Treasure trove
Rummaging at this year's Salvo Fair could have found you just about anything, from a giant hand-carved wooden elephant to half a Mini Cooper, a pair of ancient mansion gates and a Thomas Crapper seaworthy bath-boat. The annual architectural salvage, garden antiques and reclaimed building material exhibition held at Knebworth House is a highlight of the reclamation and salvage trade calendar, and offers a very special buying experience indeed. It's an eclectic mix of items displayed in the open air, usually attracting those wanting to avoid the mass-produced offerings of the high street. Fellow buyers are design-savvy art and architecturally-minded people, keen to reduce the amount of salvageable material needlessly going to landfill.
This year's fair was credited by exhibitors and visitors as the best ever, with numerous interesting items being swiftly snapped up. "It's just getting better each year, with more and more people who are serious buyers spending serious money," says Damien Cronin from Cronin's Reclamation. "Most of the larger items went to trade, such as a beautiful marble floor selling for £ 6,000."
The general feedback from the public was that the event was well organised with a tremendous range of stands. "Knebworth has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, and the stands don't display items that have been doing the rounds at Newark, Swinderby and Ardingly fairs, hence the wealth of unusual, interesting and fresh items," says John Morfoot of Morways.
Prices ranged from 30p for a door fitting on Cox's Architectural stand and £ 1.50 for old flowerpots on the Belgian stand of Van de Wouwer to Mongers' grand gates at £ 12,500. The gates were a lucky find for a new home buyer, as they had been lying hidden in a hedge for at least 30 years. Sam Coster of Mongers believes them to be from a mansion in the Norwich area and dating from the early 1800s. "Clients came along with a shopping list of restoration items," explains Morfoot, "such as doors, stained glass and ironwork. They found what they were looking for, but also headed off with unusual items."
The fair was far better than anyone had hoped for amidst the gloomy economic forecast. "This year's Salvo Fair is bucking the trend with all exhibitors reporting strong sales and happy customers," says organiser, Ruby Kay. It seems homeowners want items that will appreciate in value, rather than cheap modern floors and doors from DIY retail warehouses.
