DESPITE ‘appalling’ weather conditions it is estimated more than 1,000 people attended the retirement sale of Mr Richard Sandercock, on Saturday, October 21, at Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre, in Lifton.

Auctioneer on the day, and friend of Mr Sandercock, Mr John Wakeham said the day was ‘absolutely magic’. He said: “We had people coming from all over to attend the sale, it was fantastic — we even had two lots of people come all the way over from Holland!

“There was of course appalling weather and the car park field was wet and soggy but that didn’t deter people. We filled up that field and another field after that. People ended up having to park all the way along, from top to bottom, on the left hand side of the road outside and the few late comers and stragglers even had to park down on the Queen’s highway — there must have been upwards of 1,000 people I should think.”

Despite the wet and windy conditions Mr Wakeham said that didn’t deter the bidders. He said: “I must say my car park team did a brilliant job as always, but especially in those conditions. They got very wet and very muddy but they did not complain once. In fact everyone stayed cheerful throughout the day, they accepted the poor weather conditions and seemed to enjoy the day regardless.”

There were some surprises on the day with certain items reaching more than expected. Among the lots up for auction was Mr Sandercock’s Richard Garret 6hp Portable Engine, whose story is among one of the more amusing from the sale. The engine was originally bought by Cornwall County Council through Dingles. The council later sold the engine back, but soon realised it needed the machine and was forced to hire it back from Dingles. The engine went for a final price of £14,000.

A beloved lorry of Mr Sandercock’s was also included in the sale. The Leyland GH2 Tipper lorry was purchased new by Dingles and has never previously been away from the family. It went home with a purchaser from South Devon for the handsome sum of £25,000.

But undeniably, the star of the show was the Burrell 5NHP Road Locomotive, named ‘Conqueror’. Very few examples of this type survive today and its rarity boosted the price considerably. It is most well known as the engine Mr Sandercock rallied as part of the Amalgamated Heavy Haulage team through the UK and Holland. The engine received a lot of attention from bidders with the gavel finally coming down at £340,000.

Mr Wakeham added: “There were certainly bargains to be had on the day, even where many of the lots were making a lot of money — you just had to make sure you didn’t want what the others did!”

Mr Sandercock agreed that the sale ‘went very, very well indeed, despite the pouring rain’. He said: “John Wakeham did a superb job as always, with his stick that he bashes on each item so much that he ends up breaking the stick by the end.

“We were lucky in the fact we didn’t have the gale force winds Devon did but the rain created a sort of Somme where the car park field used to be. It really was extremely muddy conditions, but we have had it before so we coped.”

When asked if there were any surprises on the day Mr Sandercock said: “Virtually everything sold. One surprise though was my ancient [Leyland] lorry, which was bought by Dingles some time in the 1920s. That made £25,000. I had been thinking it would make more of the £15,000 to £20,000 mark so that was nice to get a bit more for it..”

Another surprise came when some R Dingle & Sons brass plates went to £300. Mr Sandercock said: “Some things made silly money, for example the plates that would be displayed on the engines, they made strong money — I guess that is because people won’t have another chance to buy those. But, sales are always a bit like swings and roundabouts, some things sell for more than expected and some for less, that is just how it goes.”

Mr Sandercock was pleased Conqueror had sold for good money but thought it hadn’t reached as much as it would have a year ago due to Brexit. He said: “As far as my main traction engine, Conqueror, I think that made about 10% less than it would have last year. I put that down to Brexit, we are in such uncertain times and I think people have lost their confidence in purchasing.”

However, he said he was not disappointed with the final price received for Conqueror because he knew the engine would be going to a good home. He added: “I think the nicest thing was the chap who bought Conqueror is someone I know, and know well, so the engine will be going to a good home. They are from the Midlands originally, which is where the engine is also originally from. At the end of the day I would rather the engine has a nice owner than more money!”