Ashwell and Morden Station Sign

 

When I first became curator of the museum it was almost a policy that we would never buy anything – we would only rely on donations. However in recent years we have had to change this as several items that ‘we cannot afford to miss’ have come on the market. Some of these have been offered to us directly. For instance when metal detector finds have been declared Treasure. Others have been for public sale in galleries and we have been made aware of their existence. And now more tempting things are coming up for auction in salerooms and on eBay.

A month ago, with expert help, we tried unsuccessfully to acquire a Peter Gilman painting of the museum but it went for over twice our limit. In August Bridget Long alerted us to the fact that an old sign for Ashwell and Morden station was being sold by Bonhams in a sale of Toys and Railwayana at their auction house in Knowle, Warwickshire. The estimate seemed very reasonable and we had a very generous donation towards the cost so it seemed a good idea to go for it. Having not been to a sale for some years I thought it would be best to attend the sale rather than put in a commission bid and anyway if we bought it we would still have to go and pick it up.

Auctions are not like they used to be. Instead of the melee of people and objects there was a neat row of chairs and pictures of the lots were shown on a screen behind the auctioneer. The time for our lot came, there was only one other bidder, who I think was a dealer and we managed to purchase it for a hammer price of £180, although with buyers premium and VAT the total came to £234.

We are now the proud possessors of a 6ft x 2ft blue enamel LNER running in board for Ashwell and Morden Station. The size and nature of the enamel means that before we can mount it on the wall it needs attaching to a firm support and framing. So if any handyperson with a little carpentry skill would like to volunteer please talk to me.

Enamel British Railways Eastern region Running in Board

Comments about this page

  • Thank you Darren for your greater knowledge we will correct the entry. I think the LNER designation would have come from the auctioneers.

    By Peter Greener (15/09/2015)
  • This is actually a British Railways Eastern Region running-in board, not an LNER example.

    By Darren Kitson (12/09/2015)

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