A FASCINATING document dating back almost 40 years, which recently turned up in Tavistock?s Oxfam shop, has been sold to a museum in Darlington.
The 12-page memorandum was sent to the transport minister by two members of the National Union of Railwaymen in 1965, appealing against a decision to close Darlington Railway Engine Works.
The memo was discovered by David McCaffrey, a volunteer at Oxfam on Market Street, who immediately recognised the historical significance of the find.
?I decided to phone the Darlington Railway Museum and they were very interested. So I sent it to them and they are going to display it in the museum,? he said.
?It?s a highly detailed document, containing much information about the works and its history. It said in 1965 they had serviced 270 steam trains and they had the only equipment in the country for servicing the new diesels.?
David said perhaps the most interesting part was the second paragraph, which read: ?We recognise the need for an integrated transport system in this country.?
David said he had found the memo among the contents of the book bank in Safeways? car park.
Darlington Railway Museum have paid £6 for the item, and have said Oxfam in Tavistock will be mentioned alongside their new exhibit.
Today (Thursday) is World Book Day and Oxfam are appealing to people to donate unwanted books or buy books from the shop.
Alison Robertson, manager of Oxfam Tavistock, said: ?We would like people to support our book day and think about giving a book to Oxfam ? or they can just come into the shop and have a look at the books we offer.?
Items of particular interest include a signed copy of Maria Von Trapp?s autobiography entitled ?My Own Story?, and a first edition of Nanook of the North, published in 1925.