|
The Great
British Antiques Web, PO Box 64, Kingswood |
|
PRESS INFORMATION |
Antiques In The West of England and Wales. |
Bristol, Great Britain -- 17 January 2006 -- |
| The West of England and Wales have been favourite stopovers with professional antique buyers and private collectors in the USA for many years, but whilst many visitors have their regular contacts and usually include the area as part of an antiques buying visit in Great Britain few realise the full potential the region offers, and subsequently miss many of the quality resources available. What makes the area even more appealing is that it is accessible in less than seven hours via Bristol International (BIA), from Newark Airport, New York. Add these direct flights to an extensive network of connecting domestic services in the USA by carrier Continental Airlines and the result is an easy gateway to an enormous antiques resource. Within eighty miles or about two hours drive from Bristol (BIA), buyers will have at their disposal what is possibly the most concentrated and varied source of quality antiques services that Britain has to offer and presenting them with little, if any need to venture further afield. Northerly the Cotswolds is home to dozens of reputable antiques specialists in the beautiful towns of Tetbury, which is fast becoming an antiques town in it’s own right, Stow on the Wold, Moreton in Marsh and Burford are some to name just a few and are complimented by an established antiques market every Friday in Cirencester. Journeying southerly from BIA, perhaps your first stop would be at the Monday antiques market in Taunton before continuing to the small market town of Honiton, Devon where the visitor will find a varied selection of no less than 29 antique dealers of furniture, art and second-hand books, with many others to be found in nearby villages, thereby extending the region southerly past Exeter and south easterly into the county of Dorset. Due east from the airport and within just 15 miles lies the world heritage city of Bath which has it's own very active antique dealers association, BABAADA. The Bath and Bradford on Avon Antique Dealers Association not only provides a network of more than 50 members but is also well qualified to assist on all antiques matters, from sourcing to shipping. Gail McLeod secretary of BABAADA says, "Many of our members already have established clients in the USA who rely on our expertise and integrity when visiting the West of England”. www.babaada.com Continuing easterly and still within easy reach, buyers will find a further extensive selection of quality antiques in the picturesque town of Hungerford. With two antique centres together with fifteen other general and specialist dealers, not forgetting a regular fair, the town is perhaps one of the best-kept antiques secrets in the UK! Throughout south and mid Wales visitors will find some exceptional examples of fine Welsh antique furniture including dressers and decorative items from various specialist dealers and several auction rooms including a weekly Sunday sale near Newport. The area extends as far as the tiny Welsh border town of Hay on Wye, renowned for it’s seemingly endless supply of antiquarian bookshops, and the annual Hay Festival, which attracts 80,000 worldwide visitors. Visiting the UK on antiques buying trip for the first time can be, though needlessly, a daunting prospect, even established buyers meeting new contacts sometimes need guidance, so it is reassuring to find that many vendors in the region are members of either their local dealer or specialist association, or one of the two national associations, BADA and LAPADA. In fact the professionalism and integrity of many British antiques businesses are endorsed by membership of more than one professional body. Visit www.lapada.co.uk and www.bada.org for further information and full lists of members when planning your visit, it’ll pay dividends. The region also abounds with some excellent antique fairs, notably at the Royal Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, which is under an hour from BIA. The Showground is home to a very large fair on weekends six times a year by one organiser, and a regular Flea Market by another. There is also a very large fair held five times a year at West Point Exhibition Centre near Exeter with a capacity of up to 500 exhibitors, and a monthly fair on Sunday's at Malvern Showground, which is less than two hours drive away in the north of the area. There are in addition many more good quality fairs, some specialist such as Militaria, Glass, Textiles and Books, held throughout the region, mostly at weekends. Similarly, all the dealer associations in the area host their own events throughout the year, for example BABAADA, during March. LAPADA, Cheltenham Racecourse in October, which coincides with the Cotswolds Antique Dealers Association own 'Members Exhibitions’ in the same month. www.cotswolds-antiques-art.com At the last count over sixty auction rooms were found in the region with a vast range of items, some have weekly general sales and many hold scheduled specialist sales, the nearest sale to the visitors arrival is at Clevedon, about ten miles away. Together with an established infrastructure of local supporting services, from a complete range of accommodation to car and goods vehicle hire, nearby shipping services and cargo agents based at BIA, ensures that the US antiques buyer has every facility that is necessary at their disposal to ensure a smooth and stress free visit, yet maximises time for the visitor to the full. This is backed-up by the claim that the comparatively congestion free BIA usually allows that the visitor will be on the road as quickly as possible. Indeed, with the close location of some sources it is quite possible that buyers could certainly get down to business within an hour or so of collecting their baggage from the aircraft. © The Great British Antiques Web 2006. www.gbaw.co.uk |
|
Supporting images. A selection of supporting images to this Press Release is available. |
| Further information of antiques resources in the West Country will be found at:
www.gbaw.co.uk/bristolairport The Great British Antiques Web, formerly Antiques Web, has been online since 1997 providing information and helping those from outside the UK plan their next British antiques visit. |
|
|
| The Great British Antiques Web Resource and specialist web design services to the British antiques trade. Email enquiries@gbaw.co.uk Web www.gbaw.co.uk # # # |
Revised 17/01/2006 - 0357. 01/09/2005 - 17/1/2006 - 143. |