Local PR

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I’ve had a bit of a lull on the local news stories recently, to the extent that when I sent out a press release the journalist immediately emailed back that he’d thought I was either dead or had left the country. Thanks Lewis!

So I’ve enjoyed having two fresh topics to write about, one for Otter Garden Centres, the other for Chilcott Auctioneers.

Otter’s was about a lovely gesture they made to revitalise the flower beds at the local community hospital in Ottery St Mary, in a response to a request from nursing staff. Brothers Kevin and Neil from OGC (centre in the pic) went along to do the work – I’ve known them both for many years, they are always happy to help out! They removed dead plants and brambles, replacing them with cottage garden plants chosen to make the borders a riot of colour and life, such as lavenders, verbenas, dahlias, salvias and gaillardia.

Interesting from my pov I had my first ever appointment at the hospital a month or so ago. It was all very impressive, and I’m so glad the hospital wasn’t closed – which it was under threat of not so long ago.

Read more HERE.

The other was for Chilcotts Auctioneers, another long-term client. I love writing for them, as there is always something interesting to research. For this, I looked into the life of Captain John Campbell OBE, a naval hero who had gathered a really fascinating collection of artwork together over many decades (his first purchase in 1962). Works by artists such as Edward Seago and Marcel Dyf plus bronze sculptures of African wildlife and vintage/contemporary glass. Besides the artwork, Campbell himself was a fascinating individual to look into; he became a specialist hydrographic surveyor, travelling to places like Antarctica. In the Falklands war he oversaw the conversion of a survey vessel into a hospital ship to take injured soldiers to Ecuador.

More on this story HERE. As well as local press, the story has featured in Antiques Trade Gazette, and I hope will be picked up elsewhere, watch this space!

East Devon PR – THAT Chinese vase

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What fun I had recently on my home turf, with East Devon PR for clients, Chilcotts. They really do have the best stories and I genuinely love getting involved in the research as we bring the threads of history together.

This time it was one of those chance finds that ends up being worth rather a lot of money. In this case, a Chinese vase, called a ‘moonflask’. Auctioneer and valuer Duncan Chilcott knew he had something extra special when he saw the object – and how right could he be? The rare puce-enamelled blue and white dragon bianhu moonflask sold for just under £500,000 in an auction held in Hong Kong.

Well, apart from racking my brains to remember if I had any Chinese vases in my own home (negative), I wrote up the story and sent it out to the usual suspects. Roger Malone at the Western Morning News got first dibs, he’s a great supporter of Chilcotts, as is Mike Byrne at the Echo. Then things went a little wild. Requests from South West news agencies came in and suddenly there was the news about the vase popped up on many popular online news sites, the BBC, Mirror, Mail and so on and so forth.

Of course, once in the mainstream press, the story morphed into something other than the truth, as it does. Suddenly, the vendor became a man from Devon who found a dusty old vase in the rattic, with much reference made to an episode of Only Fools and Horses.

Daily Mirror

“The man, who has not been named, had no idea of the value of his Chinese antique when he took it to be valued at an auction house.

But just like in the famous Only Fools and Horses episode, he was stunned to discover the family heirloom that had collected dust for decades was worth a fortune.”

This caused a fair amount of hilarity among those who knew the facts. But there was no damage, and Chilcotts was mentioned in a positive light in every case  – what a result!

So what’s the next story going to be, I wonder? I can’t wait!