Antiques, Bakewell and Moor

Two Antiques attend a Roadshow! – starting this account of what we did today (26/10/17) and then will backtrack over the last few days in York.  So yes, we went to the Antiques Roadshow in Newcastle, a mere hour away by train.  We planned our day pretty well, arriving at the venue at 8.50am, to join a queue of about 150. Doors opened at 9.15 (earlier than the advertised time of 9.30). The whole process of getting people in, assessing which expert to see, and then finally seeing that person was like a well-oiled machine. B and I went our separate ways – me to miscellaneous, and B to books.  I had a one on one with Paul Atterbury (I knew him from watching the tv show).  He was quite delightful and looked at my small brass thread counter saying it most probably one used by a buyer of material to check the quality. He said it could fetch maybe 40 quid (more than I was expecting, but not hoping for obviously!!).  I also had a strange button type object that he decided was a semi-precious stone set in brass and would have been part of a stud worn on a shirt or similar.  He hoped I had not come all the way from NZ to get these valued (ie make a fortune!) I reassured him that that was not the case and that we were just taking advantage of the fact that the programme coincided with our trip. A look of relief came across his face.  We chatted about NZ, I shook his hand and went on my way. I will let B tell you about her own valuation.  We met up again and planted ourselves as close to the action on a couple of segments being filmed for TV.  One was on the Mauritania, with pictures, ship’s plans, contracts, log books and local to the area. They film about 25 segments, of which not all will make the final cut. We saw Fiona Bruce (current presenter, very tall, she kept on taking her shoes off for filming).  After a while we found a rather nice sofa at the end of the room next to the armoury expert, to rest and lo and behold the local council press officer spied us and asked if he could take our photo, and then if we would each do a piece to camera about our day so far.  Naturally we were delighted to oblige!  It was on the council facebook page within about an hour!  So if you want a laugh just go onto Newcastle City Council facebook page and there we are!  After that excitement we needed some lunch so grabbed a cup of soup and sausage roll and made our way to an area that had another nice sofa to sit on, and relaxed out there.  We got the odd strange look from some others sitting there, but ignored those until we realised that we were actually in the “special holding pen” for people waiting to be called to speak with a producer and then go to the make up room for their spruce up before filming. We didn’t let this faze us, taking our time to sup & eat before finally with great grace leaving the area and wishing them all the best!  Such fun!  I would love to say that we learnt lots about antiques, and the history of them, but alas that is not the case because you can’t hear a thing – there are so many people, it is very noisy, The experts speak quite intimately to the hopeful attendee, and so all that nodding you see on TV is just because that’s all you can do really.  Two exceptions were the delightfully brash, entertaining and un PC appraisals of glass expert Andy McConnell, who asks people to put items on his table and then he talks about them all.  If a piece catches an expert’s eye, they fill out a form which then gets passed onto a producer, who then decides if it will make good tv viewing. From there, another producer checks out the backstory, the variety of scenes already shot etc etc, and then it may make it to the filming stage.  The other exception to learning about something came from when I did finally get close enough to hear an evaluation and historical account from expert Hilary Kay (she was lovely) about an object that was a sail press (valued at  £350 to-£400) and a snuff box painted with a whaling theme (£1500- £2000).  I was standing right next to the couple who owned it, but fear I won’t make the cut haha.  For me one of the biggest delights was people watching – they came with their hopes and dreams in shopping trollies, suitcases,  plastic bags, lolly tins, and they all bought heaps with them!!  The well-heeled, the op shoppers, the dignitaries, the slightly odd, the young, the Kiwi girls out for a day of fun!  (Carol, there has to be a play in this somewhere!!) I loved watching the technical aspects of filming – from the props people dressing the scenes, to the sound men wiring then up for sound, to the multitude of cameras and angles, to the last minute make up for the presenters and then how many “takes” before  “that’s a wrap”.  All very interesting and intriguing.  We spent the whole day there before catching our train back early evening.  The byline to the show is “Behind every treasure there’s a priceless story”.  We had a great day, it had its priceless moments and we are so pleased we made the effort to include this gem in our itinerary.

I know you will probably need a cuppa before reading further, but I will carry on anyway.

York is tale of two cities – First day – first city – we arrived on a Saturday – couldn’t believe how many people had come out to meet & greet us ………. Oh no hang on ……. They couldn’t have cared less about us – they were there on a hen do, or a stag do, any do as long as they could wear next to nothing, wear skyscraper heels, yell loudly & then stagger back on the mini coach, or train at the end of the night.  Second day – second city….. a different place, people going about their normal lives, a calm, ancient city readjusting after being bombarded on what the locals call “mad Saturday”.  Loved the Jorvik Viking centre.  Attended Evensong at York Minster on Sunday – a time to sit and reflect & revel in beautiful singing in one of the best settings in the world, then home to our central city pad for roast beef & Yorkshire puddings.

A day trip to Whitby, crossing the Yorkshire moors was fun. Fog so thick on the moors, and wind pretty brisk later that it was all very “Bronte-esque”. Whitby is a typical English seaside town (and in the middle of a mid term school break), very busy with folk eating fish n chips out of a box with a wee fork, or eating ice-creams, or candy floss, or Whitby rock.  We opted for a ride out of the harbour on a replica Endeavour.  Back to York via a trip on the NYR (North Yorkshire Railway) which passed through the village of Goathland (where the TV series Heartbeat was set).  Yesterday we walked the walls of this ancient city, and indulged in some good old-fashioned service and delicious “fancies” at the famous Bettys Tea Shop.

I want to make mention of again and to thank our good friends Di & Pete, Raewyn & Ron and Chris for looking after the house etc, and to all of you who are following the blog and responding, and to those of you who are sending us good and welcome messages of support.

Pam

So back to the beginning – after we left Paris, we had a night in London before we caught a train to Manchester and a coach to the small village of Bakewell in the Peak District. A delightful spot famed for its Bakewell puddings and tarts of which we sampled a few! Delicious. Loved the village, and we spent sometime walking around the various alleys and lanes exploring the area. We also spent a day at Chatsworth House and gardens. Loved strolling through the gardens in particular.

So, on to York and Pam has pretty much covered this. AR yesterday was great and I took along two classic novels written in shorthand and dating back to the 1930s. Alas of no great value, but not unexpected – who uses shorthand these days!

Today we picked up a car and have travelled to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lakes District through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Lovely to have a fine sunny day for this. Then our final 10 days in London – where has the time gone!

Barbara

A tart standing outside the pudding shop, Bakewell

Art installation at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire

Chatsworth Gardens

The Golden Fleece pub, York

Our view from our pew at Evensong, York Minster

Where's a horse when you need one! Pam trying to see if there are any pennies in the pilgrim's post on the Yorkshire Moors

Fog lifted but still a blustery day on the Moors

On the replica Endeavour heading out of Whitby Harbour into the North Sea

Part of the York City Wall

At Goathland Station - also known as the Harry Potter Station. Carriages on the left are holiday accommodation carriages

Teak carriages, only ones left in the country on the North Yorkshire Railway. We travelled in this as part of our day out on the Moors

View of York Minster from City Wall

Queueing for the Antiques Roadshow in Newcastle. Barbara towards front. Approximately 100 in front of us. It only took 10 minutes for the ones to join the queue behind us!

Pam with expert Paul Atterbury on the Miscellaneous table. Got his name wrong on the Facebook clip - shame!

Two classic antiques - priceless!

Lord Mayor of Newcastle looking hobbit-like beside presenter Fiona Bruce

Experts Ronnie Archer-Morgan and Andy McConnell on the glassware table - very entertaining

A thoroughly enjoyable day out