At the weekend we stepped over the Rutland border and headed to the stunning local Northamptonshire village of Fotheringhay. On 2nd July all your favourite BBC antique experts visited Fotheringhay to support the church for a day of valuing, where locals visited and received an expert's valuation on their special treasures, which helped raise £6,000 for 'The Friends of Fotheringhay Church' - a charitable organisation dedicated to restoring and preserving Fotheringhay Church.
We headed down for the day, where from 12:00pm to 5:00pm many locals arrived for an exciting day in the summer sunshine, where Fotheringhay resident and Antiques Roadshow legend, Lady Victoria Leatham - who is also President of the church committee and assisted in organising the event - pulled together her antique expert friends John Benjamin, Dendy Easton, John Foster, Bunny Campione, Lars Tharp and George Archdale to raise funds for 'The Friends of Fotheringhay Church'.
The day was full of intrigue, history and expert opinions, where locals brought along their favourite treasures with examples of glassware, jewellery, ceramics, paintings, toys and collectibles to be valued for the small sum of £5, where all proceeds of the day were to go to 'TheÂ
We saw some incredible pieces that the public had brought along with them, from collections of stereoscopic prints featuring images of Paris and The Great Exhibition to an 1880s quilt handmade by a gentleman in one of the visitors family, which Bunny Campione was very excited about. Bunny actually refused to value the quilt and insisted the owners took it the the roadshow, so you may see this certain quilt turn up on the Antiques Roadshow later in the year.
The event also featured beer and cider from local brewery, The Grainstore. As well as fizz and prosecco from James Ingram Wines, catering from Double Barrel Catering and caricatures by cartoonist, John Elson.
At 5:00pm the event came to a close and gave me the chance to have a conversation with antique expert, John Foster about the day and some of the favourite treasures he valued.
John mentioned he was amazed by a book of maps which he valued at £8,000, a pair of jugs valued at £2,000 and many other items he loved. He mentioned that he enjoys seeing the variety of items the public bring along with them and seeing the interesting things they have been given or have collected over the years.
The day ended with a silent auction and with that added together with the amount the other activities raised £4,000. Adding that to the expert's valuation day total of £2,000, meaning the in total the day raised an impressive £6,000 for 'The Friends of Fotheringhay Church'.
All raised will go towards the on-going £1.5m restoration of the church.