TREASURES In the ATTIC

Brian Howes unearths some nostalgic collectables that might be discarded as worthless junk but actually have a value to today's collectors. Can you estimate what each object might be worth and pick out which one is the big-money item? The values are printed on page 80.

- By Brian Howes

1 Off the rails
I can just remember trolleybuses as our last service trundled down the tracks in the autumn of 1966. My grandfather called them “trackless” buses as he remembered the old tramcar “rattlers”. This lovely clockwork toy trolleybus was made by Wells-Brimtoy in the late 1950s. Toymakers Wells and Brimtoy merged in 1932.

2 Creamy custard
I don’t know about you, but for me, it always has to be lovely creamy custard poured over my homemade blackberry and apple pie after Sunday dinner. Quorn custard powder was made in Leicester and sold in these colourful old tins showing images of the Leicestershire Quorn hunt out in full cry.

3 Smarty party
Rowntree’s Smarties were one of our favourite sweets when we were kids and one of the best things about buying Smarties was collecting the plastic caps which always had a letter of the alphabet on the inside. I fondly remember spelling out my name with them. This tube dates from the 1960s. Rowntree’s introduced Smarties in 1937.

4 Pub dog