Served as a historical adviser to the Royal Doulton and an editor of "The Connoisseur․"
Quote: "[on an old camera] "This was really a case of touching history, and it started me on a quest to find out more about the whole Cottingley story․""
Though he never had aspirations of working in television, he joined the "Antiques Roadshow" in 1990 as part of its miscellaneous team, recording a range of eclectic objects
A specialist in 19th and 20th century Art and Design, he has written and lectured extensively on the topic
His favorite item that he discovered on "Antiques Roadshow" was a camera that had been used in the Cottingley Fairy saga
Curated the Victoria and Albert Museum's 2001 Victorian Vision Exhibition
His interests include railway history, World War I, sculpture and jazz from the 1920s and 1930s
Began visiting the battlefields of the Somme yearly in the 1980s, originally because he was interested in the architecture of Edward Lutyens, but later because he found his great uncle's name on the memorial at Thiepval
Was the curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum's Pugin Exhibition in 1994
Wrote such books as "Moorcroft Pottery," "Dictionary of Minton," "Poole Pottery," "Cornish Ware" and "Exploring Britain's Canals․"