Beatlemania hits Cirencester - again 

FORTY years after the Fab Four took the world by storm, Beatlemania is to return to Cirencester as a rare seven-inch record goes under the hammer at Moore Allen & Innocent on Friday, April 25.

The 45rpm white label test pressing of The Beatles’ first UK number one, From Me To You, comes in its original plain sleeve. The centre is printed with the logo of the Parlophone record label and “not for sale”. Handwritten in pen and pencil on the label are the name of the band and the name of the track. The B side is Thank You Girl.

It was given to the vendor, a lady from the Cirencester area, by a Parlophone sound technician in 1963 or 1964.

From Me to You was written and recorded by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1963. Thank You Girl was recorded on the same day. From Me to You was one of the very last songs to be credited ‘McCartney/Lennon’; soon afterwards their songs began appearing credited to the familiar ‘Lennon/McCartney’.

Auctioneer Philip Allwood said: “This is a rare piece of Beatles memorabilia and there is a huge collectors market. We anticipate a great deal of interest and estimate that it will achieve in the region of £400 to £600.”

Also enjoying a strong collectors market is Second World War memorabilia, and a Third Reich stormtrooper’s dagger is drawing particular interest. The dagger features the ‘adler’, the emblematic German eagle atop a swastika, on the oak hilt and the Solingen steel blade is inscribed ‘Alles für Deutschland’.

The dagger, which dates from sometime between the 1920s and 1934, when the Sturmabteilung stormtroopers were superceded by the SS, carries an estimate of £150 to £200.

From goosesteps to geese, and a pair of fine ceramic birds are of particular interest to collectors of contemporary art. The stylised and humorous sculptures, produced in the Japanese ‘raku’ style of firing, are from the Wild Creatures series by Devon-based artist Jennie Hale.

The pieces were bought at Cirencester’s Brewery Arts gallery in 2000 for £600. They carry an estimate of £300 to £400.

Finally, a Cotswold farmer is having the last laugh after a large table was dumped in a farm lane. A regular victim of fly tippers, the landowner thought there might be some value in an Elizabethan-looking refectory table, and gave Moore Allen & Innocent a call.

“It’s an early 20th century reproduction of an Elizabethan draw leaf oak table on carved cup and cover supports,” explained Philip. “It’s a little dishevelled and in need of repair, but stylistically it’s a fine piece, which we estimate at £200 to £300. The irony is that if the fly tippers had not dumped this table, and had instead called us, they would be a couple of hundred quid better off!”