North-east England

From the late 18th century, Birmingham was the centre for the making of ‘toys’ – small decorative objects including boxes, nutmeg graters, buckles, caddy spoons, vinaigrettes and rattles, fashioned from silver.

Spoons are among the very few pieces of English silver surviving from the period of Wars of the Roses.

A Citroën 2CV toy car is not quite as glamorous as a Lotus Esprit, even when the full-size version helps to save James Bond in an epic chase.

Ken Besford of Durham Promotions NE, organiser of the Great North Decorative Antique Fair, is heading down the straight for the spring edition (Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27) of the triannual event he launched last year at Newcastle Racecourse.

Shelley produced the geometric Vogue and Mode shape tea and coffee wares between 1930-32 - both the designs of Eric Slater (1902-84) who had worked at the factory since the end of the First World War.

A c.1960 Barbie doll and related items by Mattel is estimated at £300-500 in the Specialist Collectable Toys Auction on April 10 at Sheffield Auction Gallery.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of a major milestone in the railway age: the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR).

The second tranche of material from a German autograph collector, the late Franz-Peter Bach, was offered by Anderson & Garland (30% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Newcastle upon Tyne on March 5.

The Disney character was one of the first examples of using merchandise for promotion and early items are sought after by collectors

This tinplate, clockwork Triang Minic post-war LMS railway van 80M hammered at 10 times the low estimate in the Vectis auction on March 4.

A piece of British punk fashion history drew stiff competition at Newcastle saleroom Anderson & Garland (25% buyer’s premium).

This pair of 5in (13cm) Qing bowls, each very finely decorated in iron red with dragons among cloud scrolls and stylised waves soared above their estimate of £200-400 to sell for £250,000 at Anderson & Garland on November 28.

Offered by Thomas Miller (24% buyer’s premium) in Newcastle was a large silver medal struck to mark the maiden voyage of the SS Normandie from Le Havre to New York on May 29, 1935. She took the Blue Riband at the first attempt.

Just weeks after a new auction record for Anne Brooke (1916-2002) was achieved in the regions (see ATG No 2659), two more works by the Yorkshire-born painter attracted a flurry of bids in a Newcastle saleroom.

Anderson & Garland (25% buyer’s premium) of Newcastle upon Tyne offered the private collection of militaria and weapons belonging to Douglas Napier Anderson (b.1927).

Texting and Zooming have practically taken over our busy lives and taking time out to write a card, let alone a letter, seems like too much of a stretch. Yet UK Pen Shows, which runs dedicated fairs at five UK locations, is thriving.