Headley villager's wierd and wonderful collection goes under the hammer

The lots – belonging to Group Capt Samuel Rexford-Welch (pictured right), who lived in a remote cottage in Plastow Green, and died in February, aged 97 – will be sold in a series of auctions by Moore Allen & Innocent, Cirencester.
The first was due to be held on Thursday March 28 and one of the items villagers might recognise is the red 73cc Pesaro Motobi motor scooter he rode (estimate £50 to £80) - (pictured right)

According to agent for the auctioneers Peter Davison, the Cambridge graduate’s career began as a medical officer in the Far East with the RAF. Later he served as a specialist in radiological protection, witnessing nuclear tests at Christmas Island and in the US, where he worked on the space programme and met astronauts as well as presidents.
A pair of skulls (estimate £100 to £150) – one clutching Japanese bank-notes between its teeth, and another sporting a Fez (pictured) – are one of the most interesting lots.
Although they are almost certainly Victorian medical equipment, the Group Capt had a more colourful tale to tell about one of their origins.
Auctioneer Philip Allwood said: “According to Rex, the skull belonged to a Japanese sniper who shot him in the leg and killed his driver in Malaysia during World War Two.
“He dispatched a squad of Gurkhas to take out the sniper, and they returned with this skull as a trophy.”
After retiring at the age of 70, Group Capt Rexford-Welch developed a passion for horology and became an accomplished clockmaker and restorer.
His timepieces, from pocket watches to longcase clocks, and including a rare 19th century Chinese rosewood mantel clock, will be up for sale on May 31.
A case of eight glass eyes, by Dr Coulomb of Paris, (estimate £50 to £80), will also go under the hammer, while the preserved snake (pictured) will be auctioned on August 30, along with a rattlesnake’s tail, a stuffed and mounted alligator and a monkey skeleton from his taxidermy collection.