Yesterday I sold a beautiful boxed aircane to an acquaintance that I'm sure will become a good friend. We'd a period of haggling before we agreed on a price, then, as he started to count his money out I closed the case and was lifting it into the back of my van. At that point a third party approached and nodded towards the box saying that we'd discussed it in the past when I'd told him that there was no visible maker's name on it. After that he'd gone home and stripped his identical one and found James Townend hidden within, on the lock. I said that I'd just sold it and the buyer would almost certainly want to hear what he'd got to say. He did and we're all now much wiser. Having a name as a starting point makes research so much easier. 10 minutes of Google and I was soon reading some most erudite articles by our very own Dean Fletcher.

I don't know if the others are on here. If so I hope they'll make themselves known.

I'm sure we all enjoyed the encounter although if I'd had the info 5 minutes sooner I think the cane would have been £50 dearer. It was like a Webley Service - the quality shone through it.

I hope this makes one or two of you smile on a not too-pleasant Monday morning.

ATVB, Mick