BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Hello everyone,

Not long to go now until the next Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet on the 8th July.

I have been informed that the BVWS Summer Bulletin (which has the RWB stall booking flyer included) is running a bit late and may not hit your door mat for another week or two.

Therefore anyone wishing to book a stall at the RWB event on the 8th of July should please contact me directly either by PM here or by e-mail to auctions@bvws.org.uk and I will reserve a table and you can then send in the form when you get your Bulletin or pay me on the day.

There will be a 300 lot auction which will include a large collection of very early and special valves from one of the best known early valve collectors in the UK and also a number of items of pre-broadcast and WW1 wireless equipment.
This will include trench sets, amplifiers, spark transmitters a Multiple tuner and magnetic detector.
There will also be both pre-war and post war televisions, large quantities of valves, test equipment and classic radios (including those round things!).

I am currently photographing and cataloguing the items and hope to get some preview pictures to Paul for the website very soon.

HOWEVER, the full catalogue and pictures will be sent to him about a week before the auction and will appear on the BVWS website as usual.

Mike...

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

The catalogue and photos of many of the lots are now on the BVWS website here https://www.bvws.org.uk/auctions/pho...ootton-bassett

The catalogue is also attached.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

There are sufficient "box of assorted..." lots to show that if you are looking for something, there is no substitute for attending auctions.

The Telequipment curve tracer would have tempted me.
The HP3780 wouldn't. The systems it tested are pretty much gone. On the forum I suppose there's only Peter and myself could have operated it. I expect it'll get boiled down for the knobs and switches.

Thanks for posting. It's always interesting to see what's moving around. I went in the opposite direction this weekend for a visit to the gang up in the top right hand corner of the UK.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

thanks to Mike and Paul for these - I am glad I don't collect TVs, because there are some seriously good-looking sets there! Something for everyone methinks?
Cheers
Andy

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Five days to go and counting...

There are some quality lots in this auction. I like the Marconi magnetic detector and tuner - shame I'm broke!

They would look great in the wireless museum at Dulwich and would draw a lot of visitors.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Weather is looking good for Sunday, up to 28C. We will be sweating up on stage - as usual!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/0/2633571

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Is the sale/auction open to any one or to do you have to join a club.
Cheers
John

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

To bid in BVWS auction you must be a member but you should be able to join on the day

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Is there any kind of event like this in the North West of England?

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Yes Richard, we have the BVWS Golborne swapmeet just west of Manchester every April and November.

The next event is Sunday 11th November, all are welcome, see https://www.bvws.org.uk/events/locations.php for more details but it will be publicised on this forum nearer to the time..

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

You can most definitely join on the day!

Just ask for Dave the membership secretary and he can join you up there and then, cash or card payments taken...

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Thanks for letting me know.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

I will be bring along a number of membership packs for anyone that would like to join on the day.

Its a simple process and once done you will be eligible to bid in the auction and attend any of the other events held during the year.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Further to my previous question, do you have any events over the border (no passport required) in Wales?
Cheers
John

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Hi John as far as I can recall there has never been a BVWS meet in Wales the current and future meets can be seen here https://www.bvws.org.uk/events/diary.php

There have been meets in various areas in the past and the BVWS have in the past been very supportive of these local meets but they are a huge amount of work the bulk of which falls upon the organiser so you need to be sure you will get enough support

Cheers

Mike T

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

This event doesn't have an auction, but there is usually a TV display and an informative talk by KeithsTV.

There was, however, an auction recently in Chorley (not a BVWS-organised event). No news at present about any possible future repeats - probably dependent upon the organiser gathering sufficient lots together.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

No, there's nothing here in Wales. Royal Wootton Bassett is easy to get to from South Wales though as it's close to the M4. Under an hour and a half from Cardiff, but it looks like a much longer trek for you from Ceredigion

As Mike says, organising a new event would be a lot of work and there would have to be enough people attending to make it worth while. Probably more difficult in Wales due to the lack of decent A roads and motorways to anywhere other than the south.

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Why do such groups (and the BVWS is by no means unique in this) assume everyone has a car and/or is willing to drive to all the events? As a non-driver this has put me off joining a number of societies as I would not be able to attend anything.

And why are there rarely events in the Greater London area (yes, the museum in Dulwich is a welcome exception to this and I do try to get to the events there)?

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

Tony,

The BVWS Harpenden event is 3 minutes walk from a railway station. There is also a good public bus link service from London.
The Royal Wootton Bassett event is a 15 minute taxi drive from Swindon railway station (main line from Paddington).
The NVCF has a shuttle bus organised by the BVWS from Leamington Spa railway station every 30 mins.
The Golborne event is really the only one where there is no local railway station, but it is about a 40 minute taxi ride out of Manchester.

So there are ways of getting to the events other than by car.

Mike...

Re: BVWS Royal Wootton Bassett Swapmeet and auction
 

The typical criteria for a suitable venue are:

Close to a motorway or major A-road for ease of road access
Good sized free car parking on site or nearby
Suitable sized hall (with stage if there is an auction) that is available on Sundays
Reasonable hire costs

It helps greatly if there is a member nearby who can help with organising the event (especially the first one or two).

This combination is actually surprisingly difficult to find. The sort of village halls we use fit the criteria well. If we added proximity to a railway station and/or city centre to this there would be no chance.

If you know of somewhere suitable nearer where you live and are keen to help with organising an event then I'm sure the BVWS committee would be interested in discussing it with you. These events are all organised by unpaid volunteers in their spare time.