The clever, or observant, amongst you will have noticed that 2011 is the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. A landmark event that buoyed up the nation after the war, it celebrated our culture, developments in technology, manufacturing and design, and looked forward to ‘the world of tomorrow today’. The main event was held […]
Earlier this year, I was delighted to be invited to write for an exciting new magazine called ‘Antiques, Retro & Collectables‘. Especially as the roster of writers included talented specialists I worked with on Collect It! magazine, which had very sadly ceased publication a few months earlier. The opportunity of working with the much-loved and […]
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll no doubt have seen that I’m involved in the renovation of a late Georgian house in London right now. Although we’re not at the stage where we’re putting it back together yet, if I was I know where I’d be going for architectural features such as cornices, fireplaces, […]
Uruguay. It’s hardly a place where you’d expect to find much modern design, mid-century or otherwise. Or so I thought in my naïvety. My thoughts of a Cuba-like state of elegant disrepair were blown apart pretty much as soon as we landed. A swish and well-designed airport at Punta Del Este, and an even swisher […]
Taking advantage of the two long holiday weekends, the banker and I decided to blow some of our carefully amassed air miles and seek out some sun by flying to Buenos Aires and Uruguay for a Spring break. We first visited this amazing city three years ago, after hiking the Inca Trail for four days. […]
Working with antiques, vintage and retro, it’s all too easy to forget the artists, artisans and crafts people of today. Their work will become the antiques of tomorrow, and there’s no better time to learn about their work than now – because one can find out about their journey, inspirations and techniques as they happen, […]
The popular seaside town of Brighton is well known as being both funky and fashionable, with a strong retro and vintage trend. It’s packed with a variety of great shops from Snooper’s Paradise, The North Laine Antiques & Flea Market, and In My Room in the North Laines, to Brighton Flea Market and InRETROspect in […]
As soon as my talk at Sunday’s Isle of Wight Studio Glass Collectors’ Day was over, I hopped in my car and sped off to catch the ferry back to the mainland. The reason for the unusual rush? The next day was the first day of filming for the 34th series of the Antiques Roadshow, […]
I’ve never been a prize before, let alone a first prize! Last Thursday, Judith Miller and I visited the Bath Decorative & Antiques Fair to give a personal tour of the fair to 6 of their competition winners. They also received a bottle of vintage champagne, and a free Miller’s book. One lucky couple also […]
#TT #antiquesroadshow #antiquestweetshow – all these hash tags and more were flying around the internet last night as Antiques Roadshow became one of the top topics being talked about across the world on Twitter for the first time. Of course, a large percentage of the tweets were from people questioning why it was trending, thus […]
Since the nationwide National Antiques Week campaign last November, I’ve had a lot of emails asking me where the chair I’m sitting on in the poster (below) came from. That particular example is owned by the photographer who took the shot, Graham Rae, but I’m delighted to say that if you like it, it’s not […]
With Kate & William’s wedding looming, I’ve been interviewed a fair few times over the past few weeks about what royal wedding memorabilia I like, and which ones I think will be collectable in the future. I don’t collect royal memorabilia, and I knew few people in their 20s or 30s that do, however it […]