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A bumper crowd attended the annual Great Oxford Garage Sale Trail on Sunday, August 2.
while there were some regulars displaying their wares on their front lawns, this year many new sites were listed, says volunteer Cass Rielly.
"We usually have about a third of the 40 sites returning each year and this year over two thirds were new vendors.
"They included the Oxford Area School PTA who co-managed a stall with the Salvation Army in the GP Hall, several of the local retirement homes held stall tables,and we were pleased to see a good number of vendors show up at the farmers market as well.”
The popular day out for many locals and visitors is run by the Experience Oxford and Oxford Promotions Action Committee.
Shara Sanson, secretary of the OAS PTA, says it was good to be collaborating with Salvation Army.
"We will be using the money raised today to help fund a scooter trail at the school, while the Salvation Army will use their share to fund youth activities in Oxford.”
For the fifth year, Esme Alpe hosted a sale in front of her house on High Street.
"It began as a downsizing exercise. Being the youngest in my family I somehow inherited all the cast-offs and not wanted stuff from by my brothers and sisters.
"But because I don’t have the space here, I started selling them at the garage sale.
"I love meeting all the people who call in, haggling over the prices and the banter with them when they find something and want it for a good price,” she says.
"I had a Footrot Flats book in original condition for sale this year and it was fun seeing the people of all ages wanting to look at it.”
Esme loves Yamsan Pottery, Japanese Bamboo art works, and says when you put stuff out you don’t quite know who will be interested in it.
"The rummagers arrive at first light so you have to be prepared for them. Others call all through the day making it a fun day for our wonderful community here in Oxford.”
Harewood Road resident Damien Devine says he loves supporting the garage sale.
"It’s a wonderful day for the community and I’ve supported it for four years now.
"I love chatting with people and you can get carried away selling your collectables and stuff.
“We all hope for a good price for all the things we are selling, but it depends on the day and the buyer."
Damien says he loves collecting old things and objects d’art from the 1880s to the 1920s.
"I picked up these old glass Thomson and Mace and Co bottles a while back, and now I’m selling them. I love history and the garage sale is perfect to look around and see what others have.”
The church committee chairperson of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Oxford, Keith Harris, says he was sad that this will be the last time he will be in charge of the sale at the church.
"After 15 years on the committee I’ll be stepping down soon and this will be my fourth and last garage sale. I’ve loved being involved with it, as it’s a great way of raising money for all our community support projects here in Oxford.
"You see such a mixture of people attending the sale, they come from far and wide and it’s great for the community and for the church, with parishioners numbers starting to rise again after a couple of years in decline.”