A giant 20-tonne spacecraft outside their pub is clue enough that Phil and Terri Hargreaves have friends in high places. The bulky, futuristic ship "landed" at the back of the Old Fisherman fresh from a Spice Girls film set.

But the strange-looking contraption from Spiceworld turns out to be just the starting point in a pub that really delivers the stars. For Phil, 48, the landlord at the riverside pub in Shabbington, near Thame, simply loves memorabilia.

And it doesn't much matter whether you're talking about a taxi used in Dennis Potter's last TV series Cold Lazarus or a necklace worn by Cher. Phil will somehow get his hands on it to show it off in his pub.

Some of his collection is comical, like the grotesque face mask from the Sly Stallone movie Judge Dredd. But he also owns historic material, such as the torch used by the Queen to light up beacons across Britain to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

There are signed pictures from showbusiness pals such as Van Morrison and stars the couple have encountered through charity work, including Bob Hoskins and David Jason.

Ian Botham, Dickie Bird and Sir Geoff Hurst are just a few of the sporting giants who have sent Phil autographed photographs over the years.

But now Phil's collection is really taking off thanks to his teenage son Daniel, who has become quite famous in his own right after blowing up Brookside in television's biggest bang for years. Daniel, 19, works for Britain's leading special effects specialist Tom Harris. The teenager is believed to be the UK's only apprentice in pyrotechnics.

As well as working on the Brookside Parade disaster, Daniel also regularly makes sparks fly in London's Burning.

Through his job, Daniel managed to acquire the Spice Girls' spacecraft for his dad as well as other memorabilia from film sets. Phil, who has been at the Old Fisherman for three years, said: "I've always been interested in memorabilia and now it's really great that Daniel is involved in the film industry.

"People like to look around when they arrive in a pub and they have plenty to look at here."

Phil and Terri are hardly short of star material themselves. The cricketing fanatic landlord is a personal friend of Ian Botham, who even handed over the shirt he wore when he became the greatest wicket-taker in Test history against New Zealand at the Oval. Then there are the stars who regularly seem to drop in for a drink at the pub, such as chat show host Clive Anderson and wild rocker Brian Johnson, from the band AC/DC. Daniel's girlfriend Natasha Simms, who plays barmaid Kate in the Channel 4 drama Hollyoaks, is also of a regular.

Daniel's mum Terri, 43, a former model, said: "We tell her we wouldn't trust her behind the bar here, judging by the way she serves gin and tonic on TV."

Surprisingly, there is nothing from local superstar Rowan Atkinson, who lives just down the road at Waterperry. "He once came racing in after his boat had been stolen," recalled Terri. "He asked us to put up a notice offering a reward. So we didn't think it a good idea to ask for an autograph."

Phil also buys in some of his material, such as the Cher jewellery. "My real hero is John Wayne," he said. "I once came close to buying the trousers he wore in True Grit when I was in America. I've always regretted not getting them."

But perhaps the most famous piece in the pub is an old stool the couple brought with them from their former pub, the Rising Sun in Ickford. The so-called Fertility Stool made headlines around the world after Phil and Terri discovered women who sat on it became pregnant with astonishing regularity.

The number of pregnancies has now passed the 80 mark, with couples travelling from as far as America to give the famous stool a go.

So if Anthea Turner is still worried about being too old for babies, perhaps for the price of an autographed picture, who knows...

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.