Roger lays down his hammer after 48 years

10:00am Thursday 29th March 2007

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COLLEAGUES, clients and fellow professionals gathered in the Guildhall in Salisbury earlier this month to mark the retirement of chartered surveyor and auctioneer Roger Trubshaw.

Mr Trubshaw, who most recently was a consultant with Symonds & Sampson in Salisbury, notched up 48 years in the profession.

Valuing and auctioning property, livestock and farm machinery and implements were all in a day's work for Mr Trubshaw, who also served on a number of professional bodies.

He came to Salisbury from Warwickshire in 1959, having taken his final professional exams and completed his national service.

He joined auctioneers and estate agents Woolley & Wallis as an assistant to the late Major Woolley and, later, his son, Peter Woolley.

Since then, he has practised as a chartered surveyor and auctioneer in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset.

Mr Trubshaw has been mainly associated with agricultural and residential properties, their sale by auction and private treaty, and their valuation.

He joined a firm in Andover and, later, Messrs James Harris and Son, a long-established firm of chartered surveyors based in Winchester.

But, he said, his aim was always to open an office in Salisbury, and that happened in the mid-1970s, originally in conjunction with James Harris.

The firm, which was later known as Trubshaw's Chartered Surveyors, was based in Crown Chambers in Bridge Street.

In 2000, Trubshaw's merged with Symonds & Sampson and the new firm operated out of offices in Crane Street, where it remains.

During his career, Mr Trubshaw has been secretary and chairman of the rural division of the Wessex branch of chartered surveyors, as well as chairman of the entire branch.

In the mid-1990s he was national president of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, travelling throughout the country to visit branches.

He has also served as chairman of the Hants, Wilts and Dorset branch of the association.

On his retirement, Mr Trubshaw was presented with port and an ornate wine collar by the office staff at Salisbury, and the partners gave him a cut-glass port decanter.

"It was a super occasion," said Mr Trubshaw.

"There were friends, solicitors, agents and clients there, some of whom I have known for many years."

He added: "I have enjoyed selling, both at the livestock market and at farm sales.

"The enjoyable part was travelling around and meeting so many people."

Mr Trubshaw and his wife, Pamela, who have two sons and five grandchildren, live in Nunton.

"My first job in retirement is to cut the grass," Mr Trubshaw joked.

"My wife is an expert with flowers and shrubs and I am the lawn mower."