This year is the 290th anniversary of the birth of Captain James Cook and the 250th anniversary of his First Voyage of Exploration in the ship Endeavour. Acknowledged as one of the great heroes of British history, Cook’s contribution to society and the development of knowledge goes far beyond his role in stoking Britain’s Imperial ambitions and in part explains why copies of his journals are so sought after at auction.

Quite apart from being the first sea captain to circumnavigate the globe, making first proper European contact with what was later to be known as Hawaii in the process, he named Botany Bay in New South Wales for the unique botanical specimens collected by Joseph Banks, whose researches and collections on the voyage established the foundations for Kew Gardens and the advancement of plant science.

Cook himself was instrumental in creating the first accurate and detailed maps of the Pacific Ocean, tackling the thorny issue of longitude by employing the newly published Nautical Almanac of astronomer Charles Green. He used the lunar distance method, measuring the angular distance from the moon to the sun in the day or that of eight stars at night to determine the time at Greenwich, which then allowed him to compare that to local time determined by the position of the sun, moon or stars.

All in all, Cook was a bit of a renaissance man.

A couple of bronzes up for sale in our January 31 Fine Antique auction have rather a charming tale behind them. Both depicting horses with jockeys at full pelt, they are the work of Philip Blacker (b.1949). Not only is he a former jockey, but riding Spanish Steps he also came fourth to Red Rum in the 1973 Grand National, the first of the legendary horse’s three wins at Aintree in the world’s greatest Steeplechase, and seventh on Happy Ranger in 1977, when Red Rum won his third and final National.

Blacker’s links to Red Rum go much further though, because it was to him that the authorities at Aintree went when they wanted to mark the 40th anniversary of that record-breaking third win last year. Blacker created a miniature limited edition (400) replica. Much earlier he had been commissioned to make a life-size bronze of Red Rum, which gave him the chance to get to know the horse better, and he also went on to design a new trophy for the Grand National at the sponsors’ request. The 40th anniversary limited edition was an exact miniature of the earlier statue.

Describing Red Rum as “charismatic”, Blacker remembers that most of the time all he ever got to see going round the racecourse was the great horse’s backside as he shot ahead. Happy racing days indeed.

It is still considered the greatest car chase in film history, but 50 years on, what has happened to the car itself? That has long been the question about the amazing Mustang driven by the legendary Steve McQueen in Bullitt, the 1968 movie that all petrolheads will remember so fondly.

When shooting was over, one of the studio executives bought the car, then sold it to a police officer who later shipped it to New York, where he sold it on for $6000 in 1974 via a small ad in a magazine. From there the trail went cold… until now.

Half a century on, and in time for the 50th anniversary of the film’s release, the Mustang has re-emerged and is now valued at $3 million to $5 million!

The owner, Sean Kiernan, is the son of the man who bought it back in ’74 as a car for his wife to use on a daily basis. After six years, when the clutch went, they put it in the garage, and there it remained. McQueen had been in contact in 1977, hoping to buy it back at a reasonable price, but the family ignored his approach. Now Sean has made it roadworthy once more – while maintaining the bodywork untouched – to celebrate the film’s half century. Odds-on it won’t be long before it turns up at auction.

I’m very proud to say that our saleroom in Fernhurst has been the scene of several memorable auctions of the works of Helen Allingham in recent years. This remarkable artist, who lived in Sandhills near Brook and died in Haslemere in 1926, was an inspiration for Vincent Van Gogh, no less, who studied her illustrations in The Graphic newspaper, which included those for the serialisation of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd in 1874.

It was while she lived in this area that Allingham conceived her extraordinary and heart-stoppingly beautiful scenes of rural life, perhaps most notably her cottage scenes, with herbaceous borders and country maids.

Such was her talent that in 1886 she became the first woman awarded a solo exhibition at the Fine Art Society in London. Entitled Surrey Cottages, it depicted scenes in Witley, Haslemere and other villages stretching towards Dorking from Guildford. Just four years later, in 1890, she was the first woman admitted to full membership of the Royal Watercolour Society.

Since November, The Watts Gallery in Compton has been championing Allingham in a dedicated exhibition that runs until February 18. It is a must-see, so if you haven’t visited it yet, take some time off this Sunday or next and make the trip. The teas – and especially the home-made cakes – at the gallery add to the pleasure.