If the writers of Private Eye magazine's Me And My Spoon column ever want a real-life subject they could turn to 74-year-old Daphne Collins.

In the fortnightly column celebrities are the target of questions such as "How important are spoons in your life?" and "Has anything interesting ever happened to you involving spoons?"

The interviews are made up and played for laughs but for Daphne, there's nothing comic about having an appreciation for cutlery.

The keen collector takes pride in her array of 200 spoons, most of which are teaspoons.

Some date back to the early 1900s, including one salvaged from the SS Caledonia, a First World War cruiser.

Her husband Sidney, 67, has constructed four frames in which to display the spoons at their home in Challoners, Horsted Keynes.

The SS Caledonia spoon, which is made of silver and cost £14, started Daphne's collection seven years ago.

She said: "I thought it looked lovely even though it was a lot of money. But my husband said he would buy it for me.

"I thought it would be nice to collect spoons as they were quite small and would not take up much room. But now I am running out of space to display them.

"They are not to be used - I only occasionally use one if a visitor wants sugar in their tea, though my husband tells me I shouldn't."

Her favourite spoons include one decorated with pictures of Viking ships and a lifeboat around the rim.

A friend in America sent her spoons bearing images of former presidents, including John F Kennedy and John Adams.

Another of Daphne's spoons carries the letters NZS Co, standing for New Zealand Shipping Company, and the name MV Rangitiki.

The Rangitiki was one of three "Rangi" ships used by the firm as passenger liners during the Second World War.

The other two, also given Maori names, were the Rangitane and the Rangitata.

The Argus told the story last month of how the Rangitane was sunk by German raiders in November 1940.

One of the survivors was the ship's captain Lionel Upton, of Carlisle Road, Hove.

Daphne contacted us after realising the history of the ship and the New Zealand Shipping Company bore relevance to her spoon.

She said: "I always like trying to find out as much as possible about the spoons I have, where they come from and how old they are."

The 16,755-ton Rangitiki was built in 1929. One of its uses was to bring the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team to England in 1935.

The boat was scrapped in Spain in 1962.

After shedding a little more light on her Rangitiki cutlery, Daphne's next mission may be to investigate Private Eye's fascination with spoons.

She said: "I have never heard of the column before. It sounds interesting, though - perhaps I should look out for it."