Salmon sale went swimmingly

IT'S almost a year since Hansons took over the running of Barbara Kirk Auctions in Penzance which has since become the centre for our Westcountry sales.

- Charles Hanson

> The rare 19th-century sampler of a trout, which sold for £2,500

(Hansons Auctioneers)

I am based in Derby, but my life as a TV auctioneer takes me all over the UK, with this region being one of my most treasured destinations.

I have loved Devon since childhood holidays spent fossil hunting on the county's eastern coast.

I well remember combing the shingle for ammonites each one a spiral gateway to a 200-million-year-old history, an experience that helped kick-start my lifelong obsession with the past.

Fast forward 40 years and I am back, this time seeking out the county's hidden treasures of a different kind.