We started holding photograph fairs as part of a bigger event with old postcards some twenty years ago. The photographs were to supplement our postcards, but it was not long before the role was reversed and we found that the photograph element of the fairs warranted a separate event of its own. So we launched our railway photograph fairs and have never looked back. They have grown into probably one of the biggest events of its type in the country.
The format is that we fill the upstairs room at the museum with tables and dealers come from far and wide with their photograph stocks for you to browse through and hopefully pick up some images you have not seen, or not got in your collection, or even to illustrate an article or a book that you are preparing (subject to copyright of course). In addition to the dealers, the museum has its own computers open to show you the database of photographs we hold (currently about 230,000 black and white images and 40,000 colour images), and you can order copies if you want them. All in all there must be a good million plus images in the room, so you will need time to browse. The range of material is enormous both in geographical location, subjects and dates of photographs, so you stand a very good chance you will be able to add to your collection.
The dealers who are booked in to the fair on 5th January include Mike Cremin, Roger Carpenter, Rod Blencowe, Jeremy Sutor, Mike Bentley, Mike Thorp, Duncan Chandler and Friends of Hampton Loade station. If you have never been here before, then it is well worth the visit, and between browsing, there are the tea rooms downstairs to refresh the appetite!
The doors open at 10.00am and admission is free. The fair closes at 4.30pm.
