OVER the two days of Friday, September 16, and Saturday, September 17, St Breward Church and Village Hall held their first joint Book, Collectibles and Oddities Fair.

The whole event was amazing, fascinating and above all entertaining.

The amount and nature of the items on sale certainly lived up to the event’s title.

The church hosted the ‘top end’ of the items for sale along with hardback books with other items in the village hall along with paperbacks and most importantly a wide selection of refreshments.

A total of £1,549 — £774 each for the church and the hall, was raised.

Among the odd items for sale was a treadle dentist drill from around 1900, a beautiful Singer sewing machine from 1912 and a type of bottle with an internal marble for a stopper invented by Hir­am Codd which gave rise to the name ‘pop’ for soft drink and the expression ‘codswallop’.

During the first day of the fair co-ordinator Caroline Hooper even found a 1930s murder mystery book, which was priced at only 3/6d when it was new. It was perhaps a forerunner of the game Cluedo?

The church was decorated with yards of silks, sarees and hats from around the world as well as lanterns under the arches.

Books in the church and the hall went like hot cakes with over 250 sold. Refreshments got dangerously low on the first day so substantial, overnight cooking was required to ensure there was enough for the Saturday.

So many people helped in so many ways, from item and cake donations to helping generally, but Alan and Pam Balding from the village deserve a special mention as they prepare their downsizing and move to Falmouth.

It was their generous donation of so many, and (very) odd, items that formed the backbone of the event.

The fair continued in the church, unsupervised until the end of Friday, September 23.