Gillian serves up taste of the Antrim Coast

Television viewers will get a flavour of the Antrim Coast when they tune in to an antiques series to be screened by BBC Two this autumn.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Mar 2019, 10:10 BST
Updated 27th Mar 2019, 10:11 BST
Gillian Thompson, from Irish Seaweed Company and Louise Gostelow cook up a treat at the seafront.Gillian Thompson, from Irish Seaweed Company and Louise Gostelow cook up a treat at the seafront.
Gillian Thompson, from Irish Seaweed Company and Louise Gostelow cook up a treat at the seafront.

The Irish Seaweed Company will be serving up a taste of local hospitality in a forthcoming episode of “Antiques Road Trip”.

A camera crew, accompanied by auctioneer Louise Gostelow dropped in to the Carnlough business at Garron Road to meet owner Gillian Thompson during a tour of the Antrim Coast.

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Louise was treated to a selection of seaweed products cooked by Gillian at the seafront.

Gillian was delighted to welcome Louise and the team with whom she spent an afternoon foraging for seaweed near the “White Lady” at Garron Point where she has been harvesting for 10 years.

“I told her about the different edible seaweeds on our shore. There are hundreds but we focused mainly on dulse. It has been here for generations.

“We talked about dulse during the famine before cooking dulse chowder and dulse Guinness wheaten bread. She absolutely loved it.

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“It is great publicity, not just for me but for the Antrim Coast.”

The BBC Two show sees antiques experts set off on a road trip around the United Kingdom in search of treasures and competing to make the most money at auction.

Louise has been in the auctioneering profession for 16 years.

She said: “I have a passion for history and art and am particularly interested in silver. What I like about my job is that I never know what I am going to come across from one day to the next.”

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“Filming the show was great fun and we met a lot of really interesting people.

“Auctioneering is one of the oldest professions there is and traditionally it was a male job.

“That is changing though and it helps to convey the message that auctions are for everybody.”

During the trip, Louise joined co-presenter David Harper who also appears in BBC shows Bargain Hunt and Cash in the Attic.

She described Northern Ireland as “beautiful” and after a tour of the Antrim Coast, their travels took them inland to Angela’s Antiques and Jewellery in Ballymena.

Related topics:BBC TwoDavid Harper