Episode 5 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antiques experts.

I don't know what to do! SHE BEEPS HORN

With £200 each, a classic car and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.

Well, an old diamond.

The aim - to make the biggest profit at auction, but it's no mean feat.

Back in the game. Charlie!

There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

Oh!

So, will it be the high road to glory or the slow road to disaster?

Oh!

This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

Now, you'd think our experts at least would be au fait

with the rules of the Antiques Road Trip.

I really ought to buy something that might make a profit.

-There's a thought.

-It certainly is.

Although, in truth, Paul Laidlaw's grasped the nettle this week.

-Is it expensive?

-Oh, no.

While Christina Trevanion has been badly stung.

Ah! Have I won anything...

-this week?

-You've won my respect.

Ha! So, losing 4-0 and over £600 adrift,

Christina sets out on the final leg with mixed feelings.

There's the part of me that is going to miss you,

just so lovely to be with.

And then there's the part of me that is not going to miss being

hammered at every single auction that we go to.

Oh!

Yes, Christina's so far managed to shrink her £200 stake

to just £145.90.

While Paul, who began with the same sum, has done very much

the opposite, starting our final leg

with £750.96 at his disposal.

Beep, beep. How do we honk?

I've not sussed honking yet.

-Where's honking?

-Over there.

-Oh!

-Press harder.

Our trip began in Clare, in Suffolk,

before careering around the heart of England

and then heading north, to end up at a Cheshire auction in Northwich.

Today, the HMC Mark IV starts out in the Staffordshire city of Lichfield

and motors towards that date with destiny

in the aforementioned Northwich.

Now, if our two rummagers do ever look up whilst in Lichfield,

they will be awarded with the sight of the only medieval English

cathedral boasting three spires. How's that?!

But first things first, and they are in this one together.

This is my last chance to impress you.

You don't need to try!

-Oh, I think I do.

-Yes, really, she does.

-Here we are.

Lichfield Antiques Centre. And good morning. Hello. Who are you?

-I'm Paul.

-Paul. Oh, Paul.

-That's a name I won't forget for once.

-I love it.

-Hang on a second, your OCD says you have to go clockwise.

-Yes.

-OK, see you later. THEY LAUGH

Not really. He's just very particular.

Could always count his profits to calm down, though.

These two do face very different problems.

I do have to be very tactical, don't I, this time? Very tactical.

-If I'm to regain a shred of dignity whatsoever.

-So, not spend much then?

Whether I've got 200 or £700 to spend, my outlook is the same,

-I kid you not.

-We'll see.

Now, what's first out of the cabinets, then?

Isn't that lovely?

Black Forest wares are really, really popular at the moment.

The carved animals, you know, those wonderful bear and mother groups.

The term "Black Forest carving" actually originated

in Switzerland in the early 1800s, and they weren't overly fashionable,

but in the last sort of 10 or 15 years,

they've gone massively fashionable

and are achieving some really fantastic prices at auction.

That's fab, I like that.

-How much is on that?

-That he has got...45.

-45.

-And is there any flexibility on price on that?

-I could do that for 40.

Mmm, got anything cheaper?

I love these. Little Rolls-Royce condiments.

-Yes.

-So, so sweet.

You just can't mistake that Rolls-Royce logo, can you?

And my father, bless him... I grew up with lots of Rolls-Royce

memorabilia around our house, because my dad was an apprentice

to Rolls-Royce, in Crewe, in the 1960s and '70s.

Much cheaper, £10 for those.

It really does bring back a lot of childhood memories,

which is worrying because am I buying them with my heart? Probably yes.

But I think there is quite a healthy collectors club for Rolls-Royce memorabilia.

Oh, yeah. Good point. Especially as the auction is online.

Now, that's very Paul. See what I mean?

So, I spy what looks like a mid-20th century

Bakelite cased office wall clock,

made by Smiths. Big manufacturer of such clocks.

But what's odd about that clock, that's not a 12 hour sweep,

that is a 20 minute sweep.

So what on earth am I looking at?

"I don't know" is the answer. Until we look at the price tag.

It tells us, "Very rare."

Well, I get that.

"World War II RAF darkroom 20 minute clock,

"used when developing photographs taken over enemy territory."

So, not only is it a sort of clock, but militaria, too.

Two of his favourite boxes ticked.

CLOCK RINGS

And apparently it's got an alarm feature as well.

HE LAUGHS

What have I done?

CLOCK RINGS

Blimey.

I suspect, to some collector, this is a good buy at £85.

Now my fear is, it is so obscure

and so utterly useless,

that's maybe not such a bargain as we might think.

There's only one way to find out, Paul.

Meanwhile, Christina is about to turn on the charm. Watch this.

Chris? It's beautiful, isn't it?

Well, I mean, apart from the damage

and, you know, it is very broken, isn't it? And pretty ugly.

You don't really want to keep it, do you?

SHE LAUGHS

Can we say 25?

Is that all right?

You're a legend. He said 25 is fine.

Brilliant, Chris, you are an angel, thank you so much, have a lovely day.

Good price. Now, what about the Rolls-Royce of condiments?

-Or something like that.

-OK, thank you. He said eight.

-Eight.

Can I phone... Can I speak to him? Ian, right, come on, Ian.

-Come on, give us the double whammy.

-Hi, Ian.

-Christina would like to talk to you.

-Thank you.

Hi, Ian, how are you?

I do like them, but I'm thinking more sort of a fiver, really,

would probably be more my budget. What's your thoughts?

You're an angel. Thank you so much. So we'll say £5.

I know, you're going to go to heaven, darling, I promise. SHE LAUGHS

£30 in total, and she's managing very well so far on limited means.

But what about old moneybags?

-My problem with it is, it ain't a clock.

-No.

You cannae hang that onto your kitchen wall,

your office wall and enjoy it. It is redundant because it is a timer.

-Sure, sure.

-And you cannae even use it to cook your eggs.

THEY LAUGH

-Is there anyway that price could be worked on?

-Yes, yes, we could do something.

I'd love to buy it for 30 quid, something like that.

-I'll see what he says.

-Yes, that's all I can ask.

I suspect it might be...a step too far.

So while our Paul carries on looking,

shopkeeper Paul takes to the phones.

Looks like there may be something else to consider too.

This is uber sexy.

Yes, some WMF.

Whose is this stuff?

-This is mine and Madeline's

-Really?

-So I'm now talking to the organ grinder?

-Yes.

-This is better.

He bought some different WMF earlier in the week. Did well, too.

I bought the christening set.

So you are experts on Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik,

which rolls off the tongue, of course. Ja?

-IN GERMAN ACCENT:

-Ja! Es ist gut. Very interesting, to say the least.

It is slightly scary, to be honest with you.

So we have got this little... It has got to be a whirlpool,

it would be unfair to say it is an eddy, it is stronger than that.

And there is this wee kid caught up in it, and looking

somewhat terrified, because there's a Komodo dragon coming at it.

It is a bizarre concoction, it really is.

But as such, it is a joy.

Quite. The ticket price is £275, plus shopkeeper Paul has managed

to get a £50 price for the clock.

So is our Paul about to splash some of that cash?

I'd like 250 for it.

Don't put it away!

THEY LAUGH

I fear I must.

-Seriously, it is £120 worth to me.

-Ah!

That's harsh, harsh.

-If you will make it 180.

-It is too strong for me.

I think the very best I could do, and it hurts me, is 150.

-I still think it is too much of a gamble for me.

-130.

-Come on, for

-£10. You're right, you're right, you're right.

That's 130, plus 50 for the clock.

You can almost hear the cogs whirring.

-I'm ahead of the game, I can take a loss.

-Good man.

And he said his pile of cash wouldn't change him. Ha!

Right, I'll follow you and settle my debt.

-Thank you very much.

-Pleasure. Next time.

Now, Dr Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield

and memorably described it as a city of philosophers.

He almost certainly had one particular resident in mind,

and Christina has come to find out about Erasmus Darwin.

-Hello.

-Christina.

-You must be Tony.

-I am Tony.

-How lovely to meet you.

-Welcome to Darwin House.

-Shall we go have a little look around?

-I think we should.

-Thank you.

This house was once the home of one of Britain's greatest polymaths,

a highly successful physician, who was also a scientist,

a poet and a naturalist.

Darwin's work had a huge influence on his much more famous relative.

Explain to me about Erasmus Darwin, because I've heard of Charles.

Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, which is my home town.

But I've not heard of Erasmus before?

Erasmus was Charles' grandfather.

We've set the house in 1770,

because it was when he began to talk about evolution.

-In 1770?

-In 1770.

-Erasmus was talking about evolution?

-He was, yes.

I thought that it was Darwin that was doing evolution, in 18...

-Charles had to get the idea from somewhere.

-Really?!

Erasmus Darwin would go on to publish poetry that

expressed his theories about the origins of life.

Controversial stuff in the late 18th century,

but it all began with his fascination with botany.

That picture there was painted in 1756 or thereabouts.

And is of a great bindweed, which is something you see in our hedgerows.

Yeah, I think of it as a quintessentially English or British plant.

Absolutely. But, in the middle of the flower, there's a stripy beetle,

which only occurs in the Caribbean.

Darwin was posed the question,

"How can there be a great bindweed in the Caribbean and in England?"

And normally what you would have said at that stage was, well,

God created one for the Caribbean, and one for us.

What Darwin concluded was that it had developed in the Caribbean

and also developed in England.

That is a tremendous conclusion to come to.

Couple that with some fossils which Josiah Wedgwood sent to Darwin,

and Darwin said, "I really don't understand them.

"What are fish doing in the middle of mountains?"

It was the great age of enlightenment,

and they were working things out.

And they were daring to actually get rid

of the conventions of the past...

-And challenge them?

-And challenge them if necessary.

Add to those two things the fact that he noticed

the competition between animals.

Putting all this together,

he really came up with Survival Of The Fittest.

But I thought his grandson was credited with that?

He was credited with it, but it's there, look:

"Organic life, beneath the shoreless waves

"Was born and nurs'd in ocean's pearly caves

"First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass

"Move on the mud, or pierced the watery mass

"These, as successive generations bloom

"New powers acquire and larger limbs assume

"Whence countless groups of vegetation spring

"And breathing realms of fin, and feet and wing."

-That is it. That's evolution.

-Absolutely.

But as well as inspiring his grandson's work,

Erasmus was also a prolific inventor.

Although he never actually registered a patent,

his incredible mind was forever supplying solutions to the

problems of his time.

This is his steering mechanism which he developed for carriages.

His solution was a differential,

so the wheels turn at different angles by putting in this bar here.

This axle behind?

This is exactly how cars are still steered today, more or less.

All Darwin's inventions were scrupulously recorded

in his commonplace book.

It's no wonder that he is sometimes described

as a British Leonardo da Vinci.

-Is this all his experiments?

-All his sketches.

-Not overly good at drawing people, is he?

-No...

Yeah, well, he might not have managed a Mona Lisa,

but he did have some very good ideas.

Like this copying machine.

Hey, that's not too bad, is it?

Some, like a mechanical bird, far ahead of their time.

And others, very practical.

-A flushing loo?

-Can you imagine, a flushing loo?

He shoved a pipe down, through two layers of clay,

down into the lower porous rock - chalk, or whatever.

And up comes a spurt of water.

So that gave him his running water, OK?

He then fed that into a cistern, and when you got up from the loo,

and put the seat down, it released the valve so the thing flushed.

And when you close the door of the closet, the valve went back

and it filled up again. So it was a real, flushing loo.

Long before Crapper and people like that.

So the next time you think of Charles Darwin,

also remember this Lichfield doctor.

But Paul, meanwhile, has taken our route north

towards Chester and Sandbach.

Famous for its Saxon crosses,

and also the Foden dynasty of British truck and bus makers,

so perhaps now a place of pilgrimage for classic truck aficionados?

Hello there!

-John?

-Yes.

-Paul. Pleased to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

This is big, isn't it?

Yep, several floors, Paul.

So let the perusal commence.

But don't forget that John might have just the item.

There we go.

It's one of the things that was sold on the last flight of Concorde.

It's a port label.

-In its original Concorde box.

-I see.

Cannot argue with that!

And I think the small tab on the back has actually got

the Concorde logo on it as well.

What are you asking for that, out of interest?

I've got 45 on it, but I can do you a good price on it.

-Do me a good price on that, John.

-LAUGHS

How does 25 sound?

It sounds exceedingly tempting.

Can we have a look at the old ones as well?

Ah, so he spotted those earlier.

It's all coming together rather nicely.

These are the ones I saw before.

Pretty generic, Regency-type, plated.

I think they're timelessly elegant, those.

I'm a big advocate of these things.

What would be the deal on the Concorde one and those?

Concorde was 25...

-Ten quid. £2.50 each.

-That's cheap, isn't it?

The Concorde gives it a bit of something else.

On their own, nobody would look.

But you've got that antiquity with modernity.

-30 quid?

-Mmm-hmm.

-Do you reckon?

-Yep.

Good man. Easy as that.

Not quite supersonic, but not far off.

You get two pair of 19th-century old Sheffield plate decanter labels.

And then, to sex up that little period lot,

you get the Concorde thing.

Concorde memorabilia has, wait for it, taken off.

Boom-boom.

Teetotallers could get a look in too, though.

The vogue for this type of insulated earthenware teaware

peaked in the late 1940s.

The big brand-name is Kosy Krafts, spelled with Ks.

Clearly, what you've got here is a chromium-plated jacket, and that's

lined in an insulating material - or some of them were, let's see...

Yeah. See that?

And here's the earthenware teapot.

So it just keeps the tea warmer for longer.

With this moderne or Art Deco feel to it. Very geometric.

Not uncommon, but, in good condition, and complete with...

a rather jazzy sugar basin and milk jug,

then, I would say, less common.

Nice. Condition's all right.

Value...not a lot.

Ten years ago, it was worth £40.

Today, you might struggle to get that under the hammer.

You'd use that, absolutely you would. Get the bunting out.

Some coronation chicken sandwiches and your Kosy Kraft-type,

Art Deco tea service. It's a great thing!

I think the thing that might be brewing up around here is a deal.

Never mind your sherry and your port.

How's about a nice cup of chai?

I don't know how much it's going to cost me,

because I had hopes that it was going to be 15 quid or thereabouts?

But then I noticed the price tag on that, and I can't believe

you're selling them individually given that they're a pair.

And there's no price on the pot.

-That came in from one house...

-Right...

-..that came in from another house.

-No! And then that?

And then that came in recently, so that's why I put them separately.

-Man alive!

-So if you're interested in the whole lot...

Bear in mind that I thought it was 15 quid to start with.

Can it be near that, or are we a million miles off?

For the three pieces...£20.

It's a deal.

No point in being silly. Spot on.

So, £50 for that little lot.

Now, how about a solo sing-along?

# And will Jerusalem... #

You've got such a beautiful voice, come on!

-You have, I love it!

-Sing with me, sing with me.

-OK.

# Till we have... #

No.

Night, night, you two.

If honest endeavour has got you nowhere,

there's always barefaced lies.

I found the Holy Grail of the antiques world.

Oh-ho? Go on.

-What's with the laughter?

-What?!

Next auction, there's you, there's me, there's a whisker.

Whoa, whoa, what's this? Mind games?

We can definitely rule out any Holy Grails,

but she did acquire a salt and pepper set

and a Black Forest tray yesterday.

Even on the phone...!

Those set her back a mere £30, leaving £115 for today's purchases.

While Paul parted with a fairly impressive £230 for some WMF,

a tea set, some decanter labels and an RAF timepiece.

CLOCK BUZZES

He's still got over £500 left!

Good man.

Later, they'll be making for an auction in Northwich, Cheshire,

but the next stop is in Manchester.

The world's first industrial city, once dubbed Cottonopolis,

Manchester has more than its fair share of landmarks and showers.

Antiques are plenty, too.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-Hello, hi.

-Christina.

-Christina, yes. What's your name, sir?

-John.

-John, lovely to meet you.

-Same here, yes.

-Thank you for having me. My goodness.

This all looks very brown.

She knows a furniture specialist when she walks into one.

There's some lovely stuff in here, by the way,

but can Christina afford as much as a leg of it?

I need to be a bit clever about this

because I've got a lot of ground to catch up.

You could always throw yourself on John's mercy.

-How much have you got?

-Not very much.

About roughly, ballpark figure?

I've still got potentially three things to buy.

I'm hoping to spend about £20 on each one.

Oh, John!

-You're not going to do any good here.

-Really? Nothing for £20?

All I can show you is the door.

The door? Can I buy the door?

Yeah, it's been done, believe me.

What's this? That's nice.

It's open to offers.

Definitely not furniture, anyway.

No price.

-It's beautiful, isn't it? This is Japanese shibayama work.

-It is, yes.

Normally they say that these panels

-come out of a piece of furniture, don't they?

-Shibayama cabinets.

-They have those big cabinet doors.

-That's right.

This, possibly, was one of the pieces of the cabinet.

But they have obviously inlaid it into

what looks like a photograph album.

The leaves have come detached - that's beautiful.

We've got painted silk leaves in here

which are depicting traditional scenes with these figures on here.

Somebody looks like he's James Bond on them.

Goodness, who's that? Elizabeth.

Well, wasn't John Wayne's real name Marion?

Lacquer work is incredibly time-consuming to do, isn't it?

-It's layer upon layer.

-Very expensive to do, yes.

It would have taken someone an awfully long time to build up

all these little intricate layers and produce this, what would have been,

once upon a time, a really rather beautiful picture.

I mean, potentially, the album is fairly beyond repair, isn't it?

Yeah.

Is there any flexibility with my £20 budget on that?

I doubt it very much.

Oh, go on, John. Have a think about it.

John's still keen to show her yet more furniture

but cash remains the issue.

This is not the bargain basement.

I have to be honest, I do love the furniture

but I do really like that album.

Right. Well, you can buy it.

Can I buy it for 20?

-It's yours.

-Really?!

You can have it for 20 as long as the next time you come, you don't come.

Send somebody not as experienced as you!

Are you banning me?

Eh, he's joking, Christina, or at least I think he is.

20 of the great British pounds.

Still...somehow managing to eke it out.

You're a legend and I promise never, ever to come back.

Fine.

Another thing for which Manchester's justly famous is political thought.

The Co-operative movement started close by

and the Communist manifesto was begun in the city.

Paul's off to find out about the struggle for women's suffrage

at the former home of the Pankhurst family.

-Hi, is it Rita?

-Paul.

-Pleased to meet you.

Morning, welcome to the Pankhurst Centre.

-Get me out of this Manchester weather.

-Come on in.

Votes for women had been a political topic

since the early part of the 19th century,

but it wasn't until 1903 when Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters

founded the Women's Social and Political Union

that the fight began in earnest.

The Pankhurst family lived here from 1898 to 1907

and it was down in the parlour here

where the first meeting of the suffragettes was actually held.

The family moved to 62 Nelson Street after the sudden death

of Emmeline's barrister husband, Richard Pankhurst.

So what did Emmeline do then?

Well, she took on work as a registrar of births and deaths.

She wasn't allowed to be a registrar of marriages because she was a woman.

Obviously bereft from having lost her husband, her soul mate,

she turned her attention to politics.

So was this a popular issue at the time?

I mean, is it well supported?

There was a lot of support for and against

and I think maybe one of the surprising things

is the amount of anti-campaigning, but actually led by women.

Right!

One of the main anti-suffrage campaigners

and protagonists was Queen Victoria.

-No!

-She described it as a mad, wicked folly.

They have several examples here of the propaganda put out

by those who agreed with the Queen, including this handkerchief.

-Is that a typo?

-No, no, not at all,

that's actually from 1881.

-Was this predictive?

-Yeah.

-Was this what the world would be like in 1981 if you...?

-Yes, yes.

If we give women the vote, what next?

We'll have women furling a sail.

You couldn't possibly have that. They'll be footmen,

-they'll be athletes...

-Right.

Worse, men will be holding the baby.

-Ludicrous.

-They'll be doing the laundry and, of course,

this was highly, highly effective for the anti-suffrage movement

because people would look at this and they would believe this propaganda.

-This would be frightening to them.

-This would be terrifying.

Can you imagine women doing all these jobs?

What those against hadn't reckoned on was the WSPU

because Pankhurst's suffragettes with their motto, Deeds Not Words,

would deliver a much tougher, more publicity savvy campaign.

Women chaining themselves to railings.

Arson...

putting stones through windows and that's what set them aside from the

suffragists before them - this new breed, this new breed of woman

who was prepared to act militantly in order to get their voice heard.

The harsh treatment the suffragettes received from the authorities

made Emmeline and her daughter Christabel even more determined to fight on.

But soon there was splits in both the movement and the family.

There were, in her mind, two ways of doing things,

that was her way or no way and it didn't matter

-whether you were a friend, just a member or even family.

-Right.

Sylvia and Adela felt so strongly against the militancy

and they did have fairly major fallouts with their mum

and these did end up with splits in the family

that were unable to be healed.

I mean, arguably, it needed someone who had such strength of feeling

and such passion to be able to drive through what she did.

Votes for women finally became a reality

thanks to Acts passed in 1918 and 1928.

The brave but slightly dysfunctional Pankhursts

are justly remembered for their huge role in that,

but perhaps one daughter's due a bit more credit.

I think everyone's heard of Emmeline,

but if you ask a die-hard suffragette fan, "Who's your favourite?"

there is no question Sylvia will be

at the top of the pile.

-Because...

-Because she was just so broadly

a women's campaigner in general.

She wasn't just concerned with women's right to vote,

she was much more concerned with the lives of working-class women,

of poorer women.

And probably, without question,

she's the one that made the most difference

-on broader women's issues.

-I see, yes.

Wonderful. What a family.

Now, back in the car

and singing back towards Cheshire.

Come on, Laidlaw.

# Ah, one of these days is but-ah-ga-na-wa-ga-na-don-don... #

PAUL CHUCKLES

The trip's almost complete.

Just time for one more shop - in Congleton.

They used to call it Beartown,

a reference to the baiting,

which was apparently quite popular in the 17th century.

Not any more, though!

Goodness me, let's hope antiques are waterproof.

Come on, you. Race you!

Although a shared shop can sometimes get a bit tasty.

Oh! That's a bit drier.

-Right.

-Antiques that way.

-I'm going that way.

-That way.

-OK.

Adios!

Hasta la vista.

But just what will their final buys be?

Serendipity.

That's what it is. Serendipity.

Well, hmm, let's hope so.

Is he a bit too wacky for Northwich?

Who knows?

I dare you to find out.

-What about Paul?

-Oh, hello there.

-Are you officialdom here?

-I'm Kate, pleased to meet you.

There are around 50 shopkeepers represented here...

most of them, of course, not actually present.

There are certain dealers you feel an affinity with

even in their absence, because you get what they get.

-This one's working for me.

-Do tell, Paul.

A lawn tennis measure, clearly a Victorian specimen.

But look at this.

There is a representation of a tennis court

with the lines spelt out

and the dimensions provided just in case you FORGET

where to chalk that boundary line.

Absolutely...

I think that is SUCH a good thing.

It's priced up at £65,

but I'll defy you to find me another one.

It may only be worth tens of pounds,

but that is not a measure of its rarity, it is a measure of the demand.

How many people do you know need a vintage tennis court measure?

-You like that, Kate, don't you?

-I love it.

It's a good thing, isn't it?

Is the dealer in this building or contactable?

-We'll see if we can give them a ring.

-Track them down.

I'd be really interested to see if there's a trade price on that.

Sounds like advantage, Paul, already.

Good to see Christina's put that clown down. Anything else?

What have we got in here?

Oh, my goodness!

"Electro-Medical Supplies, London."

Good Lord!

It actually works, that.

-Does it! Is this yours, sir?

-Well done, Christina.

You've found yourself a real live dealer

with a distinctly medical bent, too.

This is a tonsillectomy.

Oh.

It's a flap and there's a slit in it

and you hook it on your tonsil,

pull the trigger, cl-ick!

Ha!

Actually, that probably IS too wacky for Northwich.

But Eric has more.

That's for making pills.

Oh, that's cool. Can I see that?

It's quite heavy, watch, it's heavy.

That's amazing. So is that for...

That's for grading...

They made their own tablets, yes.

For a pharmacist.

Oh, there's a plate in there.

That tells you the sizes.

They must have made them in there.

I don't know how it works!

What on earth do you do with that?

-So how much have you got on that, Eric?

-Tenner.

That's Christina's kind of price.

Eric, I'm loving your company.

Now, how is Paul's rummage progressing?

Can't resist a bit of trench art.

This is the business end

of a First World War artillery shell.

Yes, a big bullet, you know what I'm talking about.

You see the shell cases all over the place.

This is the bit that governs

when your shell explodes.

Well, it makes a handy little paperweight.

It's been mounted on vulcanite.

That's vulcanised rubber.

But for whatever reason, somebody thought that piece of mass-produced brass,

these were turned out in their millions,

was worth preserving.

How about I'm sitting in my trench, scared witless,

and there's a bang, does that,

and I hear this thud next to me,

and this thing lands a few inches from where I'm standing?

Do you know what I'd do?

I'd go, "Holy Moses!" and I'd keep that.

And there's just a possibility

that it was kept for that sort of reason.

That's the way these things work, believe me.

The ticket price for a bit of history is £25.

But while Kate calls the dealer about THAT

and the tennis court tape, Christina ponders on.

OHHHH!

What am I going to buy? What am I going to buy?

-What am I going to buy?

-Trumpet?

-Clarinet?

-No, no.

-Bongo drums?

-No.

Teeny tiny violin perhaps?

Relax!

The pill-making frame was cheap

and I'm sure that Eric can supply something else.

It's a firescreen.

I think it's nice.

The ticket price is £18.

-I love Arts and Crafts stuff and people just aren't buying it.

-Yeah.

It was really in vogue when they had the Arts and Crafts exhibition at the V&A

and now it's gone out of vogue.

There are still collectors for it...

and it's fairly cheap...

Give me a pound and you can take it out of the way.

-Really?

-Seriously.

-£10 for that...

-Pound for that.

-What about £10 the two?

-Yes, OK.

-Really?

-Seriously you can have them.

Eric!

I love you.

SHE LAUGHS

See you again.

What is Paul's news, then?

Got some prices on those two pieces there.

Tape measure - £45...

Or artillery fuse, First World War, for £15.

It's a no-brainer, isn't it?

I'm going to go for the...

fuse.

Why, Laidlaw? You see those all over the place.

Well, there's something I didn't let on

when I was talking in front of the lovely Kate, there.

-Because, I mean, you've got to keep some of your powder dry, have you not?

-Well, quite.

There were no numbers on there.

You didn't see one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

There were Arabic characters.

That is a Turkish fuse,

fired almost certainly

at Anzac or British troops at Gallipoli.

That's where these things turn up.

I love that and there are collectors out there that get it.

Let's hope that tin hats outnumber tennis types at the auction.

All of £15.

-Thank you very much.

-Wonderful, thank YOU very much.

Thank you.

Time to have a peek at what they'll be carting to the auction.

Christina parted with just £60 for a firescreen,

some Rolls-Royce condiments,

a bone-inlaid photo album,

a pill-making frame

and a Black Forest tray.

While Paul spent £245

on some clockwork militaria,

some WMF,

a Kosy Kraft tea service

an artillery fuse

and some decanter labels.

So what do they make of each other's buys?

Christina's pair of Rolls-Royce salt and pepper combination,

I get the sentiment. Frankly, I love them.

£5 paid, I think they're worth £30-£50.

I love what he's got, I really love what he's got.

The real creme de la creme for me

is the wonderful decanter labels that he bought.

The one thing that I think is a little bit iffy is his WMF bowl.

But, frankly, if it makes a loss he's still going to be ahead of me,

so does it really matter?

I may be thrashed in this auction

if my gamble on WMF does not pay off. What was I thinking of?

Hm. There's a few of us thinking that, Paul.

So...your tray... PAUL CHUCKLES

Frankly, I do find it quite sinister. I mean, it's bizarre, isn't it?

What's sinister about huge reptiles devouring young children?

Oh, nothing at all.

Nothing whatsoever.

After setting off from the Staffordshire city of Lichfield,

our experts are now heading for an auction in Northwich in Cheshire.

-Our last auction!

-HE SNIFFS

Do we have to go?

Do we really have to?

Oh, no. It's been a blast.

The former salt mining centre

has recently featured on a list of Britain's best places to live

and this has to be one of the best places to auction in Northwich -

online and with commission bids.

-Perfect, well done.

-For the last time.

-Oh!

I wonder what auctioneer Peter Critchley makes of our lot's lots.

The photo album is a very, very good quality item.

We've estimated £60-£80.

The WMF tray... We've have had a lot of interest in this online.

It's very unusual,

I've never seen anything like it before from WMF,

so we have high hopes of that.

Paul will be excited to hear that news, huh!

But first under the hammer is Christina's bargain firescreen.

What do you reckon?

Do you reckon you'll make a profit on your pound firescreen?

-Probably not.

-Behave yourself!

There's the fire screen now, Arts and Crafts firescreen.

It looks like some really dodgy nightclub curtains, doesn't it?

Good-looking thing. Start me off at £20.

Start me at £20 on the fire screen.

£20 on the fire screen. 20?

-I've got 15 here on commission, looking for 18.

-Yes! Get in!

£15 then, the commission bid.

No further interest.

-It's a gift to get it for £15.

-£15.

A few more like that and she'll be in the money.

-Very happy with that.

-What you need is your biggest spend to make a similar margin.

-Hm.

-That's what you need.

Is that going to happen? Probably not.

Next we have Paul's tickets

with the Concord one to sex it up.

Let's hope it will fly!

PAUL SINGS

You're singing! You're singing!

-Yeah, I did that for you.

-Aw!

PAUL CHUCKLES

Show me £30 on the labels.

We've got a Concord label that's worth £30 on its own.

Show me a 20, then. Show me a 20.

£20 I have.

Yes, quite rightly so.

25? £20 I have - is there 25? 25.

Aye aye. That leg's on the move.

25 is a bid. Is there 30?

30 is in the room.

-It should be 50 quid, shouldn't it?

-35?

-£30 then.

-Oh, I've broken even.

-Is there 35 anywhere?

I think it was a bargain.

You can drink to that...just.

Oh, the nervous leg.

-I'd forgotten about the nervous leg.

-You'll miss it. You'll miss it.

What can his Kosy Kraft tea service do?

It's not...pointy or...

fighting or war...

Amazing!

Make tea not war!

Commission interest at 20 only. 20.

-Straight in.

-I'll start at 20, look for, look for 25.

£20 on this item. Is there 25?

-He's going to wash his face again!

-Come on!

-..30 on commission.

-Hey!

-Here we go, £30, well done.

-..£35...

£30 on commission then. Commission bid and selling.

No further interest...£30.

Paul scrapes home again.

Now for another of Christina's bargains -

-her Rolls-Royce condiment set.

-Aren't they lovely?

-Are they lovely!

-Gorgeous.

Oh, the factory used to be round here.

Oh, God! There's hundreds of them around here, aren't there?

I've got 15 here. Is there 18 anywhere?

-15...18?

-18 at the back of the room.

I have 20. 25? 25 is in the room.

There's a man bidding!

Rolls-Royce condiments, they don't come any posher than this.

Oh, £30 online. 35?

-£30 online. Is there 35 anywhere?

-Keep going.

£30 is the online bid and selling.

That's £25.

I think that's the most profit I've ever made.

Margin queen today!

She certainly is.

Just the five times on those!

Paul's got high hopes for his Turkish artillery fuse.

Commission interest at 20 only, 20 only.

-20 only!

-What should it make?

Um... It's worth £30-£50.

25 from Cyprus. How is Cyprus?

Cyprus is bidding on it?

It has been defused, Cyprus.

Cyprus? The bidder's from Cyprus?

Could they send that in the post?

-£25.

-Nice profit there.

Christina's slightly tatty bone-inlaid album next.

We'll start the bidding at £35 only.

-Straight in.

-Straight into a profit. That's not bad.

35 I have on commission.

It's a fabulous album this one.

Beautifully hand-painted inside.

-It's going to do more, this.

-I doubt it.

35 is the bid. Surely it's worth more than that?

I will sell, no reserve item.

£35 the bid... 35 it is.

Another fine profit, followed by Paul's RAF timepiece.

Start me at £50 on the World War II Bakelite clock.

Start me at 50.

-Start me at 30, then.

-Ooh!

-Start me at 30.

-Hey, it's not going!

-30 bid - 30 I have.

-Come on.

35. 35 now.

35, looking for 40.

-35 is the bid on the RAF clock.

-What?

No further interest?

£35 the bid...

-35.

-Oh!

Aye, aye, aye!

A loss? For Paul's militaria?

What's going on?

Time for Christina's nice slice of Black Forest.

Start me at £20. Any interest at 20?

-Start me...

-It's lovely, it's very nice.

£10 on the Black Forest tray.

-Ten bid, ten bid, looking for 12.

-Oh.

Ten is bid online, is there 12? Surely can't be ten.

Must be more than that? £10 is bid.

-Is there £12? 12 - back of the room now.

-Yes!

-Come on!

-Is there a 15 anywhere?

15 over there, 15 over there.

Do you want 18? 18.

20? 20. 25?

25? Yes. 30? No.

-Oh, go on!

-25 in the room.

Oh, go on, it's nice!

-No threatening customers, please!

-THEY LAUGH

£25 in the room and selling.

£25 it is.

I think she thought she was charming them.

Oh, well! At least Christina's having a good time.

-I'm winning.

-I'm not.

-I'm winning!

THEY LAUGH

Is this what it feels like?

Now for Christina's pill-making frame.

Start me off at £20, please.

£20? All you need to start your own drug company. Who's got £20?

-Start me 10. £10.

-That doesn't make me very proud.

It's a Victorian pill frame, it's got to be worth £10.

-10 is bid, 10 is bid. Looking for 20.

-Rightly so.

£1 profit. I'm happy.

Is their £12 anywhere?

Last chance at 10?

£10 it is.

-You went out on a pound profit.

-Yeah!

Yep, sort of sums up her week...

But she'll win this auction

unless Paul makes a huge profit on his disturbing WMF.

-Here we are.

-Look at it!

-Oh, God!

-Don't dwell on the subject. It's lovely.

-And I shall start the bidding at £120.

-Da-da!

Oh, it's close. Come on, come on.

120, looking for 130 now.

It's a very unusual item, this one.

-I've got £120. Is there...

-Oh, no, come on!

-..130?

-Went down.

-Certainly did.

Another small loss and Christina triumphs!

-Christina Trevanion, you've won the last auction.

-Oh, did I?

-HE LAUGHS

-Well done, you.

I won one!

THEY CHUCKLE

-Lost everything else...

-Now get out of here(!)

Christina started this leg with £145.90

and made, after paying auction costs,

a profit of £34.30

leaving her with a final total of £180.20...

..while Paul began with £750.96 and,

after paying auction costs,

made a loss of £48.20.

So he's lost this battle, but won the war

with £702.76.

All profits to Children in Need.

Thanks...I think.

Well, well done, you and your multi-million pound win.

I'm very impressed.

And I get to drive!

Come on, baby.

Quite a week, wasn't it?

Put it here, partner.

After an inauspicious start...

Oh, I think you've broken it...

..it turned out a corker.

-You just said...

-You said...

Oh! I'm a bit hot.

Ta-da!

-Well done.

-Yes, yes, yes!

Ah!

Next on Antiques Road Trip -

a magical new expert, Raj Bisram...

I'm going to take the silk hanky...

Gone.

..an old favourite, Charles Hanson...

-and the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

-Isn't it gorgeous?

-It is.

-And you're not bad yourself, either! THEY CHUCKLE