This isn’t an endorsement to go digging about on a rubbish tip for things that might be worth a bit of money, but some people who did that and took what they’d found on Antiques Roadshow realised they’d rescued quite the haul.
One guest who used to work at a tip explained to the show that he’d worked there for 15 years and was allowed to take home anything he liked from the things people threw away.
He’d amassed ‘three sheds full’ of rescued refuse, including a box containing some of the belongings of Winston Churchill.
Among the possessions were a hat, cigar and signed photo of Winston Churchill (BBC)
He said had more than 200 letters from a woman who used to work as a cook for Churchill to her son detailing various things about the British prime minister’s life.
Also part of the findings was a signed photo of the man himself, one of his famous cigars and a top hat which apparently used to be perched upon Churchill’s bonce.
Antiques Roadshow expert Mark Smith admitted that under other circumstances he’d think that the various items weren’t actually real.
However, he said the stash of letters ‘corroborates all of the things that you’ve got’ and provides it with some authenticity.
Smith said: “You’ve caused a problem, because if you come to me with all of this stuff and said ‘I’ve been buying this over the years and I buy it from auctions and all that sort of stuff’, I would have sat there and thought to myself ‘very likely, it’s not real’.
“It’s been brought together and given a provenance. But I’ve seen all those letters from the lady to her son, daily letters, saying ‘this is what Winston is doing today’ and this is during war time as well.”
It turns out that rescuing the box of belongings from the dump was the right move, as Smith valued it at £10,000.
Antiques Roadshow expert Mark Smith valued the items at £10,000 (BBC)
Naturally the guy and his partner were pretty stunned, saying it was ‘crazy’ that the things he recovered from the dump were worth so much.
Smith told him that others at the antiques event at Eltham Palace thought the stash of Churchill’s things was incredible and they’d all wanted to know where the dump was.
However, the guest decided not to disclose that location, as those sheds aren’t going to fill themselves up with potentially valuable goodies.
“Dozens of people have asked me, I haven’t told anyone,” he said of the location of this treasure trove.
If you go digging around in what people throw away for long enough then you might find something valuable, but you’d have to sift through plenty of rubbish first.
Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Antiques Roadshow, History, BBC, TV and Film
