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Hello my name is Andy welcome to my site. It is intended to be an eclectic mix of things that I like, and I am currently still working on what that actually includes – it may take some time, and may never be completely decided upon.  My current passion is for Cider related Beermats/coasters from around the world,  and Cider includes ANY mention of cider/cyder/cidre/sidra etc or perry, and includes German and Swiss Apfelwein. I am always interested in obtaining new additions to the collection so if you collect cider coasters or just have some then please get in touch with me to see if I can use any of them.

I am a bit of a general collector and have been for as long as I can remember. I collect all sorts of things and basically if something catches my eye, and I can afford it, I usually buy it. The central core of my collecting is beermats but from that all the other things have come along. I am always drawn to anything advertising related but I've never been able to stick to a single collecting theme, I've tried but then something else comes along and all my good intentions go out of the window. In the 1970's I was a treasure hunter and used to like to dig up old bottles and jars off long abandoned rubbish dumps. I've not done it for many years but that feeling of going out and not knowing what you will find is what underpins all my collecting and car boots are where I like to go and try to turn up little gems, like I once did with a spade. My adage of 'Nice things at good prices' is where I like to be when out 'treasure hunting'and finding things that are undervalued is where I get my kicks. I don't really collect to make money, in fact I don't usually like to get rid of anything that I've bought, but sometimes I can reluctantly be persuaded to part with things. Space is always at a premium and there is never enough to display all my finds and some have to be kept in boxes out of sight. I'm always under pressure to make more space for my finds and I've made my own small museum room filled with glass cabinets where I cram in as much as space will allow. I'm sure that collecting can get obsessive and that we collectors are somewhere along the spectrum of madness, but I justify my madness by telling myself that at least i don't smoke! I don't mind if people want to smoke of course I just like the thought that what I spend is at least available to sell on again and get my money back, or at least some of it.

As well as this site I run the cider gallery of a website called beermatmania. The link to the cider gallery is;  www.beermatmania.com/gallery2  

Please feel free to browse the albums on this site or beermatmania and if you have any comments or question please contact me.

 I will be making sporadic updates to the albums as time permits so please keep checking to see what I've done since your last visit.

Happy Collecting

Andy Padmore

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