Crowds turn out with their treasures as the Antiques Roadshow crew rolls into civic centre
Video Reporter TELEVISION favourite the Antiques Roadshow attracted huge crowds when it arrived on Tyneside yesterday.
Fans queued for more than an hour to see the popular show filmed and have their treasures valued at Newcastle Civic Centre. They brought fascinating items ranging from paintings to grand clocks to military memorabilia.
Presenter Fiona Bruce was on hand for the most exciting finds at the Civic Centre. She said: “It’s lovely. I love coming to Newcastle.
“I’ve been here many times and always enjoy meeting people here.
“I’ve met lots of people today with great stories about things they have brought in.”
This will be the 40th anniversary series of Antiques Roadshow.
Newcastle had the honour of being the final stop on the filming tour, with the new episodes due to be broadcast in the New Year.
Fiona said: “It was such a shame to finish the series, but lovely to do it here.
“I’m glad at this time of year we are indoors and it’s such an extraordinary building. And lots and lots of people have come and we are going to have a great day I know.”
The Civic Centre was open for people to drop in between 9.30am and 4.30pm. Entry was free.
Among the antiques experts sharing their knowledge was Steven Moore, who grew up in Wallsend and now lives in Newcastle.
Steven specialises in ceramics and began collecting at the age of eight. He said: “I filmed something outside before and the queue was around the block. It’s amazing.
“The Roadshow is a British institution and everybody loves it. It’s that normal thrill of ‘Is my Steven Moore plate worth a lot of money?’ Who knows.” Among the pieces Steven had seen on the day, one of them “may or may not have been stolen from a Royal household”. He could not say more. The expert said: “There’s always a buzz in the place and it is that natural curiosity we are all born with.
“Also I’ve had a lot of people today who have inherited things, they didn’t want to throw them out because they didn’t know how valuable they were.
“Sometimes when you say to people that actually what they’ve brought isn’t worth much more than a cup of coffee they are relieved, because it isn’t a burden any more.”