Recently a Companion of the Community brought me a box of material that had been in her home for decades. She asked me if I thought that it would have any value and would I like to have it for the auction. At first sight it looked as if it might be hard to sell – a bundle of badly typed and some almost illegible hand written letters and a few pieces of music by a composer whom no one seemed to have heard of. Instinct more than common sense made me say yes to both questions. I had some experience of boxes of papers. Sometimes dust covered leaves were worth more than cherished family heirlooms and I suspected that these were worth looking into. However I was expecting that it would mean hard work and research and so I put them aside until after Christmas. I found that I had a quiet time on the Friday evening before General Chapter was to begin, and it was almost with an air of boredom I Googled the name of the composer. The result was amazing. Between 9pm on Friday and 5pm on Sunday I was involved in a correspondence with an interested party which concluded by my acceptance of his offer of £1,500 for a pre-auction sale. As the lady who donated the item has a gift aid covenant with us this will be enhanced by about £375. I am assured by two auctioneers that I made the right decision to sell rather than wait for the auction.

So please go on searching. There is cash in your cellar, silver in your lumber room and gold in your attic.

John CR

If you wish to donate or enquire contact Fr John Gribben CR  jgribben@mirfield.org