Episode 7 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antiques experts.

-BONG!

-That's cracking!

-With £200 each...

-Wonderful!

..a classic car and a goal - to scour Britain for antiques.

-That's exactly what I'm talking about.

-I'm all over a-shiver!

The aim - to make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

-No-brainer.

-Going, going, gone.

There will be worthy winners and valiant losers.

-So, will it be the high road to glory...

-Push!

..or the slow road to disaster?

How awfully, awfully nice.

This is Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

Welcome back to our road trip

with experts Catherine Southon and Philip Serrell.

They're two auctions down and it's a bit wet

but they're negotiating some West Country roads

in a 1970 Citroen DS20.

Look at that.

Why have we got this rain? Where have you brought me?!

Why is it raining?

Oh, crikey!

Catherine started the trip with £200, but she's made

a decent profit so far and has a healthy £269.58 to play with.

Philip also started the trip with £200,

but he's raced into the lead with a whopping £385.40

to spend on this leg.

This pair's road trip kicks off in Coleshill in Warwickshire,

meanders around the Midlands,

before heading due south to the coast,

then turning west down to the tip of Cornwall,

nipping briefly into South Wales and finishing up at auction in Wells.

Phew!

Today our experts start off in Colyton in Devon

and end up in an auction in the city of Exeter. Ooh-arrr!

Philip is dropping Catherine off at the goods depot,

home to the Vintage Shed antiques.

-Spend your money, girl!

-Bye!

-Good morning!

-Hello!

-Catherine, hi.

-I'm Claire.

-Hello, Claire.

-John.

Hello, John. Nice to meet you.

I think this is one of those places that looks fairly small from

-the outside and you come in and it's massive.

-Someone's chipper this morning.

You see, if Phil was here,

this is where he would be because this is his kind of area.

I saw something when I came in so I'm just going to investigate.

-You're going to be horrified.

-What now, Catherine?

This is what I saw.

I am now going into Phil Serrell complete madness. But look at that.

It's a wheel. Isn't that amazing?

That would look great in somebody's garden.

It's architectural piece but it looks amazing.

It's probably not even for sale but I have to ask.

I know I'm mad.

-No, you're not.

-I know I'm mad...

-OK.

-If you insist.

-..but... It's not the smallest item I've seen...

-I just looked at your wheel.

-OK. Yes.

Is that for sale or is that a part of your building?

No, that is for sale.

It's another trader's, so somebody who rents a space, he put it out there.

-There could be a bargain there.

-Could it be a bargain?

-Could be!

It could be a bargain!

Let's leave an excited Catherine with her wheel.

Meanwhile, Philip has travelled to the pretty coastal village of Beer,

where he's made a little impromptu stop on the beach. Oh Lord!

Chaps, can I have a word? What have you got I can buy off you?

You can buy a boat if you want one.

-Looks like Philip has drawn a blank.

-Take care, chaps.

Or has he? There's some brass navigation lights up for grabs.

Oh, they look good.

Friendly fisherman Nick might have something after all.

That's all I've got here, Phil.

There's a couple of old navigation lights. They're a bit broken.

-They're like me, they've seen better days.

-Yeah, they have.

-How much do you want for them?

-£100?

HE LAUGHS

I reckon they're over 100 years old. I had 'em on me old boat.

-They're covered in paint and...

-Are they brass?

-Yeah, they're brass.

How much do you want for them, Phil? Go on.

I'll give you a tenner for them.

A tenner?! A tenner apiece. Give us 15 quid, there you are.

There is an expression - "If you want to find

"a fool in the seaside, bring him with you."

And I've just arrived.

-What did we say, 20, was that?

-You behave, you.

So this little soiree has seen Philip bag two

ship's navigation lights for £15.

-Well, good luck.

-I need it, yeah.

I think you would with those, but there we are.

I'm not sure who's done who here.

Let's leave Philip on the beach and see how Catherine is getting on

back in Colyton.

Is it a waterwheel or something? An industrial wheel or something?

-I don't know. Do you know anything about it?

-I think it's a waterwheel. I don't know. John?

-John, do you know anything about the wheel?

-It's an olive press wheel.

-So it's originally from France or somewhere like that.

-Of course!

That makes it sound more exciting. Olive press - I like that!

It's still full of woodworm, but, yeah.

Don't worry about the woodworm.

Woodworm is good - it can add value.

-Is it going to be hugely expensive?

-I don't know.

-I'll give him a ring and...

-It's got no price on it.

OK, leave it with me.

Doesn't that look good? And being an olive...

wheel, press, whatever, makes it sound

a bit more Mediterranean and a bit more exciting.

Lovely! Claire hasn't been able to contact the owner,

but she's made an executive decision.

What I could do is sell to you for 120?

That is a little bit more than I wanted to spend.

It's got risk written all over it.

-Yeah.

-Honestly, Claire, I'm looking for about 80.

Go on, then. I'm going to get into trouble but go on, then.

Let's shake on that. £80. I don't know what I've just done.

I may have just made the biggest mistake of my career, but...

-it's been worth it.

-SHE LAUGHS

-There we are.

-Lovely.

-Thank you. Would you like it wrapped?

Hey, I do the jokes, if you don't mind.

Goodness me, what have I done?

Right... John, follow me.

Come on!

Good luck fitting that in the back of the Citroen!

Meanwhile, Philip is still in the village of Beer.

He's visiting the Quarry Caves, which are famous for

the limestone that was mined here for nearly 2,000 years.

John Scott looks after the caves.

-Good morning, Phil. Nice to meet you.

-How are you?

-Welcome to Beer Quarry Caves.

-You are...

-I'm John.

These man-made caves were started by the Romans,

who quarried a 20ft layer of limestone that was unique to

the area, called Beer stone.

It was coveted by local masons because it contains very few

fossils, making it more durable and easier to work.

It's amazing to think the entrance

that we've just walked in was made by the Romans

-in the first century.

-2,000 years ago!

-Yes.

And they quarried the stone from these chambers where we're

standing to build their villas.

It would have been quite an industry.

The Romans quarried a quarter of a mile in that direction

to get all the Beer stone they used.

And that's almost like a perfect arch.

They supported the roof with beautiful rounded arches.

The Romans removed tonnes of limestone from here but they

also left things behind.

In this one chamber alone we've unearthed over 30 beautiful

-Roman coins...

-Really?

-In fact, there in my hand...

is one of those first-century Roman coins we discovered.

-So that's a 2,000-year-old coin.

-Very nearly, yes.

That's just beautiful, isn't it?

Although there was money to be made from Beer stone, it came at a cost.

You're working deep below ground, which is dangerous anyway.

You're getting appalling burns on your arms, rubbing on the limestone.

The alkali burned some of the skin and split it wide open,

and the only way they treated the splits was by running hot

-tallow candle wax on them.

-Oh!

It wasn't only the Romans who endured difficult conditions

mining the Beer stone.

Throughout the centuries, the quarry changes shape,

like different styles of architecture, because

the Saxons came - not such good architects - left the quarry square.

The Norman period, it's all upright pillars, capitals at the top,

like a Norman building...

By the early 20th century, quarrymen were still working the caves.

Some carved their names into the rock.

-So is it George Gush?

-No, it's actually Charles Gush.

Charles Cleaver Gush. He was a quarryman here when he was 19, in 1909.

Working conditions, did they change a lot?

No, the only improvement along the years was that they introduced

the use of hand saws.

But it was still backbreaking work.

Every day, single-handedly, to earn your living,

you'd have to cut a four-ton block out of a blank rock face.

-But all you'd have is that hand saw...

-Yeah.

..four iron wedges and a sledgehammer.

And danger was never very far away.

One day, when men were working in this section,

the vibration of the noise brought a 48-ton slab of rock out of

that hole in the roof right above our heads.

That lot hit the floor in one piece with other men beneath it.

Danger wasn't the only thing the quarrymen dealt with.

Imagine being here with 100 men driving iron wedges with

sledgehammers, pushing hand saws and swinging their pickaxes.

LOUD ECHOING BANGS

Now, when that's 100 times louder day after day, and you can't

escape the noise, that's why we talk about going stone deaf.

Oh, I love that!

After working 14 solid hours, you had to stand here shivering

waiting for a man called the tapstone to come. And he carries a hammer.

When the tapstone hits the block of Beer stone you've cut,

if it doesn't ring like a bell, but gives a dull thud,

that means the stone is cracked - useless for a mason to carve,

so they won't pay you a penny wages for your whole day's work.

The extraction of Beer stone from the caves ceased during

the 20th century when a new quarry was opened up nearby.

But the legacy of the men who worked these caves for hundreds of years

is still visible today in some of the country's most iconic buildings.

Westminster Abbey,

Tower of London, Hampton Court, Windsor Castle, 24 cathedrals.

People often say why is there no monument in the village to

those who lost their lives quarrying Beer stone?

In fact, written down here on one of the pillars is something

that's written in St Paul's Cathedral.

It says, "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice,"

and it simply means "If you're looking for the monument,

"go and look around you."

So you can either look around the quarry where they worked

or you can still see the stone they quarried

in all our historic buildings. So that's their monument.

Meanwhile, Catherine is in the East Devon town of Axminster.

She is visiting her second shop of the day, The Old Chapel Antiques.

There are three floors to peruse here.

Hang about she's found something already.

Ian, I've spotted a rather nice little penknife. I like that.

-There we are.

-Oh, isn't that lovely?!

-Isn't that different?

-Yes!

Look at that!

It's a little penknife and just in the form of a clog or

a lady's shoe or something.

That's really pretty. And there's the blade that flicks out there.

It's just a really unusual piece.

-What's on that?

-It's got 28 on that one.

-What I would love to pay...is about 15.

-Right.

-I think that's unlikely, but let me go and ask.

-See what you can do.

What sort of price you can get as close to that as possible.

-Give me a couple of minutes.

-Can I also ask, very cheekily...?

-Yes?

-You've got something there which is not for sale.

Is there any way it could be for sale?

-The chimney? No, it's not.

-It's definitely not for sale.

-No.

But what about a deal on the penknife?

-You can do 18?

-OK.

Yeah? OK, 18 is fine.

-Thanks a lot.

-Fantastic. Can I...

-You want to...?

..put that in the bag?

-Hang on, yeah. I'll put that one there.

-Pop that one in the bag.

I think something else has taken Catherine's fancy.

Oh, look at this! Look at this.

Right at the back there...

That's like the little biscuit tin that I bought,

that was actually for sweeties.

Yes, I remember.

-And you made a handsome profit on it, as well.

-Yes!

-What I was really, particularly interested in...

-Here?

-..is that.

-One in there?

-The trunk. I can have a look at that.

Well, let's have a look and see.

I like that.

The ticket price is £33.

Well, if you could do a reasonable...deal for me.

-OK. Let me see. Can I take the ticket?

-Please do.

And I'll go and speak to him.

Ian's back, and he's got news.

Catherine? He'll do that one for 25.

Right. I was hoping for a bit less than 25.

There's nothing we can do on that?

Twist my arm and I'll take another...

I'll take it down to 22.

Right, OK. That's fine.

I'll put that with my shoe, shall I?

-So, I'm going to go for those two.

-Those two, yes?

-£40?

-That's £40.

-Ian, you've been marvellous. Wonderful.

-Nice to see you.

-And you. Thank you very much.

-All the best.

Let's leave Catherine in Axminster.

Philip's leaving the sea behind him to head inland

to the Devon town of Honiton, famous for its lacemaking.

His first shop is Lombard Antiques,

and he's a familiar face.

-Oh, Phil!

-We've met before, haven't we?

-What a surprise.

-Absolutely right, yeah.

-Oh, wow. Hello, how are you?

Because I came here when Charlie Hanson and I

-did the Road Trip round here, didn't I?

-Yes.

-But didn't actually buy off you, did I?

-No, no. Charlie did, yes.

We'll hopefully put that right in a minute.

-I might just buy something.

-Right.

-Can I have a look round?

-Yes.

Tell you what, space is at a premium, isn't it?

Hmm. It is a bit snug.

That's an interesting thing.

This is a military one, isn't it?

-Yes. 1916.

-'16.

-And you can tell it's military by the...

-By the arrow, yeah.

-By the arrow head there.

-That's right.

And it's by Negretti and Zambra, who were London makers.

So this is a mid-First World War army field telescope?

Yeah. Mid-First World War. Very good condition.

It sports a ticket price of £195.

-But when I bid you for it, you might need a chair.

-Oh, dear.

Let's just have a wander. Have you got a storeroom, Barry?

I have got a storeroom, yeah.

That looks quite nice, Barry.

Yeah, got a lovely tray top commode, here.

So, this is Georgian, it's about 1765?

-Yeah.

-Tray top, because this looks like a tray.

-Yeah.

And it's a bedside commode, so you... you would pull that out.

-And this has probably been put in later, hasn't it?

-Yes.

Because this should be, basically, where your chamberpot went.

How much is this, Barry?

I could probably do that for about £85.

The "about" sounds interesting.

-Anyway, down to business.

-What's the best on the telescope?

I could probably do the telescope for 140.

-I think that's definitely worth buying.

-What about the commode?

We'll do it for 80.

You couldn't buy the wood for that.

He's got all the chat, doesn't he? All the chat. I like him.

That's nice.

Don't like his prices.

Not so nice, Phil.

What I'd like to do, let's put this on here,

and let's see if we can have a deal with these two.

I don't know anything about this, but I quite like it.

I love that commode, it's an old-fashioned antique.

I know that your prices are fair.

But I'm going to bid you for me to make a profit on them.

-Right.

-And I'm going to end up with £200.

That's it, me finished.

So that would be £140 for the telescope, and £60 for the commode.

You going to shake my hand?

I think I will. Yeah, go on, then, Phil.

Thank you very much indeed.

-You're a nice chap. Thank you very much.

-What a gentleman, eh?

I'd better pay you now, hadn't I?

That's a decent day's work for Philip.

I'll do the heavy lifting.

-You bring the heavy thing.

-I'm used to that.

-Yeah.

Time for a spot of shut-eye, then. Nighty-night.

Morning, everyone.

Catherine's in the driving seat today, so watch out.

And our experts are enjoying the delights of rural Somerset.

Look at all these little... Is that...

I was going to say ponies, but they're not, they're cows.

You're a country girl, then, Catherine(?)

Their first stop today is in the Somerset town of Dulverton.

Philip is visiting the family-run Acorn Antiques,

with just over £170 tucked into his back pocket.

BELL RINGS

-Hello, hello. Peter.

-Hi.

Good to see you, how are you?

Oh, it's a proper antique shop.

Proper antique shop.

-Is it all right if I have a look round?

-Yes, of course.

What about your drum, Peter?

That's 95. What could that be?

-It is damaged.

-Yeah.

But I'd probably lose that.

I'd put that one on this side,

and then put a little circular glass top on it,

-and you've got a really cool coffee table, haven't you?

-Absolutely.

-It's French, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

And what would be the very best on that?

I'll do it for £70.

It's a nice thing.

Yes.

Would I insult you if I tried to buy it with a five in front of it?

-Meet me halfway.

-60 quid?

Go on, then. You're done.

You're a gentleman. Thank you very much indeed.

I'll give you some money now, look. There we are. £60. Thank you.

-Great. Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much indeed.

Deal done. Let's get it down, then.

This is going to rise or fall

on whether anybody else can see what I see in this.

So let's leave our little drummer boy.

So sweet.

Let's catch up with Catherine.

She's headed north to the pretty Somerset village of Carhampton.

Her last shop is Chris' Crackers,

and she's got just shy of £150 to spend.

Are you Chris and are you crackers?

-I'm definitely crackers. I'm Peter, nice to meet you.

-Hello, Peter.

-Well, em... Well... What can I say?

-Different.

-It's different.

It's certainly that.

-Oh, my goodness me.

-This is one of our best and busiest rooms.

-Really?

-They love rummaging through things.

-Do they?

(I'm exhausted and I haven't even started!)

Yes, there is rather a lot to get through. Woof.

-An old gym horse. They're very popular now.

-What's on that?

Oh, about £100.

-Oh, come on.

-Really?!

HE LAUGHS

I thought you and I would be on the same wavelength.

How long have you had that?

-It's been there a little while.

-Years.

-It's been there three years.

You'd love that space.

I mean, think of all the things you could put in that space.

-More junk.

-More junk.

-What do you think? 40?

-Yeah, we're not too far away.

-We could have a deal.

-Right, OK.

-We could have a deal.

-Hold that thought.

-Right.

Because we've only just started.

Right, what else have you noticed, Catherine?

I'm seeing some blue and white stripes. Is that a deckchair?

That's our massive deckchair.

Of course it's a giant deckchair. It's a duet deckchair.

I think they were from the '60s. Butlin's used to have them.

-Oh, to have your photo?

-That's right.

I've got, somewhere, behind you, I've got the baby.

Oh, that's brilliant.

How much is it? How much is it?

-What, the chair?

-Yeah.

-Oh...

The best I could do on that would be 80.

I don't think you'll see another one in a hurry.

Can you do less than 80?

Can you do 60 for a friend? You know why? Cos of that hole.

I'm being picky. How do we get it out?

Oh, my goodness me. You're very kind, getting all this out.

Right, which way up?

I'll just leave you to do it.

-Oh, that is just fantastic. Does it work?

-Yeah, definitely.

Try it, by all means.

What do you think?

All I need is an ice cream, a beach, the sun and I'll be happy.

Come on, you, join me.

-It's not going to break, is it?

-No, it won't break. Come on, then.

-It's nice, actually.

-Come on, then.

-And there's a dog!

-Yay!

-THEY CHUCKLE

Beside the seaside.

Beside the road! So...what do we think?

-Well, what did I say, 80?

-Yeah.

-What are you saying?

60.

Are we?

-This is great. Am I mad?

-Chris' Crackers.

Don't forget the little one, Catherine.

Does that one come with it?

Why not? Why not?

So that's the deckchairs, what about the vaulting horse?

Can you do it for 40?

-Go on.

-Can you?

-Yeah.

-Are you happy with that?

-I'm happy with that.

So how much do I owe you?

That's £100 for the deckchairs and the vaulting horse

and very, very nicely done, I might say.

Does your dog come free?

Get out of it!

Meanwhile, Philip has made his way to Sampford Brett.

The village is nestled on the edge of the Quantock Hills.

He's visiting Keith Richards Antiques,

which is based on the family farm.

He presumably doesn't play guitar.

-Hi, Keith, how are you?

-How are you?

-Yeah, good to see you.

-How are you doing, all right?

-Yeah, very good, thank you.

I'm going to try and be methodical here.

All right?

Let's narrow this down.

This should be interesting.

This is a suite of Gnomeman furniture.

Thousands of pounds, out of my price range.

Arts and Crafts bookcase.

-Needs a bit of work.

-Mm-hm. Yes, just come in.

-And how much is that?

-220.

-OK.

Moving on.

Oh, lovely Wedgwood Fairyland lustre bowl.

And that is...?

£3,400.

Maybe not quite for you, Phil.

That's nice.

So, that's an oak silver chest, isn't it?

Yes, yes.

And it's Mr Ware-Cornish Esq.

-So you've got an oak strongbox, effectively.

-Mm-hm.

Or silver chest.

Metal bound.

Beige lined interior, that would have held a tray in there,

-wouldn't it?

-Yeah.

It probably would have had the full, sort of, tea set, the whole works.

Yeah. And we've got here,

"Carrington and Co Silversmiths, Regent Street, London."

You've got 165 on that. What's the best you can do that for?

120.

It's just a lovely size, isn't it?

I've got a very tight budget, here.

So is 120 your best?

Yes.

Yeah.

Let's just see if we can just tempt him a little bit.

That's 20, look.

30, 40, 50, 60,

70, 80, 90, 110.

You think that's all I've got, don't you?

-Absolutely not, because there is...

-Oh, goodness.

-..40 pence as well.

Well, that should swing it, Phil.

-There's £110.40. I have not got a penny more.

-Right.

-Can I shake your hand?

-You can indeed.

-What a gentleman!

-All right.

-What a good chap. Really pleased with that.

And just like that, shopping for the leg is complete.

Phillip adds his 19th-century oak chest

to a World War I telescope,

a 1920s drum,

a pair of vintage ship's lights

and a Georgian commode.

Catherine spends £220 on the novelty deck chairs,

vintage vaulting horse,

wooden olive press,

shoe penknife and an Edwardian confectionary tin.

Thoughts, anyone?

I don't think you're sitting on a fortune with your two deckchairs,

and I think your wheel of fortune might have

suddenly ground to a halt.

The telescope, which is an area that I know a little bit more about,

it might make £100.

I don't think so, though.

After setting off from Colyton,

our experts are now headed to auction in the Devon city of Exeter.

Welcome to Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood's sale rooms.

What does auctioneer Brian Goodison-Blanks

think of our experts' lots?

The commode is a very nice piece.

It's what we refer to as more traditional antiques.

In the current market, though, because of the decline

for brown furniture,

it's probably only going to be about £40-£60 at auction.

The vaulting horse is one that's going to, I think,

throw us all for a loop.

It might make £40-£60, it might take a flier at £100 or so.

Well, let's hope it's got wings on. Anyway, it's busy in here today.

Experts, take your seats.

First up is Philip's pair of brass ship's lights.

Try saying that quickly.

What am I saying for those, £20?

-Ouch.

-£10 to start, then?

-10. Thank you, madam.

-Thank you, madam.

-12. 15.

-There, see? They all want them now.

20. 22. At 22 for the ship's lights, then...

GAVEL POUNDS

That's got me out of trouble, hasn't it?

Well, it's plain sailing for Philip as he starts off with a profit.

Next up is Catherine's shoe penknife.

What will I say for that, £50?

-That would be nice.

-Start at 30, then.

20, if you will.

10, if you will. 10 I have.

12, 15, 18, 20.

£20 seated. Shoe penknife at 20. Quite sure, sir?

At 20 seated...

GAVEL POUNDS

Well, that's just about wiped its face.

I'm a bit disappointed about that.

I think this is going to be a tough, old day.

-Do you?

-Yeah. Shall I go and start the car?

Not just yet, Philip. Your 1920s drum is up next.

Somebody start me at £50.

Start me at £30 for the drum.

Come on.

£30 I have. Thank you, madam.

It'll make a nice coffee table, won't it?

They think like you, Phil.

35, 38, 40. 42?

Sure, sir? At 40 to the lady, then. 40 and done.

GAVEL POUNDS

They've got long pockets here, haven't they?

Blimey, don't bang on about it.

Maybe Catherine's Edwardian confectionary tin will fare better.

Various interest here. 10, 12, 15.

15, I have. 18, 20, 22.

25, 28...

You've done it again, girl, you've done it again.

£30 seated.

This is where I say, "Crumbs".

All done, then...

GAVEL POUNDS

That's not a bad result, Catherine.

Well, it was a little profit. I would have liked a bit more.

Wouldn't we all?!

Now it's time for Philip's Georgian commode.

What will I say for that, £40?

40? 20?

20 I have. Thank you to the boys.

22, fresh bait. 25, 28, 30.

32, 35?

£32, then. 35, fresh bait.

38, 40, 42, 45, 48.

-50, 55?

-There you go.

£50, then?

At £50, then, at 50...

GAVEL POUNDS

Gosh, there are some lucky buyers in here today.

Now for Catherine's wooden olive press.

What will I say for that unusual thing there? £50?

A nice decorative piece. 50?

£30 for the wheel, then?

-30, I have.

-Look, you're off.

I'll take the bid at 30. 2 if you'd like, easy stages.

I need a lot more than that.

At £30. 32. 35, 38.

40. 42.

-45.

-Please.

-48.

-Please.

-50.

-Yes.

-55.

-Yes.

-60.

-Yes.

65?

At 60 and selling, then...

GAVEL POUNDS

Never mind, Catherine. It was worth a shot.

Can she bounce back with her novelty deckchairs?

Start me somewhere at £40 for the two.

£40 straightaway I have. £40 for the deckchairs.

42, 45, 48, 50.

Come on, it's nice and comfy for the summer.

Two - two of them.

At 50, then...

GAVEL POUNDS

Oh, dear, that's back-to-back losses for Catherine.

Do you think there are any other programmes that we could do?

Perhaps... I don't know, one of those cooking things.

Let's not be too hasty now, Philip.

Shall we see how your oak chest gets on?

Various interest here. At 80. 85.

90, 95, 100.

110, 120, 130, 140.

150, 160, 170, 180...

-That's...

-I told you.

At £180 and I'll sell.

Crikey, that's a whopping profit for Philip.

Catherine's last lot is the vintage vaulting horse.

Can she leap into a profit?

I've commissions here starting at 22, 25, 28, 30.

£30 is bid here with me.

32, 35, 38, 40. 42?

No? My commission at £40. Do I see 2?

42, 45, 48, 50. 52?

-£52 I have, at 52.

-Come on, keep going.

Please keep going.

Quite sure for the horse, then...

GAVEL POUNDS

So Catherine ends on a profit. Well done.

Last up is Philip's World War I telescope.

What will I say for that, £80?

£50 to start, then? 50 I have, wave of the catalogue.

5 behind. 60? Can't see you, madam.

60. 65.

70. 75. 80?

75 to you, then, madam. 80 standing behind.

85, 90.

95, 100.

100 standing to you, sir.

At £100, then...

GAVEL POUNDS

Well, that's a steal for some lucky bidder.

-Are we off?

-Yeah.

That's our experts' third auction completed.

Let's see how they're faring.

Philip started off with £385.40.

After paying auction costs, he's made a loss of £63.96,

leaving him £321.44 to carry forward.

Catherine started off with £269.58.

After paying her auction fees, she's made a loss of £46.16,

leaving her with £223.42 to spend next time.

With the dawn of another day,

we race ahead into the next leg of our trip.

This leg starts in the small Cornish town of Hayle,

and ends at an auction in Bristol.

This is going to be interesting, there's a cattle truck in the middle of the road.

What's going on here? It's little sheepsies!

Shall we go and buy a sheep? Have we got enough between us?

It's been a lifelong ambition of mine on the Road Trip to buy a sheep.

-How much is it to buy a sheep?

-About 60 or 80 quid, I would think.

And farmer's son Philip Serrell should know.

Oh, look! Come on!

You've got one, you're losing one round the back.

-It's fallen!

-Don't worry, don't worry.

He's fallen, where's he going?

Oh, no!

Running after him is not a good idea, Catherine!

We've lost this man's sheep!

Remind me never to go sheep rustling with you, Catherine Southon.

This is like Wallace and Gromit, isn't it?

He's crossing the border! He's in Devon!

Anyway, after helping a local farmer...

-Top stuff.

-Right, let's shop.

-Come on, then.

-..both experts are kicking off their shopping at

Foundry Antiques and Arts Centre.

Right, away we go.

Looks nice.

There's lots of lovely, lovely things.

I haven't got a lot of money, though.

I feel like last time I just went out on a whim and just bought this

and that, and all these wonderful things.

But I think I really need to be sensible this time.

And play it perhaps safe.

Could be a plan.

Now, this, what is this?

Mini cricket bat?

No, it's a very large page turner.

And it's actually poker work, so it's been done with a really,

really hot poker to create these wonderful patterns.

This is yours, sir, Sir Paul.

-Yes.

-I did notice that as I was turning it around,

you've got a bit of wear, there.

A little bit of wear, there.

It's a nice size, though, isn't it?

Yeah, I think it's probably made

more as a decorative piece than to actually use.

What have you got on that, my friend?

There's £9.50 on it.

Can you do five on it?

-Yeah, I'll do five.

-You can do five, OK.

Could I just put that to one side?

-I'm still going to carry on.

-Certainly.

Catherine has secures one buy from Paul,

meanwhile Phillip is stalking the cabinets with Jan.

There's stunning things in here, aren't there?

There are some beautiful things, really interesting bits and bobs.

But it's not really my field.

My field is vintage.

-You look stunning.

-Thank you.

Could you give me the vintage look?

How about a little bit retro, a little bit '70s, maybe?

Yeah, that's...

-Let's go and have a look, then.

-Me and Noddy Holder.

Look at these, fantastic kipper ties. You must remember these.

They're vintage? I still wear them! Go on, do the deed, do the deed.

There's lots of people out there willing you to pull this as tight as you can, Jan!

Surely not, Philip?

There you are, Noddy Serrell.

Catherine, do you like this look?

I love the kipper tie!

-It's the business.

-But it's better than what you normally wear!

Now, now, Catherine.

Anyway, down to business, but be careful, Philip's hovering.

I think I probably will go for that.

I think I should make something on it, don't you?

-I would have thought so.

-Whatever she's giving you,

I'll give you a tenner more!

Play fair, now, there's a good chap!

£5, right?

Do you have some change, sir?

I should be able to find some, I think.

Thank you very much.

And if it doesn't give me a profit,

I'm going to whack Mr Serrell round the head with it!

Catherine's first purchase is secured, Philip's yet to start.

But hang on!

That's interesting.

Jan's got me on this vintage stuff.

I mean, I just think that's got a bit of a look to it.

A bit of tubular steel with either plywood or fibre glass or plastic

on top of it.

Thomas Chippendale, at this minute in time, is rotating in his grave.

I can hear the coffin creaking from here, Philip.

That looks a lot better from the top than it does from the bottom, doesn't it?

It's a gamble, this, isn't it?

What's the ticket price on it?

It's 85...

How does 50 sound?

It's a very good starting point.

I'm working on the theory it won't be the end point,

but it's a very good start point.

I'm interested now, let's have a look and see what else we can find.

-Yeah.

-Let's leave Philip browsing.

Catherine's found Jan and her cabinet stocked full of vintage.

What would be really nice would be making up a lot of some sort of quite fun vintage accessories.

-Yes, yes.

-I like that.

-Disco clip.

-Disco clip.

It goes with Phil's kipper tie!

I like that.

Have you got another few unusual beaded bits?

How about that? It's a Whiting and Davis, very, very collectable.

They are made in the USA, very popular.

They started their company by making chainmail for uniforms.

-Oh, right.

-Or, I do have a very, very big beaded collar necklace.

Oh, my goodness me, yeah.

That's lovely, isn't it?

You could go to dangerous territory here,

and end up buying all this stuff...

It's because it's girlie things, it always tempts you.

It is, isn't it?

Total ticket price for these three is £65.

Would you do 30 for the whole lot?

Ooh, er...

OK, I will do it for 30, because I am of the school of thought

that I need to put vintage out there.

That's jolly decent of you, Jan.

Is there anything else we can add to it, just to

sort of enhance it a little bit more?

Another necklace?

How about that one?

A nice long strand, double-stranded.

Rather fine beads.

Can that go with it?

-Yes.

-So I could have this at 30.

Yes.

I think you're being very generous.

I think that's very kind.

How about this one? Little beaded purse, there we go.

I've got to give you a little bit more for that.

Can we say 35 for the lot?

I think we could.

-Is that all right?

-I think that's a smashing little lot.

I think that really is. Jan, you've been an absolute star.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Let's leave Catherine all dressed up.

-Where's the party?

Philip's still with Paul, and he's got his eye on something.

That's interesting, Paul.

Yeah, it's a Masonic lodge in India.

I think about sort of 1890, early 1900s.

Have you got any other history to it?

They were big photographers in India, they were Madras Bangalore.

It's in a nice, what I call native frame.

You know, Indian-made frame.

Can we take that down and have a look at it, please?

-Yes, certainly.

-Let's have a look.

What's the best you could do that for, please?

35 on it.

I know I could do that for 20.

Which have you got more movement in, Paul,

the Masonic photograph or the retro table?

I couldn't go below 20 on that one, I don't think. But...

I was going to try and buy the two off you for, like, £55.

Would that work?

-I could do 60.

-Go on, then, I'll have a deal with you.

You're a gentlemen, thank you very much indeed.

Let me give you some money. Two, four, six.

There we are.

That's Philip's first two lots for auction.

Well done.

Meanwhile, Catherine has made her way

to the south-west tip of Cornwall.

She's meeting Professor Gareth Parry on the beautiful Porthcurno beach to

find out what part it played in the communications revolution of the late 1800s.

I've got to take my shoes off,

because I cannot go on sand with my shoes on.

You just make yourself comfortable, Catherine!

That feels better already.

So why this beach, why are we here?

Well, this was the landing site for the first telegraph cable that

connected this country with Bombay, as it was called then, in India.

And this was in 1870.

Up until that point, if you wanted to communicate between this country

and India, for example, it would take something like six or eight weeks.

-By letter?

-By sea, yeah.

But one man was about to change all that.

John Pender, a wealthy Scottish merchant,

had an ambition to connect the entire world with cables,

and this would eventually transform the way the British Empire was controlled.

Once the cable was installed, it went via relay stations,

messages could take nine minutes.

Pender wanted to avoid damage to his cables from shipping,

so he avoided ports like Falmouth

and instead brought his cables ashore on

the isolated Porthcurno beach.

So have we still got cables beneath our feet, now?

Yes, yes indeed.

There's the odd one or two of the old telegraph cables.

You may well have a cable going underneath your feet that goes

from Cornwall right out through the Mediterranean

to Japan, China and South Korea.

Something you would never think, while you were sitting here with

your ice cream, making your sand castle!

The original 19th-century subsea telegraph cables would emerge

in the cable hut,

where the signals were collected and taken to the telegraph station.

Within 50 years,

Porthcurno was to become the busiest telegraph station in the world.

So it really was the hub, wasn't it?

Yes. This map actually shows the cable network in 1920.

It really shows how the Eastern Telegraph Company that Pender formed

became one of the most powerful cable companies in the world.

Because, if you look at the map here,

we see red lines which indicate the routes taken by the cable networks

going right up to the Far East,

Australia, New Zealand,

and by this stage, Africa, South America.

And you can see how all the lines converge onto this one little beach.

What sort of messages would have been exchanged during this time?

Almost certainly diplomatic messages, trade, finance, commerce.

Pender's whole operation depended on the durability of his subsea cables.

If you hold that, you can see how heavy it is.

Oh, wow, that's really heavy.

Once the cables had been made, they still had to be laid,

and that's where Brunel's SS Great Britain came in,

which at that time was the largest ship in the world.

This was put on the ship, and I'm guessing it must have been

wound round lots of barrels or something?

They did wind it onto the decks,

they had what they called three tanks.

Then they gradually off-loaded it.

With the cables in place,

it was left to the operators to send and receive the messages.

This instrument is a Morse Inca.

And it was one of the early ways of getting a printed record

-of a Morse code signal.

-Right, what can I say?

-Help.

-Help, OK.

Dot, dot, dot, dash, dash, dash...

And three dots again.

-Perfect!

-You'd definitely get help with that.

Victorian innovation meant that the sleepy village of Porthcurno was

at the cutting edge of information technology.

Now, in the 21st-century,

the village is still synonymous with technology,

with fibre-optic cables making landfall on its beach.

Meanwhile, Philip is back up the coast

at the pretty town of Marazion,

famous for St Michael's Mount.

He's visiting his second shop, The Old Drill Hall.

-Hi there.

-Hello.

-You must be Christian.

-I am.

-I'm Philip, how're you?

-Very nice to meet you, very well, thank you.

-This is a place and a half, isn't it?

-Yeah.

You've got some stuff in here, haven't you?

-Thank you.

-We better have a look around them, hadn't we?

-Please do.

-I like stores and outside places,

have you got an outside place?

We have a pile at the back door at the moment.

Let's go have a look at the pile.

This is... A pile outside the back door is always a good place to start, I think.

Better out than in, eh, Phil?!

Lord above!

These are calf feeders or something like that, aren't they?

I think they are, yeah.

If they were older, I'd be interested in those.

-There are some boilers at the back.

-Oh, those old galvanised tanks...

-Are they whole?

-I don't think there's any holes in them.

-We can dig them out.

-How much are they?

£25 each.

-I'm going to be a real pain now.

-OK.

-But could I have a look at those?

-Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

-Can I go back in and have a look round,

see if I can find something else,

and then perhaps they could miraculously...

-Appear on the ground?

-What a good man you are, I like you.

Ah, rust, Philip's favourite.

This gate has a £50 ticket price.

One to consider.

What else tickles his fancy?

-Christian!

-Hello.

-What've you been doing?

-Thank you for your help moving...

-My new best mate!

-Hey, Christian's got the measure of you, Philip.

-How old are these, do you think?

-To be honest, I'm not too sure.

I think there's a reasonable bit of age to them.

Perhaps '50s, are they? '50s, '60s.

-Are they velvet?

-Yes.

There's three or four pairs.

OK. If you paid the right money for them, that could be a deal.

-Did you buy these right?

-I think so.

-Could be interesting.

-So that's three pairs of curtains, isn't it?

-So how much are they?

-£100, for you.

For the curtains? Pull yourself together!

Hey, that went well.

I like that gate that's down there.

And I like the two bits of galvanised.

I'm looking at 60 quid for the three.

How's that sound?

-Yeah, OK.

-All right?

-Yeah.

-I'll shake your hand on those, I'll have those for sure, that's 60 quid bought.

I'm going to an auction in Bristol, and I'm thinking to myself...

Big houses in Bristol.

Curtains... I don't know.

-Would those come at 50?

-The curtains...

-Could come at 50 quid, could they?

Yeah.

I'm going to buy the curtains off you for £50,

and those other bits of fine quality antiques.

-Super.

-Lovely job.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Philip has been busy, he's spent £110 on that little lot.

I think it's time to hit the hay.

Nighty night.

Morning, everyone. Today, Philip's in the driving seat

and our experts are enjoying the delights of the Cornish countryside.

Our experts are making their way to the first shop of the day,

a pretty village called The Lizard.

Philip is dropping Catherine off at the aptly named Lizard Antiques.

-Well, I need to be here.

-I'm quite envious of you here.

I like it when you're envious.

-Bad luck.

-Now, now Philip.

-Bye.

-Bye.

-Hello...

-Hello. Good morning, Catherine, welcome to The Lizard.

Good morning, thank you. This is jolly nice.

This looks really like my kind of shop,

lots of rusticy metal and wood and...

Tactile, unusual, junky things.

There's no shiny jewellery and silver in here, is there?

-No.

-Right, I'd better get to it.

-Yes.

-I like your bottles. They're in lovely condition, aren't they?

-Yes.

-The actual labels?

-Completely cleaned up.

-That's such an old

-symbol, isn't it?

-Yes.

I remember that, Flying Horse.

I think that might do better at auction, maybe.

Quite fun to have these.

I'm not looking at the prices at the moment, because it upsets me.

You never know, Catherine.

What can you do on those?

Well, at the moment...

each of them is 25, so it would be 100, wouldn't it?

Seeing as it's you and us girls are going to stick together,

I'm going to go for 40, which is a bargain, £10 each,

-you will definitely...

-I should do, shouldn't I?

-Yeah.

-And that's quite nice as well, for the bottles.

Seen better days.

-I know.

-But that's part of its charm, isn't it?

That's quite nice, isn't it?

-Are you OK with that?

-Yes.

I quite like that.

And, three shilling deposit. You might get some money back on that one.

And Debbie has another wooden box in the window.

F Dibben, I think it says, Fish Market, Poole.

There's absolutely no way that this is reproduced?

-No.

-We've got a lovely bit of woodworm there as well,

-which is always nice.

-Try telling that to the wood!

The combined ticket price for the two boxes is £107.

What do they look like together?

Can I make you an offer?

It would be easier, yes.

Can I say 65 for the whole lot?

-Go on, then.

-Can I?

Yes, let's do that. Let's shake on it.

I'm going to shake your hand.

And I suppose you want some money.

So that's £35 for the bottles, and 30 for the boxes.

Elsewhere, Phillip is heading to Falmouth on Cornwall's south coast.

He's got a little over £150 to spend

at his final shop.

-Hi.

-Morning.

-I'm Phil.

-How are you? Good to see you.

-Hi there, Cole.

-Cole?

-Yes.

-And this is the Little Vintage Warehouse. I'm on a mission.

-OK.

-I've got some money to spend.

In an ideal world, I'd like to spend all of it.

-OK, sounds good.

-OK, let's go and have a look round, see what we can see.

Oh, Cole, I love this.

How cool is that?

So this is a 1950s Jielde?

What make's that? German or Scandinavian or something.

Very cool thing, isn't it?

How much is that? Oh, £400!

I've got nowhere near that. Are you open to offers?

-Yeah, we're open to offers.

-I love that.

-It's a great piece.

-Right, do you want to know how much I've got?

-OK.

-You might not want to know how much I've got.

-Right.

-Go on, Philip, put the young man out of his misery.

I've got, to the last penny, £151.44.

-£150...

-51, don't forget the one.

-OK.

-And 44p. I'd love to buy that. Can you do anything with that?

In all honesty, I'd have to give Ollie a call, who's the shop owner because...

-Would you mind?

-No, not at all.

-He might throw me out.

-Hey, let's not be too dramatic, Philip.

-He might, yeah.

-Blimey.

-See what he says.

-Worth a try.

-Yeah, give him a go.

-OK.

-Thank you.

I think this is so lovely because it's just such a cool thing.

1950s. It's sort of got that vintagey warehouse look.

Anyway, Cole is trying to get through to Ollie, the owner.

-Hello, mate, you all right?

-Right, we're in business, Philip.

You know the industrial 1950s lamp

with the brake disk for a stand on it?

Yes, so you couldn't do any less than about 200.

-You think it'll go for 300 at auction?

-Can I have a word?

Phil says can he have a word with you quickly?

All right, I'll put you on.

Ollie, how are you? I desperately want to buy that but I have only got

left £151.44.

Can you do me a deal?

Let me just hand you back to Cole, then, you can tell him.

Well, Ollie's just sold Philip the Jielde lamp for the bargain price of

£151.44.

So, that's Phillip's shopping done.

Meanwhile, Catherine is in Redruth visiting her last shop -

Thornley Trading.

She's got £118 left to spend

and something has already caught her eye.

That is interesting, that little Deco trolley.

That, with some really good glasses on, some really good cocktail glasses,

really nice little decanters, that could look superb.

I can see a huge ticket on it, though, of £175.

It's Art Deco. It is '30s.

I'm going in for the kill.

Oh, lots of lights.

Hello. Do you like lights, by any chance?

Just a bit, yeah.

Hello, Catherine. And your name is?

-Walter.

-Hello, Walter.

-How are you doing?

-Fine.

I just had a look in the window.

-Your Deco...

-Trolley.

That you've got one hell of a price on that.

-Can that be...?

-It's nothing to us.

What do you mean? What's nothing to you?

Putting high prices on things.

Oh, that's what you do, is it? You put high prices on.

I'm kind of looking at £40 on that, or less.

I...

-What could you do?

-I'd let you have it for 40.

-Came I have a look at it?

-Absolutely.

It's smothered in all sorts of stuff.

It is. We could be here some time.

I'm going to take my jacket off.

-What am I going to do with this lot?

-What are we going to do with this?

What's this little bit at the end for?

Oh, I know. That's to put your bottles in, isn't it?

-Look at that.

-Look at that.

That's quite nice, actually, isn't it?

-Does it work?

-Yes.

SQUEAKING

Needs a little oil.

Yes, we have the movement.

-That's it.

-You haven't got a couple of nice little glasses, have you?

-To put on there.

-In one of the cabinets, I believe, yes.

There's some Babycham in the cupboard there.

There, these little glasses here?

Somewhere, I've got a bottle of champagne.

Oh, yeah, we'll have a bottle of champagne!

-No, it's only a dummy.

-Oh, have you?

Oh, yes, no, I'd love to see that, where's that?

-I will find it.

-How much are these glasses?

They've got no prices on.

-That's a good sign.

-Well, I'll do them a fiver each.

I'm creating a look here.

There you go, you're going to love that.

Oh, I do like a bottle of champagne.

You know what I like, don't you?

Don't get too excited.

It's only a dummy bottle, remember.

I tell you what, the glasses, the champagne bottle and the trolley,

60 the lot, and I'm amazed at my generosity.

-Are you?

-I am.

Well, because there's a few more glasses,

are you talking about those with it, or just those three?

No, you can have the other three as well. Now, that's looking fantastic.

It is, isn't it? Come to my party.

But we've got of '70s glasses here, we're going sort of '70s and '30s.

Can I say 50?

Oh, blimey.

55, you've got a deal.

-Put it there.

-Right on, we sold something.

Right on.

Yeah! And just like that, shopping is complete.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much indeed.

Catherine adds her 1930s trolley with '70s glasses and champagne

to a fishmonger's crate,

together with a bottle crate,

automobilia glassware

pokerwork page turner,

and a collection of vintage jewellery and accessories.

All that lot for £160.

Phillip spent all of his £321.44

on a vintage lamp,

an Indian Masonic picture,

a retro coffee table,

the velvet curtains,

and a lot made up of a wrought iron gate,

with the vintage water tanks.

So what do they make of it all?

Before I saw your things, I thought I'd done really well today and I was

actually really chuffed with my purchases.

Now I've seen yours, I don't know if I'm so happy.

I love your bits of automobilia.

They are a Serrell lot.

At £35, there's a profit there for sure.

After setting off from Hayle,

our experts are now heading for auction in Bristol.

Today's sale is at one of the area's newer salerooms.

East Bristol Auctions have been only open for four years

but old hand Evan MacPherson

has cast his experienced eye over our pair's lots.

The star lot we think is the Jielde lamp.

Perhaps the most iconic of lights from the 20th century.

That should do really well and we've seen a lot of interest in that,

so we're excited for that one.

Drinks trolley, well, that's a party in a lot so you've got six Babycham

glasses but you've got an empty bottle of champagne for display.

What you really need is the bubbles and you've got the complete party.

Fingers crossed, then.

It's busy today and the auction house also accepts internet bids.

Experts, take your seats.

First up is Philip's wrought iron gate with vintage water tanks.

Those tanks are really cool.

Wax them up, great coffee tables.

Brilliant industrial garden planters...

Actually, they're really nice.

..coffee tables, interior tables...

Coffee tables, get in there!

Coffee tables.

£50 with me on the commission.

Do I see two or five anywhere?

At 50 with me.

No money, but with me at £50.

At £50 and selling...

Well, some lucky bidder has bagged themselves a bargain.

Would you like me to start lending you some money?

You might have to in a minute.

Very confident, Catherine.

Next up are your vintage automobilia bottles.

I've got interest and I can start straight away at 38 with me.

Do I see 40?

At 55 on the screen. Do I see 60 anywhere?

-Get in there!

-She's punching me!

-Keep going!

60, thank you. Anyone in the room? At £60 on my screen.

Oh, look, Phil, look!

-70!

-At £70, do I see five anywhere?

At £70.

-Five, there we go.

-75!

One more will take it.

Be sure. £75.

-I'm so happy for her.

-Are we done?

-Sold.

-Well, Catherine's off on a flyer.

Let's see if Philip can get back to winning ways

with his velvet curtains.

I've got commission interest all over the place

and I can start at 70 with me.