Antiques Roadshow

The Royal William Yard 1 (38x6)

: 11, 2015

Fiona Bruce presents from the Royal William Yard in Plymouth where finds include doorknobs said to have belonged to Lord Nelson, a psychedelic painting of a band that played at Woodstock and a diamond necklace the length of a skipping rope. Nautical treasures are well represented on the waterfront in Plymouth, from a ship in a bottle to a painting of HMS Impregnable from 1789, but militaria specialist Graham Lay has doubts about a pair of doorknobs that were supposedly Lord Nelson's. The team are impressed by a chess set made from parts of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, a winged armchair that has travelled from Vermont, USA, and a rare Japanese bronze vase that had been languishing in a Yorkshire garden. A psychedelic painting of a band that played at Woodstock intrigues Clive Stewart-Lockhart, and Hilary Kay meets a woman who is trying to locate a lost portrait of her cousin by Laura Knight. Jewellery specialist John Benjamin marvels at a huge diamond necklace that might be better described as a skipping rope, donated to the city of Plymouth by Lady Astor.