Antiques Roadshow guest in awe as motorcycle tool left in 'pig manure' receives huge sum

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left utterly dumbfounded upon discovering the astonishing value of her family's motorcycle hand-me-down. During Sunday's instalment of the BBC teatime show, Fiona Bruce and her team travelled to Belfast's Botanical Gardens where fans from up and down the country brought their prized possessions to be appraised by experts.

Halfway through the show, a couple brought along their collection of motorcycle memorabilia which blew antiques expert Raj Bisram away. The unsuspecting couple brought along the original jig, or type of template, for one of the world's most famous motorcycles, the Norton Manx. The infamous motorcycle was designed by local engineer Rex McCandless in 1949.

The jig was used to help construct the famous motorcycles in addition to acting as a stand for them before racing. Along with the jig, Rex's nephew also brought along several of his uncle's trophies as he shared some of his favourite memories about his late uncle.

His wife then revealed the unusual way the jig came into her possession which left the crowd surrounding them in shock and disgust. She told the expert: "How this came into my family was Rex gave it [the jig] to mutual friends, these brothers and they lived, believe it or not, on a pig farm.

"And my dad visited one day and it was lying in a heap of pig manure, and my dad said, 'What are you doing with it?' and the brothers said, 'Take it with you'."

The Antiques Road Trip expert was astonished by the jaw-dropping find, and confessed that the historical artifact was quite hard for him to put a price on.

He admitted: "Every now and then something comes on the Roadshow which is very, very hard to value and without a doubt, this is. But to me there isn't a single motorcycling museum in the world that wouldn't want to have this, and I honestly believe these items will be worth anything from £30,000 to £50,0000."

The nephew revealed: "I don't think it's going to go anywhere, what do you say?" as he turned to his wife. But before she could share her thoughts, the expert interrupted with a few alternative options the pair could take.

He explained: "I will give you another option: the museum. You could give it to them on loan and you would still have the pleasure of owning it, and if you ever wanted to bring it back, you could do so."

Antiques Roadshow airs on Sundays from 7pm on BBC One or catch up on BBC iPlayer.