Auctioneers Alan and Andrew Aldridge have just returned from Belfast where over 22,000 people came to their exhibition of Titanic memorabilia.

The items will be on sale at this Saturday’s auction at Aldridge’s Bath Road Business Centre salerooms in Devizes.

The items were on show as part of the Made in Belfast festival. The Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in the city.

Andrew Aldridge said: “People were knocked out by the items we had on show, but they said, where is Devizes and what has it got to do with the Titanic?”

One of the stars of the auction is a small set of keys bearing the brass tag with the words “binoculars box”.

These were owned by Titanic’s first second officer, David Blair, and would have been kept in a teak box on the bulwark of the bridge.

In the autobiography of Charles Lightoller, Blair’s successor as second officer, Mr Lightoller said that, because of a last-minute reshuffle, Mr Blair was transferred onto another ship, taking the bunch of keys with him.

Mr Aldridge said: “Mr Blair was without doubt one of the luckiest men alive because this decision almost certainly saved his life.”

Another item in the sale is a handwritten, three-page letter from first class passenger Adolphe Saafeld, who gives details of what life was like aboard the luxury liner.

The letter carries a pre-sale estimate of £20,000 to £25,000.

The keys are on sale with a guide price of £50,000 to £70,000.