Blimey, a few days at work and loads of replies.! Thank you to everyone for taking the time to help me garner my thoughts.
John - my mother was a local politician and after 30 years hard work for our local community she lost her seat by 17 votes and is 67 with no pension. They aren’t all bad – just 99%
Max - I dream of walking in to old curiosity shops and finding the most amazing bargains. Now I have a two-year old human steam roller I can't even risk going into a glass shop for now.
Flying free - I agree, the glass would be far more eye catching to look at than bits of paper. If I find pieces that I like and enjoy looking at for ten years, even if I don't sell them, at least I’ve had the enjoyment of looking at them.
Nigel-Good advice and much appreciated. I definitely think a balanced portfolio makes sense - look at all the buy-to-letters who got bitten in the last few years. I don't think I would be in the find a dealer bracket - but I am a good Googler and would hope to find my own opportunities. Recently, I managed to buy some of the last few pieces of Adam Jablonski stock from his factory. He has now retired, and I felt this would be a good investment. Even if they don't sell I am enjoying looking at them.
KevinH - Thank you for the links, there is some really lovely work yet. (P.S. Hooray! A post that you didn't have to remove/close. My bad - I should have read the rule book more thoroughly!)
Johnphilip - I have been looking on Alibaba and Tradekey but the pieces I have seen are mass produced and look it. I am sure there are lovely artists out there but have not located any so far. I would love to come to Cambridge - I got the b/w email reminder the other day - but with two kids under 3 and its 3 hours drive away.
Scavo - Sadly, Nailsea Glass closed down a long time ago and a lot of the finer pieces are over in America it seems. My family have a lovely Nalisea glass cane in the local museum, but local collections are thin on the ground.
Paul - I think you definitely have something there! Bristol has only 5 antique shops and only two of them are any good. The nearest good antiques fair is Sheption Mallet once a quarter. I used to run a market stall and used to have permanent cold fingers and flat feet, but a manager position would be good!
aa - Hello my name is Barnaby and I'm an alco...sorry, wrong group! I think I am looking for scarcity and timeless beauty or something that is connected with something bigger/historical that draws people in through its celebrity status.
Mosquito - I would put money into any glass that I feel combines artistic quality and uniqueness. I will definitely be looking worldwide, and thank you for your recommendations
If anyone has made it this far, thank you for reading! Please keep the replies coming. I am sure I can learn a lot from you all.
Kinds regards
Barnaby