Antiques Roadshow c2000.

[bungobungobungo]

Was watching an old Antiques Roadshow - Vintage Antiques Roadshow from around 2000 presented by Michael Aspel. I was surprised at how different it was back then, and much better in my opinion. Beautiful items of furniture, paintings and jewellery which the experts took time to examine properly and provide a lot of historical and interesting information, it was from a lovely place - Sherborne in Dorset where one of the presenters attended school ( Rupert Maas), and everyone seemed posher and wear different clothes, eg more tweedy and country; one lady even had those leather elbow patches. I myself grew up in a Glasgow tenement, so have never been posh or worn tweed lol but it was just interesting to see the changes in the people and the objects since the beginning of the century. Anyone got any other programmes where they’ve noticed similar? I don’t usually watch these old tv shows but was keeping my elderly MIL company.

Yes, it’s part of the enshittification of everything coupled with much more emphasis on casualness and comfort in society in general over strictures and abiding by rules. People expect more entertainment now, and are probably less familiar with old fashioned societal rules and literature, the bible etc that used to be the glue that bound everyone. I watched an episode of The Good Life recently and a character was quoting a few lengthy parts of Shakespeare. I don’t think that would land with an audience now. It’s very sad. I hope things swing backwards at some point, but without bringing back the overt snobbery and sexism that also dominated back then.

Agree, no to sexism and racism which unfortunately were prevalent in many tv programmes, which although not always overtly so do make some of these shows a difficult watch. Many of the dramas nowadays are just rehashing the same storyline, especially the police led ones, it’s same old same old showing a lack of imagination. Yes it would be great if we could revert back to more creative programmes, and maybe if certain people on the BBC for example didn’t get such huge salaries, there would be room for that to happen.

@bungobungobungo I was surprised at how different it was back then, and much better in my opinion. Beautiful items of furniture, paintings and jewellery which the experts took time to examine properly and provide a lot of historical and interesting information.

Second this.
The other big change over the years has been the addition of items which are collectibles, not strictly antiques. They may be very valuable in some cases, but to me they are not as interesting or beautiful.

@Kentisbeare I hadn’t thought of this aspect. I know collectibles are of interest to those who collect them but I’d prefer to see lovely paintings and jewellery and to know more about them eg their provenance and family history. Are you in Kent by any chance? There used to be many antique shops near me in SE Kent but nearly all gone now.

No, not in Kent. Kentisbeare is a village in Devon!
Pity about the loss of antique shops. Are there any auction houses near you? It can be fun to have a browse - you never know what you might find and the experts are usually willing to have a chat.

There are actually but I am not in the market for anything- just like browsing. We have inherited furniture and other items from family, and in the not too distant future there’ll be more from DMIL but everything will have to go as being in our seventies we will have to downsize soon. I want to go minimalist but DH needs convincing, and also we have no one to leave stuff to 😔.

@bungobungobungo There are actually but I am not in the market for anything- just like browsing.

Me too. I go to the auction houses just to look. And, unlike in a museum, you can handle the items. The first time I went to an auction house I was terrified to touch anything, and then I saw everyone else do it. 😂

My dad took me to many when I was little as he had a business buying and selling so I’ve kind of grown up with it. As a result growing up in Glasgow we had a lot of heavy oak furniture in our Victorian flat in Glasgow, including even a grand piano. I may actually go and have a look round some sale rooms and hopefully resist all temptation to buy! It’s going to be 34 degrees here in Kent, I just hope you have a cooler day.

There seems to be little societal value in beauty and quality anymore, which I find very sad.

Lamp posts, benches, gates, signs and shop fronts are all examples of benign architecture that used to be intricate and well designed. Nowadays, most things are basic, stark and cheap.

Things used to be designed with use in mind; parks, benches, waiting rooms. Nowadays, they are purposefully made to be as uncomfortable as possible to deter lingering.

I long for some old fashioned philanthropy. I wish the billionaires would bore off about space travel and start investing in beautiful parks, libraries and buildings. Why is no one building the next Waldorf Hotel aka something beautiful and long lasting. They can stick their name on it and their legacy would last a lot longer than their businesses will. But maybe not as long as Musks' space litter!

I live in north Kent. Plenty of antique shops here, plus markets and fairs. Agree with you about Antiques Roadshow though. Much more of an emphasis on memorabilia etc. and retro items than true antiques. Presumably to widen its appeal.

Hard agree. I remember fondly our local library in Sheffield. It was a Carnegie library, funded by Andrew Carnegie for the benefit of working people. It was lovely.
Also things like Adult Evening classes at the local Tech. Mil and fil did things like sewing, cookery, languages. Just because they wanted to. It enriched their lives. There's little like that now.

I live near Ashford which is colloquially known as Trashford, with very few shops left just vapes, barbers and nail bars mostly. It did however have some lovely square cobbles ( can’t remember the exact name) which the council saw fit to dig up and replace with concrete. Why? I agree about the lovely lampposts, benches and ornamental plant containers as everything is so ugly now. Thank goodness we still have some amazing NT houses and gardens to revive our soul.

@bungobungobungo It’s going to be 34 degrees here in Kent, I just hope you have a cooler day.

Bit cooler here, but still miserable. Local sale rooms are mostly on summer break now. Everything starts up again in September.

I'm afraid I used to find the posh ones on Antiques Road Show rather irritating, quite often they probably already knew the item was very valuable, and didn't need the money anyway ! I prefer to see someone who found the object in a skip or charity shop!

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1716519835047770&id=Dumfriescarboots

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/7789458.stm

One of my favourites. I'll never forget the look on the woman's face when Eric Knowles told her how much it might be worth.

Use the BBC link - the Facebook link is to someone's page.

The BBC article is right, it’s the sort of thing we all dream of, finding something valuable at a car boot or charity shop. Great that the Lalique even exceeded the RS value when sold!