Last week I shared the things I bought at Sunbury Antiques Market via show & tell. Now it's time for a market memo!
Sunbury is held at Kempton Park Racecourse on the second and last Tuesday of the month and since I'm currently a quasi stay-at-home wife, I was lucky to be able to make the one and a half hour trek down there. I've always wanted to be one of those people who can go vintage hunting any ol' day of the week, or better yet, be one of those people who do it as their job. We'll see what I can come up with to make the latter a reality but for now I feel a little ridiculous getting to do this stuff mid-week. How did my desk job day-dreams actually happen?!? Oh yeah, Joe's desk job got moved overseas but I think it's safe to say that we're both winning here :)
Back to the market...Sunbury opens at 6:30am and goes until 2pm. It makes for a very early day but I'd much rather shop in the wee hours anyway when the air is crisp, my energy tank is full and I can go at a leisurely pace. As soon as I walked in I knew that the trek down there was worth it. There were more vendors within stones throw than I'd seen at any other market in London thus far. I did a little dance and carried along to see what I would find. Similar to the Rose Bowl Flea Market, vendors are spread out all over the parking lot and the outside ring of the stadium. What's nice about Sunbury is that they also have two indoor areas which came in handy when the weather turned and continued shopping required shelter from the scattered rain.
I found the market to be very easy to shop based on what you're looking for though it's still worth it to weave in and out of all of the areas if you have the time. The vendors were knowledgeable about their products, prices were fair, and the atmosphere was light-hearted. It was actually the most fun I've had photographing at a flea market since each vendor was happy to let me take a snap (very unlike Paris's Vanves Market, that was like pulling teeth!). Some vendors even joked about receiving royalties while another suggested I take photos of him wrapped in the fur coats he was selling. I should have taken him up on that. Next time.