it was all worth it.

Pete Marsh (Unit 11) owns the Knight and on Saturday, gave him a really good polish ready for his elevation!

We are very proud of the square and it is an amazing sight.  The next time you are in the Arcade or in Rafters Cafe (where you get an amazing view of the square),  just look up and see for yourself why it enthralls everyone who sees it.  Below is just a small section of what you will see.

                                             A small section of what you will see when you visit The Square

Our Great friends, Mike & Colleen of the West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club

Hungerford Arcade would just like to say a huge thank you to Colleen and Mike Kent and all the members of the West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club for braving the horrendous weather we had yesterday to bring their beautiful cars here for the show.  For those of you who do not know, we hold this show twice a year and this is the 8th year that it has been going.  In all that time, this is the first time that the weather put a dampner on the proceedings.  Having said that, everyone had good fun and did not mind having to dry their cars off when they got home.

The next Classic Car Show will be in April 2020.  I will let you know the precise date nearer the time.

Thank you all for coming and showing your support for these lovely people and their fabulous vehicles.  More pictures to see at the bottom of the page!

More great news from the West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club who sponsor the blood cancer charity, Bloodwise (click on the link below)

BLOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

27th Classic Vehicle Show Newbury Racecourse

11th August 2019

“We now have the actual finalised figure for the donation that West Berks Classic Vehicle Club will be donating to Bloodwise this year.  It is £18,169.45

West Berks Classic Vehicle Club

www.classicvehicles.org.uk

Hungerford Antiques Arcade

Classic Vehicle Display

Sunday 22^nd September 2019

 AT

Hungerford Antiques Arcade

We would like to invite you to the WBCVC’s autumn visit to the Hungerford Antiques Arcade, as seen on Bargain Hunt and many other TV programmes.  The visit will take place, on Sunday, 22^nd September.  We are now in our 8^th year of this twice yearly event (May & September).

Those of you that have attended this event before will remember the warm welcome the club receives, from Adrian and Rita, the Arcade traders, and general public.

We have been asked if we could get to the Arcade around 10:00am, in order to get us settled before the High Street gets busy. The Arcade opens at 11am on a Sunday. We will park the vehicles in the front of the Hungerford Arcade, as per usual.

Adrian, Rita and all the traders in the Antiques Arcade are really looking forward to meeting the WBCVC again and our classic vehicles’ so please try and attend if you can.

As well as the Antiques Arcade Rafters Cafe there are several places to get lunch in Hungerford, (3 course or snack), or maybe a picnic or stroll by the side of the Kennet & Avon Canal, weather permitting, or a leisurely trip along the canal in the Rose of Hungerford narrow boat.

Rose of Hungerford  –   Boat Trips on Kennet & Avon Canal

 (Adult price)  £9.00        

2.5 hour public trips leave from Hungerford Wharf at 14:30, take you along the canal, through a few bridges and locks and back to the Wharf. On the 2.5 hr trip there is a possible opportunity to disembark at one of the locks to have a short walk, see how the lock works and help the crew if you would like to, or stay on board if you prefer.  Refreshments available from the bar/galley.  For more details and to book visit   www.rose.katrust.org.uk   01380 721279

In the ten or so years that I have lived in Hungerford, I have seen a few changes, the most recent being the opening of a Costa Coffee outlet nearly opposite the Arcade.  I am not a great lover of chains, but I have always found that the Costa outlets in their own way add to the buzz of a town.  Not that Hungerford needs much of a buzz as it is quite a lively town which has a bit of everything.

You might be surprised to find out that Hungerford is situated on three separate waterways.  These being the Rivers Kennet and Dun as well as our beloved Kennet and Avon Canal which has been fully restored and runs for some ninety miles.  I have always liked canals as although man made, they are the most organic of creatures and the K&A is no different.

My wife and I often walk ten to fifteen miles along the canal if anything, for the peace and quiet and also, that the canal is so accessible and friendly.  But if you are not so energetic, there is another way that you can travel along the canal at an even more leisurely pace than walking.  That is by taking a trip on The Rose which is moored next to the canal bridge.

Last Sunday, my granddaughter was visiting and she expressed a wish to travel on The Rose.  So I booked a trip for Caron and Lily and although we had travelled on The Rose before, it was a great experience as every trip is different.

Whilst walking around the town, I am often stopped by visitors who ask me if I know of a good pub or a decent place to eat.  They have visited the Arcade and the other shops and want to know more about our lovely town.

Depending on the question, I usually help as much as I can or direct them to the library.  But I have been asked a couple of times of how to book a trip on The Rose.   As I always book in advance, I normally suggest that they visit Fare Wise Travel which is right next to the railway bridge.

Fair Wise Travel are very efficient and they can tell you which trips are fully booked and which ones have spaces or are lightly booked.

You can also visit the K&A Trust (Hungerford Boat Trips) website which has all the details required.

The costs involved are very reasonable and I paid £18.00 for all three of us.  This was for a ninety-minute return trip towards Kintbury.

It is likely that The Rose offers other alternatives so it is best to either check the website or chat to Fair Wise Travel should you want to know more (Tel: 01488 686858).  

Rafters Cafe` at Hungerford Arcade

After your trip you might want refreshment and there are plenty of places in the town which cater for all tastes.  The Arcade has Rafters Café which is nice to visit and also has the advantage of being situated above the book section.  I say this as your trip on The Rose may have whetted your appetite to learn more about canals in the UK.   Well if it has, there is a fine selection of canal books to be found in the book section just under the stairs.

You will find these with the railway books and magazines and if you look closely into the ephemera boxes you might also come across some canal related items. They come and go, but I have been lucky to pick up some Victorian canal ephemera in recent months.

Happy Hunting

Stuart Miller-Osborne

Hungerford Arcade has an extensive clientele who return time and again in search for those elusive items wanted for their collections.  Dennis and Margaret Ford were two such customers.  Dennis collects beautiful solid silver vestas and has made a wonderful display case to show them off in all their glory.  All the ones in the photograph were purchased at the Arcade by Dennis and Margaret on various visits.  This time, they purchased two vestas to join the others in Dennis’ marvellous collection.  I think he will now need to make another display case!

Dennis & Margaret Ford’s Collection of Vestas

Vestas

So called, after the name of one of the early makers (which was taken from the goddess Vesta, a Roman deity of fire and the hearth), such came into use around the 1830’s and were produced extensively between the years 1890 and 1920. During this period (of years), almost everyone carried strike anywhere matches, so they could ignite stoves, lanterns and other devices. Early matches were unreliable and prone to ignite from rubbing on one another or spontaneously. Accordingly, most people carried a match safe to house their matches. Wealthy people had ‘match safes’, made of gold or silver, while common folk had ones made of tin or brass.

They were made throughout the world including the United Kingdom, the U.S.A., continental Europe and Australia. Significant English makers of vesta cases included notable silversmiths such as Sampson Mordan and Asprey & Co. Significant American manufacturers of match safes include Wm. B. Kerr, Gorham, Unger Brothers, Battin, Blackington, Whiting, George Scheibler and Shreve & Co.

The different patterns and types must run into many thousands. As well as plain and decorated square, oblong and round cases, a myriad of novelty shapes have been recorded; silver, brass or white metal pigs with hinged heads were popular, as were vesta cases in the form of Mr Punch, hearts, skulls, musical instruments (often violas), owls, boots and shoes, bottles, ladies’ legs and so on.

Hungerford Arcade is well known for its enormous range of antiques and collectables.  Our dealers are constantly re-stocking their units to keep up with demand.  Chula Bishop, (Unit 22) specialises in everything vintage and is very popular.  A 24 hour recovery tow truck complete with working winch, powered by pedal power is a new addition to her stock.  Take a look at the lovely photograph below.

Russell Cordory, the 3 year old son of Sarah and Daniel (Unit 132), fell in love with the recovery truck straight away, but unfortunately, due to the array of toys he has at home, was unable to take it with him.

In the days before home entertainment as a treat, children used to be taken to the Odeon in the nearest large town to see what their parents thought they would like.  Usually this was a dreaded Disney movie and my childhood was just the same.  We were often taken to Bath or Trowbridge to see Uncle Walt’s latest offering.

For some reason, from an early age, they used to bore me and as I watched the confectionary on the screen I longed for the French New Wave or Ingmar Bergman.  But my protests fell on deaf ears and I was told not to be ungrateful in no uncertain terms by my Nan after enduring That Darn Cat in 1965.

As I was tall for my age, I was able to see X rated movies from the age of thirteen onwards (not that the staff really cared in those days). At first it was Clint in the Spaghetti Westerns and then as I matured, I made the step upwards and started watching the movies of Bergman and the directors of the New Wave in France.  As you can imagine, these were thin on the ground and I went as far as Bristol to see these movies.  I am not saying that I was mature but there was something in my DNA which preferred more adult themes in movies.

And then disaster struck, as just a few months after seeing Bonnie and Clyde, I was told that I would have to take both my brother and sister plus a couple of loathed cousins to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Trowbridge Odeon.  Naturally I protested, but as my father financed most of my football trips I had to give in.  So with the worry that my street cred would be forever harmed, I made the three-mile journey to Trowbridge just before Christmas in 1968.  I had travelled with the intention of hating the movie and was not disappointed as although it was not a Disney production, it might as well have been.  Thankfully, it was the last film for children that I had to endure as my parents had began to notice my arty ways.

I never had occasion to see the movie again, although there have been endless repeats on TV over the years and I believe there was a stage version a few years ago.  That was until today, some fifty years later, when in the youth of my old age, I wandered into the Arcade to look for a car for one of my grandchildren as I knew that there was a chest full in a unit near the front door.  I had purchased the occasional four wheeled friend from it before and what I liked about this unassuming chest was that the vehicles within were in all states of repair.  This for some reason takes me back to my childhood when like all boys, I had a large collection of Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox toys which were normally kept in a wooden box.  These toys constituted a large part of the games you played at the time and served as competitors in the Monte Carlo Rally and ambulances during the large scale wars that you fought between the greenhouse and the path that led to the canal.  Like all toys, these models had a lifespan and usually disappeared under the Hydrangeas or were secretly disposed of by one’s parents after Rover had started eating them during one of his more lucid moments.  I can confidently say that not one of my cars followed me into adulthood.

But now I own a model car, or at least the shell of a model car, as whilst searching though the chest for a car for my grandson, I found it.  And guess what?  it is the car from the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie and to be truthful, I rather like it.  As you can see from the photos I have taken, it appears that the passengers of the unfortunate car have met Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as, with the exception of Jemima Potts, they have all lost their heads and Truly Scrumptious has disappeared altogether.  I would imagine that at some stage since 1968, a ferocious child decided that the occupants of the car would look better without their heads and removed them for some reason with his mothers best scissors.   This poor model has gone through the wars and because of that, just seems more lived in and more a memory of childhood.

Just across the passage in the Arcade, there are some wonderful Corgi and Dinky models in tip top condition.  These are very collectable and are available at reasonable prices and I know that there is a great deal of interest in them.   But to me, the bashed up old Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is all I want as it has taken me back to a time when I was between childhood and adulthood.   I still like foreign movies, though it is likely that my grandchildren will condemn me to watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang sometime in the future, unless I run away to South America.

However, before I go, here are five facts that I discovered whilst researching this article

1. The movie was shot in locations such as Bavaria and St Tropez.

2. Six Chitty Chitty Bang Bangs were created for the movie.

3. Heather Ripley, who played Jemima Potts, was once arrested at Faslane Nuclear Submarine Base and was jailed for some fifteen hours.

4. Dick Van Dyke, who is now ninety-three, appeared recently in the remake of Mary Poppins.

5. Sally Anne Howes who played Truly Scrumptious, made her first movie in 1943 and was once contracted to the Rank Organisation.

Happy Hunting

Stuart Miller-Osborne

I have long thought that most of the romance has gone out of travelling by ship.  These days when cruises are advertised they are slick with a television star clowning around on a fictional cruise somewhere in the world.  Obviously, these ads work as there is a healthy industry in these leisure activities but it was not always like this.  Before the advent of commercial air travel, if you wanted to visit Australia or South Africa or even India to name but three, then you would have had to travel by ship.  If you want to travel to any of these countries today, then you just jump on a long haul flight and you are there in a matter of hours.  The world is a smaller place and travel has changed beyond recognition.  But it was not always like that and this was confirmed by a small find of mine at an antiques fair recently.

I had not gone to the Corn Exchange with the intention of buying anything, but just to look around and get back into the swing of Hungerford time having been away for a couple of weeks.  In truth, Caron and I were rather travelled out and just wanted a little bit of us time after bombing around in both England and France.  Rather like the Arcade you are never quite sure what you are going to find at the Hungerford Antiques Fair.

By the time we arrived the fair was beginning to wrap up, but I noticed a table of ephemera almost as soon as I entered the hall.  There were a number of interesting items for sale but it was a collection of items from a long forgotten ship (she was scrapped in Scotland in 1947) that took my fancy.  In essence my find consisted of two menus and a souvenir of a voyage of the TSS Themistocles dating from the early 1920s.

The menus (which both have a illustration of the handsome ship on their covers) are both dated and are treasures of social history on their own.  The older one dates from 20^th of March 1922, which happened to be a Sunday.  It is a dinner menu offering such delights as Veal Cutlets and Bacon, Cod Roe on Toast (there was much more on offer and I have resisted mentioning the Haricot Beans a la Bretonne or the Macedoine of Fruit in an effort not to highlight my lack of knowledge on what these dishes actually are).  This dinner was also accompanied by a programme of music which ranged from a selection of Sullivan to The Quaker Girl.

The second menu is dated from the 28^th of April 1923 and is a kids menu.  (It proves to me, that in those days, parents actually took their little darlings on voyages with them instead of putting as many miles as possible between them and their children, which is normally the case these days).  The menu was rather grandly titled “The Children’s Tea Party”, but there was not a super hero burger or a Disney ice cream to be found anywhere on it.  Instead, the next generation were treated to Alaska Salmon followed by Roast Sirloin of Beef with Duchesse Potatoes and finished off with Pears a la Reine and Chantilly Baskets to name but two of the selections.

As I wrote this, the thought came to me that a number of these children would have been in adulthood when the Second World War started in 1939.  I wonder if any of them during those wretched years looked back on the tea party with an affection for their long lost days.

Apart from the menus, the other item that came with the pack was a rather eccentric Souvenier of the Voyage which was compiled and printed on board ship by a J.H Wright who was the ships printer (a first for me as I had never considered that ships had printers).  It contained a complete account of the voyage of  TSS Themistocles from Australia to England and is terribly British in its content in an era when our great empire was on its last legs.  But to read from this small booklet, one would have thought that we were at the height of empire.

It starts off with a humorous apology from the printer for the content of the thin booklet and is followed by a light hearted account of the voyage detailing such wonders as the Themistocles Social and Athletics Club’s concert programme of the 30^th of April and followed by a number of rather obscure jokes whose humour has been lost in the mists of time.  The next delight was the First Class Sports Prize Winners (Freemantle to Durban), rapidly followed by the Third Class Prize Winners (Freemantle to Durban) and other lists.

It was while reading these accounts that I found the answer to a question that had been nagging at me for years.  How did a small country such as ours run a great overseas empire for so many years when these days, we are so confused and divided over things such a Brexit and Uncle Donald across the pond?  There were poor leaders in those days and politics were just as muddled as they are today so nothing has changed there.  But in those days, we had committees for everything from the plans for the village fete to the First Class Sports Committee on board the TSS Themistocles.

Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)

To me, whether right or wrong, the secret of empire was committees.  A simple ten letter word which contains a rather attractive character structure.  This was what I had been looking for for many years and this little booklet from the TSS Themistocles had enlightened me.  But seriously, this souvenir of the voyage was really just Blue Remembered Hills and nothing else.  It was a moment in time recorded nearly one hundred years ago and detailing a world that has sadly vanished forever.  I would like to think that if we scratched the surface of anyone living on this island we would find a committee member underneath.  But I am not so sure as the world has changed so much.  There is a new world order and whilst Britain (when it is not tearing itself apart from within) has an important part to play, but we are no longer the power we once were.

At the time of the voyages of the TSS Themistocles, the world had just emerged from a catastrophic war.  The awful Soviet machine was about to move forward and an obscure artist was beginning to make waves in Germany.  But, you would not have thought this on reading the literature from the Themistocles as all seemed well with the world.  I am not saying that the booklet should have contained Owen’s grim poems or Eliot’s Wasteland, but my overriding feeling when reading it is that this is an account of a lost generation who were running away from the horrors of a recent war but blindly into an even greater conflict.  I may be wrong, but there is something very Waugh like in the tone of this small publication and this is why a find such as this is so important as it gives me a short mirror into the past when times were far more volatile than they are now.  This most probably accounts for the light hearted tone of the publication.  There were no long haul flights in those days and people who travelled long distances by ship did so for a good reason.   So why not have fun along the way no matter what was happening elsewhere.

I have noted that the RSS Themistocles was scrapped in 1947 after just thirty-seven years at sea.  She was named after a Athenian statesman and was a 11,200 tonne ocean liner built for the Aberdeen Line (1825-1957) and was launched in September 1910.  In her lifetime, she sailed the London to Australia route (via Cape Town) which took some forty days.

During World War One she saw service as a troop ship and was involved in convoy duties during World War Two.  The Aberdeen Line sold her to the Shaw Savill and Albion Line in 1932 where she lasted for another fifteen years before she was scrapped.  Quite why she was scrapped at such a young age is a mystery to me as she appears to have made it through the second conflict unscathed.  She was on the Australian run throughout her life and it is likely that in the austerity of post war Britain, it was no longer economic to run her.  Apart from the economics, it might have been that the Themistocles was considered an old ship that was past its sell by date.  As you can see,  I am only guessing as without researching the subject that is all I have.  I quite often sit on Deal Beach and watch the ferries travel between England and France and wonder how long they will actually last.

One can travel by train under the channel in thirty-five minutes and be in Southern France or most European cities in a matter of hours.  To me, they seem to be a blast from the past and I would not be surprised to see them fade a little.  The Marine Railway Station at Dover is no longer used and the hovercraft service from Ramsgate is also a thing of the past.  Most people fly and one can travel to Australia quite quickly.

My wife and I plan to visit this beautiful country quite soon and obviously will have to fly there, but as I stare out of the window of the plane thousands of feet above nowhere, I will think of the Themistocles and her voyages to Australia and back.  I will think of the menus and the sports committees of a fine ship which is sadly no longer with us.

The TSS Themistocles may be gone but a couple of her menus are still around as well as the souvenir of her voyages which, I suppose, is better than nothing.

Happy Hunting

Stuart Miller-Osborne