Treasure trove of finds at stately home

The Antiques Roadshow, something of a national institution with its familiar panel of touring experts, is celebrating its 40th year.

And to mark the occasion, it returned to North Yorkshire’s Castle Howard yesterday for a day of revelations.

“It’s spectacular - I think it’s quite possibly the finest country house in Britain,” said presenter Fiona Bruce.

“When I first started with Antiques Roadshow, visiting Castle Howard was top of my list.”

Antiques Roadshow, first filmed in May 1977, saw cameras roll at Hereford Town Hall as then presenter Bruce Parker and expert Arthur Negus welcomed visitors to the recording.

Four decades on, and to mark its 40th series executive editor Simon Shaw said he wanted to return to one of the show’s favourite locations, meaning the findings at Castle Howard are to feature in the opening programme.

“It’s a fantastic location for us to come back to and celebrate 40 years of the Antiques Roadshow,” said Mr Shaw.

“We wanted somewhere stand out as a nationally important location, with strong links to the show.

“We visited Castle Howard in 1999 so we thought we’d make a return.

“The people of Yorkshire have not let us down today and we’ve seen some magical treasures and shared some wonderful stories.

“I’ve spoken to people who have spent six hours queuing to see all our specialists.

“The roadshow is a national institution - people feel they have grown up with our experts and stories.

“It’s wonderful to see that four decades on, people are still doing that.”

More than 3,000 people, many carrying their most precious possessions, descended on the gardens for filming yesterday.

Among them, Graham and Dawn Pattison, from Pontefract, who brought along a seascape painting which had been purchased from a house-moving friend for £40.

“I just bought it because I like it,” the 68-year-old retired transport manager said. “I don’t think it’s particularly valuable.”

Annabel Scholey, a 28-year-old teaching assistant from Doncaster who attended the event with mother Rachel and son Jack, brought a Chinese teapot to be valued.

“The teapot was my great, great-grandmother’s and it has been passed down the female line,” she said.

“We found out it’s from 1850, Cantonese, hand-painted, with a bamboo spout. It’s worth £150 but I wouldn’t part with it.”

Many of the country’s leading antiques and fine arts specialists were on hand through the day to offer advice and valuations, although the show’s organisers remained tight-lipped on any special finds, so as not to spoil the surprise when the show is aired in the Autumn.

But it had been a “Yorkshire welcome”, said Fiona Bruce, and a joy to be filming in one of her favourite locations.

“I have always wanted to come to Castle Howard, ever since I started working on the roadshow 10 years ago,” said the presenter, who had stayed overnight in Malton ahead of the show. “This was my dream location and I’ve finally made it.

“I’ve had a look around, inside and out. It is just as fabulous as I thought it would be.

“You would think, that after years of the roadshow, that people would run out of things to show us. I’m grateful to see that is not the case, people still come along in their thousands and we still find the most remarkable valuables.

“We’ve all got stuff at home that we wonder about, that we’ve inherited or picked up at a car boot sale. It could be something valuable, something significant, or really something not much at all.”