AN ENTHUSIASTIC crowd attended the auction of a number of former local authority buildings in Abergavenny last week reports ANDY SHERWILL.

On offer at the auction, hosted by Newland Rennie Wilkins at the Angel Hotel, were two former school buildings, a toilet block and a farmhouse.

Mike Davies, the auctioneer, told the 200 people filling the hotel's ballroom that the former Park Street School building had been withdrawn from the auction that morning as a deal had been made with the local community.

The crowd gasped as the first lot, a toilet block in Tintern, guided at £7,500 to £10,000 finally sold for a staggering £56,000.

The former toilet blocks at Raglan and Goytre had already been withdrawn from the auction.

One lot up for grabs was the former Victorian school building at the Bryn, which had been used during the past 10 years by the Welsh medium school and had also became home to the Adventa Business Centre.

The audience was told that the building had that week been given planning permission for it to be converted into a residential home and was guided at £140,000 to £150,000.

The bidding started low but with bids flying around the room it was only a matter of minutes before the hammer had gone down at £182,000, some £32,000 above the top end guide price.

The successful bidder was Steve Williams, an auctioneer himself and proprietor of his own company, Williams Associates, and said that he was unsure what he was going to do with it and added that a number of avenues were being explored.

Another lot was the former Darrenfelin School building at Llanelly Hill, which was guided at £300,000 to £350,000.

Bidding for this was enthusiastic but faltered at £273,000 and failed to sell because bids had not reached the reserve price.

The final lot was a rundown farmhouse at the Lydart near Monmouth, which sold for £331,000 and allowed for a man who had grown up in the area to return to his the area.