A note on comments,some science related links, some photographs and links to the Autism Awareness Cup facebook page and a full catalogue for James and Sons’ next auction.
INTRODUCTION
This is a post of my own, although featuring material from elsewhere. The text other than links is all mine, and there are of course come of my own photographs. Before getting on to the main meat of the post I start with…
THE COMMENTS SECTION
If a post is all my own, or like this post has a framework created by me even if some of the stuff contained within it is not mine then the comments section is open and all comments will be accepted and responded to. If however I have either reblogged a wordpress post or used a ‘press this’ button to share a piece created elsewhere I will close the comments section for that post as it is my intention that people should read the original, and the original is the appropriate place for comments to be posted. Here are a couple of screenshots to help clarify…
I did these screenshots while ‘pressing’ an excellent post from Heather Hastie. Here you can see two small boxes labelled “allow comments” and “allow pingbacks and trackbacks”, which are both checked (the default setting).Now I have, as my final piece of editing unchecked the box that says “allow comments”. For those who have not already done so, Heather’s piece can be accessed by clicking this picture.
SCIENCE AND NATURE CORNER
Welcome to what is becoming a regular feature of this blog. Today the posts are in order of the historical period they deal with, so we start with one set 450 million years ago, which details a find of…
TRILOBITE EGGS
This piece was posted on the website sci-news.com and can be read in full by clicking the screenshot below:
Moving forwards a few hundred million years we find…
BUGS IN AMBER
This concerns a new order of insects who have been discovered trapped in Burmese amber. I offer you two versions – click the screenshot on the left as you look to get the sci-news.com version and the one on the right to get the whyevolutionistrue version.
Finally for this edition of Science and Nature corner we come…
BACK TO THE PRESENT
With two videos from “Its Okay to be Smart”, the first of which details the discovery of a probable new species deep in the Amazon rainforest and the second of which asks “how many species are there?” (the answer is that no one has the foggiest).
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are some of my photographs…
AUTISM AWARENESS CUP 2017
Below is a list of the confirmed details about this tournament, and if you click on it, it will take you to a facebook page which you can like and share.
JAMES AND SONS NEXT AUCTION
It will be a three-day auction, on the 20th, 21st and 22nd February (a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). The first two days will be at James and Sons premises in Fakenham, and the Wednesday will be at The Maid’s Head Hotel, Norwich. A full catalogue can be viewed by clicking on the image below:
An account of the ,last four days, some pictures, some links, and a special science and nature section.
INTRODUCTION
This post, which comes with plenty of pictures and some cracking links, covers what I have been doing over the course of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Each of these days was very different in character from its predecessor. The links will be in two parts, a couple appearing between Wednesday and Thursday, and the remainder florming a special science and nature section at the end of the post.
TUESDAY
A day at James and Sons getting as many images done as possible before the catalogue for our next auction went online (here, for those who would like to see it). This day went fairly quietly and without any major incidents. Here are some general pictures…
My second set of images for this day consists of coins and small medallions…
There are a number of these tokens from the gigantic wheel at Earls Court – I am planning to feature the entire selection (eight lots) in a post on my London transport themed website, possibly linking to the present by means of another substantial wheel.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday I started the day by typing up the minutes from NAS West Norfolk’s last committee meeting (as branch secretary this is one of my regular tasks). The in the afternoon I attended a meeting of the West Norfolk Disability Forum, which came with a little extra pressure as the branch chair of NAS West Norfolk could not arrange childcare which left me as NAS West Norfolk’s sole representative at the meeting. I found the meeting disappointing – many things talked about but little sign of any real progress having been made.
INTERLUDE – A COUPLE OF LINKS
Most of my links will feature at the end of this post, but there are two I choose to share here to break things up a bit:
AUTISM AWARENESS CUP 2017
Following the success of last year’s inaugural Autism Awareness Cup, a second event is being staged this year, on June 4th at Ingoldisthorpe Social Club between 12 and 5PM. A facebook page for this event has been launched – please click the graphic below to visit, and if you are on facebook, like the page:
HEATHER HASTIE ON A TELEVANGELIST
Heather Hastie’s blogis always worth reading, and this post, about a chap by the name of Jim Bakker, is no exception.
THURSDAY – SPARKS FLY
I had just started work on Thursday morning when I looked at my computer and noticed that the power had gone (I was taking photographs, so all the computer was on ready for editing them later, I was not yet using it). It soon transpired that none of the computers or heaters had power (the lights being on a different circuit did). One of my colleagues tested a particular plug socket that was most likely to have caused the problem, and it proved right (fortunately although shaken he was not seriously hurt, though we were all worried at the time). We then used a long extension lead to connect to the only spare socket available, which brought things to life for a few moments, before (as it transpired), the extension lead proved unable to cope with the amount of power it was having to transmit.
The plug socket that started it all after it had been proved to be faulty.
With no possibility of using the computers that day, the two people who were committed to remaining at work there for the day (the other person directly involved in the drama went back to working at his computer repair business) took as many photographs as possible, and it being fiendishly cold without any source of heat, gained permission to lock up a bit early. It was also in the course of this day that I took custody of a key to the shop.
Although editing and uploading them was for obvious reasons my first work activity of Friday, here are some pictures from Thursday…
This is lot 650, and the first of its kind I have ever seen – as a collection of cheese spread labels (not even real cheese!)
A collection of 15 pictures if old London – lot 706
For the Shakespearians among you, lot 725
Match boxes, some whole and some in parts.This set and the next were kin old cigar boxes.
FRIDAY – CALM AFTER THE STORM
I arrived at work on Friday morning and was delighted to see that the electrician was just finishing up, and that discussion about having a serious look at the electrics at some lpoint in the future were taking place (much needed – looking back the only real surprise about Thursday’s incident was that it had taken so long for it to happen).
Nevertheless, the amount of new work I accomplished on Friday was somewhat reduced, first by having to finish Thursday’s work, then by having to a bulk upload of previously created images due to mishap oin the original uploading process which meant that most of the last thousand lots were showing with no images and finally by having to make a trip to the post office, where it took the person handling our parcels 40 minutes to do the job (at least three times as long as it should have). Here are some of the new images that I did mange to create and upload…
A SCIENCE AND NATURE SPECIAL
We start with two sides of a story that may or may not be one of the most significant achievements in science history – if the experiment can be successfully duplicated a Nobel prize is a certainty. Here, courtesy of www.independent.co.uk comes…
THE PRODUCTION OF METALLIC HYDROGEN?
First of all, the story of the claimed discovery, complete with video footage:
Please click the link below to read (and below that is the video)…
This then is still to be resolved, unlike the subject matter of my next link, which deals with…
THE EXTINCTION OF THE DINOSAURS
I have already shared a link to this piece, from space.com, but I consider it worth sharing again. To read this fascinating piece please click the graphic below:
Still dealing in the spectacular, we come to a post about…
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
The science blog rationalisingtheuniverse has produced a post about this phenomenon which you can read by clicking on the graphic below:
We finish with links to two pieces on a theme that is always relevant and still does not the kind of coverage it should…
PROTECTING NATURE
First in this section, a video with an accompanying petition, regarding a serious threat tko wildlife in Cromarty:
I end this post with a link to a 38 Degrees campaign, which I encourage you all to look at:
Those of you who have read my post about James and Sons’ First Ever Three Day Auction will recall that after missing out on lot 141 I was successful on lot 789 on day 2. I have now been through the boxful of cards and the remainder of this post will outline what I found.
WHAT EVERYONE SAW
The description read “Locomotives – quantity in OXO tin, mostly VG to EX. The official images were:
The whole item.Close focus on some of the cards.
THE FULL ANALYSIS
The total range of locomotives covered by this series of cards is only 24, there are 147 individual cards in the tin, plus a stray cigarette card that slipped in there. I am not complaining about duplicates because the circumstances in which these cards were issued makes each one unique, even though many display the same .locomotives.
THE LONDON PASSENGER TRANSPORT BOARD (LPTB)
There was only one of their locomotives in the collection, and it appears six times. The remaining images are shown in ’tiled mosaic’ form – click on individual pic to view at full size.
THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY (GWR)
Five different samples of rolling stock, and a total of 27 cards, constituted as follows: Lulworth Castle x 6, Diesel Car x 7, County of Middlesex x 6, King George V x 3, Garth Hall x 5.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY (SR)
Not to be confused with todays #SouthernFail, this set featured six locomotives and a total of 30 cards, constituted as follows:
London-Paris Boat Train x 1, Q Class Goods Locomotive x 8, Lord Nelson x 3, West Country Class “Bude” x 3, Merchant Navy Class “Channel Packet” x 7, Schools Class “Radley” x 8.
LONDON, MIDLAND & SCOTTISH (LMS)
Six locomotives featured, 39 cards in total, constituted as follows: The Glasgow Highlander x 8, The Duchess of Sutherland x 6, The City of Birmingham x 7, Royal Scots Fusilier x 8, City of Edinburgh x 6, JP Class Turbine Locomotive x 4.
THE LONDON AND NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY (LNER)
Six locomotives featured for this railway, accounting for 45 cards, constituted as follows: B Class “Roederer” x 9, LI Class no 9000 x 6, Mixed Traffic Electric Locomotive x 7, Edward Thompson x 10, A4 Class Mallard x 7, Beyer-Garratt Locomotive no 9999 x 6.
THE STRAY
The black sheep of my newly acquired collection is no 42 in a 48 card series of Army Badge cigarette cards:
CONCLUSION
This is a very intriguing collection of cards, and a most worthy addition to my collection of railwayana. Here is one final image showing the collection in its box post sorting:
An illustrated account of James and Sons’ first three day auction.
INTRODUCTION
On Monday, Tuesday and Yesterday my employers staged their first ever three-day auction, all three days of the sale taking place at our shop in Fakenham. This post describes the event.
DAY 1: COINS, BANKNOTES, BANKING EPHEMERA AND MILITARIA
There were a few technical issues early on, and we had to dispense with the live video because it just would not work. However, with close to 200 online bidders (this tally rose past 300 before the end of the auction on Wednesday) signed up before the sale started and a few people there in person it was not long before good things started happening. The first and biggest headline maker was…
LOT 22
This 1863 penny caused an internet dominated bidding battle which finally stopped at £1,200 (the estimate had been £250-300, and the bidding had started around that level). The successful bidder then telephoned in to clarify whether he could return the item if it turned out not to be as expected. This led to a tricky photographic assignment for yours truly. Looking at the pictures below can you see what is unusual about the dating on thkis coin?
I took a photo of the whole coin (for this I needed a larger image than I could get by scanning), and produced from that two full face pictures and two pictures focussing only the date.
THE REST OF THE COINS
Although nothing else approached lot 22 the coins did continue to sell fairly well. I will feature one more lot, which although it did not reach great heights was contested…
LOT 141
This was a Lima Tramways Inauguration token. Two people were interested, myself and an internet bidder. When the online bidder went to £20 over my £18 I conceded defeat (I had decided that I was not going beyond £20 and adhered to that decision). In addition to the obvious public transport connection, there is also a more obscure and tenuous cricket related connection: Lima was also the birthplace of Freddie Brown, who went on Jardine’s 1932-33 ashes tour without being picked for a test match and captained the touring party for the 1950-51 ashes. Here is the image gallery for this lot to commemorate my near miss:
The main image for this lot consists of two 600dpi scans (one of each face) joined together.I also keep the individual images so that interested parties can look at each individual face if they so desire.
THE BANKNOTES AND BANKING EPHEMERA
The banknotes fared well, while the experiment with banking ephemera (mainly but not entirely cheques) cannot yet be judged – more of the stuff will be going under the hammer at our next auction.
MILITARIA
The militaria was again largely successful. In a pattern of consistent successes there was one stand out, early in the section. The star of this second half of day one was…
LOT 309
This lot, a Free Polish Airforce pilots badge and RAF Dingley escape whistle with an estimate of £80-95 eventually sold for £320.
FINISHING THE FIRST DAY
After the end of the first day at lot 550 the stuff for that part of the sale had to be moved upstairs and the stuff for day two brought down into the shop. My involvement in this process and the fact the we had finished later than expected meant that I did not get any imaging done before going home.
INTERLUDE – ON IMAGING
This post has featured scanning and photography, so here is a brief guide to myt appraoch to imaging at work:
I scan the following items:
Coins – 600dpi, scan each face, brighten the images (this both improves the clarity of the image, and since I have also adopted the policy of using a white background, effectively eliminates the background) and join the two images together to create the master image). I can image up 20 single coin lots at a time in this way, and the scanner I use works fast even at high resolution.
Stamps – 300-400dpi according to the level of intricacy of the pattern. Small stamps usually have an automatic black background because of the holders that are used. Usually I image these lots four at a time, but occasionally if the stamps are particularly suitably placed in the holders I can do more.
Postcards – 200-300 dpi according to time considerations. When there has been a real hurry on I have got away with scanning postcards at 150dpi, but I do not recommend going this low. The bed of my scanner is big enough for four standard size postcards, and in general if I have more cards than that in a lot I photograph rather than scanning.
Banknotes and related items – 200dpi is usually right for these.
Small ephemera: Any printed item that is A4 or less in size can be scanned. These items can be done at 150dpi.
All items not in the above list are photographed, and for items in the above list the decision to scan is dependent on small size – I do not for example lay out the contents of a huge box of coins on the scanner bed and scan.
DAY 2: POSTCARDS, EPHEMERA, FILM POSTERS, CIGARETTE & LIEBIG CARDS
A slightly fractious start to the day, as it was still not possible to run the video. Also, due to the confusion caused by frantic attempts to find a way to run the video the first couple of lots went under the hammer without audio either.
THE POSTCARDS
There was no danger of any of these not selling because one of our regulars had left a block of bids on all of them, and some ended up going to other people.
EPHEMERA AND FILM POSTERS
These as might be expected were fairly quiet, although even they did not completely bomb – some decorated menus sold reasonably well.
THE CIGARETTE AND LIEBIG CARDS
The big news from these lots was that the majority actually sold. Near the end there was a very minor controversy concerning…
LOT 789
This was the second and last lot ion the catalogue that was of personal interest to me. I opened the bidding at £16, and as I as recording this information an internet bit for the same amount registered. James and Sons policy on the matter is clear – a room bid has privilege over an internet bid. I thus pressed the ‘room’ button on the console to disallow the internet bid. The item was then knocked down at £16. Just in case the unlucky internet bidder is reading this, they would have had to go to £22 to get the item, since I was adhering to the same policy that I had adopted with regard to lot 141 – I was prepared to go to but not beyond £20. As a further point please note that had I secured lot 141 I would not have bid on this item. When I have been through it in detail I will produce a full post about this item, but for the moment here are the official images:
The whole item.Close focus on some of the cards.
THE SWAP OVER
The moving of items so that the setup was ready for day 3 was swiftly accomplished, and having done fewer lots and the auction having run more smoothly there was plenty of time for me to finish the day with some…
FEBRUARY IMAGING
The February auction will be another three day affair, but with an extra twist – days 1 and 2 will be at the shop again, but day 3 (A Wednesday again) will be at The Maids Head Hotel in Norwich. Here are some of the images I produced on Tuesday afternoon…
Please do not draw any conclusions from the fact that I have included images of third Reich coins in this post!
DAY 3: STAMPS, FIRST DAY COVERS AND POSTAL HISTORY
The day started with a wait outside the shop as the colleague who was opening up was delayed, continued with a quick trip to get a replacement strip bulb because one was shining a very ugly shade of pink but the setupo went smoothly, and the auction proceeded with no problems. These lots were not expected to generate bidding fireworks, but a reasonable number of them did actually sell.
There was no immediate need to transfer the stuff, so I was able to do other work, starting with…
SOME HIGH VALUE FEBRUARY IMAGING
These needed to be done first as some would be featuring in the print catalogue…
This is about the biggest coin lot that could be sensibly scanned.
I departed from usual policy with banknotes and scanned this one at 600 dpi because it is a very rare item.
After lunch and a quick trip to the stationer for a box of paper I did some more ordinary imaging…
A repeat of my earlier disclaimer re images of stuff from the third Reich.
This whole set of 25 lots of Liebig cards had to be imaged – I have selected a range rather than sharing all 25.
CONCLUSION
James and Sons’ first three day auction was definitely a success. The use of the shop as a venue massively reduces overhead costs, and the fact that we can only seat a few people there is no great disadvantage. February’s auction, on the 20th and 21st at the shop and then the 22nd at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich will provide an interesting comparison. I end this post with some pictures of the layout on the first two days of the January auction (day 3 did not warrant a picture):
Most of the lots were laid on or under this tableThe small, high valued stuff such as coins was in this display cabinet.Day 2, followed by a couple of close ups (day three was not worth photographing).
Two pictures which book end my working day today – enjoy!
INTRODUCTION
I am just back from day two of a three day auction being held by employers (look out for a full post on Thursday sometime) and just to keep things rolling am sharing a couple of pictures from opposite ends of the day.
MORNING MOON
As I was walking from the bus stop at Oak Street in Fakenham to my workplace on Norwich Street I saw an impressive looking moon in what was by then a day time sky. After some editing to bring out the finest points of said moon this was the result:
EVENING SUN
On the bus back I saw an incredible looking sunset which I tried to capture through the window. In real life it was much redder than the picture looks…
An important letter to be delivered to world leaders on International Women’s Day (8th March) and a few other bits. Read, enjoy and please share widely.
INTRODUCTION
This blog post features two special sections to start, and then some regular aspiblog fare to finish. We start with…
A LETTER TO WORLD LEADERS
Because I am on the mailing list of ONE I received their email containing a letter about education for girls and a button to click to add my name. Here is the text of the letter
A Letter to Leaders
You couldn’t be where you are today without a good education.
But because poverty is sexist, 130 million girls across the world are denied this basic right. Indeed, if the number of girls out of school formed a country, it would be the tenth largest on the planet – bigger than Japan or Germany.
All children deserve a good education, but in the poorest countries girls are denied it more often than boys. Education is vital for moving out of poverty. Every additional year of school that a girl completes increases her future earnings, which is good for her family, her community and her country.
We cannot afford to squander the potential of 130 million girls to cure diseases or end wars, invent brilliant technology or revolutionise an industry…or simply to access opportunity.
We are coming together and uniting across our divides to get every girl into school and to make sure she gets a quality education once she’s there.
But we need you to do the same.
Your education helped you to get where you are today – and it is in your power to help millions of girls to get theirs. Please act now, with the right policies and the necessary funds.
Show us that politics can work for the people – starting with the people who need it most.
To add your name to this letter, as I already have:
The letter will be delivered to various world leaders on International Women’s Day, March 8th.
SOME SPECIAL COINS AT AUCTION
These pictures are of lots 1036-40 in James and Sons’ February Auction. This auction, like our January auction which is Monday-Wednesday of next week is a three day affair, although day three, which the coin lots will be opening, will be at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich, after two days at our shop in Fakenham. Save for the picture of the presentation box for lot 1040 these images are all ultra hi-res (600 dpi) scans…
Lot 1036 (all these lots have at least three images, one of each face of the coins and a composite).
Lot 1037
Lot 1038
Lot 1039
Lot 1040, a medallion rather than a coin.
This will be the front cover picture on our printed catalogue for the February auction.The presentation box.
My first post created using my new computer. It covers my work for James and Sons this week and includes solutions to the puzzle contained in my previous blog post.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this post, the first to be composed using my brand new Acer Chromebook 15, of which more later. As well as covering the events of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a few pictures, and of course explaining the computer situation I will be providing an answer the puzzle that I included in my last post.
THE COMPUTER SITUATION
My old computer (and by computer standards it was a veritable Methusalah) had been struggling for some while when it finally decided to give up the ghost completely. My mother by way of an early Christmas present transferred the funds necessary to buy a replacement to my account, and I made the purchase today. All I am now waiting for is the arrival of the hard drive caddy that I ordered online which will enable me to connect the hard drive that I extracted from my old computer to this one and all will again be as it should be.
A HEAVY WORKLOAD AND HEAVY LIFTING
James and Sons had its last auction of this year on Wednesday (our next auction is taking place on January 18, 19 and 20 at our shop in Fakenham), and on either side of that I was getting as many images ready for January as I could. The auction we have just had took place in Norwich, and a shortage of people available to help combined with the fact that one of my colleagues was experiencing knee trouble meant that most of the heavy lifting had to be done by yours truly.
DAY 1: TUESDAY
Most of the work of loading the van had been accomplished on the Friday, but some still remained to be done. Additionally there were last minute queries to be resolved, work to be done for our next auction and a few other things. I made enough of a fuss about the extra expense of catching the very early bus to Norwich (a First Eastern Counties X1, which leaves at 5:30AM and on which a return costs £11 as opposed to the £5.50 it would have cost me if I could have caught the Stagecoach X29 which leaves at 6:28AM) that I was authorised to extract the bus fare from the till.
DAY 2: WEDNESDAY
I managed to catch the 5:30AM bus, and was the first James and Sons employee at the venue. Once the van arrived it was time to unload everything and get the place set up for the auction. After a few hitches, including requiring an emergency replacement for the computer which we had been using to run the auctioneer’s view screen we got underway on time at 10AM, and the sale proceeded fairly smoothly. The coins fared especially well, and much to my relief some of the larger boxes of stamps sold in the room, meaning that they did not have to go back on the van. The militaria also did well.
Once the van was loaded I was able to take my leave, and being in Norwichtook the opportunity to visit Norwich Millennium Library before getting the bus home. In the end I arrived back at my flat a little under 14 hours after I had left it in the morning.
These old coins fared especially well, two of them (213 and 215 fro memory) going for £170 each after protracted online bidding battles.
DAY 3: THURSDAY
After unloading the sold goods from the van it was back to work on the January auction. The catalogue cover was ready by the end of the day, and the images were about 70% done, a near miracle in the circumstances. Here are some of the new images from yesterday…
These postcards were needed for the catalogue cover, so with time pressing I scanned them at 150 DPI – and they looked superb on the printed page.
THE PUZZLE EXPLAINED
I asked you to take any three digit number, multiply by 7, then multiply the new answer by 11 and finally multiply that answer by 13. I then asked how your final answer compared to your original number. That final answer consists of two copies of your original number. The reason for this is that 7 x 11 x 13 = 1,001 – and that post beinbg my 1,001st on aspiblog was why I set that puzzle in it. As a bonus I asked what multipliers you would need to produce a similar effect with four digit numbers, and the answer to that is 73 and 137, because 73 x 137 = 10,001.
An analysis of my newly acquired collection of beer mats (complete with photos), a unique LNER display and some other stuff.
INTRODUCTION
This post features some stuff I have bought at auctions and some stuff I have been given, and features some links at the end.
BEER MATS
I mentioned in my post about James and Sons’ November auction that I had purchased a box of beer mats. Well I have just finished sorting through them and categorizing them, taking photos along the way.
MACALLAN
There are seven mats that relate to Macallan Scotch Whisky. Macallan are sposnors of one of the world’s most prestigious bridge tournaments as well as purveyors of whisky.
HEINEKEN AND ICE HOCKEY
I have 12 Heineken mats, one circular and 11 athletics track shaped. These latter 11 feature Ice Hockey Heroes – I have a run of numbers 2 through 9 of the original series of 10 and duplicates of numbers 7, 8 and 9.
RANDOM FOREIGN
Five mats referrg to foreign drinks.
COCA COLA AND COMPETITIONS
I have three mats advertsiign coca cola, two of which are duplicates, a schweppes mat and mat advertising a Holsten Pils competition.
The two central mats are duplicates – I have shown different sides of each.
GENERAL SCOTCHES
Four mats advertising scotch whiskies other than Macallan.
PRODUCE OF THE APPLE
Five mats where the focus is on drinks created from apples:
THE IRISH CONTINGENT
I have nine mats featuring products of the Emerald Isle.
The two big Guinness mats are duplicates, as are the three Murphy’s mats.
UNCATEGORIZED
Four mats that I could not think of a category for.
BEER MATS GENERAL
We now come to the best bits of the collection. Starting with nine mats featuring a range of beers from around the country.
The Webster’s mats at the top are duplicates save that they have different heroes on the back, as you will see later…
BEER MATS – EAST ANGLIA
There are ten beer mats in this group, all with a connection to East Anglia.
You have now seen every beer mat in the collection, but I was not quite finished yet…
THOMAS’ TOP THREE
This is an image of my three favourite beer mats.
THE RAILWAY CONNECTION
Some mats that are specifically railway oriented.
The Samuel Whitbread connection is a little tenuous, and I took the opportunity to show the Amy Johnson profile.
THE BUTTONS
One of my colleagues recently gave me some LNER buttons (LNER stood for London and North Eastern Railway), and had previously given me an LNER badge. I also had some other LNBER buttons and an LNER themed postcard from previous purchases, and assembled this into an LNER display.
The three buttons that set me thinking about the display – without using the flashthe same buttons with flashclose up of the locomotive buttonClose up of an LNER buttonButtons, the badge and the postcard mounted ready for display.The top of the display.The bottom fo the displayThe badge.
The display (it is housed in a plastic wallet).
LINKS
I start with some interesting pieces about the byelection that has surely spelt the end of Zac Goldsmith’s political career:
David Hencke, who usually blogs on legal matters offers his take here.
James and Sons’ November auction took place yesterday at the Long Bar, Fakenham Racecourse. This post covers both yesterday and the aftermath today.
THE PRELIMINARIES
The setup was accopmplished on Tuesday, with more than a few hints of trouble ahead (see here for more details). There was a heavy frost in evidence when I set forth to catch the 6:28 bus to Fakenham (now that they have reduced the number of morning bus services I cannot get in early enough on an auction day on any other bus). The bus left on time, but only made it as far as Littleport Street (its first outward bound stop if anyone is there) before breaking down. The replacement bus took longer to arrive than it should have, given that the depot is only couple of miles away. This bus did make it to Fakenham, arriving at approximately 7:30, although it had no heating. The Long Bar is, for all its grand title, a wooden hut, and the heater would not work at first. When we did get it to work it pumped out smoke.
The IT setup did work however, and the auction started promptly.
One of the their postersThe auction venue.Some of the toysMore of their stuffAs well as posters and prints there are jockey’s silks on display at the Long Bar
THE AUCTION ITSELF
The auction started with coins, which fared very well. The coins were followed by banknotes, which sold phenomenally well. Then came the militaria, which was good in parts. After that came some aviation postcards. Lots 350-377 were toys, first toy cars, starting with the ‘Goldfinger’ Aston Martin DB5 in mint condition, and progressing through more toy cars, Hornby, Triang and a few dolls. After that we were into collector’s models – a few boxes of lead soldiers and a large quantity of model aeroplanes, which appropriately enough went sky high.
The stamp lots were patchy, and apart from a few bits of jewellery very little after lot 550 did anything of note, partly because the auctioneer was hurrying through things by that stage. A box of interesting beer mats went to me for £9.
Once the auction was concluded I was able to consume my sandwiches before helping with the clear up. I managed to get the 16:37 bus back, and this time I arrived in King’s Lynn in the same bus I had left Fakenham in! The only problem was the early evening traffic in Lynn (basically from Gaywood to King’s Lynn town centre was gridlocked).
TODAY
My only involvement with the aftermath of the auction was helping to unload to van – while three of my colleagues attended to the invoicing I was imaging some bulky stamp and cigarette card lots for our next auction on December 14, and in the process rendering the kitchen area navigable.
This was lot 268 – the last lot I imaged today.
Lot 478 – can you spot the ‘jewel in the dungheap’?It is of course this map.
An account of final preparations for James and Sons’ November auction.
INTRODUCTION
James and Sons’ November auction takes place at Fakenham Racecourse tomorrow, which combined with the somewhat stressed preliminaries led to the title of this post.
A CHANGE OF VENUE
Firstly, a miscommunication led to this auction being held in the Long Bar rather than the Prince of Wales Suite. Then when we arrived at the venue with the items for auction (as the picture below shows this was a very full van load) it was in state of disarray.
This is a full van load.
The next hiccough was the necessity of running a long cable from a building with an internet connection into the Long Bar, which involved stretching it across a bit of road that was due to be used by caravans, but some metal supports of the type more usually used for putting up shelving came in handy to provide a secure guard for that bit of wiring…
Here is one we made earlier!A close up of one section.
Also, the Long Bar has a very antiquated heater, which had clearly not been used in a long time.
I had a picture to take to resolve a query and also located a lot that had not previously been imaged…
This was the image used to resolve the query.This lot had not been imaged.
I also in odd quiet moments got some pictures from the Long Bar, and on the way back to the shop took a few pictures through the open window of the van…
This horse turned its head at the key moment, so the white flash down the front of its head is not visible here.
BACK AT THE SHOP
Back at the shop I had some big stamp lots for our December auction (on the 14th) to attend to, and was then required to buy some paper (there is a stationer down the road who sells plain A4 at £17 for five reams).
The box with the books in had fallen to the floor shedding some of its contents, so had to be dealth with as a matter of urgency.
aspiblog 