Pike auction

A huge stuffed pike caught in Norfolk in 1956 is being sold at auction. The pike, weighing in at 30lb (13.6 kilos) and measuring 4ft (1.21m) in length, was mounted by a taxidermist after it was caught by Donald Tate.

The Herts angler landed the fish in Hickling Broad. The pike is expected to fetch up to £6,000 when it is auctioned at Bonhams in Henley-on-Thames.

It is thought to be the last pike mounted by J Cooper and Sons, Hounslow, before the company closed in the 1960s.

Charles Kewley, of Bonhams, said: "It took 15 months for the huge fish to be completed by the company and was collected on 8 January 1958."

The fish is being sold with newspaper excerpts from the time it was caught - one quotes Mr Tate as saying: "The pike really frightened me. It came straight out of the water and crashed back with the noise of a ton of coal being emptied."