Stuart & Margaret
I took this shot of Stuart and Margaret at the Strawberry Fields car boot sale in Hampshire. The couple were on holiday from West Sussex and paid £3 for the grass strimmer. “You can’t go wrong for just three quid,” Stuart told me as they headed back to their motorhome.
Nigel
Nigel is 65 and lives in The New Forest in Hampshire. He's been happily married for 31-years and has a grown-up son who works as a patisserie chef in Bath.
Nigel works as a full-time eBay seller.
Since leaving school, he's had around 60 different jobs, from farm work to lorry driver to running his own recycling business. He started selling on eBay just for fun in 2005. His last regular job was In 2018 when he was working as a supervisor for the council. This job got quite stressful, so Nigel decided to go full-time on eBay.
Nigel sells an eclectic mixture of stuff. Jigsaws, printer ink, Winnie the Pooh cushions, binoculars, Yugoslavian army gas masks, vintage oilskin PVC raincoats. (The last two items were sold to a fetishwear enthusiast)
When I took this shot, he was at the car boot sale to shift the stuff that doesn't sell online.
Nigel was an amiable and chatty bloke, and it was clear that he enjoys what he does. He's his own boss, which allows him the freedom to help look after his mum. She's nearly 101 and lives independently nearby. Nigel regularly visits to bring her shopping and do a bit of cleaning for her.
If you are after a blood pressure monitor, an Alaskan number plate, a magnifying glass, or a fishing reel, check out Nigel's eBay page 'NIGEL5670'. Although I'm afraid, he's just sold the last Yugoslavian gas mask and PVC raincoat.
ANN
Ann's husband David bought her the 'Sock-Slider' which is on the table in this shot. She's got a bad hip, and it was supposed to help her get her socks on. Ann never really got on with it, so she's taken it to the car boot sale.
Ann and David got married in 1969. They met through David’s uncle and straight away, Anne knew that he was the one.
David worked 'on the coal' for 32 years, and Ann worked in the local Co-op, which she loved. They have a 46-year old son and always kept German Shepard dogs.
David was Diabetic and had to have four injections a day. He also had ingrown toenails, which can be dangerous for those with Diabetes. Every six months, an NHS clinic would treat his feet.
Last year, due to Covid, his regular treatment got cancelled, and unfortunately, this led to him getting an infection. This quickly spread up his leg, and he had to have his foot removed. Sadly this wasn't enough, and the infection caused David to have a heart attack, and he passed away at just 73-years old. Although David didn't die from Covid, Ann said that it was Covid that caused his death.
Ann misses him terribly, and it's often at unexpected times when she feels this the most. For example, she was watching TV the other day, and there was a news article on Die-Cast models, something that David loved to collect, which brought it all back to her.
She told me that David had a big family who she is very close with, and they have been a huge help to her over the difficult last year.
Ann was a lovely person to talk to. She was very chatty and surprisingly, not at all bitter about what she has been through.
Unsurprisingly, she never sold the Sock-Slider.
Michael and his twin brother
I shot Michael and his identical twin brother Roy at a car boot sale where they sell the vintage tools they beautifully restore.
Michael (on the left) has been attending car boot sales for 50 years. He used to work for a big wallpaper company that closed down in the recession of the 1970s. He sold the leftover wallpaper rolls in The Osprey Pub's car park in West Howe just outside of Bournemouth. (The pub has since been demolished) Michael reckons that it was one of the first car boot sales in the Uk, and there were just 15 or so cars selling stuff from their boots.
The brothers told me that at 83 years old, they are not as identical as they used to be.
Life gradually changes your appearance in different ways. Even what side you sleep on and how you chew your food can make a difference over the decades. Roy said, "People used to find it impossible to tell us apart, but it's much easier nowadays."
As you can see, they are still pretty close, though.
Peter
Peter is 80 and used to be a lorry driver. He was smoking his pipe behind his stall at the car boot sale when I took this shot.
I asked him what an ex-lorry driver was doing selling a load of woman's shoes. He said that they belonged to his wife, Margaret. She worked most of her life as a carer for the elderly. She recently passed away from COPD. (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and Peter was selling some of her shoes because he couldn't bring himself to just throw them away.
