A NEWPORT woman appeared on last night’s episode of the Antiques Roadshow with a collection of Gwent Male Voice Choir Memorabilia.

Aimee Hibberd, 28, of Gaer, was one of the antique collectors to show presenter Fiona Bruce her collection of 102-year-old records at Tredegar House, Newport.

The episode was filmed at the historic site back in June and attracted more than 3,500 visitors.

Miss Hibberd was invited by BBC producers to show two 78 records, recorded in 1912 by the Gwent Glee Male Voice Choir, who performed for the biggest names in business, politics and even royalty in America in the early 1900s.

The group were all from Newport before later adding members from further afield in Gwent and were hailed by papers in America as ‘The World’s Greatest Singers.’

Miss Hibberd’s great grandfather, William Sergeant and his brother Francis, both from the Baneswell area, were original members of the choir. Seven members were torpedoed by a German U-boat on the ocean liner HMS Lusitania in 1915.

A diamond necklace valued at £30,000, a bug bear flask bought at Abergavenny Market in the 1950s valued at £1,000 and an Edward Lear picture valued at over £8,000 were among the treasures examined by the cult tv shows experts, which included Eric Knowles, Judith Miller and Welsh-born Lisa Lloyd. Other items to feature in the episode were an intricately carved coconut steeped in 18th century maritime history and a glass vase owned by a former Mastermind champion.

Ninety-five year-old World War Two veteran, Captain Roy Wooldridge, from the Royal Engineers, told his story of a daring mission to inspect German defences before the D-Day landings, his eventual capture – and how he came to have a packet of cigarettes from Field Marshall Rommel.

In one of the most moving recordings of the series, specialist Marc Allum is left overwhelmed by the story of a large tapestry woven in tribute to rock band Status Quo by a young man left paralysed in a motorcycle accident.

The episode will be repeated on BBC at 9.05am on December 2.