This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Oxfam shop in Kingsbridge, where volunteers have spent decades uncovering hidden literary and musical treasures donated by the local community.

Naomi Jones, who co-manages the bookshop with John Edwards, said: “You never know what could come in.

“You could literally get an absolute treasure donated.

“Sometimes people come looking for a specific book and if they’re lucky might find it.

“Our local community generously donates all of these finds in and around Kingsbridge.

“The Kingsbridge bookshelves and record collections are treasure troves filled with collectible, rare, and historically significant items.”

The shop, which includes a dedicated bookshop, is run by more than 30 volunteers, many of whom specialise in areas such as art, history and vinyl records, helping to identify and value rare finds.

There is also an online bookshop, and this is good for selling very niche books that may not sell in the main shop.

Kingsbridge is also one of around 500 shops that sell things on the online portal.

Naomi said identifying valuable books often involved real detective work: “We had a first edition of Charles Dickens- A Tale of Two Cities which was sold at auction at Bonhams for £2,750 even though it was in quite poor condition.

“It is real detective work trying to piece together the age of a book.

Naomi says it’s important to examine the books carefully: “Some of the inscriptions are important in the books, and the other day we found a 1980 Life on Earth.

”It had been inscribed by Sir David, but also there was a beautiful letter that fell out by Sir David to the owner of the book.

“There was a set of first editions of the English translation TinTin books.

“We had Police Gazette newspapers going back to around the 1770s through to the 20th century.

“It had things about looking for suspects across the country or stolen objects.

“In the end they went to the Police Museum.”

“Sometimes you find quite personal things. There could be photographs from soldiers in the First World War that could be inside a book.

“Many of the books that have been donated have a story.”

Aside from the books, there have been some incredible vinyl finds, some of which have gone for £400 to £500 online.

Oxfam is the UK's largest second-hand bookseller.

Oxfam bookshops offer a wider selection of books than most shops, from modern fiction and leisure interest to more specialist subjects, classics, and rare or collectable books.

They also stock CDs, DVDs and vinyl and a good selection of greetings cards.

It is a global community of people who believe in a kinder and radically better world, where everyone has the power to thrive, not just survive.

They believe we can overcome poverty by fighting the injustices and inequalities that fuel it.

The organisation was founded in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, in response to the Allied blockade that had caused famine in Axis-occupied Greece.

To visit the Oxfam online shop, visit: https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/