Whibleys Dolls House Fair and Exhibition - 25th August

This is a strange bit of back-dating.  I noticed I hadn't done a post on this show that I went to back in August which was very remiss of me especially as it was local for me and a very different experience (in a good way) than most shows.  Apologies to Annette in case she knows it is missing.

This is pretty much what went in DH & MS magazine.............

I am happy to attend shows large and small all over the country (and abroad) as my means of shopping for my hobby.  Dolls House shops are thin on the ground and a show is a way of gathering a ton of them all under one roof.

That said, I have often thought that it is a shame that they don’t try to incorporate the ‘exhibition’ side of the interest in there too as well as straight forward selling.  Some shows do have a club showing their work and one or two demonstrations during the day but, in the main, they are predominantly about selling to the converted.

Not so with the first show presented by Annette Mattingley and her husband, Andy.  She set off with the idea that it should be a fun day out, not only for the committed enthusiast but for any poor soul who is dragged along with them.  Hopefully as word gets round lots of people will stop by to see what it is about and some of them will get hooked on making miniatures.  

Exhibitions

There were nine exhibitions!  There was a large Hotel which was featured in the March and September issues of this magazine. The South Manchester Dolls House Club showed items in three scales and a WWW1 project they had worked on.  There were four more wonderful dolls house collections to look at but, to make sure everyone was being catered for, there was also a Scalextric set-up where you could race Stig, a collection of Model traction engines steaming away and a terrific model made by Andy.  It was a large model where 1:76 met 1:12.  He combined 00 scale railway with 1/12^th dolls house to depict a group taking a miniature railway ride around a miniature village.  Now how clever is that.

Traders

There were six traders there to give you the opportunity to buy great things.  More are already promised for next year.

Demonstrations

Annette managed to organise an incredible five demonstrations throughout the day covering such things as quilting, knitting, tile making.  When I left Annette was talking to a fair sized group about sewing in this scale.

Prizes

No show is complete without a prize draw and here you could have won four of Jane Harrop’s lovely kits, a dressed kitchen unit and a Dolls House emporium Dog Lover’s kit.

Whibleys Estate Agents

The ‘Estate Agents’ was probably my favourite part of the show.  There were nine fabulous houses just looking for a new owner to play with them.  With prices ranging from £12 (!) to £250 and in every style there was a house for everyone.

The Venue

The show was held in a lovely building – worth a visit in itself.  There was plenty of room to get around, displays were laid out beautifully and professionally; there were even several power point demonstrations being continually streamed which allowed in even more things to see and more ideas to take home.  Top this out with a welcome cup of tea or coffee, snack or cake in a delightful Coffee House – what more do you need for a great day out.

Whibleys Dolls House Fair and Exhibition

10.30 am – 4 pm

Open Door

Horse Carrs

Shawclough Road

Rochdale

OL12 6LG

Look out for it next August.  If you want to know more, book a table, do a demo, visit, just email whibleys@mail.com and Annette will be there.

Don't forget there is a link to an album with more photos over in the left hand column.