Antiques Roadshow expert encounters 'worthless' spy documents
Paul Atterbury admired the story of Sydney Wignall, though.
What did you miss?
Antiques Roadshow's latest instalment took place at Anglesey's stunning Beaumaris Castle, where resident expert Paul Atterbury was shown some espionage materials.
Their owner was the late Sydney Wignall, who in 1955 devised the Welsh Himalayan Expedition in cahoots with the Indian Secret Intelligence and passed them onto a friend years later.
Despite fascinating Atterbury, this documentation was deemed financially "worthless", which is a rare yet disheartening result for someone wanting a valuation.
What, how and why?
According to the unnamed gentlemen that presented Atterbury with the paperwork, Wignall was approached by the Indian Secret Intelligence unbeknownst to his fellow Himalayan adventurers; asked to "do them a few favours" while they confronted an unconquered mountain passage at the time.
The ISS was apparently "convinced" that the Chinese were constructing secret military bases and highways across Tibet in order to invade their country as quickly as possible.
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Wignall and his party had a Chinese double agent in their midst though, and were "grassed up", captured and interrogated.
The Roadshow visitor explained: "Syd asked lots of questions and made notes, scribbling them down on anything he could find" before stuffing them inside his mattress.
Fortunately for Wignall and his crew, they were allowed to go home, carrying with them the evidence he'd managed to put together.
Atterbury said: "To me it's this wonderful insight, not only to Himalayan history, which always intrigues me, but also into how the world was in the 1950s. What's it worth? Blimey, this is tricky because it's a pile of paper, it's an old photograph, it's actually worthless in financial terms but the story is worth a fortune!"
What else was valued on Antiques Roadshow?
Elsewhere, expert Clive Farahar encountered a first edition of A. A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh book, published in 1926.
The visitor's mother had originally picked it up at a charity shop for her, and it's only blemish was a slightly torn dust wrapper.
Farahar called it "the most gorgeous copy" and revealed it's worth of approximately £1,400.
Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One at 8pm.
