Episode 9 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antique experts.

-This is beautiful.

-That's the way to do this.

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

-Joy!

-Hello!

The aim? To make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

There will be worthy winners and valiant losers.

Sorry! Sorry!

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

The handbrake's on!

This is Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

Welcome to the second leg of the trip.

We're soaking up the stunning scenery in Northern Ireland

with two top antique experts -

Catherine Southon and Paul Laidlaw.

They look happy now, but leg one saw tensions flair.

Would you please remove yourself from this cabinet?

-I thought you were my friend, Paul.

-What?!

-The honeymoon's not even started!

-No, it's divorce already.

-I'm sorry.

-Oh, no!

-It's divorce.

-Well, I want the dog.

HE CACKLES

Anyway. With nearly 20 years of antiques experience under her belt,

Catherine certainly knows what she likes.

Oh, I love this. That's super.

Laughing boy Paul is an auctioneer who's just as opinionated.

But these are good.

-First auction behind us.

-You were nervous at the auction.

I'm always nervous. Get used to it.

Is it because you have never been against such a good competitor?

-That's exactly what it is.

-Is that why?

-I'm quaking.

In his boots.

Catherine started this trip with £200 in her pocket.

After some wise buys on leg one,

she's turned it into a respectable £258.80.

Paul began with the same sum and also made some profitable purchases,

so has £282 to play with today.

The automobile of choice is this 1971 Morris Minor,

manufactured before seatbelts became mandatory.

Our journey began in Portrush, County Antrim,

and after exploring Northern Ireland,

they'll cross the sea to Scotland

before finally finishing several hundred miles later in Aberdeen.

This second leg kicks off in Aghadowey in Northern Ireland,

and will finish up in bonnie Scotland,

where they'll do battle at auction in Galashiels.

Catherine's first shop of the day is nestled in the lush countryside

of County Londonderry in Aghadowey.

Sarah Rose Antiques. We're going to get on famously, Sarah Rose and I.

The shop's namesake, Sarah Rose,

runs the family business with her dad, James.

Some nice things in here, all right.

Like that.

What is it?

Help me out here, Sarah.

This looks really interesting on the wall here.

Cast iron. Is it for being next to a fire for your...?

-That would have been for...

-Bread? Scones?

-For breads, uh-huh.

This is a harnen stand.

Traditionally used to toast or dry out large oatcakes

in front of the open fire.

This one probably dates from around the early 19th century

and is worth a closer look, I guess.

I like that.

What have you got on that?

There's, I think, £85 on that there.

I mean, I see that at auction probably

more like your £30 to £50 estimate, but...

That's OK. Well, sure, we can have a think about that one.

While Catherine continues to peruse,

Paul has made his way to Ballynure in County Antrim.

He's come to Bridgend Antiques,

a very unique shop, situated next door to its owner's house.

-Hello, there.

-Hi, Paul.

Pleased to meet you. Hector Thompson.

Pleased to meet you.

No time for small talk.

And it looks like some Capodimonte figurines have turned Paul's head.

Excellent modelling. They want to be Belle Epoque.

-They want to be 1900, don't they?

-Yeah.

They're quality. They're quality.

I see a price tag on there. 38 quid.

-That's the two, now. That's not one.

-That's the two?

-That's the pair.

But you know there's no way

I'm going to take the first price on anything.

We know that. That goes without saying.

That's good. So there's no surprises or disappointments here.

Just give me the absolute bottom line.

20 quid.

-You broke the ice. We're off and rolling.

-OK.

Good man.

On that note, Catherine, what have you found?

-There's a little table there.

-Mm-hm.

Now, I quite like the top of that table.

-I like the detail here.

-Mm-hm.

I mean, I think this is the sort of thing

that was probably churned out en masse,

and it was made for the western market.

I like the legs, I think they're quite decorative.

And I think at £15, that's...

That's not bad.

Is there any movement in that one?

That one's actually £68 on that one.

Oh, I read the other side, which I prefer much more.

-Oh, no!

-15.

-Sorry, that's our code for our book.

-Oh, is it?!

-Mm-hm.

-Oh, no! I thought that was the price!

Sorry about that.

-SHE MOUTHS:

-Damn!

Unlucky, eh?

Paul, meanwhile, has found something else he fancies -

a rather nice Royal Crown Derby cabaret tea set.

What's a cabaret tea set? It's tea for two, is it not, yeah?

Which is sweet, I get the...

For me, there's a touch of romance there.

Now cabaret tea sets, yeah, you can buy those.

Cabaret tea sets with trays are uncommon.

So what you get is an uncommonly complete set

by one of the more desirable manufacturers.

I think that's pretty seductive.

But, at £185, it's too pricey for his purse.

Hector, what's your best?

125.

-No.

-Where do you want to be?

-Do you know what? I'm going to make you a cheeky offer.

-OK.

Going from porcelain figurines to china teaware

would suggest to many I have lost the plot.

But, at 75 quid, I don't think I could do bad.

90 quid.

Oh, jeez! Down to two figures.

-No, it just...

-Are you a gambling man?

Oh, jeez, you're not going to pull a coin!

-I'll spin you.

-Oh, no! I hate that!

75 or 85 quid.

Spin the coin. Tails.

Heads.

HE STAMMERS

That was me taking that well. But that is a good deal.

-Thank you very much.

-Wonderful. No. Spot on.

-I'm happy with that.

-It's fine.

Excuse me. Wait a minute. I think I forgot something.

YOU FOOL!

-ECHOES:

-Fool...fool...!

Back in Aghadowey, Catherine's spotted a piece of silver.

The rest of it's plate in there.

It looks like it's initialled L and S. Levi and Salaman, maybe.

Yes, indeed, actually.

Probably about late 19th century.

Little belt buckle.

Really nicely decorated.

Not a lot to it. It's priced up £12.

A-ha! The shop owner returns.

Hi, Sarah, there was this one other thing.

This, which is just like a little...

-I mean, just like a simple belt buckle.

-Yeah.

Sarah's going to consult her dad about the best price

for the belt buckle and the occasional table.

She's already agreed to knock £40 off the harnen stand,

giving that a price of £45, which has to be a snip.

Now, I have asked him about the table and I've explained to him

-that you'd seen the thing and you thought it was 15.

-Yes.

-So he says we'd go down to 35 for you.

-OK.

And this wee one, £10.

Right. OK. I will...

take this at 45.

If I can have that for 30, then I'll take it.

What happens if we just give you a wee luck penny back?

-Oh, what's a luck penny?

-A luck penny's like an Irish thing.

The table's 35, so I'm giving you £2 and it means you're taking

the luck with you from Ireland.

-Aw!

-And the table, you pay me £33.

-So the table was in fact £33?

-Yes.

If you can do that for a fiver, I'll take that as well

and that will give me another bit of luck.

-That will do.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah.

-Thank you so much.

-All right. Thank you.

So that's the harnen stand,

the occasional table and the silver buckle bought for £83. Wow!

Over in Ballynure,

Paul's found a pair of early 20th century evening bags.

Bit unusual for him.

Just what can these be?

£15.

They cannae be £15. That's not working for me.

What's cheap? What's the bottom line,

my last shot on the way out the door?

-To give you a chance...

-That hinge is a wee bit iffy.

And that's no use at all.

Give me your hand and we'll have a deal at a fiver.

-We got a deal at a fiver.

-Done.

-Magic.

PAUL CHUCKLES

So that means Paul has paid £110 for his haul of three items.

Next up for Paul is the city of Belfast.

But he's not here to soak up the culture. Paul's here to shop.

-Hello, there.

-Hi, Paul. Welcome to Belfast.

-Laurence.

-It is indeed, yes.

Good to see you. Thank you very much for the greeting.

I'm looking for something interesting,

a bit stand-out, at the right money.

It's as easy as that.

Sounds simple enough.

What's that, with the trigger?

It's for Stilton.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So what is it, Laidlaw?

It's a tiny little gardening shovel for leprechauns.

No, in all seriousness...

it's a Stilton scoop. OK?

So, when one delivers the Stilton to the table, you need this.

This is what you need.

I like that. It's cool.

Um...

Tell me the price.

£25 would show me a small profit.

Sir...

-..thank you very much.

-Glad you found something.

I like that. I like that.

But I'm going to have another wee mooch about.

That cries out one of two trade names

coming out of Scotland. Monart and Vasart.

And why do I say that?

Well, we get the use of what's called aventurine glass here.

See these metallic, sparkling inclusions here?

It's like goldstone.

And then you get the mottled, almost blue opaline

and the lovely contrast between the two types of glass.

A good baluster form with a flared neck,

dating to the 1930s, '40s. £22.

Yeah, let's ask.

Is there a deal to be done with Laurence?

You can walk away with that one for 20, if that helps you.

I'll bid you a tenner on that.

Are you Scottish, by any chance?

Meet me halfway. 15 quid.

It's going to a Scottish auction and it's 15 quid and it's sold.

-Thank you, sir.

-Thank you very much.

-Great stuff.

-What do I owe you? 15 quid... Remind me.

-25.

-25.

I owe you 40 quid.

Then I'm out of your hair.

With those two lots bought by Paul,

we say nighty-night to a busy day of shopping. What fun.

Good morning, road trippers.

Catherine's come to central Belfast for her first shop of the day,

hoping to uncover some splendid buys.

Wow! This is much bigger than I thought.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi. Catherine. You must be Heather.

-I'm Heather.

Hi, Heather, lovely to meet you.

I'm seeing in there that you've got a little belt buckle.

And the reason I'm asking that is just because

I've bought another belt buckle recently

and I'm thinking maybe I could put the two together.

That's an early one.

It's not a reproduction.

-Because so often these are reproductions.

-Yes.

And that's quite nicely chased, isn't it?

Right. What would you do on this one cos you've got 68 on that?

I'll do it for 60.

Oh, Heather.

Is there no way you can do a bit more on that one?

I'll go to 50.

Can you do 40?

It's dropping an awful lot.

-Well, all right.

-Is that OK?

-40.

Thank you very much.

Now, what else?

That's lovely, isn't it? That book slide there with the fans on.

That's really nice.

It's all lacquered with mother-of-pearl inlay on it.

I don't really like book slides, they're normally terribly boring.

It's something I've never, ever bought, actually.

But that's actually really nice.

With a price tag of £120, do you like it enough?

What would be your very best on this?

Well, it really should be 100.

But, er...

..if I said 90.

Mm.

Can we say 80 on it?

And then I think I will shake your hand

because I do like that.

Er...

-Yes.

-I shall shake your hand. Thank you very much.

That generous discount means Catherine parts with £120.

Paul, meanwhile, has made his way to Dungannon in County Armagh,

where he's visiting the Argory,

the family home of a soldier named Ralph Shelton -

an ordinary man who survived an extraordinary disaster

before he was out of his teens.

Here to tell Paul more is house manager Matthew Morrison.

This was the home of Captain Shelton.

He was a survivor of the Birkenhead disaster in 1852.

This is really significant in terms of maritime disasters, is it not?

It is. This was the largest maritime disaster

before the sinking of the Titanic.

And it was at this event that the Birkenhead protocol was established,

which is the women and children first were to be evacuated.

-My word!

-So quite an important event in our history.

And actually, although we believe it happens a lot,

it's only ever been used officially twice in history.

Once on the Birkenhead and then again on the Titanic.

-Oh, my God!

-So it's not as common as we think.

It was in January 1852, just shy of his 20th birthday,

that Shelton set off to fight in the Cape Frontier Wars in South Africa.

He travelled on HMS Birkenhead.

Who's aboard, just troops?

No, this was one of the very early voyages,

where women and children would have travelled along with the officers.

They were there to act as nurses and cooks to the men.

In the early hours of the 26th of February,

while travelling around the Cape of Good Hope, disaster struck.

The ship hit a rocky outcrop called Danger Point.

Shelton was fast asleep below deck.

At 2am, he was woken as they hit the rocks

-and, at that point, they were all called on to the deck.

-Yeah.

Very early on, Shelton was ordered to remove the horses

and lead them overboard.

They were hoping to lighten the weight,

and they were very distressed.

Deary me! It's horrific quickly, isn't it?

Even with the horses cut loose and thrown overboard,

the ship continued to flounder.

It was then that the historic order

of "women and children first" was issued.

After that, Shelton went beneath deck,

where he took his own initiative to search

and make sure all women and children had evacuated safely.

And it was there that he found the two little girls

that were holding each other in one of the cabins,

terrified for their lives.

If we look here on the picture,

we can actually see Shelton with the two young girls that he saved.

And he passes them into the lifeboat,

-where their mother hysterically waited for them.

-Right.

Now, like the Titanic, there's not enough lifeboats, are there?

There's not enough lifeboats and there was some difficulty

in launching those that were workable onboard.

And we believe there were several that actually made it safely away.

Fearing the few lifeboats carrying the women and children

would be swamped,

the commanding officer drew his sword

and ordered his men to stand fast and remain on the ship.

The Birkenhead split in two

and sank only 20 minutes after hitting the rocks.

So what becomes of Shelton in all this?

-He's aboard the vessel as it's going down.

-He was.

As a reward for his courage and foresight,

Shelton was actually offered a place on the lifeboat to save his life.

-Really?

-But he declined,

and he chose to stand with the men and go down with the ship.

Death by drowning came quickly to many of the men.

The more unfortunate were killed by great white sharks.

Shelton, however, survived,

enduring a terrifying three-hour swim to shore.

Our story doesn't end with just Shelton surviving the Birkenhead.

When he was removing the horses from board,

his own horse went overboard and into the sea.

When he landed on the bay and he came through, he was exhausted,

he looked up and there was his own horse, standing,

-and the two had survived the swim.

-Behave yourself!

-Seriously?

-It is, yes.

And this is the horse here which he brought back here to the Argory.

It was known as the Birkenhead Horse.

Of course it was. That's astonishing!

It's an incredible story.

193 people survived, including all the women and children,

but it's estimated nearly 450 men lost their lives.

Shelton went on to have a successful military

and diplomatic career before inheriting the Argory, aged 34.

He spent the rest of his life lovingly renovating the house,

but he never forgot his brush with death on board the HMS Birkenhead.

Reunited once again, Catherine and Paul have made their way

to their final stop on this leg of the road trip -

Ballinderry Upper in County Antrim.

Spread over three floors,

there's plenty on offer in Ballinderry Antiques,

and it's Paul who's first to find something.

The first thing I pick up is a Georgian firing glass.

Wait a minute. Did he say firing glass?

What on earth is one of those?

Well, there was a fashion amongst 18th

and early 19th century drinking clubs and societies for toasting.

And when one toasted...

"To the King! Hurrah!"

Imbibe. And then slam the glass down on the table in unison.

It'd go off like gunfire.

So what did they do?

Develop glasses specific for toasting.

A small bowl because you don't want to get drunk too quickly

and a heavy, heavy foot with a heavy, short stem.

It's a firing glass.

That's the term.

And that's what we've got there.

And if I went to buy that from a glass specialist,

I'd have a budget of £80 in mind.

Price tag on this says £28.

Smug face.

I think we'll keep this in mind.

But I've only just started.

Catherine's downstairs with dealer Donald.

What's that sampler?

Yeah, Victorian sampler.

"Ann Thomas."

That would be £55.

Often with samplers, you would find little children

doing like the alphabet or numbers, embroidering them.

But here we've got this little girl,

so we've got "Ann Thomas, aged 9 yrs." Dated 1867.

But what I like about this one is it's pictorial.

I think these are the ones that sell for more money.

Can we say £35 on that?

No, I couldn't. £40, that would be. Yeah?

£40, you say?

Yeah? That's the end?

-That's the end.

-That's the end. Let me shake your hand.

Good work, Catherine.

Right, Paul, decision time on that firing glass.

I can't resist a nice piece of glass.

Would you sell me that?

Er, £20?

-Straightforward.

-Easy.

-No problem at all.

-Excellent.

Talk about blink and you'll miss it.

A speedy deal on the firing glass for £20.

And, just like that, both our experts are all bought up.

Catherine spent £243 on five lots -

the wrought iron harnen stand, the Indian carved occasional table,

the silver buckles, the unusual book slide and the Victorian sampler.

Paul spent less, forking out £170 on six lots,

buying the Capodimonte figures, the Royal Crown Derby tea set,

the ladies' evening bags, the Victorian Stilton scoop,

the glass baluster vase and the Georgian firing glass.

So what do they think of each other's lots?

I never thought Paul would go for the Crown Derby tea set.

And I didn't really think he would go for any Capodimonte figures.

And I definitely didn't think he would go for handbags.

Thankfully, there are two pieces that I think could be tricky,

and that saves my bacon.

After starting this leg in Aghadowey

and travelling around Northern Ireland,

our experts have now made their way to Scotland.

Here, they're motoring towards Galashiels, and Hall's Auctioneers.

There's your auction room.

-It's right by the river. This is lovely.

-It beckons.

The man with the gavel today is Michael Hall.

Settle down, folks.

First up, Catherine's Indian carved occasional table.

£10 for the table. 10 for it. 10 is bid.

At 10 for the table. Any more at 10?

At £10. More, surely, there's a lot of work in it.

It is a lot of work.

Are we all finished? It will sell at 10. At 10.

Oh!

That's a bad start.

Looks like the luck penny didn't work after all.

That was your weakest link, put to bed, move on.

From now onwards, it's stratospheric.

Wise words, Paul.

And fitting, as your riskiest punt is up next. The tea set.

I can start it off at £16. I have £16 against you.

17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

-Any more at 21?

-Oh, no!

-22.

-It's going up.

24. 25. 26.

Och! He's going up by the pound.

You've got two people bidding on this.

At 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

Pound by pound bidding, we could be here for a while.

40. 41. 42. 43. 44.

(Bump the increments, bump the increments!)

You're doing it. This could really climb.

48. 49. 50.

52. 54.

Oh, hang on. He's going up in £2 now.

64. 66. 68. 70.

How did you start at £16 and get up here?

78. 80. 82.

How did you do that, Paul Laidlaw?

-88. 90.

-How do you do that?

-£90.

At £90. All finished? £90, it goes now.

Thankfully, that's a profit for Paul after all of that.

Who needs their oatcakes toasted, eh?

Catherine's harnen stand is up next.

-£10.

-Oh, no.

We'll start at 5, then. 5 is bid.

At £5. Any more at 5?

At 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

£17. Any more at 17?

At 18. New bidder.

At 19. 20.

I'm getting a hot sweat here.

23. 24. 25. 26.

At £26.

GAVEL BANGS

SHE GRUNTS

In the right room, that niche item might have faired better.

Unlucky, Catherine.

Maybe glass is more this crowd's thing.

Baluster vase, anyone?

16. 16 in the room. At 16.

17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

(It's going up. Edging up.)

22. 23. 24. 25.

26. 27. 28.

-29. 30.

-Just amazing. How do you do this?

32. 34. 36. 38.

It's picking up pace again.

42. 44. 46. 48. 50. 2. 54.

56. 58. 60. 2. 64.

-Do you want to swap it?

-Any more at 64?

At £64. All finished, then?

Yeah! That was good.

Ah, it might take a while, but that's another top result.

I've warmed to this auction, I don't know about you.

-This is a good auction.

-Lovin' it(!)

He's a cheeky one.

Right, can Catherine make a comeback with her book slide?

At £20. At 21. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

31. Any more? At 31. 31 in front here.

-All finished?

-GAVEL BANGS

That's so cheap. That was cheap at 31.

Well, somebody's walking out with a big smile on their face,

and it's not just me.

Is that the reek of smuggery I smell, Paul?

-Poor me.

-I'll buy you a big cake after this.

-Will you?

-Will that help?

-That really will.

-I'm going to buy you a big cake.

-If it's a really big cream cake.

There's the Laidlaw we know and love.

Time for your firing glass.

16 in the room. At 16.

Any more? 17. 18.

19. 20. 1. 22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. £30.

At 30. Any more? 30 for the old wine glass. At £30.

At £30, all finished, then? It's going at 30.

GAVEL BANGS

Another profit for Paul.

Will his Stilton scoop see him fly further into the lead?

34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

38. Any more? 38. 39. 40. 1. 42.

43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49.

50. 1. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56.

57. 57, any more? At 57.

My goodness me, Paul! That's fantastic.

59. 60. 61. £61.

Nearest to me is 61. 61. 62. New bidder.

63. 64. 65. 66.

That's £66.

All done, then? Going. Last time.

Fantastic profit there.

Paul really has bought well.

Can Catherine redeem herself with her silver buckles?

-20 to start with.

-Oh!

20 is bid.

£20. 22. 24. 26. 28. 30.

2. 34. 36. 38. 40. 2. 44. 46.

Yes! No, don't stop. Please, don't stop.

For the silver buckles. At 46. All finished?

GAVEL BANGS

-Oh, it's worth more than that.

-That was lean.

Unfortunately, that £1 profit is turned into a loss

after auction costs.

Unlucky, Catherine.

OK, it's two cream cakes.

Thank you.

Time for Paul's impulse buy, the beaded handbags.

24. 25.

26. 27. 28.

29. 30.

31. 32. 33. 34.

At 34. All finished?

GAVEL BANGS

I'll get my jacket.

Sit down.

You might have made yet another great profit,

but we're not done yet.

And up next are a couple of your muses.

22. 24. 26. 28. 30.

32. 34.

Are we all finished? At £34, then, they go.

It's a shame, cos they deserve to do a lot better than that.

I mean, I'm glad!

Hey, that's still a nice little profit, Paul.

Think of poor Catherine.

This is it. This is my last chance to claw back SOMETHING today.

It's Catherine's sampler.

-I can start the bidding on the sampler at £50.

-Yes!

At £50. Any more at 50 for the sampler?

For 55. 60. 65. 70.

75. At 75. Any more? At 75.

-Keep going.

-It's worth that.

Please, keep going.

Are we all finished? 75. It goes, then.

-Short and sweet, but straight in.

-Oh!

I'm so happy.

I bet you are. A well-deserved profit to end on.

Hot date with a big cream cake.

Oh, yeah. Come on. Please, Paul. Come on.

Before cake, let's talk money.

Catherine started this leg with £258.80.

Unfortunately, she made a loss of £88.84 after paying auction costs...

..leaving her £169.96.

Paul began with £282 and made a whopping profit of £90.76

after paying auction costs.

He is today's winner,

and goes into the next leg in the lead with £372.76.

-Peaked late.

-I peaked very late.

Onwards.

And the excitement continues as we move on to leg three.

Our two are embracing the prospect of their Caledonian jaunt.

I trust you've had your porridge this morning.

You'll be set up for the day.

Catherine and Paul are now

deep in the Scottish Borders. Look at that.

People say, "Oh, the Highlands!" But it's lovely round there, isn't it?

-Yes.

-It's beautiful.

It certainly is, Catherine.

We begin in Melrose in the Borders

and then head north towards an auction in Edinburgh.

Paul's first to shop.

Hello, there. Is it Susan?

-Yes.

-Lovely to see you.

To see you, nice! Lovely shop, too.

Ever so cream.

Yes, even you, Lulu.

So sweet.

Let me show you something.

A late 20th century wrought iron lamp or wine table.

And Laidlaw's eyes light up,

because here we have a splendid pair of 17th-century musketeers.

I like the juxtaposition of the 17th century with the 20th century.

Yeah, that said, I'd really rather hack them out!

Best buy it first, Paul. The ticket price is £65.

Is there much margin in that? Is there slack in that price?

There is, a little.

-Are you going to hit me with it?

-50?

-Dare I push you any further?

You can push me a little but not very much.

-I need a three at the beginning of that price.

-No, I can't, sorry.

-Give me the bottom line.

-45 would be the bottom line.

-Thank you, that's all I need to know.

-We are getting close.

If you would sell that to me for £40, that fiver will seal the deal.

-OK.

-Thank you very much.

-You're welcome.

Gosh. All very convivial,

and a lot quicker than one might expect, too.

Let's see where Catherine's got to.

Deep in the woods, at the Dawyck Botanic Garden....

..she has come to find out about an Edwardian adventurer

who hunted exotic plants.

-Hi, there, it's nice to meet you.

-And you, too.

-A beautiful garden.

-It is, isn't it?

You are very lucky to work somewhere like here.

Dawyck is now part of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden

but as archivist Leonie reveals, in the 19th century,

it belonged to the wealthy Balfour family.

It is a garden with a long history of being associated

with plant collectors.

Well, I'm familiar with antique collecting

but where does plant collecting come from?

It is a similar thing - you would go out to different parts

of the world and collect whatever plants, flowers, trees as well...

You would take a plant cutting or you could collect the seeds from

the plant, send them back home and people were able to grow the plants

that you have seen growing in the world in various parts of the world.

The profitable pursuit of plant collecting for the gardens

of the rich has been around for hundreds of years.

But it was once highly dangerous.

So George Forrest, a 30-year-old herbarium clerk,

may not have been the obvious choice,

but in 1904, the rookie collector set off for China

in search of exotic plants. What fun!

There is an area in south-west China in the province of Yunnan,

cos there had been plant collectors

on the east coast of China before

but this part of China in the south-west

was relatively unexplored.

It is where the end of the Himalayas hooked down into it,

so you have got these huge, high mountain ranges

and then these low, tropical river valleys,

so you were able to get whatever environment or climate

you were looking for fairly close at hand.

Obviously, all you had to do was get there.

A look around the gardens reveals that Forrest was to become

one of the most successful plant collectors of all time.

But history could have turned out very differently.

So, how successful was the first expedition?

It started off fairly quietly, actually.

Forrest arrived too late in the season to collect any plants.

-Oh, no.

-But it was OK. He spent the time usefully here.

He scoped his way around Yunnan,

working out where the best place to collect plants would be.

So 1905 finds him up the Mekong River in Yunnan,

staying at a mission,

but this is where it all starts to go wrong for Forrest,

illustrated quite nicely with this map that Forrest drew himself.

To the north are missions that were under siege by some irate locals

at the time, I think, quite fed up with western influence,

so Forrest is basically in a position, knowing that any moment,

these men could come down and do the same

and that is exactly what happens. He finds himself...

-It must have been terrifying.

-Absolutely terrifying.

Yes, they found themselves having to flee in the dead of night

-and this map shows the little...

-Oh, is that his escape route?

It is his escape route, indeed.

Unfortunately, they are not able to evade these men for long.

The attack eventually does happen and it is every man for himself.

What followed was a massacre, from which only a very fortunate few,

including Forrest, survived.

-Oh, is this him?

-This is him, yes.

-He looks completely different.

Completely different, yes, he has been starved, hunted.

He looks a lot thinner.

But after that, Forrest actually does then go

and have a very successful plant collecting summer in 1906

and returns back to Edinburgh in 1907 with a massive haul of plants.

And then, as his fame grows,

he goes on to do another six expeditions out to China.

Altogether, Forrest brought back as many as 31,000 specimens,

including many new discoveries, but having ensured a place

in scientific history, his seventh trip in 1932 was to be his last.

He is just about to return home and he has a heart attack

in the hills outside Tengchong and he dies there and is actually...

Oh, he died there!

..buried out there in the hills that he loved, yes,

so he never made it back to Edinburgh.

But thanks to his extraordinary photographs

and immaculate record keeping,

Forrest's plant collecting legacy lives on.

So this is all listed in a number of field books,

-all the different specimens that he was picking up?

-Yes.

-There's about 25 volumes of them that we have.

-Goodness.

And they're still used today. That's the nice thing about these archives.

Although he was writing these almost 100 years ago,

we can still take a record such as this one here,

the Rhododendron species that he collected in June 1918,

and we can now just walk just up the road here

and have a look at this plant actually growing here now.

That's incredibly special, isn't it?

-And here it is.

-So what is this particular plant?

This is Rhododendron roxieanum.

I quite like the fact that it's named after

the wife of a friend of George Forrest's as well.

Of course, Forrest could never have foreseen that several

of the plants he brought home would become threatened back in Yunnan.

But in the herbaria he helped to create,

biodiversity is in good hands.

If plants are in danger, or they're suffering in their native habitat,

we now have a lot of plant material we can now send back to China

and plant it in the botanic garden there.

And we can also make people more aware about their biodiversity.

I shall certainly look at a Rhododendron in a totally

different way now.

Thank you ever so much.

Meanwhile, Paul has got some collecting of his own to attend to,

taking our route a little closer to the border into Hawick.

This should be an interesting shop.

-What will he

-hoik

-out?

-Hello there. Is it Morris?

-It is. Hello, Paul.

-Good to see you.

-Good to see you.

-You too.

-What a structure.

-Is it a mill we're in?

-It were a cashmere mill, yeah,

up to about ten years ago.

Recently transformed into this huge antiques emporium,

containing an awful lot of fine furniture.

I like that.

I like that.

This is the densest room in the building for smalls.

I keep looking at this stick stand here.

There's good workmanship there.

Don't write this off as the work of some 1960s blacksmith.

I think there's real quality in terms of design and execution here.

What makes it for me are these scrolls.

Slightly naturalistic, asymmetric.

And see the way that scroll wraps itself around the upright member.

That's good work.

But it's very black and that's not everyone's cup of tea.

It's also got some problems. It's a wee bit drunk.

Indeed, this little pan didn't sit right in the first place

because this replacement bowl is too long.

Ticket price £75. I'll tell you what.

You're not going to find anyone that could make anything

of that quality for £75.

Even with its wobble, Paul's interested.

Time to get a price from Morris.

-60. 60-ish. 60 quid.

-I'm a long way off.

-I'm a 40 quid job on that.

-Can I let you know?

-Yeah, do. Yeah, yeah.

-Absolutely. But I'm seriously interested.

-Right.

Sounds like Morris may be biddable. Anything else?

Look at that nice little burr walnut veneered collector's cabinet

with that little string inlay there.

Wrong! It's all tin plate.

Tin plate at that time, as it still is today, was used commonly to

package sweets.

And this one is issued for our world-famous

Victory V gums and lozenges.

Advertising packaging, vintage material, sells.

It's a hot market.

No price label, though.

Something to ask about, I'd imagine.

Gird your loins.

There's a tin plate chest of drawers, it's a Victory V's thing.

-Yeah.

-It's a bit buckled. I can't get the top drawer open.

-10 or 20 quid.

-Right.

-The stick stand which I offered 40 quid on and the box...

-Uh-huh.

-£50 the two. We've got a deal.

-Pleasure, Morris. Sweet as a nut.

-You're welcome.

-I'll give you some money.

-That sounds good.

THEY LAUGH

No sign of Paul's little fortune

going to his head just yet, is there?

Ah, now, here's Catherine, hands in her pockets.

That cheeky Laidlaw is already here.

I wouldn't worry, Catherine.

I'm sure you can charm the lovely Morris.

-Maybe this case.

-This one?

-Let's have a look.

Nice quality. Japanese.

-Cigarette.

-That is nice quality, isn't it?

-With Mount Fuji in the background.

-That's right.

So fresh it hasn't got a ticket on it yet.

So this is probably going to be produced in the early part of the

-20th century, I would say.

-I would think so, yeah.

So you would have put your cigarettes all in here.

-Sometimes people use these today as cardholders or something like that.

-Yeah.

-So this is all lacquered here.

-Mm-hm.

-What's the best on that then, Morris?

-55.

If you'd said to me yesterday, yes, I probably would have paid 55,

but I'm struggling on the cash front at the moment so...

Is a possibility... Is there any chance that we can deal a bit

-lower or should I look for something else?

-How much lower?

-Would it be really cheeky to say 35?

-I'll take your £35 for that.

-Right, OK.

-So we've got a deal on one thing.

Anything else Morris can recommend?

What about a yacht?

-Nice.

-Quite a nice thing, actually.

That is a proper pond yacht.

-200...

-£80.

-£80.

Quite a reduction.

What can that really go for at auction?

What can I see that making?

-200, 300.

-No, it won't make as much as that.

I think it's a bit tatty.

I like it but it's a bit tatty so I think I'd have to...

-Knock me down a lot.

-Yeah, I would.

Honestly I'd probably see that at £40.

HE GULPS

50 quid.

Let me... Do you know what? I'm not shaking on anything

at the moment because I'm... I've got a lot to think about.

Yeah. Well, hurry up, Catherine, cos Morris may get fed up with you!

Right, how about this little tobacco jar? Victorian, cast iron.

Love the shape. Octagonal shape.

Nice. It's cast iron. Nothing to it, is there?

Original tobacco press.

Everything is there. Little brass finial.

-Fiver.

-That's a possibility.

OK, are we about to witness a handshake?

-Hello.

-There you be. Are you ready for this?

-Go on.

-There was the lacquered card case.

-Card case, yeah.

-There was the little Victorian tobacco press.

-Mm-hm.

There was the pond yacht.

So those three together with the prices that we discussed was 80.

Can I come down to 65, 70?

-Yeah, go on, then.

-Which one?

-70. Not 65. 70.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-OK. You're welcome.

-I'm really grateful.

Phew! They've both had quite a start.

Three items. Happy days.

But what will tomorrow bring?

-Do you know what would be my dream?

-Go on.

Is that you would go out and spend £200 on something...

-And it makes 20!

-And it makes... Oh! Oh!

Are you enjoying that? Are you enjoying that?

Ha-ha! Nighty night.

It's a new day, and Paul's being a nosey parker.

-Any windfalls?

-There's nothing I'm going to make a lot of money on.

That's all right, then. I don't care any more. Aren't the views nice?

Ha-ha! Play nicely, now, Paul.

Our next stop is in Innerleithen, Tweeddale.

Have a good one, you.

-Thank you. Wish me luck.

-See you later.

-Ciao.

Is that Scottish? We'll catch up with Paul later.

-Hello, there.

-Hi. Hi. Lovely to see you.

-Hi. You are?

-Margaret.

-Hi, Margaret. Nice to meet you.

It's a small space but it's absolutely rammed full, isn't it?

You took the words right out of my mouth, Catherine. Look at that lot.

-Is that silver, the golfing one or...?

-Yes, it is.

-I've got 35 on that one.

-Are you a golfer, Margaret?

No, I'm not a golfer.

THEY LAUGH

Quite a few are in Edinburgh, though.

Stamp 925 sterling so probably not English silver I wouldn't say.

I think it's really interesting. You've got a man there in his

plus fours taking a swing. And what could you do on that, Margaret?

I could do 28.

Well, I'll have a look to see if there's anything else,

because at 28, it might be a bit much.

And she's found some little friends.

Awww!

Puppets. You sell a lot of puppets, do you?

Not really, but that's Sooty and Sweep there,

which is a 1950s Sooty and Sweep.

I loved Sooty and Sweep.

These are the earlier ones, the '50s ones, when they came out earlier.

You'll notice, actually, that Sooty doesn't have black ears

in that one. He has brown ears.

The ticket price for the pair is £48.

-Where did you get them from, actually?

-From a toy museum.

-Did you?

-So that's why I felt

reasonably confident that they were right.

The fact that we've got a bit of provenance behind that,

-a bit of history...

-Yeah.

Sounds like Sooty's passed the test,

but where are we on the deal, children?

What could you really do on these? Could you do 50 for the two?

Because that, I think this is mid-20th century.

-But I think 25 is top whack.

-OK.

And then I think 25 on that is just a punt

-and a bit of fun.

-OK, then. We'll go for 50.

-Is that all right?

-OK.

-Done.

-I'm going to shake your hand.

-Hope they do well for you.

I really hope they do. Yeah.

I mean, that face, it says, "Come on, buy me," doesn't it?

Awww!

Back together again, it's time to head to South Lanarkshire

and the village of Wiston.

Right, then. Elbows at dawn?

They've one last shop to share.

-Oh-ho-ho! Hello.

-Hello. I'm Mark.

-I'm Catherine.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-How are you doing, Mark? Are you all right?

-Hi. I'm fine, Paul.

Delightful place, but it might be a bit of a squeeze.

Though Catherine's taking it easy. She's all shopped out.

Now, what's Paul found?

You've seen a mariner's sextant before.

This is a variation on the theme called an octant.

That was used to measure the angle of elevation above the horizon

of a given celestial object. And thus one can determine longitude.

It was developed around 1730,

with both an Englishman and an American

having independent and equal claims to have got there first.

That's early 19th century.

I adore scientific instruments. And this one is incomplete.

However...

Maybe in that condition, it's buyable.

We'll ask the question. Oh, Mark? Octant?

-Very much so, yes.

-Wrecked.

What's it worth, then?

Well, I have £100 on it at the moment.

Too much.

Are you open to offers, cheeky offers, insulting offers?

-Borderline insulting offers?

-Make it 50.

-50 quid, eh? A thought for you.

-Mm-hm.

-Spotted that earlier.

Box full of random fobs, commemorative medallions,

-military insignia and brooches.

-I would do the whole lot for 25.

So the total currently stands at £75.

I'll go 70.

I'm really struck now. 70 quid.

-That's it. I know when the bottom line's been reached.

-OK.

-Good.

-We did it.

-We got there.

-Phew!

With those final buys wrapped up, let's take a peek at what

they'll be bringing to auction.

Paul parted with £160 for a table, some tin drawers,

various badges, a stick stand and that octant.

While Catherine spent £120 on a cigarette case,

a golf brooch,

a pond yacht, a tobacco jar and two vintage glove puppets.

Who did good?

She's going to make money and there are some killers in there perhaps.

That stand. I'm surprised he paid so much for that.

He may have a little wobble with that.

After setting off from Melrose, our experts are now heading

towards an auction on the outskirts of the capital.

Welcome to Rosewell, the home of the long established

Thomson Roddick Scottish Auctions.

-Here we go.

-Are you ready for a slaughtering?

HE LAUGHS

Listen to you. Get in there.

Sybelle Thomas is taking command of the rostrum.

OK? Eyes down, everyone.

Hotting up in here.

HE LAUGHS

# Feeling good. #

First at the hammer is Paul's slightly tatty table,

featuring two exquisite tiles.

-Can start at £25.

-What a start.

-25. 25.

Who's going on at 25?

28, 30, 2, 5, 8, 40.

-2, 42.

-Close.

You're all out in the room at 42. Anyone else going on at £42?

HAMMER THUDS

-Oh!

-Close but no cigar.

Not a bad start.

We'll move on.

HE MUTTERS

Catherine's turn. Her Japanese cigarette case.

And I can start straight in at ten bid.

-Ten bid for a nice cigarette case.

-Come on.

-Ten.

-It's nice, apparently.

12, 15, 18,

20, 2, 25, 8, 30,

-2, 5, 8, 40.

-It's going to do it.

-Yes.

-£40...

Come on, a bit more. A bit more.

Anyone else going on at £40?

HAMMER THUDS

Better than my table, though.

Yep, it's warming up.

So now we have your box of rust. Your rusty box.

Or an early 20th-century chest of drawers

modelled in tin, advertising Victory Vs.

And we will start this at ten bid.

Ten bid, ten bid, ten bid.

-12, 15, 18...

-Well done.

-Bid's with the lady at 18.

-Anyone else going on?

-Made a profit there.

The lady seated at 18. 20...

-It's got life in it yet.

-22.

On my right at 22. At 22.

HAMMER THUDS

-Happy days.

-I take it all back about a rusty box.

Definitely V for victory. Now for Catherine's tobacco jar.

-A fiver. A fiver!

-A bit of jealousy there?

-A bit?!

£20 for this. 20, £10.

£10. £5.

5 bid, everywhere,

-8, 10...

-Everywhere. I don't like the sound of that.

-..15, 18, 20, 22, 25...

-Yes.

-28. The lady standing at the back at 28.

-Keep going.

Anyone else going on at £28?

HAMMER THUDS

-28.

-Loved that.

Are you sure, Paul?

I may have to lie down somewhere.

Mr Laidlaw, are you jealous of that purchase? Go on, admit it. Go on.

He picked this stick stand up pretty cheaply too.

Ten bid. 12, 15, 18, 20...

They didn't miss it. They walked round.

..8, 30, 2, 5, 8, 38.

Bid's on the right at 38.

40, 42, 45...

-People appreciated it like you did.

-..at 45.

It's just going to wash its face.

HAMMER THUDS

It's flat, this. For me, it's flat.

An unusual experience for our Paul.

I am really enjoying this.

-Bring it on. What's next for you?

-You're cold!

They're supposed to be quite keen on golf round here.

I have two bids on this and we start at 15 bid.

-15 on commission, 18, 20, 2, 5, 8, 28...

-28.

..anyone else for 30?

30, 30, standing right at the back at 30.

Who am I missing for golfing interest? At £30.

HAMMER THUDS

We're not seeing the auction we would have liked today, are we,

with our purchases?

I think any golfer would be pleased with that.

Next, it's Paul's starry buy - the octant.

If this one just makes it over the line

and no more, as my other lots have, I'm doomed.

Anyone else going on? 38.

There are two bids on this and we must start straight in

at 55 bid, 55.

-55, 60, 5...

-Come on.

-..70, 5...

-No.

..80, £80. You're all out in the room.

-Make no mistake, selling on commission.

-On commission.

-£80.

Any advance on £80?

HAMMER THUDS

I'll take it.

The best profit of the day.

Now, "Izzy wizzy, let's get busy."

Did you not have a Sooty and Sweep?

-Are you a bit old for that?

-How very dare you, madam?

-And I can start this straight in at 20 bid, 20 bid...

-What?

-..22, 25, 28, 30...

-She's off.

..2, 5, 8, 40, £40, on my right at 40...

Keep going.

Anyone else going on at £40?

HAMMER THUDS

-Yes.

-HE GROANS

Take that, Teletubbies!

Phew!

THEY LAUGH

Paul reverts to type with his next lot.

Very interesting collection of military and other badges.

"Very interesting collection."

I can start straight in at 10 bid, 10 bid for military badges,

at 10, 12, 15,

-18, 20, 2...

-Oh, no.

..5, 8, 30, £30...

-Not enough. You've done it.

-..30. anyone else going on at 30?

-Hammer down.

-Interesting lot. At £30.

HAMMER THUDS

-I'm so sorry.

-You've beat me and you've got a lot to go.

Never nice to see a grown man cry.

I like auctions here.

I think maybe we should come back here.

Yes, she's cruising towards victory today.

£50 for it. 50, 30?

She's stabbing me in the heart.

£20 for a pond yacht. 20 bid, 22, 25,

28, 30, 30, 30, 32...

-No.

-..35, 38, 40, £40. On my left at £40.

-Come on.

-Anyone else going on? On my left...

-No-one else, I would hope.

..at £40.

HAMMER THUDS

Southon... Loving your work.

No losses and some tidy profits leaves Catherine set fair.

Oh-ho-ho-ho! Let's go and party.

I don't feel in a party mood, funnily enough.

-I don't know what it is(!)

-Come on, don't be a party pooper.

SHE HUMS

We could do the conga.

SHE HUMS

Paul produced a profit of £19.58 after paying auction costs

so has £392.34 in his kitty...

..while Catherine started out with £169.96

and after costs, she made a profit of £25.96,

so wins the day and has £195.92 to spend next time.

# At auction. #

-Oh!

-There's only one way I'm going now and that is up.

What?! Fighting talk.

You've beaten me by a fiver and you've taken off like a rocket!

-Listen. Hare and tortoise, remember that.

-Oh!

Toodle-pip, you two.