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Private Notes
Fiona Bruce and the team are at Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire for the first episode of a brand new series, and over 2,000 visitors dig out their treasures in anticipation.
Two sisters gifted with their great-great-grandmother's jewellery are drawn into the 'battle of the bangles' to find out who has the finest inheritance. A plain box catches the eye of our furniture expert Lennox Cato when the owner makes a claim for it to have once been in Anne Hathaway's cottage. An Australian visitor finds out if the set of silver knives she brought over was worth the cost of the ticket.
And one of the most exciting finds in Roadshow history emerges when a collection of rare figures and dolls' house furnishings from 1705 stuns expert Fergus Gambon, who excitedly tells Fiona it is of national importance... and not insignificant value.
Plus the first in a new audience guessing game with the Enigma, in which experts challenge us to guess the purpose of a mystery object.
Fiona Bruce and the team visit Audley End near Saffron Walden in Essex. Scouring through the family treasures brought in by visitors, the experts discover a varied set of items. These include the sword that ended the War of Independence in America, a large collection of toilet chains, a beautiful silver container that once contained the gall stone of a goat and three vases decorated with fairies.
A return visit to Audley End in Essex sees Fiona Bruce and the team of experts meeting thousands of visitors who are bringing family treasures for appraisal. Amongst objects brought to camera are a table that was supposedly used to sign Napoleon's abdication and a giant bronze cockerel buried in both world wars to avoid being melted down for ammunition.
And there is a cautionary tale when a man brings in 650 design diagrams after bidding for just one following an interest prompted by watching Antiques Roadshow.
Fiona Bruce and the team of experts make a return visit to Hanbury Hall near Droitwich in Worcestershire, where it seems that extraordinarily large objects are the talking point of the day. Expert Adam Schoon appraises an enormous fishing rod, created by a man whose obsession for fishing saw him send prize specimens back home from the western front in World War One. Adam also sees the largest narwhal tusk he's ever encountered at almost ten feet in length.
Military expert Robert Tilney discovers a piece of trench art that plays a tune from The Sound of Music, and veteran expert Hilary Kay demonstrates how sense of smell can decode a mystery object. Jewellery expert John Benjamin values four shiny buttons just bought from an auction for two pounds which produce the fastest profit seen in many a year.
Fiona Bruce and the team head to Cheshire for a day of valuations at Arley Hall and Gardens.
Combing through the objects brought in by visitors, the experts are excited to discover two different items that have spent many years hidden from view - a gold bracelet found mysteriously bricked up behind a wall that is linked to a tragic love story, and a time capsule, buried in 1886, which is opened on camera to reveal its secrets 130 years later.
But the biggest gasps are held back for the discovery of a lost work by one of the most important artists of the late 19th century, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
A return visit to the enchanting gardens of Arley Hall in Cheshire finds Fiona Bruce and the team of experts hard at work. It's a rich day of finds as family treasures come under scrutiny. Amongst the objects featured are a portrait of a visitor's mother which was painted in India in the 1950s and identified by Asian art specialist Amin Jaffer as a superb example of a now highly collected artist whose work commands high prices today.
There's a poignant diary hidden from Japanese guards by a prisoner of war whilst building the bridge over the River Kwai. And diamonds and emeralds once worn by a duchess deliver a final flourish as expert John Benjamin gets excited by their quality and sparkle.
Fiona Bruce and the team pay a return visit to the magnificent Broughton Castle near Banbury in Oxfordshire.
Objects exciting the team include two very large portraits depicting servants who worked at the castle in the 18th century, which art expert Philip Mould says are rare and sociologically highly significant.
We hear the story of the man who is believed to have flown the first scheduled air service in Britain before signing up to be one of the first combat pilots in the Royal Flying Corp in 1914.
And silver expert Ian Pickford is enthused by the arrival of the finest Chinese-made silver mug he has seen in over twenty years on the Roadshow.
Fiona Bruce and the team visit the moated manor house of Baddesley Clinton, just 15 miles from the bustle of Birmingham.
A busy day of valuations uncovers more fascinating finds, including a gruesome box containing a long wooden peg removed from a child's eye by a surgeon in the 1780s, a glittering diamond bracelet once worn by Hollywood star Rita Hayworth and a painting made by Lord Mountbatten of his family home.
There's also much conversation about a carving of St George banished to the organ loft for offending parishioners, and a visitor gets a stern warning from a Roadshow expert after stripping a rare wooden pedestal of its original paintwork.
A return visit to Baddesley Clinton near Solihull finds Fiona Bruce and the experts poring over more family heirlooms with memorable stories.
Treasures brought to the cameras include a silver box, described by an excited silver expert as exceptionally rare, which was once nearly subjected to drilling by the surprised owner. There is a revealing painting called The Nudist Colony's Annual Dinner Dance, and the show-closer finds two exquisite gold boxes once used by wealthy surgeons to apply snuff in the early days of the 19th century drawing gasps from the onlooking crowd.
Antiques Roadshow boards the Flying Scotsman for a special edition that celebrates the golden age of travel.
In a special edition, Fiona Bruce looks at the most talked about finds of the year and reveals some surprising updates. Art scholars searched for years for a missing work by eminent Victorian artist Alma-Tadema. Since appearing on the show, the newly restored painting has gone on to be disaplyed in an international exhibition. The owner of a group of valuable jade figures reveals how he used the proceeds of their sale in tribute to his late wife. There's a twist in the tale for the man who brought the original script for the classic film The Third Man to the Roadshow when he's taken on a surprise trip to meet a mysterious man in Vienna. Plus a look ahead to the locations for 2017 as the show approaches its 40th year on the road.
Fiona Bruce and the Antiques Roadshow team make a return visit to Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire to uncover more treasures. Amongst the objects featured are an extremely heavy Tudor table from a local pub that takes six sturdy men to move, an extensive collection of Maundy Money that excites expert John Foster, and a signed picture of Chairman Mao by Andy Warhol. Hilary Kay is thrilled to see an incredibly rare and valuable 18th-century painted silk dress which has been lying in a dressing up box for over 50 years.
As preparations begin to mark Holocaust Memorial Day later this month, Fiona Bruce and a small team of experts meet a remarkable group of British survivors whose lives were shattered by the events of World War II.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosts a special gathering as Jewish families come together to talk - many for the first time on television - about life under Hitler's tyranny. Precious objects that help tell their stories include family silver hidden from the Nazis, a pair of striped trousers worn in Auschwitz and a gold coin used by a family as vital currency when fleeing over the Pyrenees.
Broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky explains her role in the work of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, which involved conducting over a hundred interviews, and she meets again the woman who moved her most as she talks about life in Belsen. Relatives talk about the impact that is still wrought on their families, but there is hope in the form of four enormous quilts celebrating the lives of orphaned loved ones who were given refuge in the UK.
In a rare break from tradition, the items screened will not be valued due to their priceless nature and historical importance.
The team visit Burton Constable Hall near Hull. Objects inspected by Fiona Bruce and the experts include the first transatlantic airmail letter, brought on the plane piloted by Alcock and Brown in 1919, uncomfortable diaries of an SS officer imprisoned in Britain in World War II and letters from the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. The award for most curious acquisition of the day must go to a bronze figure which was swapped for fish and chip suppers. And one family bring in 1,500 shoe buckles obsessively collected by a late husband. His investment proved to be a wise decision, however, when expert Judith Miller delivers the valuation.
Fiona Bruce and the Antiques Roadshow team head to Burton Constable Hall near Hull, a property filled with family legends and treasures, including a remarkable cabinet of curiosities. Objects brought in by visitors are just as diverse, including a ship's anchor found in a garden pond and a medal given for heroism to a local sailor who helped break Captain Scott's ship out of Antarctic ice in 1901. There is also a rare example of early flat-pack furniture dating back to the 17th century. And for anyone interested in the wisdom of investing in antiques and collectibles, there is a revelation about how a decision to purchase a flimsy booklet proved a much better investment 30 years ago than buying a second-hand car.
Fiona Bruce and the team head to Caversham Park near Reading which, since World War II, was home to the BBC's Monitoring service, where many news stories have been broken by the team who listen in to international broadcasts. It is a busy day for the experts who specialise in written documents, as they examine items such as a very rare booklet containing notes made in the 17th century by one of Shakespeare's earliest readers. A chunky gold ring complete with a moving letter tells the story of a British family that joined the Californian gold rush in search of personal fortune in 1848. But star item of the day must go to some beautiful watercolour illustrations made in the early 19th century depicting people in southern India. After being told the jaw-dropping valuation, a stunned owner tells viewers that he promised the grandchildren an ice cream if the illustrations were worth more than £100.
In this Episode, the team arrive in west Wales at the birthplace of King Henry VII, Pembroke Castle. There is a royal line-up of relics brought in by visitors, which include a stick pin gifted to George V's page of the back stairs in Buckingham Palace. There are also mementoes from Queen Victoria's champion butter maker from Balmoral, which show the skills of a dairy maid. But most extraordinary is a collection of photographs that tell the poignant story of the last days of the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, while in captivity in 1917.
A return visit for Fiona Bruce and the experts to the beautiful setting of Pembroke Castle in West Wales. Objects featured include a beguilingly rare sapphire ring that changes colour in different light, Pope Pius XII's papal hat, and a collection of remarkable Anglo-Indian paintings from 1780 which were once used to decorate a village scout hut.
Fiona Bruce and the experts head to Senate House, Britain's first skyscraper and the striking art deco home to the University of London in the heart of Bloomsbury.
Objects brought in for scrutiny include elaborately decorated stained-glass panels found in a skip, the hoof of Lord Cardigan's charger Ronald, which bravely saw action at the battle of Balaclava, plus a French platinum and diamond bracelet which elicits one of the best reactions in Roadshow history when the owner learns its value.
Fiona Bruce and the team head for the beautiful gardens of Trelissick near Truro in Cornwall. Objects under examination by the experts include a bust of Churchill found at the bottom of a lake and a group of medals owned by a proud grandson. A lifebelt tells the graphic story of a shipwreck off the Lizard peninsula in which the crew were rescued in desperate circumstances.
Fiona Bruce and the experts set up camp at Ightham Moat near Sevenoaks in Kent, where they welcome 3,000 visitors laden with family heirlooms. Among the treasures are a gold ring containing a lock of Byron's hair, a remarkable cache of recently discovered postcards from 1916 which reveal how a British POW sent secret messages back to his family, and a boot-sale find of two Chinese paintings.
Fiona Bruce and the experts set up camp at Ightham Mote near Sevenoaks in Kent, where they welcome 3,000 visitors laden with family heirlooms. Amongst the treasures brought to camera are a gold ring containing a lock of Byron's hair, a remarkable cache of recently discovered postcards from 1916 which reveal how a British POW sent secret messages back to his family and two Chinese paintings
Fiona Bruce and the experts head to the banks of the Cyde to meet visitors bringing family heirlooms to the 18th-century cotton mill of New Lanark. As evidence that you should never throw anything out, treasures featured include a pearl necklace bought cheaply at a boot sale, a valuable clock found in a flea market, and a rare cuddly toy found abandoned in a skip. Plus there is a moment of disquiet when a guest reveals how a family painting is a reminder of an uncomfortable family secret that dates back to the days of Nazi Germany.
A return trip to New Lanark on the banks of the Clyde finds Fiona Bruce and the experts busy examining more family gems. Treasures brought before the cameras include diamond jewels found hidden in an upholstered chair, a claret jug rescued from the pawn shop and a banner for Britain's oldest subscription library, founded in 1741.
Fiona Bruce and the team are in the grounds of BBC Caversham near Reading.
Items featured include a communion book originally owned by the poet Wilfred Owen, an Aston Martin first driven by an RAF group captain in World War II, and a remarkably well preserved, finely embroidered stumpwork box from the 17th century that brings gasps of delight and surprise when its value is announced.
The team travel to the Lake District where Fiona Bruce and the experts meet hundreds of local visitors proudly bringing their family treasures for evaluation.
There's an eclectic mix of objects featured ranging from a writing desk from the Czars Palace bought after the Russian Revolution, over 100 vintage fire helmets owned by a former firefighter, Edwardian weight lifting equipment still in use today by a 75 year old owner, and a collection of glam rock stage costumes. But closing honours goes to a rare collection of signed first editions by Beatrix Potter still owned by descendants of the writer's solicitor.
In this Episode, Fiona Bruce introduces unscreened gems from recent shows. Experts investigate some fascinating finds, including a garnet and diamond cross believed by the owner to have been gifted by Marie Antoinette en route to the guillotine. A suitcase of unopened letters from an imprisoned soldier in World War I finally reveal their secrets. There is also an attractive Arts and Crafts casket once intended to be the final resting place of a grandmother's ashes. And an emblem of survival amidst the chaos and destruction of Berlin at the end of World War II is touchingly depicted by a plaque of a butterfly made from crushed brick, tiles and broken glass taken from the ruins.
