Story and pictures by Matt Bigwood, stroudtimes.com
A new series on Channel 4 will see experts visiting homes of people who have amassed all manner of treasures and collectible and will feature reputedly the oldest pub in England, the Ancient Ram Inn.
The three-part series, Millionaire Hoarders, begins this Friday, August 4th and sees experts Clive Downham (Antiques Dealer), Paula Sutton (Vintage Fashion and Interiors), Rachel Fox (High-end Pawnbroker) and Ronnie Archer-Morgan (Collectables and Curiosities) searching through every hidden nook and cranny of these homes to reveal the untold stories behind forgotten possessions and sell them for much needed funds.
Owner Caroline Humphries inherited the former pub from her father, John Humphries, who had established it as one of the most sought after centres of paranormal activity in the country: “A cameramen, Lucio was with his friends in Nailsworth and discussed the nature of his next project with them,” explained Caroline.
“They suggested The Ancient Ram Inn would be a good candidate for the proposed project and looked at photos on TripAdvisor. When he called, I accepted his invitation.”
The episode featuring The Ram will air on August 18th and features experts examining three animal skins bought by Mr Humphries, one of which could be worth life-changing sums of money.
“Philip Taubenheim, MD at Wotton Auctions Rooms, Errol Fuller (Writer and Artist), Ronnie Archer-Morgan along with Rachel Fox, all met me at Ram. I was delighted to meet them all. The production company even provided a psychologist to make sure that everything was handled professionally during the filming (which eventually lasted for more than 10 days I was shattered!),” added Caroline.
What would Carolines dad have thought of all this? “Dad would have found it hilarious and wouldn’t have recognised any of the personalities (except for Philip) to whom ‘he taught everything he knew about oak. Dad was a joiner and had worked at Bath Cabinet Makers, a sub-contractor to Airspeed AS.51 Horsa who made a glider (mostly of wood) in the 1940s that was used by British Forces in the Second World War.”
Millionaire Hoarders is a three-part UK series that starts on Channel 4 on Friday, August 4th at 8pm. All three episodes will be available as a box set on the Channel 4 stream service.