Midhurst collectors to showcase their hoards as "Collectomania" returns to town

Kicking off at 10am, in the Grange Centre, the event will give collectors from all over the south coast a platform on which to showcase their collections. Visitors can look forward to displays devoted to Southern Rail photos and postcards, model trains from present day and years past, Cadbury’s chocolate, Concorde collectables, tin plate toys, metal planes and more.

The Collectomania event has taken place in Midhurst for almost forty years and, this year, organiser David Rudwick is keen to push the boat out, drawing in as many people as possible: “I’m on quite a few social media sites, and I’ve made sure to push it on there, so hopefully the word gets out there and we have quite a few people coming along,” he said.

"It’s a weird thing. Everyone who comes always says, ‘this is fantastic!’ I must tell my friends, and they never do. We’re always busy, we do well, but we’re not overrun with people, but hopefully this year, we will be!”

A keen collector himself, Mr Rudwick attended every Collectomania event before he took over the mantle himself, and says collecting is a fantastic way of preserving the past.

"It’s everyday stuff from thirty years ago – and that’s what nostalgia is all about. We have people come into the museum to look at the exhibits, and you can see it on their face when they go ‘oh! I remember that!” If I brought in a load of bits and pieces from two hundred years ago, they’d be very nice but no one would remember them. If I bring in a load of cigarette packets to the 1960s packets, people light up with the memories.”

There will also be several trade stands at the event, selling automobile items, books, models, and other collectors’ items.

Some of the collections will be showcased on a display at the Midhurst museum which, this month features an exhibit on The Women’s Land Army during the second world war.