Northamptonshire fairground memorabilia set to sell for £20k

Roger Austin started collecting fairground memorabilia in the 1980s, his family said

Lorry loads of fairground memorabilia could fetch £20,000 when it goes up for sale at auction.

The late Roger Austin, from Raunds, Northamptonshire, amassed more than 750 pieces, including galloper horses, wooden swing boats and pedal cars.

Robert Austin, his son, said the items being sold by Cambridge-based Cheffins were "a massive part of our lives".

Auctioneers were "shocked" and said the collection was "the biggest sale of its type" for a while.

The sale will take place in Sutton, near Ely, on 22 and 23 July, with further sales planned for October and April 2023.

Roger Austin bought items from fellow enthusiasts, fairgrounds which were updating rides or closing down

"Dad came from a council house estate, brought up by his grandparents, and there were no trips to the English seaside for the family, so when the fair came to town it was the closest thing he ever got to a holiday", Mr Austin said.

"For lots of children in those days, when the fair rolled in that would be the most exciting few days of the year, and it was his nostalgia from these happiest moments of his childhood which really drove him to start collecting items from the golden days of the fairground."

"These types of items don't often become available for sale, and I would expect some of the rarer pieces to reach well into four figures," Jeremy Curzon said

He said the fairground had been a "massive part of our lives and we now feel it's right to pass the custodianship of these pieces to others than can get as much joy from them as my family and I have".

Mr Austin said some of the bigger rides had already been sold and the family would be keeping two fibreglass horses made by his father.

The sale will take place in Sutton, near Ely, on 22 and 23 July, with further sales planned for October and April 2023

Jeremy Curzon, a consultant at Cheffins, said: "Roger Austin would buy lorry loads of fairground memorabilia at a time.

"He would scour the country for the best in vintage fairground items, and quite frequently not even unpack the lorries.

"When we came across the collection, we were shocked at the scale of it.

"This has got to be the biggest sale of its type in recent memory."