Pack of cards offers 54 reasons to love Henley

THE woman behind a pack of Henley-themed playing cards is hoping for a full house this weekend when she finally shows her hand.

The cards, each one sponsored by a local business, will be on show at the Old Fire Station Gallery on Saturday and Sunday.

Emma Sweet has kept the card designs a secret until now.

She says: “There are 54 cards in total as I’ve got two wild cards instead of jokers and they look great.

“I’ve kept them under lock and key, so it’s a bit like I’m handing over my secrets.

“Every time I bump into somebody, they ask about the cards and I think everyone’s intrigued to see who has made it into the pack.”

Details of the sponsors and locations of each picture card can be found on the associated website, acehenley.co.uk

The cards will be updated each year so that sponsors can choose to continue or spaces can be reallocated.

They will be available to buy from retailers including the Henley Royal Regatta shop, the Angel on the Bridge, the River & Rowing Museum and the Henley Larder deli in Bell Street.

Emma, who is marketing manager for Brakspear, says: “The people who are really going to benefit from the cards are visitors to the town. The idea is that if you’ve never been to Henley and you’ve just arrived and get a pack of these cards you will know all the hidden gems to go and see.

“There are so many lovely things that Henley can be proud of and make it unique, so it’s lovely to showcase them.

“I’ve had people from as far away as Australia contact me about them.

“I’m doing a thing where you can have them shipped anywhere in the world and have them gift-wrapped as well, so I definitely think they’ll make their way across the globe. I was speaking to a man in Germany who asked, ‘Can I get my hands on the cards?’ and because if you post stuff to the EU you’ve got to pay tax on it, he was like, ‘I’m coming over for the regatta so I’ll get them then’.”

The cards have been designed with simple elegance.

Emma says: “I haven’t put phone numbers or anything on them because you want to keep it simple and let the artwork speak for itself and not be too cluttered.

“If you look at one of the cards and you don’t know what it is you can go to the website and check.

“One of the wild cards is so obscure that even I didn’t even know about the subject.

“When I was doing them, people kept saying, ‘Oh, you should do one on the monkey’. I thought people were winding me up but when I looked into it, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is a real thing — Jimmy the Marmoset, who was featured in Hidden Henley in the Henley Standard only last week.”

• Ace Henley Playing Cards will be at the Old Fire Station Gallery in Upper Market Place, Henley, behind the town hall, on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm each day.