I recently had the pleasure of talking with the lovely Alix Booth who is a regular customer here at The Hungerford Arcade. She was purchasing the road menders toy set that you can see in the photograph below.

Alix has been collecting these British lead figures since she was 3 years old, truly a life long passion. We were thrilled when she sent these photos showing us 2 of her life like sets. 

This set was supplied by Adrian and Jane Little (unit 119). They are also known as “Mercator Trading”. They are one of the world’s top dealers in vintage toy figures, specialising in figures made pre WW2 and non-UK made figures; mainly lead figures but also composition, flats, plastic, paper. You name it, if it was made as a toy figure, they deal in it.

They have over 25 years of experience dealing in toys and figurines, attending toy fairs around the UK and Europe. They can also be found on eBay using there “Mercator Trading” name.

Great News! The 2022 dates are now set for the Hungerford Antique & Vintage Markets. The market is held every month at the Hungerford Town Hall right next to us.

Entry is free and you’ll see lots of our dealers taking part with stalls filled to the brim selling all sorts of trinkets and rare treasures. A must to put in your diary!

Don’t forget to pay us a visit after of course. You can rest up in the Cosy Coffee Shop with a refreshing drink or a bite to eat and recharge yourself before doing some more shopping around our beautiful Arcade!

Make it a great day out enjoying all that Hungerford has to offer. Not to mention finding that item you’ve always been after or simply grabbing yourself a bargain! Either way we certainly look forward to seeing you soon!

We were very pleased to meet Steve and Spencer who worked tirelessly all day putting up Christmas trees throughout our beautiful High Street. They certainly made the front of the Arcade look very festive!

We also saw the return of Shield Electrical Services Limited who were installing all of the magical Christmas lighting in preparation for our traditional Christmas light switch on.  Josh, Gary and Shawn.

All of us here at the Hungerford Arcade are beginning to feel Christmassy now that Ann Parker our unit 42P stallholder has done a wonderful job of dressing our window full of 

Christmas cheer!

Here at the Arcade we have been busy preparing for Christmas, the Christmas trees outside on our facade went up last week and our stallholders have been stocking their units ready for the festive season. A walk around the arcade this morning has highlighted plenty to feast the eyes on.

Why don’t we start with pre-christmas drinks, Unit 8 has a stunning set of Art Deco Liqueur glasses complete with stand, we also spotted plenty of cut crystal decanters for your Christmas wine or spirit. Don’t worry if you are short on cutlery, La Couteliere (unit 10) specializes in it, from knives and forks to cake slices and mustard spoons, she will no doubt have it in stock.

For the coffee lovers out there we have plenty of china to choose from, unit 36 has a beautiful circa 1930s Royal Doulton coffee set, or if you have more individual tastes, how about a single Devon Sylvan Lustrine demitasse coffee can and saucer from unit 127. We can’t forget about making the home festive, unit 32s has Christmas

decorations/ornaments available, including a great retro talking Father Christmas.

We all want to treat our loved ones, there is a beautiful large Merrythought Pooh Bear waiting for a home in unit 44, and no Christmas is complete without a special piece of jewellery like the exquisite 18ct gold pendant set with a large Amethyst surrounded by Diamonds, available in unit 43.

We can’t enjoy the festive season without a Scrooge, unit 125 has the perfect Beswick Scrooge Toby Jug. No matter what your budget, we have something for everyone here at the Arcade, and to finish your shopping day make sure you pop up to Cosy Coffee Shop, mince pies are now available.

We’ve had a recent visit from Ken Milton here at the

Hungerford Arcade. Ken is in the process of hand building a memorial to display at his home this remembrance day. Ken came to us so he could purchase some vintage army figures that he could add to his beautifully handmade exhibit.

Ken purchased a WW1 Black Watch piper and a dismounted

lifeguard from our dealers Gary and June Crook in unit 121. who collect and sell vintage Action Man figures from 1964 – 1986 and also specialise in toy soldiers, military die cast vehicles and other interesting vintage toys.

Thank you Ken for visiting us and finding some special additions to your wonderful display. We wish you all the best for the 11th of November and hope you raise plenty for your charity!

Don’t forget our vintage military vehicle display outside the Arcade this coming Sunday, 7th November.  Gary, June and all their military vehicle friends hold this event every year raising money for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.  There will also be a Dad’s Army Platoon and more.  Do come along and support these wonderful men and women who bring these fabulous vehicles along, at their own expense, to raise money for this fantastic cause. 

A fantastic day was had by all at the Hungerford Arcade yesterday as STV came in to film the Antiques Road Trip. The presenter was the lovely Natasha Raskin Sharp who was chatty and full of smiles. Natasha arrived in true style sporting a stunning 1970’s Porsche 911 for the show!

Natasha’s last visit to the Hungerford Arcade was back in 2017. She had forgotten how large the Arcade is and was very impressed at the vast variety of items our stallholders have on offer.

Natasha spent several hours walking around the Arcade looking to find those special gems that will do well at auction.  She enjoyed speaking with some of our dealers; Scott Parker Unit 25A, Adrian Jefferies Unit 46W and Ian Spuffard Unit 125.  It made their day!

The film crew Scott, Henry and Catherine were great fun and very professional in their roles. In all it was an amazing day, we can’t wait to see the episode broadcast live which will be some time in Spring 2022.

We would very much like to thank Natasha and all the team on the Antiques Road Trip for an enjoyable day and look forward to having them again at the Hungerford Arcade in the future!

This month a young man, Patrick Shipman, came in to buy a surprise birthday present for his mother Debbie. Debbie is a long term customer of ours from Winterbourne who has been visiting the Arcade since she was only 16 years old.

Debbie is now a seasoned collector having spent over half her life purchasing antiques and collectibles. Whenever Debbie visited us along with Patrick, she would remark on how much she loved our “Welcome” tapestry which has been hanging in our entrance for many years.

So as a surprise for Debbie’s 60th birthday, Patrick paid us a visit to explain how his mum loved the sign and asked if he could purchase it for her special day.

We were of course touched by this story and felt the sign should rightly belong with Debbie. So well done to Patrick and a very happy 60th birthday to you Debbie, you are both most “Welcome” of course!