A RARE and precious jewel, given to a West Midlands Army regiment over a century ago and valued as one of the most expensive items ever on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, has been unveiled in the Black Country.

The Faberge flower, a five-inch pear blossom set in rock crystal, gold, silver stamens and diamonds, is set to feature in the first episode of the Antiques Roadshow, hosted by Fiona Bruce, on 15 April.  

The jewel was on display at Himley Hall and Park near Dudley today.

On 21 June 2017 Stamford Cartwright, Honorary Colonel of The Royal Yeomanry’s B (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) Squadron, brought the Faberge flower to the Antiques Roadshow which was filming at the Black Country Living Museum.

Fiona Bruce said “word quickly got around that something very special had been brought in,” adding: “We weren’t disappointed.”

The Antiques Roadshow’s jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn described how his “pulse was racing” at the sight of the precious object.

When the episode is broadcast on Sunday, viewers will see that it is one of only three items to be valued at £1million in the Antiques Roadshow’s 40-year history. Previous items given a valuation of over £1million are a model of Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North and the FA Cup which was presented between 1911 and 1992.

Colonel Cartwright said:

”This is a very special piece that is a focal point for the regiment, veterans and serving soldiers. It reminds us of the sacrifice of fallen comrades and our links to the past. Despite uniforms and personnel changing, the jewel is a symbol of continuity that goes back over a century.”

The Black Country soldiers thought the pear blossom sculpture was worth around £50,000 and for decades used it as a centrepiece at formal dinners and events. According to Colonel Cartwright, it became “part of the furniture”.

Rachel, Countess of Dudley, presented the jewel to the Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars on the soldiers’ return to the Midlands from the Boer War in South Africa in or around 1904. Rachel’s husband was William Ward, the second Earl of Dudley who, at the start of the twentieth century, was a major in the Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars.

Despite the staggering valuation, the jewel will keep its place as a table decoration for Army dinners.

Major Will Mawby, Officer Commanding B Squadron, also known as the Black Country Cavalry and the modern-day successor to the Worcestershire Hussars, said:

“We are very proud of the jewel but gone are the days when it would come on exercise and be kept under the Squadron leader’s bed. It is kept in the most secure of locations. On special occasions it sits in front of me but I daren’t touch it with my butter fingers!”

West Midlands businesses looking to grow their export programmes could benefit from a project that is offering financial support to get them trading overseas.

The West Midlands ERDF SME International Growth Project (SME IGP), funded via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), has already approved more than 150 grants – worth more than £340,000 – to more than 80 companies in the region, enabling them to access specialist support.

However, the call has gone out to eligible companies in the West Midlands region, which covers Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands, that further funding is available.

Allen Matty, managing director of West Midlands Chamber of Commerce (WMCC), said businesses that need a helping hand with exporting can apply for match-funded grants of between £1,000 and £3,000.

“This scheme aims to stimulate export growth within the region by addressing business needs and providing financial support,” he said. “Internationalising a business is a significant step and by accessing specialist support, companies can minimise the risks and gain the knowledge and confidence they need to move into new overseas markets.”

One of the companies that has benefitted from the ERDF grant is Redditch-based Scribble Down, which produces fun and educational transfer packs for children.

Sales director Peter Hendrickx, who runs the business with his wife Sarah, said the £3,000 grant it received gave the company the boost it required to promote the brand after disappointing sales last year. It meant they were able to attend Spielwarenmesse, the world’s biggest toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany, in February.

“It made a massive difference for us,” he said. “We’d wanted to go for years but the outlay was just too much for a same family business as ours, last year it was as though someone had simply turned the tap off to our overseas sales, therefore we knew we had to go. This funding meant we had half of the exhibition, flight and accomodation costs paid for.

“While we were there, we met people we used to do business with and new customers and came away with more than £25,000 of solid orders, as well as many great leads that we are now actively following up. There’s no doubt that ERDF funding has given our company the much needed life line and in turn has invigorated us to grow the business in 2018.”

The available support includes grants and access to sector expert events, such as Meet the Buyer, and opportunities such as invitations to market visits to investigate potential business openings, trade shows where they can arrange to meet identified business contacts, and take part in joint Local Enterprise Partnership and Growth Hub events, including workshops, export tasters or local marketing campaigns to encourage sustainable exporters to grow.

Coco, Twycross Zoo’s oldest animal, recently celebrated an impressive 53 years of life with the ultimate birthday bash! The chimpanzee, who has been a favourite with visitors since her arrival in 1969, had a super fun day with her family, during which the whole troop got to tuck in to the ultimate birthday treat of peanut butter and blueberries!

Coco was the fourth resident to ever be registered to the Zoo, therefore a very popular member of the family. Since her arrival she has created quite the chimp clan, having had six children, 20 grandchildren, five great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter; she takes conservation seriously!

Kris Hern, Team Leader of Great Apes at Twycross Zoo, said: “We all absolutely adore Coco and she is very special to us here at the Zoo. We are extremely proud of her and all she has done for her species. To have created a family of over 30 chimps is quite staggering and she has been a vital part of our breeding programme, setting a tremendous example to all her young, who we hope follow in her footsteps.”

Long-lost footage of Adam West’s Batman teaching road safety to children will be screened for the first time in over 50 years to kick off a nationwide hunt for 100 missing telly gems.

The clip from May 1967 will be shown to an audience of TV professionals and enthusiasts at Birmingham City University (UK) on Saturday (April 14), as Birmingham based Kaleidoscope launches its list of the UK’s top 100 missing TV shows.

Kaleidoscope, which specialises in finding missing television footage, recently discovered the clip which shows the Caped Crusader teaching the Green Cross Code to youngsters on London’s streets and was never screened outside of the UK.

The find comes as Kaleidoscope launches a search for the top TV shows thought to have thought to have been consigned to history, which industry professionals most want to see recovered.

Episodes of iconic British TV programmes Doctor Who, Top of the Pops and The Avengers topped the list, after 1,000 industry professionals, journalists, academics and telly addicts revealed which shows they most wanted to see found.

The list will be unveiled at Birmingham City University’s Parkside Building alongside screenings of found clips and episodes from show such as Out of the Unknown, Sexton Blake and The Goodies.

Bosses have called on home viewers to come forwards with any recordings and video tapes which may have spent decades hidden away in lofts but could contain precious ‘lost’ material.

Among the most prized missing material are early episodes of Doctor Who featuring Mark Eden as Marco Polo, Hancock’s Half Hour episode Lady Chatterly’s Revenge from 1957 and Dad’s Army episode - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker, first screened in 1969.

The top 10 missing shows were named as:

1.    Doctor Who

2.    Top of the Pops

3.    The Avengers

4.    Out of the Unknown

5.    Callan

6.    Ace of Wands

7.    Doomwatch

8.    Public Eye

9.    Not Only But Also

10.  Dad’s Army

Birmingham City University alumnus and Kaleidoscope CEO Chris Perry, said:

“We spend a lot of time searching through old canisters or looking through people’s lofts to try and find these shows or clips which are thought to have been completely erased from history.

“What we wanted to do this time was to ask TV fans which shows they wanted us to find and it’s really interesting to see that its real British institutions like Doctor Who and Top of the Pops that came out on top.

“These lost episodes really can end up in the most unusual of places and people might not even know they have them.

“Scenes from Sexton Blake or Callan were only kept because Australian censors cut them out for being too violent for 60s TV. We’ve had universities find clips accidentally stored at the end of video tapes and I myself have literally clawed tapes from the rafters of Bob Monkhouse’s roof, to get my hands on some Celebrity Squares and The Golden Shot episodes.”

The list’s publication comes as one of Kaleidoscope’s greatest finds, The Avengers – Tunnel of Fear episode, was released on home DVD earlier this week (April 9) after being missing for over 55 years.

TV gameshows are thought to have some of the biggest gaps in records, but are often kept by members of the public who may have appeared on the shows or have had friends or family who did.

Among hidden gems recently found by Kaleidoscope are episodes of Celebrity Squares and children’s TV show Pipkins.

Other episodes are retained for unusual reasons, such as the Doctor Who stories The Smugglers and Fury from the Deep, which only remain as a few scary clips after Australian censors removed scenes from their original broadcast for being too risqué for TV

The top 100 list also includes classic shows such as The Likely Lads, Steptoe and Son, Fraggle Rock and The Liver Birds.