Blue Sky Promotions has been organising popular and successful car boot sales in the East Midlands since 1990. In October 2011 they launched the monthly antiques and collectors’ fair in the Agricultural Business Centre in Bakewell, Derbyshire. It was an immediate success. Always fully booked. Until December 2012. Why might that be?
Initially successful, the premises just weren’t large enough for the event to expand beyond sixty stands. Too far off the beaten track, accessible only by fog or icebound Peak District roads - there was carnage on Snake Pass on the morning of my visit. Cars in ditches, cars resting in or on dry stone walls. Nonetheless, the event was still running at capacity that November Sunday. Though, in December, not enough people were prepared to make the journey to the small-to-mid-sized event. I hope it wasn’t anything I’d said. But their core event is still there come May.
Once running parallel with the indoor event throughout summer, Blue Sky still runs the much larger outdoor event outside on the showground itself. Up to 300 exhibitors – some of whom had hibernated indoors during winter. That side of the event remains firmly in place, with the majority of winter indoor exhibitors staying on board. All dates from 14 May and then monthly until 10 September have been confirmed.
Why keep Bakewell in the summer?
Apart from the fact that the 300-stand summer events are certainly worth the trip when it isn’t snowing, it is also a matter of location. Bakewell’s setting is superb, in the Peak District National Park with its beautiful scenery and beside the river Wye. It is a historic market town, as the brown signs keep telling you. It dates back to Saxon times, with a 9th century cross in the churchyard. It even gets a mention in the Domesday Book.
For those reasons it is also a thriving tourist base, the large town centre reflecting its attractions. One is the Rutland Arms Hotel. Jane Austen is said to have stayed there around 1811 and gives it a mention in Pride and Prejudice. Richard Arkwright (of Spinning Jenny fame) built a mill there in 1777, putting the town firmly on the prosperity map by the 19th century. Nearby attractions include Chatsworth and Haddon Hall. Other Showground summer events also pull in the tourists.
There is also more than enough in the vicinity to make a full day of it for the antiques-hunter. The aforementioned Rutland Arms houses an impressive antiques centre and there is also Bakewell Antiques and Works of Art. Depending on your direction of travel, Alfreton Antiques Centre is 17 miles away, Bolsover 19 and Heanor 25. Matlock (8) has an antiques centre as well as Holme House US Retro. Ashbourne, the antiques capital of Derbyshire, is 20 miles to the south. And, for those who like a good root, a Sunday car boot sale alternates between Bakewell and nearby
Whitworth.
Plus - Coalville, Leicestershire – from this autumn
When I visited, in November, Blue Sky told me that they were looking for larger premises for this, their only indoor event. Bakewell was good but not large enough. As it turned out, it’s just as well they were. In January they confided that they had indeed secured a suitable venue - Hermitage Leisure Centre, on the northern outskirts of Coalville. With space for 140-150 stands it is more than twice the capacity of Bakewell. And far more accessible should the weather turn bad. Starting this autumn, dates yet to be confirmed – have a look on blueskyantiquesfairs.com
Back to Bakewell
A note of caution. Unless you are travelling by bicycle or amphibious craft, set your satnav to Agricultural Way and not just DE45 1AQ. Otherwise you may be directed to the wrong side of the river, with only a pretty little foot bridge to help you get to the event itself.
Initially successful, the premises just weren’t large enough for the event to expand beyond sixty stands. Too far off the beaten track, accessible only by fog or icebound Peak District roads - there was carnage on Snake Pass on the morning of my visit. Cars in ditches, cars resting in or on dry stone walls. Nonetheless, the event was still running at capacity that November Sunday. Though, in December, not enough people were prepared to make the journey to the small-to-mid-sized event. I hope it wasn’t anything I’d said. But their core event is still there come May.
Once running parallel with the indoor event throughout summer, Blue Sky still runs the much larger outdoor event outside on the showground itself. Up to 300 exhibitors – some of whom had hibernated indoors during winter. That side of the event remains firmly in place, with the majority of winter indoor exhibitors staying on board. All dates from 14 May and then monthly until 10 September have been confirmed.
Why keep Bakewell in the summer?
Apart from the fact that the 300-stand summer events are certainly worth the trip when it isn’t snowing, it is also a matter of location. Bakewell’s setting is superb, in the Peak District National Park with its beautiful scenery and beside the river Wye. It is a historic market town, as the brown signs keep telling you. It dates back to Saxon times, with a 9th century cross in the churchyard. It even gets a mention in the Domesday Book.
For those reasons it is also a thriving tourist base, the large town centre reflecting its attractions. One is the Rutland Arms Hotel. Jane Austen is said to have stayed there around 1811 and gives it a mention in Pride and Prejudice. Richard Arkwright (of Spinning Jenny fame) built a mill there in 1777, putting the town firmly on the prosperity map by the 19th century. Nearby attractions include Chatsworth and Haddon Hall. Other Showground summer events also pull in the tourists.
There is also more than enough in the vicinity to make a full day of it for the antiques-hunter. The aforementioned Rutland Arms houses an impressive antiques centre and there is also Bakewell Antiques and Works of Art. Depending on your direction of travel, Alfreton Antiques Centre is 17 miles away, Bolsover 19 and Heanor 25. Matlock (8) has an antiques centre as well as Holme House US Retro. Ashbourne, the antiques capital of Derbyshire, is 20 miles to the south. And, for those who like a good root, a Sunday car boot sale alternates between Bakewell and nearby
Whitworth.
Plus - Coalville, Leicestershire – from this autumn
When I visited, in November, Blue Sky told me that they were looking for larger premises for this, their only indoor event. Bakewell was good but not large enough. As it turned out, it’s just as well they were. In January they confided that they had indeed secured a suitable venue - Hermitage Leisure Centre, on the northern outskirts of Coalville. With space for 140-150 stands it is more than twice the capacity of Bakewell. And far more accessible should the weather turn bad. Starting this autumn, dates yet to be confirmed – have a look on blueskyantiquesfairs.com
Back to Bakewell
A note of caution. Unless you are travelling by bicycle or amphibious craft, set your satnav to Agricultural Way and not just DE45 1AQ. Otherwise you may be directed to the wrong side of the river, with only a pretty little foot bridge to help you get to the event itself.
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