Not "How much is it worth but how much was it worth?"

[AC99]

As a lad in 1960 a mate of mine was looking to raise some cash to have some new gears fitted to his bike and his dad wouldn't lend him the money but instead gave him his old BSA underlever which he had stored in the garden shed and owned since the 1930's to sell and keep the cash for his bike project.

He knew I was quite an airgun fan having recently bought a Webley mk3 from an Exchange & Mart ad and he offered the BSA to me for 30/- (£1.50) but it was rather tatty compared to my mk3 and I declined the offer. I paid £9 for the ribbed stock Webley which was also fitted with Parker Hale aperture r/s and which I wanted as a 'shooter' and as a youngster I was not remotely interested in collecting then, like most of my generation presumably.

However I must have been interested In Webleys from an earlier age and was aware of the mk3's predecessor and so I wrote to Webley in Weaman St. enquiring about the Mk 11. I received in reply a fairly general letter (which I still have and it is dated 30th August 1957) covering all queries concerning Webley guns including air pistols, rifles, shotguns etc and signed by the General Manager, E.G.Bewley explaining that "....manufacture of the Webley Mark 11 air rifle has been discontinued , but most replacement parts are available and factory overhaul can be undertaken....." . I was quite mystified by the Mk11 since it looked completely different from all the other air rifles current then but I recall when searching the airgun columns of the E&M in the 60's the few Mk11's that were advertised were out of my price range - probably over £20 - and being still at school could not afford that sort of money.

I regret now not having bought the BSA of my mate's dad that he had offered me but at the time it looked so 'old-fashioned' !

Aubrey