Hundreds wait to see experts
Southwell Minster was transformed into a bustling television studio for the filming of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
It was the first time the minster had hosted the event and about 1,900 people attended, with the first arriving at about 7.30am.
The queue outside, which at one point included more than 100 people, disappeared only after 4pm as the organisers prepared to close the doors.
Inside, further queues snaked around the historic nave as people waited patiently to find out if their treasured possessions were of any value.
The minster was chosen by the BBC because of this year’s 900th anniversary of the nave.
Filming ended at about 7pm when everyone who had taken items had been seen by an expert.
The nave was split into nine sections for the various categories — clocks and watches, miscellaneous, books, collectables, jewellery and silver, ceramics, militaria, paintings and furniture.
The Antiques Roadshow, one of the BBC’s biggest outdoor broadcast operations, involves about 80 people including cameramen, the production team and around 20 antiques experts.
The programme’s new presenter, Fiona Bruce, welcomed people at reception and looked at the items.
She also visited The Workhouse, Southwell, where some of the programme was filmed.
Camera crews filmed interesting or unusual items and made use of the green outside the minster for some valuations in the afternoon sunshine.
The minster programme is one of a series of 26 and will be broadcast in the autumn.
Outside the minster, a marquee served Fairtrade tea and coffee to help increase Southwell’s profile as a Fairtrade town.
As well as the BBC staff, 23 stewards guided visitors and controlled the queues inside the minster (left).
They included Mrs Margaret Waddington (63) of Palace View, Southwell, a regular steward, who is the membership secretary for the Friends of Southwell Minster.
She said it was exciting to be involved in the Roadshow.
“It is a good thing for the minster and emphasises the 900-year anniversary,” she said.
She took her own antique, a mug marking Armistice Day at the end of the first world war.
“My grandparents had it and I just brought it out of interest,” Mrs Waddington said.
