Express & Star

More than 500 head to dolls house fair in Stafford

From children starting to fill their first dolls house to serious collectors investing decades into their hobby, Stafford Dolls House Fair saw more than 500 visitors through its door.

Published
Dolls House exhibition at Staffordshire County Showground. Angie Ball from Swynneton, with buildings she has made from scratch

And after 18 years of running the fair, organiser Doreen Jeffries stepped down at the end of last year and Gail Tucker from MGM Fairs has taken over.

Ms Tucker said: "Doreen held the show for 18 years and this was my first time as the organiser for this particular show but I have been organising shows for 20 years.

"Traders got to know Doreen but traders also know my shows so a combination from the two came on Sunday."

Around 35 separate traders attended the show, which was held at the County Showground on Sunday.

Ms Tucker added: "It went very well indeed we had 35 separate traders from all over the UK, from Devon, Birmingham, Shropshire and Wiltshire.

"We had 550 people through the door, a variety of ages, children were attending with their parents buying things for their first dolls house and a lot of people were serious collectors looking for quality items.

"And there's as many men in the hobby as there are women.

"It's a hobby which stays for many years and it's very adaptable, some people work on eight-storey mansions but some people work on boxes.

"Over the years people have tried replicating their house growing up or their grandmother's living room or something like that.

"A lot of work goes into it, it's absolutely fantastic and very gratifying. It's not just dolls houses people create churches, mills, all sorts of things.

"Usually you can go to the bigger fairs and find what you're looking for. There's not as many collector's fairs as there used to be around 15 years ago."

The show was held at the Members Pavilion, in the County Showground, Weston Road, and will return on September 1.