Antique tools, mowers... and Lampy the £1 million gnome
FLOWER PICKER WITH POLLEN BRUSH £400
A GARDENER’S cane with a small pair of shears at one end for cutting flowers, right. At the other end is a brass plate that when unscrewed reveals a pollen dusting brush that can be used to do the job of bees by crosspollinating plants.
Made by French company ‘Dubois’ which patented the design and sold the tool in Britain from about 1905.
CUCUMBER STRAIGHTENER £300
VICTORIAN glass contraption, right, invented by Robert Stephenson in 1845 – perhaps more famous in his role helping father George produce one of the first steam locomotive trains ‘Stephenson’s Rocket’. The idea came after he got frustrated by crooked cucumbers growing in his kitchen garden.
YORKSHIRE BILLHOOK £150
WHEN it comes to the centuries old skill of laying hedges a billhook is an essential tool – and the Yorkshire Billhook is regarded as one of the finest. It is used to create a cut close to the ground. The National Hedgelaying Society offers vital guidance.
DUNG FORK £50
THERE is no need to struggle turning compost or manure using a modern standard garden implement. This antique tool is a cross between a pitchfork and garden fork with a lighter feel and sharp prongs.
RANSOMES AJAX MOWER £200
ONE of the most popular mowers ever made – a design produced from 1933 until 1972. Powered by muscle rather than petrol it offers the quintessential sound of summer mowing without a noisy engine. Regular service essential for sharp grass cutting.
OLD GARDEN GNOME £300
USUALLY worthless unless you discover an antique. Invented in Germany as decorative ceramic ornaments and introduced to England in 1847 by Sir Charles Isham. The oldest gnome is Lampy, above, worth £1million. Other late 19th Century pottery figures can fetch hundreds of pounds.