More than 100 years of Sydney’s past is scattered throughout 4ha of farmland including relics of Sydney’s Wonderland, a 6 metre tall kewpie doll used during the Sydney Olympics Closing Ceremony and an array of 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s petrol bowsers.

Gary Evans, 68, and his wife Sue Lane, 58, are the ultimate collectors having spent 30 years snapping up everything from an old lawn mowers, antique tiles to train carriages, buses and rare items from Sydney’s past including convict bricks from Richmond and Windsor and sandstone slabs removed the GPO building at Martin Place.

“​I enjoy chasing down the different items,” Mr Evans said.

“It is great when you find that gem and identifying that gem is something you only get with experience.

“You can never learn what is in my brain. To be able to pick out a brick or old petrol bowser or a sign that is worth something you just can’t learn it.

“You could go to tech class or whatever you want and they wouldn’t be able to touch the tpi of the iceberg in terms of telling you what you should keep an eye out for.”

A former demolition worker from Hunters Hill Mr Evans honed his picking skills during the 20 years spent tearing down buildings throughout Sydney and when Wonderland closed its doors in 2004 he knew he could land a piece of defunct theme park for a bargain basement price.

“I picked up the two signs for $1000. The liquidator held a dutch auction and when my offer of a $1000 was the top one they said no way it is worth $15,000 but I walked away. The next day they rang me up and took me up on my offer,” he said.

A dutch auction is where the auctioneer begins with an asking price and lowers it until someone accepts the price.

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Having landed the signs Mr Evans has no plans to part with them having already rebuffed self-made millionaire property developer Ammar Khan’s offer to buy them.

“They are not for sale. He offered me a huge amount but I just told him they are not for sale,” he said.

Among his Wonderland collection Mr Evans counts a pair of old steam rollers and a Sonic the Hedgehog statue as some of his favoured items.

Walking among the endless rows of the Londonderry junkyard you will spot statues of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and The Terminator alongside a cardboard cutout of Rugby League legend Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach and antiques.

There are the robots used to the dress the window displays at Myer and David Jones, which were given to them when the creator retired from the job as well old train station indicator boards, a Manly Wharf name plaque, safes and a sculpture that used to sit outside the Royal Hospital For Women at Paddington before it was moved to Randwick.

Just about anything and everything is for sale, except those kept aside in the couple’s private collection which contains some of their most prized pieces of “garagenalia” on a 2ha block.

These include a 1950s Golden Fleece sponsor branded open-wheeled race car, the giant kewpie doll from the Sydney Olympics and retro advertising signs which Mr Evans said he was constantly pestered about..

“People are always after them but I keep telling them I do not want to sell them,” he said.

“Some of them are worth $5000. On one wall of my garage alone there is probably $20-$30,000 worth of signs.”

Anyone is welcome to walk through the Londonderry Junkyard to try and pick up a bargain or that rare item they have been searching for with Federation home tiles, mirrors lying alongside old Tooheys pub memorabilia and the VHS collection of the Rocky movies 1-5.

One of the couples more expensive purchases was an old train carriage from Cowra, which they picked up for $30,000.

In a scene straight out of the Australian movie classic The Castle the couple even bought the tram out of the Trading Post for $3000.

“We were a bit lucky because we used to get the Trading Post an hour earlier here in Sydney compared to Brisbane so as soon as I saw it I jumped on it,” Mr Evans said.

“When it arrived I did not like it. I thought it looked like an old horse float and it was not what I envisioned.

“Then a bloke from the tram museum in Melbourne told me he wanted it and the next day he showed up at the driveway and I told him it was not for sale. He said he had an open cheque book and told me to name my price.

“I told him to bugger off. I do not like it when people do that, they just think you can be bought but it is not about that. If I think someone is genuine and they want to do a deal then fair enough but I hate when people just try and throw their weight around.

“I ended up keeping it for ten years before selling it a few years ago for about $30,000 because I did not want it anymore.”

Ms Lane who grew up in Londonderry said the pair would travel all over the place to find new items to add to their ever growing collection.

“We work with demolition crews in the city and all over town and they will call us up with a tip here and there. Then there is stuff we seek out but we will take anything from timber to carpet tiles, old bottles and the like,” Ms Evans said.

“I think there has been a bit of a resurgence in people being interested in this sort of stuff because of the whole man cave thing. People want bits and pieces to put in there and the blokes like all the old motor engine stuff.

“Also it is a bit of a nostalgia thing. People like us grew up with all this stuff so they often come looking for things that reminds of their childhood.”

Mr Evans believes places like the junkyard are becoming a thing of the past due to the constant urbanisation of western Sydney and pressure from councils who do not like the idea of the place in their backyards.

“I used to have a whole bunch of cars here but I had to get rid of them and give them away because the council was hassling me about them,” he said.

“Even now they are on my case all the time but I do not know why. There are not many places like this anymore.”

The couple’s Top Ten items

- One of the 12 larger than life kewpie dolls, called Betty-boop, that twirled its way around Stadium Australia during the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

- Golden Fleece petrol bowser

- Wonderland signs

- Relics from Wonderland including an old steam roller and Sonic the Hedgehog statue

- Retro steel advertising signs including Shell, Caltex, Atlantic Depot, Olympic Tyres and Marfak Lubrication

- Convict bricks dating back to the 1820s recovered from Windsor and Richmond

- A massive Goodyear advertising sign

- The old Manly Wharf name plaque

- The original Anthony Hordern and Sons name plate off the Hordern Pavilion building located at Moore Park

- Old Sydney train station boards