WHEN legendary Bolton sword-swallower, fire-eater and entertainer The Great Stromboli ­died earlier this year he left behind an extraordinary collection of weird and wonderful oddities.

Daniel ‘Danny’ Lynch, of Ringley Road, Stoneclough, better known by his stage name, passed away aged 92 in April, just five weeks after the loss of his wife Silvia, who performed alongside him.

Beyond the stage, he was renowned for his love of all things unusual, and throughout his life amassed an enormous amount of strange items he picked up on his travels.

Together with his wife, the performer compiled what he called his “horror cellar” which included the likes of a two-headed calf, a devil fish, a mammoth’s jaw, a giant 400-year-old Elephant Bird egg and replicas of the Crown Jewels.

Many of these items have now been collected, archived and valued and will be sold at auction this week by Macclesfield-based Adam Partridge Auctioneers and Valuers as part of their Antiques and Fine Art with Sporting, Militaria and Northern Art sale.

“We often see weird and strange things in this job but I have to admit I’ve never seen an albino hedgehog,” said auctioneer and valuer, James Spiridion, who visited The Great Stromboli’s house following his death and helped collate the hundreds of items stored there.

“I knew the name, but wasn’t really aware of his act so it has been very interesting to find out more about him and some of the strange props he used,” said James.

Prior to his career in entertainment, Mr Lynch had a distinguished career in the military, and was presented with a prestigious medal for his wartime heroics.

“We have already had lots of interest online in the items and it goes to show how collectable these kind of collections can be,” added James, who highlighted the magician’s two-tiered stand inscribed ‘Stromboli Presents the Victorian Cabinet of Curiosities’ and a large wooden board painted with Frankenstein’s Monster as personal favourites.