AN “oasis of kitsch, thriving near a mini-roundabout in the middle of Swindon – small and filled with ordered clutter, it is a cross between The Old Curiosity Shop and Aladdin’s Cave.” At least, that’s how this newspaper enthusiastically extolled it more than quarter of a century ago.

How many Swindon people today, I wonder, when they are at the foot of Kingshill Road either consciously or sub-consciously look towards its junction with William Street in the hope of seeing, but knowing it won’t actually be there, that shop with its distinctive, black and orange facade.

Collector’s Corner was a one off – a unique Swindon wonderland of assorted “ephemera,” which was almost certainly the favourite word of its owner, Fred Stevens.

“The dictionary definition is ‘temporary, to be used and discarded, not permanent,’ Fred told readers in one of his regular columns for the Advertiser. “And that is exactly what it is. But it is such a small explanation for such a vast subject.”

Fred was keen to expand: “People throw away the wrong things. They keep the cards with Best Wishes and Happy Birthday on, and throw away the street scenes.

“I wouldn’t advise anyone to chuck anything away without asking me first.”

Warming to the theme, he continued: “The Ephemera Society is very active in England, with sister branches in several countries around the world.

“Members collect anything from tram tickets, theatre programmes, football programmes to airline sick bags, business cards, newspapers and sheet music.”

Airline sick bags!!!!!

Fred continued: “It’s a hobby that grows on you. You acquire a couple of Swindon postcards, then somebody shows you their collection, and you become addicted.”

Fred was certainly addicted but like all addicts became more than aware of the pitfalls.

Clearly speaking from experience he was eager to warn anyone not to get too carried away in their rabid pursuit of Arkells beer mats, Bunty annuals or, um, airline sick bags.

“Don’t take it so seriously that it becomes an obsession and takes over your life” he cautioned.

“The fun for me,” he added, “is hunting for stuff, having it for a while and moving it on.”

Fred, who died five years ago this week, was one of those people who made a difference in Swindon. He had an impact.

His passion for assembling collections of photographs, documents, artefacts, books and general ephemera brought immense joy and colour into the lives of others, and indeed, enriched the community of Swindon as a whole.

Fred’s collections have found their way into the history archives of Swindon Library and the town’s Bath Road museum – nearly 2,000 postcards of Old Swindon – for the benefit of others for decades to come.

He organised the town’s first ever antiques fair at the town hall.

His shop, Collector’s Corner (and yes, it was an archetypal corner shop – that’s why he bought it) was, as far as I am aware, a singular establishment in Swindon.

I don’t believe there was anything like it here before, and certainly not since its closure following Fred’s death at 76 in November, 2010.

His emporium of ephemera, stacked with wall-to-wall ‘stuff,’ was the culmination of decades of collecting which began, as it often did for boys of a certain age, with a spot of philately.

Fred, who grew up in Forest Hill, South East London during the Blitz said in 1990: “I used to collect stamps back then. I’d bunk off school and go to Trafalgar Square where all the big shipping companies were based.

“I used to get stamps from all over the world: from brochures, packages, letters – you name it. I had what you’d call a magpie instinct.”

His father, a masseur at the Oval cricket ground, once brought home a bat signed by members of the England, New Zealand, Australian and South African cricket teams that had played there.

Stamp-head Fred swapped it for a penny black!

His professional life saw him have a bash at farming and become a soldier in the Cold Stream Guards before the fine art of roasting coffee beckoned.

Alas, Fred developed an allergy to coffee.

Quitting cramped London for Swindon in 1959, he drove a tractor for the parks department before going on the buses.

His boyhood craving for collecting never deserted him but it returned with extra impetus in the early Seventies when he received an old brass threepenny bit amongst a handful of change at a Swindon café.

Fred recalled: “I decided to sell it to an acquaintance who collected coins. But when I saw his collection I was so impressed that I decided to start my own.”

Postcards, cigarette cards, badges, posters, stamps, medals, buttons all followed. Even better when it had something to do with his adopted home town.

“Then one day,” he said “I was driving past this shop at the end of William Street and I immediately saw it had possibilities.” Right said Fred, that’s it.

Created from a derelict car parts shop, Collector’s Corner opened on April Fool’s Day, 1985 – but it was no joke.

Having placed a small ad in this newspaper to alert Joe Public, his compact premises were swamped on the big day by 200 likeminded stockpilers of multifarious ephemera.

Bus driving faded into the rear view mirror as Fred focused full-time on Collectors Corner, often opening every day of the week.

He loved being behind the counter as he cast his increasingly expert eye over a miscellany of bits and pieces that folk brought in for evaluation, analysis or just an excuse for a natter.

It was one of those doors that many simply never tired of wandering through as thousands of ever changing items clogged every inch of space.

At one stage, around five years after opening, Fred told us he had amassed 40,000 postcards and (gulp) half-a-million cigarette cards. That magpie instinct was working wonders!

Fred enthused in 1996: “The joy about collecting is you can enjoy it without having to be rich.”

A set of cigarette cards started at £5, he pointed out, while postcards set you back between £1 and £4.

“You don’t need to have a lot of money to buy some nice things,” said Fred.

And airline sick bags come for free!

Fred Stevens' collection of postcards was bought for people of Swindon

THE Fred Stevens Collection was acquired for the people of Swindon in 1988 after its collator spent eight years diligently building it up.

The collection – 1,800 postcards of Old Swindon – came from “all over the country,” Fred told us.

“Dealers everywhere knew I was interested in this area (Swindon.) The worst place to try to buy old Swindon postcards is here.

“Because Swindon is not a tourist town the number of postcards produced here compared with other places is negligible.

“They were used for the purpose for which they were intended – they were posted.

“South Wales is a happy hunting ground. The men who came here to start the railway works’ rolling mills were always writing home.

“Some are unique. I paid £18 for a Swindon tram in the depot. It’s a hobby that grows on you.”

The borough council paid Fred for the collection after raising £2,500 from the sale of a painting of Stonehenge that they found unloved in a staircase at Lydiard House, having acquired it for £12 in the 1930s.

Death of irreplaceable Fred was end of an era

THE sad passing of Fred Stevens at 76 after an 11 year battle with prostate cancer signalled the abrupt end of Collectors' Corner after 25 years.

Quite simply Fred was irreplaceable – and so is the shop.

One of his three daughters, Jen Bailey, said at the time: “He was a very big joyous character who loved the shop, he was there right until the end when most people would retire in their sixties.”