FLOG IT! PRESENTER PAUL MARTIN TO HOST VALUATION DAY AT STEAM IN SWINDON

Well known popular TV antique expert, Paul Martin, will be sharing his knowledge and experience with Swindon residents on Monday 19th February by hosting a free community valuation day at STEAM.

The valuation day, which is being run in partnership with world renowned auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, for which Paul is Head of Valuations, will take place 10am-3pm and is intended to encourage members of the public to dust off those items they’ve always been curious about and bring them along to be discussed, valued and perhaps sold. 

Paul would be delighted to see items ranging from antiques, collectables, silver, gold, militaria and jewellery. 

“The day at STEAM is going to be so interesting,” said Paul. “Swindon’s history is so bound up with the history of the railways, so locating our community valuation day at the Museum will be just perfect. It’s a location unlike any other and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what people choose to bring along.”

Paul has been a tv presenter and expert for over 20 years on programmes including the Antiques’ Road Trip; Flog It!; CountryFile and many more. He has a new series, Paul Martin’s Auction Showdown, going live on Channel 5 this year.

“Even though I am a tv presenter and still enjoy my broadcast career, I’m an antiques man at heart and these events allow me to get back to what drives me — the people, their objects and the stories they tell.”

The day is part of a programme of valuation days being run by Paul in his role as Head of Valuations at Henry Aldridge & Son, based in Devizes. 

“Wiltshire is such a great part of the country to host these kinds of days,” said Paul. “There is so much history here and the people are really generous with their time and curiosity, so I’m sure we’ll see some fascinating items and learn lots from the stories attached to them.”

Swindon’s history is well known for its connection to the railway network and its Victorian heritage.. It is often described as the town that was “built on steam.” 

Although the town has roots going back much further and was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086, it was the arrival of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway in 1843 that saw it shift from a modest area of fewer than 3000 people to a thriving area of commercial significance. 

The influence and power of the railway in Swindon resulted in one of first lending libraries in the UK being located there, as well as a “free at the point of delivery” healthcare centre, library and community centre around its railway village that is largely credited with partly inspiring the model for the National Health Service. It’s known that Aneurin Bevan, the architect of the NHS, came to the town to see how its ‘Medical Fund’ worked.

Swindon was one of the fastest-growing towns in Europe after World War Two and still attracts large global organisations today as a suitable place to situate company headquarters, due to its strategic transport links.

The site of Paul Martin’s valuation day is STEAM, a national museum dedicated to the history and story of the Great Western Railway. The Museum is located in a sympathetically restored Grade II listed railway building in the former Swindon railway works. As well as its permanent exhibitions, the Museum hosts a range of temporary exhibitions and events across the year, keeping the history of Swindon alive for both residents and visitors.

“With this kind of rich and very particular history, which is so intimately connected to the industrial history of Britain as a whole, it will be so interesting to see what items will be brought to our attention. We could end up being presented with some really fascinating items,” says Paul. “What’s exciting about community valuation days is you never quite know what will turn up. It’s full of surprises!”

For more information on Paul’s community valuation days, please visit: https://www.henryaldridge.com/valuations/valuation-days/south-west/