Antiques Roadshow expert shocks owner after revealing tragic story of cricket medal

AN Antiques Roadshow expert shocked a guest on the show after revealing the tragic story of behind their cricket medal.

A man brought in a photograph, cricket trophy and a medal for auctioneer Siobhan Tyrell to value.

He explained that his great grandfather worked at a local asylum as a nursing assistant, then later became a psychiatric nurse in 1930.

The hospital that he worked at held sporting activities, including cricket.

The guest's granddad tried to help integrate the patients back into society, which was very rare in those days.

Siobhan said: "When we think about mental health, we think about 18th century Hogarth's view of bedlam.

"People coming in visiting and paying a tuppence to make fun of the lunatics going to the madhouse.

"This thought is taken to the 19th century, but that wasn't true.

"There were people like your great-grandfather that had real progressive views even back the early part of the 1900s."

Siobhan later turned to the value of the objects.

She said: "The great value in this collection is the social-historical value, and what your great grandfather did.

"So it's very difficult to put a value on this a commercial value."

She did manage to estimate though.

The expert told the man that medal is worth £80 to £100, and the trophy priced in at £300 to £400.

As they went their separate ways, Siobhan asked the man: "But the story means far more, doesn't it?"