ANTIQUES TREASURE TRAIL

I had just finished a series of short features for BBC Daytime and so proposed the Antiques Treasure Trail. A couple of months later we were filming with Ian McMillan, the

We filmed a second series for UKTV and ventured into Europe and to New England. I wanted to combine a further sense of adventure by taking affordable trips to fairs in places such as France and Italy where a great weekend could be had visiting some beautiful cities as well as experiencing different types of antiques. However, due to the small budgets John and Gill could not come on all the trips with us which was a great shame and I felt that the series lost something because of that.

As a result I had always wanted to re-edit the series, combine the stories from both series and do extra interviews with John and Gill so that their story of turning a house into a home would truly become the focal point throughout. I'm delighted to say after four years of working on this the project is now complete. Hopefully, there is loads of information for the antiques enthusiast and novice alike and a real sense of fun and a true feeling of 'if they can do this so can I!'. Please feel free to contact us so we can add more.

This is unashamedly an old fashioned type of programme. It is not a race against the clock, there are no teams competing against each other and there are no celebrities involved. I don't apologise for that and although I love many of the programmes that have now made antiques accessible for all, personally I wanted this not to be anything but an account of a group of everyday people sharing their passion and enthusiasm for the wonderful world of antiques, whilst achieving their personal goals. It is also the story behind many of the antiques that we find. I didn't want them just to be seen as objects but as a way of discovering our ancestors past. A way of life that at times has been lost and the skills of the craftsmen involved.

We are all delighted that Antiques TV is showing the series. If there is enough interest shown we will film an occasional special. It would be great to get the team back together again. Also if enough people want to buy the series on DVD we will put together a package with information, some of Ian's wonderful poetry and the series.

Presenter: Ian McMillan
(In his own words)

photo credit: simonthackray.com

I was born in 1956 in the village near Barnsley where I still live; I wanted to be a writer all the way through my schooldays, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. All the books I got out of the library were written by people who lived in Surrey, not the Yorkshire Coalfield.

So as a teenager I wrote all the time without ever working out how to make a living from it; at the same time I discovered a love of standing up (or sitting down: I was drummer in Barnsley's first folk-rock band Oscar The Frog) in public. After Oscar the Frog, me and my mate Martyn Wiley formed Jaws, Barnsley's first folk/poetry duo.

When I left North Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1978 with a degree in Modern Studies I knew that I wanted to be a writer and performer, but I still wasn't quite sure how. I worked on a building site and in a tennis-ball factory. I went freelance in 1981 with the aid of a little grant from Yorkshire Arts and I've not looked back since.

I worked for years with The Circus of Poets performance poetry group and Versewagon, the World's first mobile writing workshop. Later, I worked with Martyn Wiley as Yakety Yak, entertaining audiences all over the place.

Now I'm a solo performer and writer: I've worked in schools, theatres, arts centres, fields and front rooms. I've been poet in residence at Barnsley Football Club, Northern Spirit Trains and Humberside Police. I've written comedy for radio and plays for the stage, and I've worked extensively for Radios 1,2,3,4 and Five Live as well as for Yorkshire Television and BBC2's Newsnight Review.

I'm currently presenting The Verb, Radio 3's Cabaret of The Word, doing gigs all over the place on my own and with cartoonist Tony Husband and musician Luke Goss and writing weekly columns for The Yorkshire Post and The Barnsley Chronicle. It's a busy life but I love it: it's a long way from Oscar The Frog, but maybe it isn't.

Ian McMillan's web link

Music: David Atherton

Chiefly working as a sole composer, David has recently completed a two-year Music Technology Degree. Principally creating music termed as electronica, his recent project work has evidenced a wider range of composition. He has been in demand to write for a number of graduate films, whilst other pieces have been incorporated into promotional and educational shorts for his University. Other music has recently been used in TV & radio broadcasts by the BBC.

David also has a diverse background of musical collaboration, embracing writing, recording and live performance. He is currently a member of the group, Lumen. Besides his group, under the guise of Elusive 1, David is presently writing material for a new album, whilst continuing to develop his portfolio of project work and commissions.