2013 Annual Fair
Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd September 2013
Join us for a weekend of fun, entertainment and exclusive figurines.
We are delighted to invite you to our 2013 Annual Fair, which is being held at one of Britain’s most interesting historic houses, Mapledurham, a majestic Elizabethan Manor House idyllically situated beside the Thames and sheltered by the Chiltern Hills.
There is so much to take part in this year, both on our designated Fair site and the Mapledurham Estate, should you wish to visit it too. If you’d like to join us please download, print and fill in a ticket application form and return it back to us. We do hope that you can join us for what promises to be a fantastic weekend.
Purchase Your Favourite Collectables
View, and make purchases from, the current collections of Border Fine Arts Classic & Studio, Beatrix Potter™ Peter Rabbit™ and Lilliput Lane, also a selection of items at specially reduced prices from other favourite Enesco collectable brands will be available to purchase too.
Purchase Club & Society Member-only Figurines
(Don’t forget to bring your membership card and redemption certificates.)
Border Fine Arts Limited Editions & Silent Auction
A selection of low-numbered Border Fine Arts Limited Edition pieces will be available to buy over the weekend along with a number of older Limited Edition pieces, plus, we will be hosting another Silent Auction of Border Fine Arts figurines.
Entertainment
We have some great entertainment lined up this year including: Sheridan, the four-legged canine with a difference; Mighty Mick and Terrible Ted, the Battling Cumberland Giants; Essex Dog Display Team and even a pipe band!
Appearances
Our official restorer, Mike Merry, will be on hand again to make minor repairs over the weekend as well as Viv Marston hosting her Swap & Sell sessions. Treasure Showcases will also be available with some great showcase solutions.
Plus, there will be a wonderful variety of mix and mingle entertainers who will keep you fully entertained over the weekend! So, order your tickets today and join us for our annual dose of fun!
Paint Your Own Figurines
As ever, there will be wonderful opportunities to try your hand at painting a figurine, but be warned…it’s not as easy as it looks! The good news is, that you get to take your masterpiece home with you!
Mapledurham House
Mapledurham Estate has been in the same family — The Blounts — since 1492 and the main manor house was built in 1588. Visitors can enjoy a fine collection of portraits, furniture, the great oak staircases and original plaster ceilings.
The estate was the setting for the film The Eagle Has Landed and has, more recently, been used for episodes of Midsomer Murders, Miss Marple, Sharpe’s Regiment and other productions. The house has interesting literary connections with Alexander Pope, Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga, and Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.
As well as enjoying access to the house during the Fair weekend, you will be able to visit the Watermill, which dates from the fifteenth century and is the last working watermill on the River Thames (it featured on the rock band, Black Sabbath’s, first ever album cover); the Parish Church of St Margaret, which is curiously divided in half by iron railings and tombs for segregated services (one half belongs to the Church of England and the other half belongs to the Estate and is Catholic; there has been no access from one side to the other for many years); as well as enjoying a boat trip on the river, providing a picturesque approach to the Estate.
When Lady Anne and Mr Eyston took over the running of the Estate in the late 1950s, early 1960s it was almost derelict. They have spent their lives restoring and repairing it ever since and we are pleased that by holding our Fair here this year we are contributing towards funding the restoration of this most fascinating of places.
Mapledurham House, Reading, RG4 7TR, Telephone: 0118 9723350 www.mapledurham.co.uk
Exclusive Offers
Boat Trip
Enjoy a relaxing trip along the river on this 1904 Cornish Crabber, Rose O’ Dea. We have negotiated a special ticket price of just £2.50 per person during the weekend.
Hotel Deal
We are pleased to inform you that we have negotiated a fantastic hotel deal with the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Caversham Bridge, Richfield Avenue, Reading, RG1 8BD, upon the River Thames, which is approximately five miles from Mapledurham House. The cost per night is £85.00 per room, including breakfast, for the Annual Fair weekend only. If booking, please contact the Crowne Plaza direct on 0118 925 9929 quoting reference E89.
Don't miss out on all the fun – download an application form and order your tickets today!