My interest in antiques was sparked by working in Browns of Chester auction rooms in the 1960's. I served my articles there working for three years for no pay. In fact my father had to pay Browns five hundred pounds for the privilege. Although he did recoup the money as I lasted the three years before joining the staff. My first interest was in antique silver probably because I was fascinated in the way that it was possible to date it accurately by the hallmarks. Not exactly the same but it is possible to date maps fairly accurately. At that time there were few dealers in antique maps. It was a map dealer named P. J. Radford who lived in Denmead near Portsmouth that got me started and by 1961 I was starting to buy and sell maps.