Tolkien postcard found behind fireplace
A demolition worker has discovered a postcard which was written to JRR Tolkien 40 years ago stuck behind a fireplace.
Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth, was removing the fixtures from the author's former home in Poole, Dorset, before the property was demolished.
As he dismantled the carved wooden fireplace he found three postcards, the last of which was addressed to Tolkien and dated 1968.
Malton, 42, has now begun investigating how much he can sell the postcard for and said a collector in Belgium had offered $US500,000 (£253,186) for the card and the fireplace.
He said: "I've been in demolition most of my life. I have been doing this for 15 years, my father did it for 40 years before me.
"All of a sudden for this to land in your lap is just quite unbelievable."
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Stephen Malton, who runs Prodem Demolition in Bournemouth, was removing the fixtures from the author's former home in Poole, Dorset, before the property was demolished.
As he dismantled the carved wooden fireplace he found three postcards, the last of which was addressed to Tolkien and dated 1968.
Malton, 42, has now begun investigating how much he can sell the postcard for and said a collector in Belgium had offered $US500,000 (£253,186) for the card and the fireplace.
He said: "I've been in demolition most of my life. I have been doing this for 15 years, my father did it for 40 years before me.
"All of a sudden for this to land in your lap is just quite unbelievable."