but here in dulwich stands england's first purpose-built art gallery, the dulwich picture gallery.ealers in london were commissioned to put together a collection of paintings for the king of poland. but at the same time the king was fighting to save poland's independence from its neighbors. he lost the battle and had to abdicate, and suddenly, a superb collection of art was left without a home. it could've been left to prominent institutions like the british museum, but that was considered too aristocratic so instead, it was left to an educational institution dulwich college. the first visitors arrived in 1817, and the first public art gallery was born. old masters, household names, hidden gems, all grace the walls. rubens, canaletto, gainsborough, rembrandt, all hang within a few feet of each other. and it wasn't just paintings that were left to the college. tucked away in a corner of the gallery is a mausoleum, containing the bones of the two men who bequeathed the collection, and one of their wives. at the time of the second world war, during the blitz, the valuable paintings we

here we are, in dulwich picture gallery but i think possibly i'm being a little too romantic.t all. but they're fabulous things. vintage fashion now is all the rage. people love it. this, i think, is sensational. by liberty the colors are fabulous. just a wonderful piece. and certainly, £300, maybe £400. and our little black secret dress much less, i'm afraid. probably 40 to 60. but a lovely piece of history anyway. it is, yes. i think the war museum would probably like it. absolutely. these are fabulous things. i may follow that up. good. hilary, your turn this week to be confronted with a nightmare scenario. if your house should suddenly go up in flames god forbid and you had to run out clutching two objects... one of them is presumably not my husband. he's escaped. and he's left you to it, so you're running behind him with two objects. you brought these along, two very different things, aren't they? they are, and i suppose one is about the past, and one is about the future maybe. the past represented by my grandfather's microscope. which, really, the reason that i'm here is