Salcombe Regis Country Fair

If you are looking for a treadmill or a rowing machine, a set of golf clubs, a very nice ladies bicycle, garden chairs, a beach windbreak and some top quality china and glassware you will find it next Thursday at Salcombe Regis Country Fair.

You could, come to think of it, just about find anything else you might be looking for and all for a giveaway price.

Bargains will doubtless be piled high, from bric-a-brac, cakes and books galore to plants, pictures, garden tools, crafts, hand tools, gifts, children's toys and kitchen pots and pans.

There's also a cocktail shaker set, a foot spa and a shove- halfpenny board in there somewhere and, with all manner of bits and pieces arriving by the day, lots and lots more.

It gives some idea of the bewildering array of items donated for sale by local residents from homes, lofts, sheds and garages up and down the Sid Valley to make this year's fair, held in the loveliest of village settings, a bumper fundraiser for the parish church to share with three local charities, Living With Cancer, Sidmouth Hospiscare and newly restored Kennaway House.

"There can hardly be three more deserving causes," says committee anchorman Mike Newman. "We are so grateful to everyone for their support. People have responded magnificently, as they always do. Blessed by fine weather, I'm sure it will all add up to another delightful occasion."

Tickets for the Grand Draw with a �200 first prize have been on sale for weeks and sundry cooks have been busy baking all those beeline cakes and goodies which usually sell out first.

All the more reason not to be late to hear the church clock strike two o'clock to signal the start of the Sidmouth's bargain hunt of the year, ending three hours later at the stroke of five.

By then, the customary crowds, among them so many who come to the fair every year, will have perused the country crafts and the sideshows, enjoyed a hot dog and an ice cream and maybe bought a pot of locally-made honey.

They will have seen, too, the lovely flower arrangements in the parish church of St Mary and St Peter, rested awhile over a cuppa and a cream scone in the tea garden and watched the balloon modelling and childrens' magic show.

The Riverside Jazz Band will be on parade once again to make this most popular of country fairs go with a swing while an added bonus, as if one were needed, is the free parking with a shuttle bus down into the village and back up the hill again.

So roll up, roll up for all the fun of Salcombe Regis Country Fair next Thursday at 2pm. Bargains galore await you!