A bombshell has hit our livingroom today.

Well, actually it's the contents of the cupboard under the stairs.

For some time I've been wanting to tackle it and reduce the clutter (in so many ways) but who would have thought one could get so much into such a tiny space? The living room is full, there's stuff in the kitchen and the cupboard still has all the model planes, balsa wood, radio control gear, tools, my Vox AC30, a large box with LPs and a bunch of other odds and ends in it.

Sat 4 feet away is a large stack comprising empty speaker and head cabs, plus 6 loudspeakers (2 of which don't work). There's piles of magazines, a collection of power tools (mostly still boxed) framed pictures, computer stuff, wood and metal raw materials, 3 separate camera holdalls, a RC model plane belonging to a friend, a wooden chest containing radio gear and aero engines, a boxed German language course on cassette, crash helmets, spare bags, a couple of guitars and a draw full of hand tools.

I've already been through and cleared a lot of stuff: there's a huge pile of PC bits: MOBOs & processors from jobs I've done + old PS2 mice etc. I've filled a couple of rubbish bags with foam and things that really need chucking now.

The high point?

Finding a tiny DC Merlin diesel engine mounted on a piece of 2 bee 2 (as we'd call it). The engine was a gift from my father when he ran a model shop, and the wood was an offcut from the legs of the bunk beds he made for my brother and I. It still had the original tank and pipe (still supple!) held with a piece of heavy electrical wire twisted together to keep it all in place. The engine was gummed up and wouldn't turn by hand, but I squirted in some lube before popping it away in the hope it will soften and one day be recoverable.

The engine is important to me, not least because it's fully 40 years old, but also for the memories it brings. On Friday my mother asked if there were any possessions I wouldn't ever want to get rid of, and at the time, I could only think of my first decent electric guitar. However this is another one, and I'd be really sad to ever have to let this one go for good.