Cheltenham Town Hall 1 Antiques Roadshow

Our location today has a lot to thank the humble pigeon for.

You can tell the town is grateful because you can see them on top of

the signposts scattered around the town, sculpted for posterity.

So what has the pigeon got to do with

the success of a Regency spa town?

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow from Cheltenham.

The story of how the town became a fashionable health resort

began in 1716, when people noticed pigeons pecking at salty deposits

left around a spring in a local field.

And then when King George III came to stay in 1788 -

he'd been told by his physician that drinking the waters would be

good for his poorly tummy - then the town really took off.

Hannah Forty couldn't afford to drink the spa water,

but she was the town's pumper, handing it out to paying visitors.

George III was so impressed with her that he commissioned her portrait,

thought to be the earliest picture of a Cheltenham resident.

She did that job for 43 years.

At the height of its popularity, there were 19 spas in the town,

each competing with the others

to see who could provide the best entertainment,

and some of the best acts of the age came -

famous names like Paganini, Liszt, Grieg,

and Sibelius performed at our venue, here at Cheltenham Town Hall.

There was even a spa here, opened in June 1906 to revive

the fading fortunes of the town and its drinking water.

By then, few doctors - if any, really - were recommending

the waters as a miracle cure, but it was still an attraction for tourists

and for local people, and the women of Cheltenham were still serving

the waters from these magnificent Doulton urns here in the town hall.

And in 1932 the two pumpers were sisters.

Here they are, Lillian and Gladys Bird.

Sadly, the pump doesn't work any more

and looking at the queues today,

we may all need a pick-me-up, especially our busy experts,

ready to get another Roadshow under way.

Have you got anybody violent in your family?

-No.

-What happened to this?

It was broken when we bought it.

You must have liked it a lot, to buy a cracked pot.

Well, it was such a lovely colour.

-It is, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Where did you buy it?

-In York, in a saleroom.

-How long ago?

-In the '50s.

Cost you a lot of money?

Masses. £5.

-Really?

-Mm.

Well, this is a guan, which is a wine jar.

-It's a class of porcelain which is called transitional.

-Yes.

It's from the end of the Ming Dynasty

through the beginning of the Ching Dynasty

and this is about 1630,

so we can forgive it for being cracked.

Could you tell me how much it would cost to restore?

-I can't tell you exactly.

-No.

-And I don't think a restorer could either.

-No.

Because once you start cleaning and breaking down,

all sorts of things might come to issue,

but I think probably £600-£800.

-Oh, really?

-Which I know sounds like a lot of money...

-No.

-..but think of it as giving to posterity...

-Yes.

-..a better pot.

-Yes.

I love this watery blue that you always get,

and then the cracked ice,

and then down here with this vine leaf and polychrome grapes.

And have you noticed what's rustling about in the leaves?

I don't know if they're squirrels or not.

-This pattern is called Squirrel In Grapevine.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Oh.

-But they're not.

-Oh. Ah.

-They're tree rats.

-Oh.

-Which I think's even nicer.

Yes.

Well, the market now is very strong for transitional wares,

particularly with a pattern like this, which is rare.

Right.

And I think that a dealer in an auction sale would look at this

and say, "I can see that cleaned up,

"£4,000-£6,000."

Gosh! I thought you'd say about £50!

Well, even that would have shown you a profit!

Well, it would, yes.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

We see lots of samplers on the Roadshow, and I like them,

but in the end, you think, "OK, another sampler,

"another child who ruined their eyesight putting it all together."

They're a great piece of sort of social history,

but very, very few tell a specific story.

Now, this one is different, because it's actually,

in a sense, it's almost like a tombstone, because it's a memorial

to an engine driver who was killed in an accident in 1840.

And this is very specific. Did you buy it for that reason?

No, I bought it for the frame, in actual fact.

I saw it in a flea market and it had another picture inside,

and found this underneath.

-So you had no idea it was there?

-No, no idea at all.

-What did you think?

I just loved it when I... As soon as I saw it, I thought,

"Wow! What a fantastic find!"

-You're so lucky.

-Yeah, I know.

Now, I have to say, this is known in printed versions, you know,

it's a wonderful sort of classic early railway epitaph.

But what I've never seen is the idea of it done as a sampler,

and it just brings to life, A - samplers and children

who had to learn their sewing skills in that way,

B - the risky life of early railway drivers and engineers and employees.

1840, really only ten years into

the development of the British railway network,

from the Liverpool and Manchester, and suddenly you've got

this sort of wonderful commemoration of one of these great events.

But of course the most important bit is really this,

where the man is seeing himself as an engine

that's come to the end of his life.

It was written by, obviously, a friend of Oswald Gardner, who died.

And I have to quote some of it, I can't resist it, really.

"Life's railway's o'er, each station's past,

"In death I'm stopped and rest at last.

"Farewell, dear friends, and cease to weep!

"In Christ I'm safe, in Him I sleep."

Now, that'll do for me, thank you very much.

-I'll have that on my tombstone any time.

-Yes, it is lovely.

It's so wonderful. It's valuable because, you know,

if this was just a sampler, you'd be looking at £150-£200.

Factor in early railway history,

the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, then in its infancy,

oh, you're looking now at

sort of £300-£500, I should think, straightaway.

-Oh, lovely. Thank you very much.

-Just because of the railway.

-Super, yes.

The trophy belonged to a friend of my father's and they both used to

go to Brooklands, and the friend had his own racing cars.

My father used to go and support him. Sometimes he had to go as a passenger

because some of the races required that,

but this particular thing is related to one of his best wins,

which was the Long Norfolk Handicap at Brooklands in 1932.

But unfortunately he died when he was quite young

and this was passed to my father, and when my father died, I got it.

-And it's got a little plaque here on the front.

-Yes.

"Long Norfolk Handicap," I think it says,

and he broke the speed record there.

-Really?

-Yes.

And it's got the speed - for a little Riley, over 90 miles an hour.

Yes, that's the average speed,

so he must have been going well over the top of that.

And if you've ever been to Brooklands,

-it's a very steep oval track...

-Yes, yes.

-..and very dangerous.

-Yes, it was dangerous, but these young men liked to do it.

-Fantastic.

Well, the sculptor - as it shows here on the reverse -

is Richard Lang, who's German,

and he did the original sculpt about 1928,

so just a few years before this trophy was actually presented.

-Right.

-What I love about it is the energy, isn't it?

-Yes.

You can see the speed.

-Almost...

-They're crouching over the wheel, the mechanic is looking

out at the side and there's smoke and dust coming out.

You expect the dust to come into your face when you're standing here.

-Lots of movement.

-Yes, it's wonderful.

Fantastic, and I have to say, because it's such a great bronze,

it has been replicated and reproduced over the years.

-Yes, I guess there are many of them.

-But not of these nice original ones.

-Oh, good.

-I love it,

and it's got lovely history and it's all original.

I would expect at auction it would fetch between,

well, £3,500-£5,000.

Gosh! I'm amazed because I thought there were lots of them about,

but that's very nice.

But I'm not going to sell it, it's too precious.

Some people might be offended at looking at a picture like this

of a pregnant lady and the way this has been painted,

in such a distinctive style, with these brush strokes,

it can only be one artist, which is John Bratby.

-Indeed.

-Do you know who the sitter is?

Um, I was taking the picture to be reframed, because as you know

-he had his own way of things framing and it all fell off.

-Yes.

One of my neighbours is a lecturer at the local art college.

He said, "Kate, what are you doing with a picture of Jean Cooke?"

and when he was at the Royal College of Art,

Bratby was one of his tutors, and Jean was there, as well.

He married Jean and this is her pregnant.

I'm sure it's her, in fact.

-Good.

-It looks just like her from the pictures I've seen before.

He's an extraordinary man.

I mean, I used to go and see him in his studio in Hastings

and he divorced Jean and married somebody else later on,

but a very colourful character.

As we all know - or I know -

he's famous for his kitchen sink work...

-Yes.

-..which was the late '50s, early '60s.

Then he went into this brighter palette, then he became

famous for painting sunflowers and then he sort of went out of fashion,

and I met up with him in the late 1980s when he started putting

things into auction for sale and suddenly his prices went right up.

And he died in the early '90s. And when did you buy this?

The early '70s, early to mid '70s.

Yeah, where do you have this hanging?

In my drawing room, always.

What do people think about it when they come to your house?

The paper boy objected.

He was in the same class as my youngest daughter at school

and said, "Your mum's got dirty pictures in her sitting room."

-Not everybody likes it, no.

-No, what did you pay for that then?

It's somewhere between 200 and 400.

Well, that's irrelevant by today's standards

-because he is back in fashion.

-Really?

Yeah, and I would think, to the right buyer,

that's worth about £3,000 to £5,000 today.

I am surprised. Thank you.

Word has come into the show that something remarkable

has arrived from Cheltenham Race Course.

I thought we'd see some horse memorabilia turn up

being here at Cheltenham, of course, Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Never thought we'd see a table with horse legs!

-Where has this come from?

-It's from our stewards' room.

The stewards adjudicate if things go wrong during races.

And it's a working table, it's been there for 50 or 60 years,

we don't really know how long,

and actually when the new weighing room, where the stewards work,

was built, it had to almost be built around this table, and today is

the first time we've actually managed to get it out for about 50 years.

So this is the table where stewards will sit if a jockey

has misbehaved in some way, or is accused of misbehaving in some way.

So there's been a few sweaty moments around this table, then?

Some very sweaty moments around that table, yeah.

And with these legs on,

I mean, you could put a tenner on that in the 3:30, couldn't you?

You could, it might not be fast enough, but you could.

What did you have to do to get it out?

Well, we had to take the doors off at the back of the weighing room

and then get it on its side,

and we had about half an inch of clearance so it was tight,

but we're looking forward to finding out much more about it.

Well, here's something you don't see every day.

Two specialists - you glass, me pictures -

and they're all owned by you?

-Yes.

-Now, where did you get this cluster of lovely goods from?

I got those paintings from car boot,

and those decanters in one second-hand goods shop.

These are really good! I mean, how much...

What's the story, how much did you pay?

-£22.

-£22. You're made of money(!)

Well, they're very nice.

They are about 1910, they're made in Czechoslovakia,

in the style that is associated with Moser.

They are bone-cut,

gilded and they are just what the market wants.

A segment of the market wants bling, and these are bling.

The condition is just out of this world,

they're like they came out of the works, 1910, Bohemia.

Value - conservative, you selling at auction, low, low...

3,000 quid. Over to you, Philip.

-3,000 quid?

-3,000 quid.

Blimey, OK, how am I going to improve upon that?

What you have here is something, as they say, completely different.

You have three works by a very esteemed French artist

who is still alive.

He was born in 1925 and his name is Jean Cortot.

Now, Cortot became particularly famous in the '50s and '60s.

He was known for his tapestries, his love of philosophy,

his love of art, which he attempted to ply into his paintings.

How much did you pay for these three?

A pound each, at a car boot.

A pound each at a car boot sale, OK.

-And immediately after, I was offered £10.

-You were?

I'm not at all sorry you didn't take it,

because you have a painting at the top here

worth £1,000,

you have one beneath worth about £300 or £400,

and the other about £300 or £400.

Now, I know that adds up to less than the glass.

And so, for the first time ever

in the history of the Antiques Roadshow, glass beats paintings!

-However, however...

-Ah, what are you going to say now?

However, just consider the increment,

because you paid only £1 each for those.

My God, you had to pay a lot for those!

LAUGHTER

We're going to take this table all the way through,

so we need a big space cleared.

OK, fine. What's your trajectory?

You're going to take it...?

We're having a few problems getting it through the doors here, as well.

Unsurprisingly!

Yes, I think we might have to take the hinges off, possibly.

I can't imagine how many there are here.

All these fabulous printed pieces of material.

How on earth did you get started?

Well, it started when I was 17, I was at Leicester Art College

and we just used to go to the local market,

and because I did textiles,

I just used to collect all these fabulous squares.

I mean, I didn't actually know what they were for

and other people used to cut up the fabrics,

but I decided to collect them and I've been doing it for 43 years.

-And my first one I bought was two old pence.

-Yes.

And now I buy them in a variety of places really,

off the Internet, antique fairs, for £5 upwards, I suppose.

The clue as to exactly what they are, of course, comes in here.

Yes, because I didn't know what they were for, really.

-I couldn't believe that people blew their nose on them.

-I know.

I mean, here is a lovely packet

of these fabulous printed handkerchiefs,

-and that's what they are.

-Oh, right.

-Nothing more or less exciting.

But actually, these are handkerchiefs

when you could make a statement

-by bringing out a handkerchief.

-Oh, right.

You could show that you were stylish by bringing out a hankie with

Parisian poodles on it.

You could show that you were well-travelled by bringing one out

-with Italy on it.

-Oh, I see, yes.

It said a lot about YOU and, you know, what kind of a girl you were,

according to the handkerchief that you had.

I mean, they weren't that expensive and they came in silk

and they came in rayon and they came in cotton

and they came in all those materials,

but I think the sum of all these parts

makes it into this extraordinary sort of kaleidoscope, doesn't it?

-Yes.

-So is this your entire collection?

No, I've got about another 200 at home.

-Because I just love...

-I'm almost speechless.

-Yes.

So how... I haven't counted these.

So you've got 200 at home, how many are here?

I think there's about 180 here, something like that.

So getting on for 400 in total.

Well, 400-odd, they must be worth £800-£1,000.

-Oh, well, that's nice.

-Maybe more than that. Maybe £1,200.

-I mean, they are just beautiful.

-Oh, thank you.

My father always used to say that a good piece of English furniture -

actually a good piece of antique furniture -

would look as if it's going to walk off the room.

He'd never seen this, but this looks likes it could jump...

It certainly does qualify on that front!

Now, the interesting thing is its period.

And where did it actually come from? I've not seen its like before,

-so I'm starting from scratch.

-Yeah.

I can't say, "There's one in this museum."

But I think it's Spanish and I think it's about 1840.

That's from the style and the fact that it is walnut.

And, originally, I don't think it had those iron braces underneath

because each leg is chunks of walnut,

which would be braced inside.

OK? I'm quite convinced that the iron work is later.

It was such a gimmick at that time.

How astounding, but of course people would take care,

and thank goodness they put those struts,

-because by now it could give way.

-Yeah.

When was the Jockey Club formed?

Well, the Jockey Club's been going since 1750, so plenty of time.

I would think that some time during the 19th century

this came up at auction and somebody said, "We've got to have it,"

and that would make sense.

I'm going to have another look. It really is quite wonderful, isn't it?

What a great, great, great idea.

Well, having got it out, we'd better have a think about...

I mean, is it...? Presumably, it's insured?

It's insured under the general insurance, but not specifically, no.

Really?

Goodness knows, this could make any money in the horse-racing field.

-Not that it will ever be sold, will it?

-No.

It's an academic question, really, or an academic answer.

But as a table on the open market,

probably between £15,000 to £20,000.

-Lovely.

-And I know people who'd give more. I think it could go on and on.

-Who's to say?

-As you say, it's academic, it will never be sold.

Well, thank you for letting me see it,

thank you for going to all that work, it's made my day.

-No, it's been a...

-Especially if it wins.

-..pleasure to find out more about it.

-Oh, good, thank you.

Thank you.

MUSIC: Theme from "Horse Of The Year Show"

It's so easy to jump to the wrong conclusions,

because looking at these -

the stylised elephants supporting globes -

I mean, they look, for all the world, Art Deco,

they just scream 1920s,

but somehow I think there's more to them than that.

What can you tell me about them?

They were my grandparents', who were born in the late 1800s.

Right, so taking them back to that time.

I know... Further back than that, I don't know.

They then, of course, passed to my parents, who passed them on to me.

Now down to you, that's right. Pair of oil lamps. I mean,

the tops would have supported the glass fittings.

Have you got the glass tops for them?

I haven't. I'm trying to get hold of some.

We have some fittings, which look old, but aren't.

Right, I mean, these would need quite dramatic fittings

because these are fairly early.

Let's look - there's the press marks on them,

and that's what I want to see.

It's not easy to read, but had you noticed there's a mark here?

-I had noticed it, but couldn't read it.

-Right.

Well, you can see "wood" going backwards there,

there's the "wood" of Wedgwood,

and there's... Those little initials against it is a year code.

-Right.

-Which is awfully helpful,

and there you've got the date letter "G", which is...

-HE MUTTERS

-My maths... 1878.

-Oh, right.

-So they were made in 1878 exactly.

-And actually, that's quite early for this sort of design.

-Yes.

They must have been very exotic at that time.

I suppose the influence would be Japan.

At that time, in the 1870s, Japan art was just being exhibited

for the first time, and it caused a huge influence

on pottery makers, including firms like Wedgwood.

And that brings to mind, perhaps, one of the most important designers

working at Wedgwood at the time, and that's Dr Christopher Dresser.

I see. Right.

That's a name that means quite a lot to us, because he was really

the great innovator of so much design ahead of his time.

Particularly, he was interested in Japanese art, and so one wonders

if he might have had some input into these.

I mean, there's unfortunately little known about which ones Dresser did,

but certainly there's the influence here

-of Christopher Dresser's work, I think.

-Oh, lovely.

And so the combination of great design for 1870s,

Wedgwood name, which is wonderful, a pair is super.

Just lost the original mounts,

but they're going to be pretty valuable, I think.

Um, about £1,500.

For the pair. £1,500 for a pair of oil lamps, right. That's amazing.

Our silver specialist Alistair Dickenson has given me

a rather terrifying responsibility. He's brought in three silver plates.

One is worth £1,000, one is worth £8,000 and one is worth £100,000!

So if it goes missing, I shall be in a lot of trouble.

Yes, it's this week's Basic, Better, Best challenge.

I'm going to see what our visitors think,

and why don't you have a look and see what you think at home, as well?

So, let's work our way up from the bottom.

Which do you think is the basic one?

-Um, I think, I'd go for... this as the basic one.

-OK.

And I'd go for this as the better,

and I'd go for this one here as the best.

And why do think this is it?

Because I've a funny feeling that it looks older than the others

and I think older things are often simpler -

this seems somehow simpler and perhaps it's more sought after

because it's rarer in that right, so that's my guess.

-I would say basic is that.

-Yeah.

Best and better.

And why do you think this one is the best one?

Because it's got the most detail around the edge.

-So it's got the lovely border, £100,000.

-Absolutely.

-I think...the basic one is that one.

-That one, OK.

And the better one's that one.

-OK.

-And the best one's that one.

And why do you think this is the £100,000?

I just think it looks a bit more expensive than...

I don't really know that much about antiques.

Well, if you're right - even at your tender age -

you will have the eye of an expert.

We'll find out.

They belonged to my father, who was a Norwegian

and who worked for the Norwegian resistance during the Second World War,

and they were the shoes that he wore when he was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944,

and they were the shoes he wore when he escaped across the mountains towards Sweden.

He must have been a very brave man.

Yes, and he was actually right underneath the Germans,

I mean, the Germans were right there with him on a day-to-day basis,

and he was working for the resistance right the way through.

Well, the resistance in every country that was occupied by the Axis powers -

by Germany in particular - the resistance was incredibly important to the Allies winning the war.

And without these amazingly brave men and women, it's very likely that

the outcome of the Second World War would have been completely different.

-Yes.

-And what sort of things did he do?

He was photographing German military installations up and down the coast.

-You mean he had a camera?

-Yes, he had a little Leica camera

and he took photographs through the buttonhole of his coat, and he would send the film -

the microfilm - to the Allies underneath postage stamps.

-This is one of the stamps that he...

-Yes.

So if I lift this up - look at that!

-Yeah.

-Isn't that incredible?

And this is absolutely one of the stamps that he would have sent.

Yes, I found it in an old envelope a month ago.

-You didn't even know it existed until a month ago?

-No, no,

and then I found that and I thought, "Papa, there it is."

-That's an incredible thing.

-Yes.

Have you got a photograph of him, do we know what he looks like?

-Yes, it's here.

-Oh, it's here.

-It's just here, and, I mean, he was a lovely man, full of fun.

-This is him.

Great character, we adored him, and he died 50 years ago,

but I have very good memories of him, very fond memories, and every time

I discover something new, it's as if he talks to me, which is wonderful.

It sounds like it's making you feel very emotional.

Yes, it does sometimes, yes, yes. But it's a good emotion, yes.

You've brought this letter, which is typewritten,

but also written in ink - what's the relevance of that?

Yeah, it's just an ordinary typewritten letter

with ordinary everyday things on -

"I haven't seen you for a while," and so on -

and then underneath, the blue writing is actually the invisible ink

instructions that he would have got from the resistance movement.

And we can't read a lot of it, but for instance, here, it says

"Otteroy" which was an island where he was actually eventually arrested.

And he was arrested photographing a German submarine station -

a U-boat station - and he was taken on board a ship and given

an armed guard and handcuffed underneath his knees, and then

the ship went across to Andalsnes, where he was...

It was moored overnight and he was due to be taken to Dombas,

to Gestapo headquarters, the next day by train,

and he would have been interrogated - which was torture.

-His brother was very badly tortured and then executed.

-Oh, my goodness.

And he would have been executed,

he was told he would be when he was arrested.

-Absolutely, because he was spying.

-Yes, he was.

And in the middle of the night, my father woke

and realised the guard was asleep, so he got out,

and within three quarters of an hour of his escape,

900 soldiers and tracker dogs were sent out to look for him.

Good grief.

And what's that photograph, which shows a man jumping on a tree?

It's lovely, isn't it? It was taken in the 1930s of him tree-leaping.

-Sorry?

-Tree-leaping.

-What's tree-leaping?!

-Well, it's my word for it.

He and his brother spent a lot of time in the mountains as young men

and they found that if you pulled a sapling down into the snow,

-you could use it like a pole vault.

-Good grief.

But he used that technique after his escape so that he didn't

-leave his footprints in the snow for the soldiers to follow.

-What a clever idea!

Well, what you have here is a testament to an incredibly brave man.

He knew - because of the fate of his brother -

-he knew what would await him if he was captured.

-Yes.

So he was very brave, and of course he was one amongst many

-other brave soldiers who carried out this sort of activity.

-Yes, he was, yes, yes,

with no training, that's the thing,

-they weren't soldiers.

-So he was a civilian.

-Yes, he was.

I mean, you know, there is such an interest in Second World War

special operations executive, for example, or clandestine operations,

or spying - and do you have more than this, by the way?

Oh, yes, I've got the arrest warrants that went out for him,

one in German, one in Norwegian.

-So you've got a lot of other items.

-Yeah, yes.

Well, you know I can see someone paying £1,000 or £2,000 for this.

I know, for scraps of paper and a pair of old shoes!

Yes, I know, but they're so precious.

Precious to you, of course it is, and to his memory.

-Yes, yes.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Remember these?

Our silver specialist Alistair Dickenson set us a challenge.

One plate - the basic one - is worth £1,000.

The better one, £8,000, and the best one, a whopping £100,000.

Our visitors have been having a look,

and there was quite a consensus, actually,

so I've decided to go with that consensus.

Alistair, this is what I think.

Well, I don't know whether to be pleased or disappointed,

but you've got this right.

Oh, be pleased, Alistair, go on!

This, as the basic, I valued at £1,000.

It was made in 1740 by George Hindmarsh, and the reason why

this one is basic is that it's only one from a set of 12.

The next one - we're moving back in time 50 years earlier,

to the reign of William and Mary.

Plates become much rarer at that period, very simple, very elegant.

Simple, largely because during the Civil War in the mid-17th century,

huge amounts of silver were melted down to pay for the armies,

and so silver was scarce during the decades following the Civil War.

So this was made in 1692, maker's mark "IA".

We don't know who the maker's mark is, because there was a fire

at the London Assay Office, so this one is valued at £8,000.

Now, before you come to this one, I just want to tell you,

most of the people I spoke to - and I - felt this was the best,

the £100,000 plate, just because it looks the oldest.

It was no more scientific than that.

-Is that the right reason?

-It's partly the reason.

It's... The main reason is the history behind this particular dish.

This comes from the earliest known hallmarked service called

The Armada Service.

-Now, that is a complete misnomer...

-Oh.

..because the earliest dish from this set is actually dated 1581,

which is seven years earlier than the actual Armada, which was 1588.

But each one has the crest at the top of Sir Christopher Harris.

He worked for Sir Walter Raleigh,

he also was related to Sir Francis Drake by marriage,

so the combination of all these things,

people called it "The Armada Service", but it wasn't.

-It's not actually a dinner plate, this is a spice dish.

-Oh.

-And...

-Hence the unusual shape and the raised mound in the middle.

Yes, yes and it's slightly deeper than the others.

Now, during the Civil War, the Harris family hid all these dishes

and they were found in 1827 by farm labourers in a cave,

and the local paper said there were upwards of 30 of these.

-And how many are there in existence now?

-The British Museum have 26.

-There's this one and one other...

-28.

-So...

-Ooh...

-There are some more out there.

Well, there's a challenge for you, isn't it?

If you think you might have one of those pieces of Armada silver

just lying neglected at home, bring it along to a Roadshow,

we'd love to see it. You can find out where we'll be visiting on our website.

So whenever I see an early wrist watch that comes in,

-I always get rather excited.

-Good.

I see quite a few of them, but this one's just a little bit special.

-Yes.

-Let's just give it a quick... Ping the lid.

Yes, which I didn't know about, yes.

-You didn't know about it?

-I didn't know.

-I opened it this way, but...

-Ah, so the mechanism to open it.

I didn't know that.

But I believe you do know what it does, or what it's for.

Yes, it's for somebody with minimal sight, or absolutely blind,

as indeed my grandmother was for about 40 years.

She used to tell the time, and she did this all day long,

she wanted to know the time of day, and she'd go very, very gently

and she'd feel it straightaway, she'd tell us the time.

If you were wrong she'd say,

"No, no, darling I think it's 2.55, not 3."

-Really?

-Yes, really.

-And she was always accurate.

This was always accurate, yes.

And so to her fingers - because a blind person's fingers are often,

they have that fineness, don't they?

-Yes.

-Does history relate in your family how she came by it?

No, it doesn't, but she was a very interesting person.

-She was born in 1875.

-Right.

-And she taught Oscar Wilde's children at nursery school.

-Where was that?

-That was in Dulwich, I think. That's where she lived.

-Right.

-That's fascinating, did she tell you all about that?

-I know.

A little bit, but of course, I was 20-something when she died,

and so, you know, Oscar Wilde was just a name I'd heard.

-I would ask her much more now, but...

-Fascinating.

-I think it's lovely. I see very few of them.

-Really?

Yeah, very, very few.

Blind people's or impaired-sighted people's watches were...

I mean, they were being made

as early as the early part of the 19th century,

or latter part of the 18th century.

There was a man called Abraham Louis Breguet -

probably the most famous

Swiss-French watch maker of his generation -

he died in 1821 - and he made a number of blind people's watches.

I think it's great.

It's nine-carat gold, it's a Swiss movement by Tavannes, who were...

who made large numbers of wrist watches and pocket watches,

but what is nice is that it's from the 1910-1920 period

and it's still, the mechanism for the cover still operates, but what's

great is that you, you know, you can feel where each quarter mark is

by the two bobbles - for want of a better way of putting it.

-Yes, you can.

-And each five minutes has got one single,

and the hands are robust,

so you can tell where the hands are.

Value is relatively small. Interest, very high.

I think it's a super watch. If I tell you it's worth £300 to £400 -

and I wouldn't be surprised if it made £400 or £500 at auction today,

maybe a little bit more.

-I don't think I'll sell it.

-I don't think you could.

-Not with that history.

-No.

-But thanks for bringing it in.

-Pleasure.

59 years ago, my mother's mum saw in a national paper an advert

for this doll, and they sent away for her,

and she arrived a few weeks later,

and they actually put her in the window

in a village in Ramsbury in Wiltshire,

and she was on display for about a week for the Coronation.

How amazing.

And, now, you're holding a card which, actually, I don't believe.

It says, "This doll says 'Mummy - where have you been?

"'Take me to London to see the Queen

"'What shall we see in London town?

"'The Queen on her throne with her golden crown.'"

And then she sings...

She sings God Save The Queen, how does all that happen?

She does. I'll lay her down...

..and you just press this little button down here

and then it's like a little record,

you have to have it just the right speed, it doesn't sound very clear.

SQUEAKING

And then she sings.

VAGUELY TUNEFUL SQUEAKING

That's it!

-It sounds as if you've got a strangling kitten in there!

-I know!

I did ask my mum if it was any clearer when she was new,

-but she said, "Not particularly."

-You can actually make it out.

Yes, much easier when you... when you know what the words are.

Exactly. What an extraordinary

and wonderful and slightly spooky object. Do you like her?

-Not particularly.

-Oh, shame.

-I think she's a bit scary,

especially when she opens her eyes, and the fact her head wobbles around.

Yes, she's got a slightly loose head, hasn't she?

And I'm sure those eyes follow you around the room, don't they?

-They do.

-She's not marked.

I mean, it's possible that there were makers out there -

Mark Payne is one - it's possible, but I can't say for certain.

Well, I mean, I think that, you know, emotion is running very high

at the moment for anything to do with the Queen

and her Coronation and so on, so I would put her value at around

perhaps £80 to £120, as a wonderful novelty,

but I don't think there are a huge number of people,

perhaps outside your family, who love her.

No, I'm not sure there's many in the family, either!

THEY LAUGH

Can I tell you what I like about this bit of jewellery?

-I like the balance...

-Right.

..between the top cluster and the drop,

because you know how and why these things were made?

I think they were made to be worn - how can I put this delicately? -

in the swell of the "embonpoint". Can you imagine?

So it sort of sits in the...

-you know what I'm trying to say, anyway, yes?

-Yes, I do.

-I mean, I'm assuming it's a family piece.

-It is, yes.

How's it floated down the generations to you, then?

-I inherited it in 1985 from a great aunt.

-What do you think about it?

-Do you like it?

-I like it, yeah. I think it's really pretty.

-Do you wear it?

-I have worn it in the past,

I think it's pretty enough and modern enough to wear.

-Yes, because it's timeless.

-Yes.

-Now, do you know why?

Because it's so well made. You've got a beautiful...

I mean, look at the lustre of the main pearl there.

Let me just lift that like that... And it's got a real - I don't know,

we use these words, but it's got a real integrity about it.

Lovely diamonds going round the outside, diamond drop stones

and then you've got this different-looking pearl drop

suspended at the bottom in a lovely cap,

like a sort of acorn style to it,

-like an acorn look.

-Yeah, yeah.

So, do you know what sort of pearls they are?

-No, not at all.

-Well, what they are, are natural pearls.

Now, I make that distinction because in the world of pearls,

-there are lots and lots of different types of pearls.

-Right.

There are cultured pearls, and quite a lot of people - quite a lot of people here today -

will have a cultured pearl necklace.

-There are simulated pearls, which are just beads.

-Yes.

Natural pearls are the ones that come from oysters,

and do you want to know what are incredibly in, at the moment?

-Pearls?

-Natural pearls.

-OK.

You know, in the 1920s, when Mikimoto introduced the world to

cultured pearls, the market for natural pearls sunk without trace.

Nowadays, people are recognising them for what they are

-and these are what we call natural, salt-water pearls.

-Right. OK.

Date of manufacture - well, I know it's got that rather nice box

but I'm not sure the box is quite the same period as the piece.

I think this was probably made in about 1900.

So it's got great balance, it would look terrific when it was worn,

it's just the right period that everyone likes at the moment,

and you've got pearls.

And value...

-..£8,000 to £10,000.

-No! No.

-Yes.

Can't believe that, can't believe that.

Why? Because they're natural pearls.

That's wonderful. Thank you.

Pleasure.

Do you remember how I told you at the beginning of the programme about

the great acts, the classical performers and composers

that conducted here and played here at Cheltenham Town Hall?

Well, someone has brought along a scrap book from the '70s

of the bands that played here then. So the musical tradition continued.

Who have we got?

The New Seekers...

Who else have we got here...?

Vinegar Joe...

Genesis... Oh, my goodness, they're all here -

Mott The Hoople, Thin Lizzy.

Do you know, I think there's quite a few of the experts here

who might remember these bands!

From Cheltenham Town Hall and all of the Roadshow team, bye-bye.