Antiques & Collectables

The purpose of the group is to gain knowledge of the items we have in our possession and discover their values, to become aware of collectable items now and in the future, to learn how to look after them and to visit places of interest to the members.

Currently the membership is seventeen, which is the maximum number that can be catered for in our homes, although it may be possible for others outside of our group to join us in our visits where numbers are not restricted (visitors will be charged a fee according to the event). You are asked to contact either of the group leaders before any event, in case the date and meeting times have been changed.

We have invited experts to talk to us on antique bottles, antique maps, Beswick figurines, books, clocks, coins, dolls, engravings/prints, garden ornaments, Goss china, handkerchiefs, jewellery, medals and militaria, Moorcroft pottery, needlework, period undergarments, postcards, Staffordshire ‘flatbacks’, stamps, silverware, TV and movie memorabilia, vinyl records and wooden furniture restoration. We have also been shown how to buy and sell our goods on eBay and have enjoyed guided tours of the Guildford Cathedral Treasury and the Watts Gallery. Visits have been made to Antique Centres, the Ardingly International Antiques Fair, the Jewellery Gallery at the V&A, Horsham Museum, various National Trust properties, and to live auctions at Ewbank Auctioneers (where we appeared on television as the BBC were filming an episode of the Antiques Roadtrip), Lawrences Auction House in Bletchingley and Crows Auctions in Dorking. We even held our own Antiques Roadshow when a member of Bonhams Auction House came to value our items. The group also obtained tickets for guided tours of Ironmongers’ Hall and Skinners’ Hall in London.