DESPITE the heat and the dust, thousands of people descended on Clifton Grove near Orange at the weekend to witness an enormous three-day clearing sale and bid for items collected throughout his life by Max Jones, “Banjo Valley”, Yeomans Lane.
Auctioneer Ashley Burns made his way through more than 1800 lots, beginning Friday, through Saturday and finally managed a well-earned break on Sunday night.
Mr Burns said there were 1300 registered bidders and the end result was “awesome”.
“I wouldn’t mind the difference between a million dollars and the final figure of what we sold,” he said on Wednesday morning as he prepared lots for another sale in Echuca, Victoria.
He said an EK Holden ute sold for $30,000.
People came from across the eastern seaboard and western NSW at the weekend.
One of those, Fred Lascelles, of Maffra, Victoria, travelled from his home in a party of six no strangers to such events, but even so found himself staggered by the number of lots.
“It was certainly one of the biggest sales we’ve ever been to,” he said.
It was certainly one of the biggest sales we’ve ever been to.
- Fred Lascelles, Maffra, Victoria.
“I met people from all over Australia.”
He said some items were costly, while others went at a reasonable price.
“I met one guy from Bourke who’d bought three tractors, really old stuff, and he was starting to move them on Monday.
“He was going home to get his truck and coming back tomorrow afternoon,” Mr Lascelles said on Sunday afternoon.
“The fact it’s a long way to pick up your gear doesn’t matter to the type of people who frequent these sales.
“Say you’ve bought stuff for $4000 or $5000, it can cost half that much again to get it home,” he said.
One particular item that caught his eye was a pre-1912 swivelling horse clipping unit on a stand, something he’d never seen before.
“We even tried looking them up on Google, but nothing came up,” he said, hinting of their rarity.
He said vintage trucks, tractors and fire engines had made a lot, while old horse carriages and buggies hadn’t made quite as much as expected.
Allen and Karlene Hutchison travelled from “Lyndale”, at Hillston, and snatched up one of those buggies for $5000. Mrs Hutchison, an irrigated cotton farmer, said she was delighted with her purchases.
