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National Waterfront Museum, Swansea 3

The roadshow visits the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, where highlights include a purple wedding dress, a painting by Ceri Richards and unpublished letters by Dylan Thomas.

The roadshow visits the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, where highlights include two unpublished and very witty letters by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas worth £5,000 each, an exquisite cameo brooch depicting Medusa, and a rare purple wedding dress from the 1870s, when it was common for older women and widowers to marry in that colour rather than traditional white.

Miscellaneous expert Marc Allum is intrigued by some medals from the 1930s celebrating a competitive road event called the Welsh Rally, and Serhat Ahmet discovers a valuable Chinese tea set that’s been locked away in an attic for 80 years.

Welsh specialist Ben Rogers Jones gets to meet Mrs Gingerbread – a startling, 125-year-old ventriloquist's doll. Ceramics expert Steven Moore admires a large set of traditional ceramic jelly moulds, while John Foster is thrilled to see a collection of miniature wine bottles, originally designed for Queen Mary’s doll's house.

Fiona Bruce gets to try out the prototype for the Sinclair C5 – the pioneering electric single-seater tricycle invented in 1985 by Sir Clive Sinclair and manufactured up the road in Merthyr Tydfil.

Fiona also finds out about a local pioneering family, the Dillwyn Llewelyns, who contributed to Swansea’s industrial and cultural growth during the 19th century, and she sits down with miscellaneous expert Chris Yeo to hear out about his life in antiques.

Release date:

57 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Fiona Bruce
Production Manager Rebecca Candy
Series Editor Robert Murphy
Series Producer Rae Gilder Cooke

Broadcast

Antiques Roadshow Specials

Episodes exploring anniversaries, world changing events and popular culture.