10 - Viva Lewes

heNty’s 20
A score’s worth of car booty
First – a friendly word of warning for any month of
the year. Unless you’re planning to sell from your
car or van at Lewes car boot sale on a Sunday morning,
don’t be tempted to take your own transport
and park close-by.
Just because it is a Sunday morning makes no difference
to the security firm whose favourite sport
is clamping vehicles and then having a bit of barmy
banter with anyone who cared to join in. Great
fun for onlookers but not if you’re the owner of a
trapped vehicle.
With transport as the Viva Lewes theme this
month, I decided to visit the car boot near Waitrose,
on foot, to see what the famous Viva ‘Score’ (a
monthly £20 to spend) might produce. End result,
riches galore – although my wife might not agree.
Whether buying or selling though, it’s best to get
there early according to my friend, Peter Tree,
who’s been involved with the Lewes operation for at
least ten years. Today, house-clearance is his forte
although, as I have discovered, Pete is a classic case
of not what you know but WHO you know. And
when I say “who” I mean The Who – legendary
rock musicians led by Roger Daltrey.
In the early 1960s Pete was closely associated with
the group and even got drummer, Keith Moon, a
‘desk job’ before the boys hit the big time. But what
does Pete have of interest today?
Well, for 50p there’s an old accounts book which
was clearly the property of a carpet fitter who travelled
all over the country – probably in the 1930s
– servicing cinemas and major theatres.
Wonderful detail, the Odeon, Leicester Square,
for example, represented a contract worth £23. Our
anonymous fitter’s hourly rate was one shilling
and fourpence (just over 6p). In today’s money I’ve
£19.50 left so let’s see what else I can find - although
it’s bound to sound a bit like a Spike Milligan shopping
list.
A pound each then for dog tripe sticks, a single
W W W. V i Va L E W E s . C o M
a n t i q u e s
cotton sheet, four ‘vintage’ war comics, a bag of
potatoes, 10 tea cakes and a pack of muffins. A
Swiss penknife cost £2 and so did a Noddy doll
and 30 pullets eggs. 16 pool balls (boxed) from a
man in Lower Bevendean were £4 and I could have
purchased new books about Jedward and Jordan
for £1 each but I didn’t. A squeezy Guinness bottle
to ‘relieve stress’ was 50p and I turned down a free
video of West Ham United.
For regular readers to this page, you should know
that I did not see any signs of a dongle and a Brief
History of Stephen Fry in four volumes was just
too heavy to carry home – well, that was my excuse.
And anyway, I’m trying to save money at the moment
because I would like to buy Brighton Pier
from the Nobles Organisation.
Not because I like the structure (which I do) but
because, under my ownership, it would revert to its
original name the Palace Pier. I’ll be at the August
Book Fair on the 6th at Lewes Town Hall – in
the foyer – and I’ll take with me the carpet fitter’s
accounts book for you to look at and my final £1
purchase, The Extraordinary Story of Lassie – the
ultimate shaggy dog story. What do you mean
‘barking’? John Henty
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