Taking
a look around the Nelson Room |
With rooms
dedicated to Lord Nelson, Dickens, the 1960s and Dame Barbara
Cartland, the unexpected is around every corner at the Collectors
World of Eric St John Foti.
This museum
with a difference is just outside the town of Downham Market
in Norfolk.
Eric St
John Foti has packed a remarkable amount into his 75 years.
He has been a lawyer, an actor, an inventor and a hat designer,
but collecting is his passion.
A life's
work
Eric
St John Foti |
"Collecting
shouldn't just be a question of amassing different objects,"
Eric enthused.
"Everything
you see here is part of my life, or has been part of my life.
I have never thrown anything away, and it shows of course!"
The Nelson
Room looks at the life of the Norfolk-born hero who went to
school in Downham Market.
For the
more romantic visitor the Pink Room houses the world's largest
collection of Barbara Cartland memorabilia.
Eric never
threw away his old television sets, radios or LPs - so he turned
the whole lot into a 60s room that includes a special tribute
to Freddie and the Dreamers.
Satisfied
visitors
As
well as housing the only Armstrong Siddeley Car Museum open
to the public, this must be the only museum where an old Concorde
engine is under the same roof as a room dedicated to the actress
Liza Goddard.
Eric says
the public are invariably amazed by the displays:
"They
all say, 'why haven't we heard about it before', and the great
joy to me is of course that they say they loved it and they
come back over and over again!"
Visit
The Collectors World of Eric St John Foti at: Hermitage
Hall, Downham Market,
Norfolk, PE38 0AU
t:
01366 383185
Useful
links:
Collectors
World website
|
