Oakham man shows off world's biggest collection of beer trays with his own at home 'mini museum'
A real ale fan has spent more than 40 years amassing the world's biggest collection - of BEER TRAYS.
Richard Percival, 62, has forked out thousands of pounds on metal brewery trays which he stores in the garage of his home in Oakham, Rutland.
The retired business consultant began his quirky collection in 1982 during a football away day in a Brighton pub.
The Notts County fan was gifted a tray by a landlord and he began collecting a memento from every away fixture he travelled to.
Since then, he has amassed a staggering 1,500 brewery trays from around the world, which are worth on average between £20 to £100.
More than 300 pre-World War trays are proudly displayed in his double garage, which serves as a "mini-museum" dedicated to British brewing history.
Richard admits his wife Susan, 69, thought he was a "lunatic" at first but now his family are firmly behind his unusual hobby.
The father-of-one said: "I've got the biggest tray collection in the country and in the world. It really is a great British collection.
"It's pretty unique and a piece of British history. When you actually try and chase a tray and eventually it turns up, there's an adrenaline rush.
"They are all pre-1970 British trays. I have 300 are in the double garage, it's like a mini museum.
"People walk in and go 'bloody hell'. It really amazes them.
"The rest of them are in storage, they're all logged because I'm a brewery historian.
"It all started with football. I'm a fan of away days and have done 84 league grounds with Notts County.
"We were at Brighton away and one of my fellow supporters asked the landlord 'have you got a beer mat?'
"The beer mat wasn't there but landlord had a tray, the supporter didn't want it, so I took it.
"It was my first and it was completely free and it all started from there.
"I kept going to grounds and taking a memento from the game. After the first 15 times I finally realised they were ornate objects and it spiralled from there.
"When I first started going to matches and going to pubs saying I have this hobby, my friends and family all cringed.
"The wife thought I was a complete, utter lunatic. Now I've got the museum, people walk in and go 'wow'.
"They're all British made, they're all British breweries but I've had people as far out as Australia and America send them to me.
"Value wise, by and large you can pick them up for around £20 a tray but some can be worth a lot more.
"Individually they're not worth that much but as a collection they're a part of British brewery history."
Richard said he was "weaned" on Kimberley ales although his favourite beer these days is Gale's Horndean Special Bitter (HSB).
His oldest tray is a copper piece from a Black Country brewery called Fred Cutler which dates back to around 1870.
But his favourite is an oval tray from Warwicks & Richardsons brewery in Newark, Notts, because he prefers "distinctive, weightier, black-backed steel trays."
He added: ""It's from 1904, it's got a picture of the brewery and the label of their beers.
"Before the First World War they had the cricket bat makers logo on it, it's the only one I've got with that logo.
"The guy who sold it to me emigrated to Australia and found a photograph of his grandfather holding it.
"The cut off is 1970 for me, the reason being the mass manufacturers all closed and stopped mass producing around the 1970s.
"I was weaned on Kimberly beer, at 26 I drank that every night before Greene King ruined it.
"Loads of people are loving these craft ales, but I am an old traditional and love my amber ales.
"I just can't get on with the new stuff, I'm a big real ale fan. My favourite beer is actually Gales HSB."
Richard says his "Holy Grail" is to acquire a tray with the Thomas Salt cross logo, which is the fourth oldest trademark in the world.
He added: "I've also got Britain's biggest collection of memorabilia of a brewer called Thomas Salt and Co which was taken over in 1927.
"The good stuff has a red cross on it. My Holy Grail is to find a tray with that cross on it.
"Salt stuff is rare and quite expensive. I might need to downsize at some point but I have around 80 more items I want to get."
Richard launched a brewery encyclopaedia website at the end of February which catalogues Britain's brewery history and details his entire collection.
He added: "It's taken me 20 years to develop and three website migrations.
"People all over Britain and the world use it as an access site. It's got the manufacturing history, videos, articles for everything."
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