The Country Brocante Summer Fair

Back in March, I booked us tickets to visit The Country Brocante Summer Fair as I thought it would be a fun day out. As we have just moved house and have been busy rummaging through flea markets and antique stores to find treasures, it tied in perfectly for us to find more things for the house!

Thankfully the weather was absolutely glorious and it meant that I had an excuse to wear my new hat.

The fair was held in 'The Meadows', in West Sussex which is a wedding venue. Most of the stalls were located in one field but there was an adjacent woodland area with a couple more boutiques and stalls.

I had expected this fair to be a lot more expensive than Ardingly Antiques fair and the shops in Lewes but it actually wasn't as spenny as I had anticipated. For example I found some galvanised tubs for £50 whereas the antique fair at Ardingly was selling them for £40-£45. It has been really helpful visiting all of these fairs and shops as it teaches you the rough price of things. Don't forget you can always try asking for a little money off the price!

I had a few items in mind that I was looking for, I would like an antique bird cage to put plants in, I like the large clear vases for dried flowers, a little garden ladder for pots and I would LOVE to have a bee box/hive for storage but they are quite a lot of money.

The stalls here were selling such beautiful items so needless to say we didn't come away empty handed. I bought a rustic metal star that I thought would look nice and Christmas, and a present for my friends daughter who is about to turn 2. Mr Poachie bought a small metal fish mould.

In my head I spent ££££ and also wanted to steal this little poochie! 

Most of the items here were very French, there was a lot of linens, ceramics, galvanised tubs, dried flowers, some antique furniture, and smaller items like jewellery and trinkets. I was a little worried that we had driven quite far to get here (about an hour) to turn up to just a few stalls but thankfully it was large and there were a lot of stalls to have a nose around.

We were hoping to stay for a glass of prosecco afterwards but there was no where to sit! There were a lot of ladies here all dressed up clearly making the most of the day which I thought was so nice. Mr Poachie enjoyed it but I think its definitely a girly thing to do.

We felt a bit like Dick and Angel Strawbridge from 'Escape to the chateau' which is a programme we love. I like how bonkers she is and how capable he is of making her visions come to life!

Tickets cost £8.50 which I think is reasonable, they run other fairs throughout the year so take a look at their website to see what else they have coming up.

I think we spent around 2 hours mooching about. I liked that it wasn't too busy, I have been to some fairs before which get so packed that you can't get close to the stalls to look at the items which is such a pain.

Lots of people had their dogs with them which was sweet. I can't wait for us to own a little pooch.

The fair ran from 10am - 4pm, I'm not sure if it's a case of it being best to get their early to get the best finds or whether the stalls hold stock back which they bring out in the afternoon... I guess with most things its best to be the first in!

So all in all, it was a lovely event and a lovely way to spend a sunny day!