EVERY Antiques Roadshow addict dreams of finding an heirloom of enormous value in the attic. Simon Howard has a bigger attic and more valuable heirlooms than most, but the £8 million Michaelangelo lurking in his library is still a sensational discovery.

It is a shame such a fabulous work of art is unlikely to stay in Yorkshire. But Mr Howard is right to say the ink drawing should be on permanent public display. And the money the sale generates will help him maintain one of Yorkshire's most flamboyant works of art - Castle Howard itself.