Talisman Railwayana Auction, 26/11/16

A mere half an hour in the car this morning, on the way to the nearest auction to home, but still able to dip into Sounds of the Sixties in time to hear PJ Proby adding some extra vowel sounds to “Somewhere,” from West Side Story.

PJ had a very distinctive style, of course. He is still the only act I have ever seen being noisily encouraged to leave the stage by the audience [successfully, as it happened] - at the Haig Club in Moreton on the Wirral, many years ago, now.

The “Somewhere” I was aiming for today was the Newark Showground. The notice at the entrance pointed me towards both “Railwayana” and “Northern Arms” - but gave no clues as to whether that was prosthetics or weaponry.

The auction, itself, was chock-a-block. The auctioneer thanked people for braving difficult driving conditions on the motorways. I felt lucky to have breezed it cross-county, in some admittedly tricky low sunshine.

PJ wasn’t the only one having a problem with a mic. The PA suddenly gave up the ghost at lot 63, A Great Northern Railway Glass Water Carafe. Words could not describe it, though it looked quite nice from a distance. A replacement mic was sought, found and delivered. It didn’t work, either. The chair’s willing assistant disappeared into a room labelled “Office,” clearly the nerve centre of the whole operation. This did the trick and we had all only missed ten minutes out of our lives -  just a drop in the ocean.  

My attention was drawn to lot 137, An LMS Bronze Medal issued to persons working through the National Emergency in 1926. My uncle did that. He volunteered to drive trams during what the other side called the General Strike. That was a very political decision, especially considering that he was a 19-year old student at Oxford University. Simultaneously, my mother was in the Labour Club at Liverpool University. I’m not sure that their relationship ever quite recovered from that seismic difference of opinion, though they always maintained a cordial and affectionate demeanour during their relatively infrequent meetings.

I didn’t stay until the end of the auction, so I’m not entirely sure if the mic situation held up for the duration. There was another “taaarm and a place for oss,” later on in the day, as PJ might have preferred it. Would the auction results be posted on the website by the time I got home? There is such a race to do so between GCRA and GWRA these days, that I ended up wondering if the other auction houses worry about being somewhat left behind, in that respect. It’s a bit like the rush to be the first electoral constituency to declare on election night.

No hurry, I concluded. Too much haring around and you could split your pants or something.   

Somewhere, by PJ Proby, reached number 6, but dropped out of the charts in the same month, March 1965, that I took this photo  of Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 No. 46444 at Aintree, on Grand National day.