the peace and beauty of Teesdale. He tells Jenny Laue thing for anyone to do. Leaving the buzz roads of Teesdale might even seem eccentric.
"I had a bit of a midlife crisis," laughs Richard Edwards, senior valuer and auctioneer at Addisons auctioneer, something of a James Herriot of auctioneering, touring through the countryside. When I turned 50 I thought it's now or never. So, Anne, my wife, and I gave up our apartment, packed up and came here.
"Yes, Sotheby's is a wonderful company to work through the doors, but at the end of the day, it is a large corporation and I guess, after ten years there, I had just become tired of being a cog in a wheel."
move back to his native Scotland where Richard, 58, grew up and where his parents still live. Through his brother, who went to college with Addisons partner Simon Nixon, Richard heard that there was a delay.
North-East before, but it was a complete revelation for us," recalls Richard, who is a sculpture specialist.
in love with the place, so when I came for the job interview, both then. The funny thing was that business and I'm a real city person, writing.
After the interview and job for two weeks. We were starting to think it was a mirage, but Simon enough."
straightforwardness, which Richard says he finds refreshing after working at big-city Sotheby's.
world. Although there is a lot of competition in the world of antiques, people here are also more straightforward. We've never had any problems with credit, as we used to have at Sotheby's where people wouldn't pay invoices for ages.
It's an oldfashioned enjoy."
In his time at Sotheby's, Richard has dealt with a lot of high profile clients, mostly movie stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
around them," he recalls.
belonging to the Duke of Windsor, who abdicated as Edward VIII, and his wife, the Duchess.
of their house. We sold that in Richard.
"When we catalogued their belongings, rather sad. What struck me was that to be repaired at some point.
"In this auction, we literally sold of dollars.
"
But after all this excitement, does Richard miss life in the Big Apple?
"Well," he says, "I miss certain aspects of it. Like the restaurants and the museums, but for me it's now more an age and stage thing, about the quality of life we have here.
It means not any more."
Now, four years on, and under Richard's expert guidance, Addisons Auctioneers has blossomed the region. The profile of the salesrooms has risen is booming.
around for a long time, auctions were more of a sideline. But because of the recent investment into caf /restaurant - it became important to develop it, says Richard - a challenge he clearly relishes.
events at schools, churches or WI meetings.
And in David Dickinson.
On a day-to-day basis, Richard's job is not only to to sell their antiques at auction.
quality things at the best prices.
The Sotheby's experience stuff. I have to admit," he smiles, "that I shamefully Durham University's Caedmon Hall, in Durham, for an evaluation day, where the public can come along on Saturday, June 9.
auction at Addisons on July 5.
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