Episode 3 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.

THEY LAUGH

There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

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

The hand brake's on.

This is Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

Welcome to a bracing Caledonian morn with Catherine Southon and Paul Laidlaw.

I trust you've had your porridge this morning.

You'll be set up for the day.

After starting out back in Northern Ireland,

they're 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.

Especially in that yellow Morris Minor,

which dates from an era before seatbelts were mandatory.

Makes you want to get out your easel and your paint brush.

-Well, we're glad you like it.

-I do, I do. And it's so green.

On this trip, auctioneer Paul has mostly steered clear of his

trademark militaria, profitably exploring his feminine side instead.

Oh, yes.

Twee little tea set which did you proud. You bought them beaded bags.

For goodness sake! Come on, they were dirt cheap, weren't they?

They were, they were. Which, in truth, was the appeal!

Not that rival auctioneer Catherine can really claim to have

-scaled the moral high ground.

-It's just amazing.

With a similarly shrewd purchase to her name.

Yeah, we're in the rag trade now!

Antiques rag trade!

CATHERINE LAUGHS

Ha-ha! Catherine has so far shrunk her £200 stake to £169.96.

While Paul, who began with the same sum, has £372.76 to spend today.

He's got oodles.

-I'm rich like Croesus!

-Oh, you've got so much money, you don't know what to do with it.

I had Warren Buffett on the phone this morning, asking me

-if he could borrow some money from me.

-Oh, yes.

Our journey started out in Portrush, County Antrim.

After exploring Northern Ireland, they crossed the sea towards

Scotland and will finish several hundred miles later in Aberdeen.

But today, we begin in Melrose in the Borders and then head

north towards an auction in Edinburgh.

At the foot of the ancient Eildon Hills, Melrose,

with its magnificent ruined abbey, is quite a spot.

Paul's got the place to himself as well,

having dropped Catherine off a little earlier.

Hello, there. Is it Susan?

-Yes.

-Lovely to see you.

To see you, nice! Lovely shop, too.

Ever so cream.

Fabulous stuff. Very nice indeed.

But where are the bargains?

My task, of course, is not just to find a fabulous object,

anyone with an eye can do that.

It's to find the object with the profit left in it.

And here, we're in a very, very smart -

and I'm going to see sophisticated - environment.

My hope levels are down at one little bar.

Keep digging! Dog's life, eh?

Let me show you something.

A late 20th century rod and lamp or wine table.

What on earth is Laidlow up to?

Forget the table. Look at the top.

If the stand dates to the 1970s,

the tiles in the top may date to the 1670s.

Actually, I think they're a bit earlier than that. Come closer.

You expect, for a piece that should be 350-year-old, some flaking,

losses to the glaze. We get all of that.

We get the wear and tear that we want,

so the hallmarks of age and we look at the subject matter

and Laidlaw's eyes light up,

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

And here we have the chap and his characteristic wide,

floppy-brimmed hat with bandoliers draped round his body.

These bandoliers carried typically 12 little wooden containers

with a measure of powder.

And these little vessels that we can see draped here,

were termed The 12 Apostles.

This is an accurate depiction by an artist who saw these guys

marching down the high street, parading on a Sunday afternoon.

Time travel, I love it!

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.

Susan, I love your wee wine table.

Yes, it's lovely, but the tiles especially.

Aren't they just? 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 it seemed it might be, too.

Just in time for elevenses, eh?

It's my lucky day, is it not?

From an antique shop, straight into a good Scots butchers advertising

Scotland's finest Scotch pies.

-HE LAUGHS

-When in Rome and all that!

Quite! So, while Paul samples certain local delicacies,

let's see where Catherine has 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.

It's been 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 dies 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 to Hawick,

the riverside town that is famous for its knitwear factories,

manufacturing luxurious cashmere and merino products.

Not that Paul will have time for jumpers...

Don't judge me.

..once he's polished off that pie, that is.

HE CHUCKLES

-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.

Give it a rub, eh?

18th century gate leg table. Nice little size. It's £245.

It's £245.

I think even our hard-hearted expert is tempted.

I like that.

I like that.

Face it, Paul, those aren't for you.

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.

I think his mojo is working again. Must be the pie.

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. "The world's winter sweetmeats." Get in!

Invented in 1864, the first recipe contained chlorodyne,

a mixture of laudanum, cannabis and chloroform.

Advertising packaging, vintage material, sells.

It's a hot market.

Now I don't think this is the most exciting tin plate

box in the world but it's not the most dreary either.

It taps into an iconic brand.

No price label though.

Something to ask about, I'd imagine.

Only issue I could find was the top drawer is snagged.

I don't think that is a difficult fix.

But you know what it might be?

It might be a lever for me to get this at the right price.

Morris is still considering Paul's proposal of £40 for the stick stand.

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 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.

Yep, and he's looking suitably smug.

-Well, well, well. What are you doing sitting here?

-Don't interrupt me.

-Have you shopped up?

-Uh... I've bought a few things.

-I don't believe you.

-I don't believe you.

-What have you been doing? Where have you been?

-I've been on an adventure.

-You'll love it by the way.

Huge. Nothing left of course.

Take no notice.

But Catherine seems to be adopting a different approach,

ignoring the furniture and letting Morris be her guide.

-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.

Not a lot of shaking on just yet though. Anything else?

That's got a good look to it. I like that.

-How old is this one do you think?

-1950s, I would think.

I've got another one upstairs, another pond yacht.

-I think it's upstairs anyway.

-Is it a good one?

-I don't know.

It's all right.

Meanwhile there's a pair of decanters to take a peek at.

-I've only got £30 on the pair.

-They look pretty good, don't they?

-But they don't excite me like the case did.

-OK.

-Unless they're dirt cheap.

15 quid. That's £7.50 each.

That is cheap. Still no deal though.

-Now for his other yacht.

-Quite a nice thing actually.

-That is a proper pond yacht.

-Yeah.

-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.

I'm beginning to lose track of the contents of Catherine's growing pile.

There's more too.

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.

I'm deciding not to go for the decanters although I like them.

Then there was three items.

-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.

Next day there is an "offal" lot to talk about.

Right next door to the first antique shop I was in,

face lit up when I saw the finest Scotch pie emporium in Scotland.

I bought haggis, white pudding... Have you had mealy pudding?

-White pudding?

-No. Don't like the sound of that.

HE LAUGHS

-Sounds horrible. Do you eat it?

-It's gorgeous.

And when he wasn't scoffing he found time to buy some tin drawers,

a stick stand and a tile top table...

I'd really rather hack them out.

..which set him back £90, leaving just over 280 in his wallet.

While Catherine's haul included a tobacco jar, a cigarette case

and a pond yacht. As you do.

-Is it a good one?

-I don't know.

It's all right.

Hey. All for £70. Meaning she has less than 100 at her disposal.

-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?

Later they'll be heading for an auction in Edinburgh

but our next stop is in Innerleithen, Tweeddale.

Yes, he was here.

Plus this spa town was immortalised in Saint Ronan's Well,

the only contemporary novel by Sir Walter Scott.

Have a good one, you.

-Thank you. Wish me luck.

-See you later.

-Ciao.

-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.

One little item under consideration already.

Oh! They are being watched.

-That's my speciality, is the dolls and the teddy bears.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-How is the market?

-It's not as good as it used to be, is it?

-No.

But there's still doll collectors who come to me

-and want to find a doll.

-They look good up there, don't they?

-They're watching over you, Margaret.

-They come out at night and have fun.

This is turning into Toy Story. I bet those two join in.

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.

-Do I buy the brooch?

I do buy the brooch. Oh!

Consulting Sooty, eh? I didn't see that coming.

Does Sweep concur?

They're in agreement. They're fantastic. I'm tempted to buy these.

-So who were these made by? Chad Valley...?

-Chad Valley.

It's got the label there somewhere on the side.

-This one's not in bad condition.

-No.

-Sometimes you get the noses repaired and they've been re-sown.

-Yes.

-But I don't think...

-No, that's not had anything done, I don't think.

No surgery then. But his mate's looking a bit worse for wear.

Sooty, I think you're kind of past it a bit.

-I thinks Sooty's maybe been the one that was the most cuddleable.

-Yeah...

The ticket price for the furry pair is £48.

That to me doesn't even look like Sooty. Are we definitely Sooty?

Erm... Well, they came together.

He's not Basil Brush, Catherine(!)

-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?

Oh-ho-ho! I think we might have struck gold, don't you? Oh, yes.

Bye-bye.

Elsewhere in the Borders, Paul's making his way to another place

with strong literary associations,

towards the county town of Tweeddale in Peebles, where he's come

to find out more about the incredible real life adventures of the

Scottish writer of The Thirty-Nine Steps, one of our most influential spy novels.

-Hello, Deborah.

-Yes, Paul. How very nice to meet you.

Thank you very much for coming.

The museum dedicated to Deborah's grandfather John Buchan is

located here in the Borders

because this was where he spent time as a young man and set

some of the most exciting passages of his man on the run thriller.

You think of Richard Hannay running across these moors,

-and you know how bare those hills can be...

-Indeed.

-..and that you would see a fugitive running.

-Yes.

Particularly if you had a monoplane.

I read it as a teenager and it is one of the best reads of my life.

Buchan, the son of a Scottish minister,

had already been a published author for several years when he wrote

The Thirty-Nine Steps while recovering from an illness on the eve of World War I.

He was sent to bed in August 1914 with a terrible stomach complaint.

He ran out of thrillers to read and he said to my grandmother,

"I want to write a book where the writer cares what happens to

-"both the victim and the perpetrator."

-Mm-hm.

And him and his daughter Alice were convalescing in Kent, in Broadstairs,

and she was running up and down the steps that led down to the beach.

-And she ran up and she said, "Daddy, there are 39 steps."

-Oh!

And that's supposed to be from where he got the title.

-Well, the source of the story is quite good.

-Yes.

Buchan's tale of one man's fight against German spies was an immediate

hit, with huge numbers delivered to the troops.

He went on to write a further four novels featuring hero

Richard Hannay, but the author himself,

although too ill for active service, was to play quite a part in the war.

-He becomes a Times correspondent during the war.

-A war correspondent?

A war correspondent.

But all the time he is writing a contemporaneous

history of the war published fortnightly in The Times.

-Then he joins Earl Haig's staff.

-I see. In intelligence or...?

-Yes.

-In uniform?

-In uniform.

-So he ends up on active service regardless?

-Yes.

By the end of hostilities, during which both his brother and his

best friend died, Buchan occupied a senior propaganda post in Whitehall.

He then turned to politics and became a Member of Parliament.

He's a good MP but he's not a successful politician

-because he can always see the other person's point of view.

-Right.

I mean, for example, he was great friends with Jimmy Maxton of the

Red Clydesiders.

And he found it very difficult to adhere to a party line.

Throughout, Buchan continued to write, eventually

publishing around 100 works of both fact and fiction.

And it was during his late 50s that a writing job led to his last

great public role.

He's commissioned to write the Jubilee book for King George V.

And probably as a result of spending a lot of time with

the king, the king decided to send him as governor general to Canada in 1935.

My word. That is some career.

-You say not a successful politician but that's some achievement.

-Yes.

But if his never out of print shocker remains Buchan's greatest

legacy, it's thanks in part to the 1935 movie version by a

young Alfred Hitchcock.

Although as anyone who's experienced them both

can tell you, it's a somewhat free adaptation.

The film premiered in London just before JB left to be

governor general of Canada, and in the interval Alfred Hitchcock

came to him and said, "Tell me, my Lord, how are you enjoying the film?"

And he said, "Well it's very good, Mr Hitchcock, but can you tell me

"how it ends?"

HE LAUGHS

That's the anecdote of this encounter for me.

Now, with our two chums back together and back on the road...

This is just beautiful. There's more sheep than anything here.

It makes you feel good to be alive, doesn't it?

..it's time to head off to South Lanarkshire

and the village of Wiston.

-Sheepie, sheepies.

-There's so many mutton pies there.

Paul, they're not all to eat!

One last shop to share. Nicely.

Right then. Elbows at dawn?

Let the shop name be your guide.

-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.

-Would you mind if I head that way?

-With your new friend?

-With my new friend.

-Good idea.

-You just kind of go that way,

wherever you want, and I'll go with Mark.

-At what point did I become the gooseberry?

-Yeah, exactly.

So while Paul makes himself scarce...

You've got some fantastic pieces round here.

There's plenty of things hidden away. In under things.

There are, aren't there? That's what I like.

-Nice... This octant has seen better days, hasn't it?

-Yes.

Missing the scale and the vernier.

Still looks good though doesn't it? Looks nice.

-Yeah, a nice decorative thing for the wall now.

-Absolutely.

-It makes it cheaper as well.

-Good point.

But after her happy shopping thus far I don't think she's too

bothered about buying more.

Paul however is definitely in the market.

So I've just picked up a wee plastic box full of bits and bobs.

That is a little Scottish brooch set with polished hard stones.

One couldn't call that a lot.

That's a little fob, Royal Highland Agricultural

Society of Scotland Long Service.

HE YAWNS

Women's Voluntary Service, a little badge worn by people to say,

"Look, I'm doing my bit for the war effort."

For me the most interesting little object is here.

Nice little silver lapel badge.

If you don't know your armorials you've got no idea.

However I do recognise the device of the three cannon and the three shot.

That's the badge of the Ordnance,

the government department that deals with munitions and supplies.

None of that particularly stands out.

However, show me a fistful of it and I will show you an auction lot.

A bit distracted, Catherine?

Ah, Paul, just the person.

You're good at crosswords.

HE LAUGHS

No, come back, come back.

You know what your problem is, Catherine? It's work ethic.

If you wouldn't mind getting me a coffee because I'm almost done with this crossword.

I think she's done with shopping too.

Ah. That's familiar.

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. However, this one is incomplete.

It is lacking, for one, a register here

that would have been inset into that channel,

it's an engraved scale from which one can take readings.

So as far as I'm concerned it's too far gone.

However... Maybe in that condition it's buyable. We'll ask the question.

-Mark? Octant?

-Very much so, yes.

-Wrecked. Very much so, yes.

-Seen better days, yes.

PAUL LAUGHS

-It's dead and gone to heaven.

-Not in my opinion.

HE LAUGHS

In your opinion 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'm breaking one of my cardinal rules here which is to never

buy anything you have to apologise for.

A very good rule of thumb. But do we spy a deal on the horizon?

Now you can't sell that damaged piece to me for 40 quid

and I can't pay 50 but if I float you an offer of 65 quid

-on the two I will convince myself I got it for 40.

-I'll go 70.

-I'm really...

-For a fiver?

-Yeah, 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.

Glove puppets, not my thing.

£25 paid, however, and if the specialists out there go,

"That's the rare early one that you never see," it could be a good margin in it.

After setting off from Melrose, our experts are now heading

towards an auction on the outskirts of the capital.

It doesn't feel like we're anywhere near Edinburgh.

Turn this corner, you'll be able to see Edinburgh

because there are the Pentland Hills and just to the north-east of those you've got Edinburgh.

I've got my own little navigational...

-Oh!

-My little map here, haven't I?

-Am I like your little Sherpa? That's right.

I can translate, I can show you the right fish and chip bars.

If you're looking for a bottle of Buckie in a brown paper bag...

HE LAUGHS

You know how to treat a girl, don't you(?)

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.

I wonder what auctioneer Sybelle Thomson thinks will get

everyone hot under the collar.

Sybelle?

Toys are very popular here and there's already been a few

commissions left on Sooty and Sweep and I think they'll make £30, £40.

The ebony and brass inlaid octant, unfortunately it is missing

a small section, but I still think it will fetch in the region of £60 to £80.

OK, eyes down, everyone.

Hotting up in here.

HE LAUGHS

# Feeling good. #

You ain't seen nothing yet.

# Feeling good. #

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

two exquisite tiles.

People will see beyond the table.

They will see just the tiles, I think.

As long as nobody's a mug on them.

-Two bids on this, can start at £25.

-What a start.

-25. 25.

Who's going on at 25? 28, 30, two, five, eight, 40.

-Two, 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.

INDISTINCT

-Good.

-Yes.

-Good. Keep talking.

And I can start straight in at ten bid.

-Ten bid for a nice cigarette case.

-Come on.

-Ten.

INDISTINCT

12, 15, 18, 20, two, 25, eight, 30,

-two, five, eight, 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

That's better than my table.

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.

I remember the sweets when I was younger.

-They were really, really...

-Astringent.

-Very strong.

-Clean your tubes.

-I'm going to 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.

Five bid, everywhere,

-eight, ten...

-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.

£30 for this. 30, 20...

-She's got nothing.

-£10. Ten bid. 12, 15, 18, 20...

They didn't miss it. They walked round.

..Eight, 30, two, five, eight, 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, two, five, eight, 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.

This could be divisive, the octant Catherine rejected.

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, five...

-Come on.

-..70, five...

-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.

..two, five, eight, 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, ten bid for military badges,

-at 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, two...

-Oh, no.

-..five, eight, 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!

Next on Antiques Road Trip, Catherine bets on black...

Yeah!

..and Paul sees red.

Philistines! Ignorance!