Episode 4 Antiques Road Trip

-It's the nation's favourite antiques 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'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

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!

Say hello to Stirling,

the brooch which clasps Bonnie Scotland together.

-This is a beautiful town, isn't it?

-It's a joy, is it not?

And this morning, the light is good, the air is good.

-You bottle this up and sell it.

-Oh!

Sniffing the heather hard are auctioneers Paul Laidlaw

-and Catherine Southon.

-And the people are so friendly.

They are lovely. There are a few exceptions...

WE ARE FRIENDLY!

Yes, and you may have already detected only one of our plucky

pair is indigenous.

I think we'll be all right, because the Scots, they like their own.

Oh, wait a minute, it's just me that's Scots.

Awks...

If you take a Scotsman, an Englishwoman and a Morris Minor,

what do you get?

A car which dates from before the time seat belts were mandatory

and has been taken to auction already three times this week.

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

and it's not just me.

And although Paul has thus far delivered a textbook profit

performance, Catherine remains a model of composure.

My plan is to have no plan and just let it happen. Let it happen!

That I like.

Except you don't see me in the shops going, "What am I going to get?!

"How am I going to do?! Laidlaw, Laidlaw!"

No, I'm so cool.

Catherine has transformed her £200 stake

into £195.92,

whilst Paul, who began with the same sum, has almost doubled it,

with £392.34 to spend in Scotland today.

Do you know what? I could move here.

Would you then run away, if I moved up to Scotland?

"No...!"

The journey began in Portrush, County Antrim

and explored Northern Ireland before crossing the sea towards Scotland.

They take in a lot of the Lowlands before arriving several

hundred miles later in Aberdeen.

But today, we start shopping in Callander and, after a thorough

exploration of central Scotland, conclude at an auction in Kinbuck.

Perched on the edge of the Trossachs - sounds painful - the delightful

town of Callander is known as the Gateway to the Highlands.

But will it be Catherine's portal to profit?

-Good morning!

-Good morning. How are we?

-I'm good, thank you.

-You must be Mr George. Your name is outside.

-It is.

That's so I can't run away.

This shop is so full that you have to look in every direction.

CRASH

-Oh!

-TIM LAUGHS

-Whoops!

-Sorry!

Carry on. Just act naturally.

Black I win, red Laidlaw wins. Here we go.

No further bets!

It's...

-22 black.

-Black.

-What did I say I was?

-Lordy!

Now, what does George reckon is a good bet?

-Nice little country-interest snuff box.

-Oh, that's nice!

-Always happy to help.

-A little bit of treen there.

And you've got a nice little riding interest. See, that's nice.

-But how nice?

-20. 15.

Ten. Eight. Five. Two?

SHE LAUGHS

Give me £20, you can have that, and there's a profit in it.

One to think about...

This is just the sort of thing that I was looking for.

It's nicely turned with the applied horseshoes and the crop there

on the top, and I think it's just the sort of thing that would appeal.

At £20, there's not a lot of profit,

because I wouldn't have thought that would go past 30.

I think that's probably about its limit.

But it's a nice piece, and it's a very good start.

Keep 'em coming.

A bit of Scottish jewellery. Hallmarked.

It's an amethyst!

A little scratch there. A little bit of a scratch across it.

What's your price on that?

-HE INHALES

-What do you think it should be?

Seeing as you had an intake of breath, I start to wobble and worry.

What do I think it should be?

15.

-15? No, it's a bit too far away.

-What are we, then?

-40.

-I thought you were going to say 14. 40? Oh, no.

-We're not a boot sale.

I feel a parcel coming on.

I'll keep looking, as well,

because I don't like anyone going out of here empty-handed.

-I do like it when you do the job for me, actually.

-Oh, quite.

But you can join in, Catherine.

That's quite sweet, a little Art Nouveau pendant.

That's quite pretty. What's on that?

That's a bargain. That's 15 on it, but we can...

I love the "But we can..." and then you stop.

Yeah, "But we can..."

Just leading you in.

I'll sort a few things out and I'll give you a little groupie deal.

-A groupie deal.

-Very rock and roll!

-You a golfer?

-No.

-Curler, then?

I really like this. How much is this?

That's probably about your range.

£48, actually, which I'm fairly sure she'll consider a bit steep.

-Can that be sort of dirt-cheap?

-What's dirt-cheap?

Dirt-cheap is, like, £15, £20.

Cos I probably will get a little groupie going down there.

Sort a group out and we'll sort you a price out.

-We're getting a fairly large group together! OK.

-Gird your loins.

Do they say that in curling?

I'm going to put this here with my ever-expanding...

-It's a buffet of bargains.

-It is, it is. It's a smorgasbord we have here.

Yeah, which, for the record, is the brush, the snuff box,

the brooch and pendant.

-Can we do more sort of 12 on that?

-No.

-15, then.

Come on, that's... 15. And then I've got a bit of a chance.

-Do you 17 on that.

-OK, 17 on that. That's fine.

-Yeah.

-40 is way, way too high for me.

-Mm-hm.

I think I'd probably quite like to put those two bits

together in a little group.

-So what could they be, the two?

-Do you 40 for the two.

35 on those. That will give me a little chance.

Do you 35 on that, 25 and 17.

-That's got to be more like 15, surely.

-20 on that.

-You've never seen another one.

-I think she has.

-Come on, 15.

-Go on, George. Go on, George.

-18.

-Go on, George.

-16.

-Go on, George.

It's so there. Go on, 15. Come on.

-I tell you what, roulette, red or black.

-Ahhh!

-That never works for me!

-Makes a change from tossing a coin.

-Right, red or black?

-It's got to be black. Come on...

It worked before...

Yeah!

It's yours.

And the winner pays £67.

TIM CHUCKLES

So, with Catherine sweeping all of Callander before her, whither Paul?

On the road to Dunfermline, that's where,

the town in Fife that's full of reminders of its most famous son,

the entrepreneur and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

Paul's come to find out more about the Scot who was once

one of the richest men on earth.

-Hello!

-Is it Morna?

-Hi, Paul. Yes, that's right.

-This is the Carnegie Birthplace Museum.

-Indeed!

Yes, Carnegie,

the contradictory figure who made millions before giving away

almost all of his vast fortune, came from this tiny Dunfermline dwelling.

When was he born?

-On the 25th of November 1835.

-Humble beginnings, clearly.

-It was, very, yes.

-What was his family background?

His father was a handloom weaver,

and he made the best-quality damask linen in a workshop downstairs.

It was humble. They didn't have running water, toilets were outside,

all that kind of thing, but at the same time,

the weavers were actually quite well off in the status of working people.

Young Andrew even received a rudimentary education and showed

early promise in memorising the poetry of Rabbie Burns.

But the coming of steam power made his father's trade obsolete.

He was struggling to make a living, his father,

and his mother had twin sisters in Pittsburgh already, and she was

the driving force. She was quite a formidable lady, as they say!

So she's the one that made them go to America.

His father didn't really want to go.

In 1848, Carnegie began his working life in a Pittsburgh cotton

mill before progressing to telegraph operator.

The clever and hard-working young man

was already impressing some important people.

He became the personal assistant to Thomas Scott,

who was a superintendent on the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

Thomas Scott suggested that he invest in a company called

Adams Express, which became American Express,

so it was a good investment.

So he started putting money into shares.

His mother acquired the money for him.

-She remortgaged their house to get the money.

-Right!

So she had great faith in Andrew,

and I don't think I would do that for my son!

Although much of his early investment was with the help from both

Scott and the railroad president, John Edgar Thomson,

Carnegie was clearly the right man at the right time.

So, he's not a maker of things, he's an investor, he's a Warren Buffett.

What else is he investing in?

Essentially, it was all to do with the iron industry to start

-with, so iron rails, iron bridges.

-Oh, I see.

And then later in life he discovered that you could make steel more

cheaply than you could initially,

so then he moved into building steelworks.

It's America growing, railroads crossing this huge country.

-Absolutely.

-And what do they need? They need steel.

-Yes.

But the tough capitalist who formed a vast steel empire to make rails,

bridges and then skyscrapers was to surprise the world when, during

his thirties, he started sharing, and philanthropy began at home.

The first gift was when he was 38, and he gave Dunfermline

the swimming baths, and that was followed by the very first library.

We're talking about a man making his wealth out of steel and iron,

but I can't help but notice a big piece of silver in front of us.

Absolutely, yes. This is from the Stevens Institute in America.

He gave money to fund the engineering laboratory,

and so it was a thank you for his philanthropy.

-That's a railway line.

-It is.

-Or a bit of one, I daresay.

And this was inside the casket as part of the gift,

-so something that Carnegie would appreciate, I'm sure.

-I see.

And of course I guess these guys are rolling...

-Yes, they're rolling steel rails, that's right.

-Yeah.

Education and the arts were amongst the biggest benefactors, with

New York's Carnegie Hall becoming perhaps his most famous monument.

He was in many respects the embodiment of the American dream

and, despite evidence of some rather ruthless business practices,

clearly a man of noble intent

determined to distribute his wealth so that others might thrive.

He believed in Chartism and that all men should get the vote

and that everyone should be equal, treated as equal.

Interestingly, he would have people like the King to dinner

and he would have all his Dunfermline aunts and uncles,

and they would all sit together at dinner.

So he was very...

"Egalitarian" I think is maybe the word!

-That's Carnegie's roll-top desk.

-It is indeed, yes.

That makes you stop and think. Out of all things, the desk.

It paints this picture of the industrious, the busy man.

Absolutely, and he wrote a lot of books.

He wrote Triumphant Democracy and The Gospel Of Wealth.

There's an interesting title. Tell me more about that.

Well, in that, there's a quote, "He who dies thus rich dies disgraced."

Having explained how wealthy you might be,

you should get rid of the money. If you keep it, you die disgraced.

He was as good as his word, because when he died,

on the 11th of August 1919, he'd given away about 90% of his

fortune and encouraged several others to follow suit.

He gave away 350 million in his lifetime, which is

worth billions now.

I mean, we say Bill Gates is worth about 53 billion.

-Well, this was between 100 and 150 billion.

-That he gave away?

That he gave away before he died. So a tremendous amount of money.

And that work continues to this day.

There are institutions spending Carnegie's money

at the rate of 150 every minute of every day.

-So in a sense, the old boy's still giving.

-He is.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Forth Valley, Catherine's

travelled south to Falkirk, a town with landmarks to spare.

-Ooh! Hello!

-Hello.

-I'm Catherine.

-David. Pleased to meet you.

-David.

-Pleased to meet you. And you're...?

-Yasmin.

Yasmin, pleased to meet you, too.

-This is good! This all looks very tidy in here.

-It is.

I hope you haven't tidied up just for me.

THEY LAUGH

It might mean David knows exactly where his bargains are.

Two can play at the Victory V game, Mr Paul Laidlaw.

Yeah, Paul unearthed a similar tin earlier this trip.

I know he would love that. I know he would love that.

It sounds like I'm buying a present for Paul Laidlaw.

I'm really not.

His was Victory V-related, as well.

Other lozenges are available.

That's quite nice, sort of Austrian, isn't it?

-You've got, like, a mountain scene or something here.

-Mountaineer.

I love the shape of the vase. The handles here are lovely.

I mean, they're very typical Art Nouveau,

which I would say dates this to early 20th century.

-Right, let's think about that. Can I put that to one side?

-OK.

Catherine's off to a bit of a flier

while Paul, today's late starter in the shopping stakes,

is making has way to South Queensferry, where,

in the shadow of this mighty construction,

the world's second-longest single-cantilever span,

he's desperately seeking his first retail opportunity.

-How you doing? Hello!

-Hello.

-The Sea Kist?

-Yes.

-Right on the Forth.

-Absolutely.

-What a prospect you have got!

Is that looking out or in? Both are appealing.

-Reel me in.

-THEY LAUGH

You've got me!

The clue's in the name.

It's a little marine Aladdin's cave, is it not?

-Nirvana for the nautically inclined.

-I like your teak books...

-No, they're bookends, aren't they?

-Yes, yes.

And they're actually made from the wood of HMS Ganges.

Oh, is that a wee brass plaque? It's one of those!

That's pleasingly wrought. Yeah, that's not bad work.

The last sailing ship to serve as a seagoing flagship,

and at this point, between the wars, they're breaking up a lot of

vessels, relics of the First World War and so on, and there's this...

industry on the back of that,

turning out all sorts of tat - in this instance, not tat -

-from the ships' timbers.

-That's right.

-Yeah. And you've either side. You've a pair of those.

-Yes, that's right.

-I see a price on those of £55.

-Mm-hm.

-Slack in that?

Yeah, they could be 40.

Anything for landlubbers?

Ooh, I like your dressing-table set in Lucite. That's a sexy thing!

-Very Art Deco.

-Ohhh! Any problems with it? No fractures or losses?

There's not fractures.

I mean, there's some signs of wear, but you can have a look at it.

Oh, if it's got signs of wear, it's going to be wrecked, then, isn't it?

-Is that an expensive thing?

-£45 for that.

-Ohhh!

Is that your starting price, or is that...?

Oh, that's always negotiable.

On that highly promising note, let us return to Falkirk,

where Catherine, with an early-20th-century advertising

piece under consideration, is still on the hunt.

I love little cabinets like this.

I love going to someone's house, as well,

and if they've got, like, a little bijouterie table, you can just stand

there and look for ages and see all these wonderful little curios.

There's a little knife there,

a little sort of fruit knife, penknife.

Now, this is interesting.

With the little hook, it might have been

part of a chatelaine or something like that.

So perhaps a lady would have had her belt here

and then might have had something like that hanging down.

I just think that's quite pretty.

This is actually made from bone, you can see the little flecks there.

But the detail on there where you've

got the lady's boot, right at the bottom there,

all the buttons and the hooks.

I think it's absolutely smashing.

I would say that it is probably early to mid Victorian.

The ticket price is £42.

Could there be a deal afoot?

What is your absolute rock bottom price?

As it's you, I could do it for £32.

Is that going to make a profit on £32?

28.

-That will be my best.

-And what about the tin that we saw?

-Would that be, like, silly money?

-That could be very cheap.

-Oh, could it?

-Yes.

How about if I did you the knife and the tin for £30?

That sounds very tempting.

OK, so...

-That I'm going to say 25.

-OK.

And then your tin, I'm going to say 5. So £30 in total.

£30 for the two.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah.

-Put it there, my friend.

-Thank you.

Thank you very much indeed.

Dave, it has been a pleasure.

Catherine's had a very fruitful day.

Things are also looking shipshape beside the Forth.

-That's a soldier's strongbox, isn't it?

-It is.

Is it dated on the inside?

They sometimes have dated plaques on the underside of the lid.

-I don't think that one has.

-Are you sure?

No, I'm not sure because I can't remember the last time

-I looked at it.

-May I?

-Yeah, yeah.

-So the hasp is a replacement.

That latch is missing. This one's here.

And underneath there, there is a plaque with a date, 1916.

We knew he'd be right, didn't we?

Were you going to try and sell that or was that hidden on the way

out the door just to get rid of?

-It was propping up a few other things.

-Wasn't it just.

Now, I tell you what, let's park that because

what I'm going to do is try and buy something

off you properly and I'm going to ask for that

-at a pittance thrown in the deal.

-Right.

What about the dressing table set you took a fancy to earlier, then?

It's Lucite, which you and I both know is another term for Plexiglas

-in America and Perspex to you and I.

-Yes.

All the same, aircraft windshields, that's what you're looking at.

There's a bit missing off it.

-Is there?

-That's supposed to continue to there.

-Right.

-That changes everything, doesn't it?

-Could do, yes.

Right, a revised price.

Cheapy cheapy cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap?

What did I say? 45.

-30.

-What?! What?!

What were you thinking?

20 quid for that and the box means I might make a wee bit of profit.

I was thinking more 25 for the two.

I bet you were.

Any other desirable items we could include in this deal?

What's the story with the tiny little rocking crib?

-Is there age to that?

-Would you like to see it?

That's the first rule of selling, isn't it?

Get it into the mug's hand.

I reckon it's a wee charmer. It's too long.

It's a pretty spindly bairn that rattles about in there.

-How interesting. What's the price on that?

-£20.

-It's not a lot of money, is it?

-Nope.

It's almost too good to be true, that.

Because, apart from that, has got some patina on it.

A plan is hatched.

Can we do a deal?

Three things, the Lucite, moderne dressing table set,

there's the little throw away steel box

and then we've got our little

19th century dolls, or toy, rocking cradle.

I'm going to be brutal and say I'd like to give you 15 for that.

That would make three things for £35.

Can we do this?

Yeah, I think we can, yep.

Is that just to get rid of me?

No, not at all! No, no!

But there's the door, Paul.

Nighty-night.

Next morning, Catherine's feeling encouraged.

Well, I've got a little challenge. I've purchased something which is

very similar to what you purchased once upon a time.

Mine is bigger, mine is better and more classy.

Did my, whatever it was, make money?

Come on, do I look stupid?

Would I have bought something that didn't make money?

Fair enough, yeah!

Catherine is, of course, archly referring

to the sweet tin vase she purchased,

along with the brooch, a pendant, a pen knife, a snuff box

and a curling broom.

Or it could be a brush for a very small house.

Those cost £97, leaving her with just under £100 available for today.

While Paul's haul included a military strongbox, a doll's cradle

and a pink dressing table set.

It's the work of the devil, that frivolity.

All for a mere 35.

He still has a small fortune of over £357.

Not such a moo, eh?

I embraced my feminine side, yet again.

-Oh, no, handbags! Was it handbags again?

-I couldn't possibly comment.

I think you'll go, "Not Laidlaw, but I like!"

Later they'll be heading for an auction in Kinbuck.

But the next stop is Helensburgh, beside the Firth of Clyde...

..where, behind some very distinctive gates, Catherine has come to see one

of the greatest architectural gems of Glasgow's Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Lucky girl.

-Good morning.

-Good morning, Catherine.

-Hello.

-Welcome.

-And you are?

-I'm Lorna Hepburn.

Lorna, lovely to meet you.

The moment you walk in,

you see a real Charles Rennie Mackintosh statement.

Mixing arts and crafts, Scottish Baronial and Art Nouveau,

Hill House was designed in the early years of the 20th century

as a family home for a Glasgow publisher.

-It's quite asymmetrical.

-Yes.

-And it's not, sort of, traditional.

I mean, is that where we're going in?

-That's where we're going in.

-So that's the front door?

The front door and lots of

people can't find it because they're looking for something grander.

The young architect and designer,

who's name is now synonymous with Glasgow Style, had just created

the School of Art when he received this rare domestic commission.

Isn't it amazing?

Mackintosh believed in architecture as art and his ideas were

given full expression at Hill House.

It's the colours.

It's the dark wood and then that beautiful soft purple.

Soft purples, yes. Lots of purples, blues.

We often think of this space as an enchanted woodland

-with the trees rising up.

-With the trees coming up.

You can see that, can't you? All these panels of wood

and it does feel like you're almost in a forest.

It's almost a bit fairy-tale like.

Yes, yes, and the Blackie family did publish a lots of fairy tales

and that's a recurring theme.

These distinctive motifs had been developed by Mackintosh during the

1890s, while creating the interiors of various Glasgow tea rooms.

But just outside the city,

his admiration for Japanese simplicity

resulted in a more calming, modern space.

Oh, my goodness me.

Every single corner is simplicity but real beauty.

It's stunning.

People come into this room and they look round, they take in the

peace and the tranquillity and then they start to look at the detail.

Again, Mackintosh creating an indoor garden in this room.

Bringing elements from the outside, like the roses,

into the living space as decorative features.

He wanted to keep his buildings very Scottish,

so he's referencing Scottish tower houses, for example, but he's

also thinking about creating modern buildings for modern people.

But the architect was not working alone

because Mackintosh's greatest collaborator was his wife, Margaret.

Their marriage grew out of what had become a very creative and close

and intimate partnership.

We don't know who did what

but certainly they must have been exchanging ideas.

But there are items in this room, objects in this room,

which are by Margaret.

Tucked away at the far end of the sitting room is

one of Margaret's masterpieces.

That's just breathtaking. It's so beautiful.

The couple contributed to exhibitions throughout Europe

and Margaret's work was especially

influential on the artists of Vienna Secession, such as Gustav Klimt.

-What is...

-It's gesso.

-It's gesso.

It's plaster of Paris and rabbit glue and all sorts of things

-and the colour is dropped on.

-But I love the style, the technique.

This, almost, like, it's being piped with an icing bag.

It makes it look so soft and so romantic as well.

It is very romantic.

Very appropriate to have the sleeping princess in a house

where you have four young woman growing up.

Yet, despite international acclaim,

commissions back home proved hard to come by.

Within a few years the Mackintosh's had moved away from Glasgow and

all but given up on architecture.

So they didn't quite go down the avenue that they thought

-they were going to go down.

-He was an accomplished artist.

He designed amazing furniture.

There were lots of avenues he could have gone down,

but the architecture one pretty much closed down.

Partly because of the war

and partly because of his temperament and his feeling

he wasn't appreciated, he wasn't understood by they establishment.

Thankfully the handful of great works Mackintosh did manage to see

built are now amongst the country's most treasured buildings.

And talking of Scottish treasures, Paul's motored on,

taking our route around Gairloch towards Kilcreggan

where, at the very end of the Rosneath Peninsula,

not only is there and antique shop,

but they have a sale on.

-Good morning.

-Ah, good morning.

-How are you doing?

-I'm very good.

-I'm Roo, nice to meet you.

-It is a pleasure to meet you, Roo.

Welcome to Kilcreggan Antiques.

Just like Paul's shop yesterday, this establishment has a view to die for.

-But what bargains have washed up on this shore?

-Right then.

You know the drill, clockwise from the door.

Thorough as always.

You're shocked and appalled

-because Laidlaw is looking at brass candle sticks.

-Erm, well...

-Actually, that's not unattractive.

-But who cares,

it's Victorian brass candlestick.

Your point being?

This is not a Victorian brass candlestick.

That's George III.

That could be the thick end of a 100 year older than the aforementioned.

How do you know that, Laidlaw? It's the form.

That is, we could say, Adam influenced.

He's just warming up.

Now, when this was made, which I suspect would have

been 1780, brass was more expensive than it is in 1880.

And they make these in parts, as opposed to casting that in one,

but actually in two thin halves that are braised together

and we look for a seam.

That's what you see there.

Then we look to the base and we have a little tongue there,

a little tail.

That is a steel wire that is a push-eject.

The problem is when your candle burns down,

what do you do with the stump?

You push here and out it pops.

That shone some light on it.

He's a full period. And nobody cares!

Because the problem is, they are still a pair of brass candle sticks.

You stick them in the auction and the auctioneer

sticks them on a table,

as we see them here, and everybody is blind to them.

People walk past and think, "Brass candlesticks, who cares?"

What do they scrap at at the moment?

Because they're philistines.

-Ignorance.

-Crikey!

Price tag on these? Now £12.

And I may buy them.

Anything else you'd like to get off your chest?

Well, you've got the longbow with the arrow

and you've a couple of African axes.

I don't like the prices.

Are you stuck on those? Are you flexible?

I'm flexible to the right buyer, of course.

-Promising, but the ticket price is £118.

-Shall we go and have a look?

-Let's have a peek.

-Come on then.

All right.

We have some form of longbow of indeterminate origin,

whether it is South Asian or African. I cannot tell you.

It's the nature of the longbow.

The axe, on the other hand, we can absolutely assert are African.

So we are looking for an honest aged patina. Do you know what?

I think I see it there.

I love ethnographica. It transports me.

I am in darkest Africa,

or deepest South Asia exploring.

-And antiques should transport you.

-Well, they should.

-They do.

-They'd make beautiful wall pieces.

-Don't they?

These would have to be very reasonably priced for me

to justify the business transaction.

So are you thinking as a set of three to get more

-value for you at auction?

-I am.

My estimate on the three, as an auctioneer, is £40-70.

Right, OK.

So I'd need to buy them south of that for it to work.

-What are you thinking?

-I'll offer you £40.

-Would you go to 45?

45, 45, 45.

-Done deal.

-You did it, you did it.

-No worries.

That's a good negotiating tool by the way,

when you've got that in your hand.

-As is one of those.

-I spied a pair of brass candlesticks next door.

-Right, OK.

-They are marked up at 12 quid at the moment.

Are they the ones that are reduced from £18?

They may have been reduced, I guess.

-Georgian, 220 years old.

-No! No, no!

It's a hidden gem in amongst the

-rest of the mundane brass candle sticks.

-No! That's not fair!

And a keen eye at auction would spot those and grab them very quickly.

Sounds like Paul needs to keep his voice down a bit in future.

-You can have them for 10.

-I'll give you a fiver for them.

-Seeing as you went to 45, you can have them for

-£5. Well said, Roo.

-You've been brilliant.

-So have you. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Now, away from all that delightful scenery, Catherine has a pile

of salvage to get stuck into on the outskirts of the City of Glasgow.

Get ready to rummage!

Wow! OK!

This is a bit different.

It's a wee bit jam-packed.

Tina's is a bit of an upcyling evangelist.

Anything that she can save from landfill, she will.

-It's piled high!

-Oh, yes.

What about that chair? That little kiddies chair.

That's a refurbishment job.

-It's not for sale, I'm afraid.

-That's for sale, though.

Love the look of these, love the colour.

Very retro.

Glad they're not working, actually,

-because I don't want to give away my weight.

-Don't be so vain, Catherine.

Wouldn't go into the average bathroom. Anything else inside?

-Can I have a little look in your chaotic mess here?

-Absolutely.

I like a bit of chaos.

You've got his little watch case and it's been made into a brooch.

Which is very clever.

With lots of different watch parts and a feather behind it.

If the watch doesn't work anymore, I'll take it apart and use the cogs.

-You did this?

-M-hm.

-Oh, that's very clever.

That must take a fair bit of time there, though.

If you pardon the pun.

SHE LAUGHS

Sorry!

How much is little silver... It's not silver.

-How much is that little brooch?

-Smooth, Catherine.

You can have it for eight quid.

Might fit in with the jewellery she bought yesterday.

She's already got plenty for the auction. But it's that kind of place.

Oh, these are fun. Ration tins.

So these are the days in WWII when the lady of the house

would have gone with her little ration book

and collected her tins of tea, pre-cooked rice.

Yum!

Sugar and instant coffee.

Tina, where did you get these from?

They were from a house clearance.

Opened up a beautiful vintage suitcase,

which had caught my eye, and these were in it.

These were inside.

They were going to get thrown out.

-The sweets, they were part of it as well.

-Ah, sweeties.

-They've all gone a bit yuck.

-I don't know if I would eat them.

-No.

These must be quite rare. How much is the collection?

All the tins, 55 quid.

Can I throw in the sweeties for free,

so they get to go with their friends?

They look quite tasty, don't they? But the brooch is cheap.

And what's it made of again?

I'm just looking at it purely because, as you turn it over, there

are three little marks on there and that tells me that it's silver.

What's your very, very best on that?

£6. Is there any chance you can push it down to a fiver for me?

SHE SIGHS

-Will you come back?

-I will certainly try.

-OK then.

Fantastic. There we are.

That piece of silver salvage completes our buys.

But with the auction beckoning, what lots have they got?

Paul parted with £85 for a strongbox, some brass candlesticks,

a dressing table set, some ethnographica and a toy cradle.

While Catherine spent £102 on a penknife, a curling broom,

two brooches and a pendant, a sweet tin and a snuff box.

What did they make of each others purchases?

Strongbox, £1?!

How can he possibly pay £1 for anything?

Victory V lozenge tin, the cheek of it!

It was cheaper than mine

and so it should have been because it's not as good, is it?

I don't think there is anything that is going to fly.

I think she might make profits across the board, but I think after

charges she's not, she's going to make a small step again.

I won the last auction. Do you know what? I could do it again.

Bring it on.

After setting off from Callander, our experts are now

making for an auction not far from where they began, in Kinbuck.

Can you curl?

Not your hair, obviously. But have you ever done that?

-No, I never have.

-I find that mesmerising. It's from the broom.

-It's wonderful.

-Show me that action again.

SHE MIMICS CURLING

-That's Olympic.

-But what do you think of my curling broom?

You're upset that you haven't got one, aren't you?

That's what it is.

They're in tennis territory

because Andy Murray hails from nearby Dunblane.

But what does auctioneer Struan Robertson think will be a smash?

The penknife is one of my favourite items in the auction today.

Something about the shape of this

and the lady's boot just makes it really different.

I think we'll get between £80-120 for that.

The candlesticks have a bit of age to them.

They look like 18th century.

It's a shame that one of them is a bit squint,

but I think it will go between £20-30 today.

Well, Kinbuck is certainly eager for something.

-This is heaving!

-Even the local wildlife has an interest.

Catherine starts off with her lozenge receptacle.

You cannot lose your fiver for it.

I can't lose, can I Paul?

Who will give me £20? £20 for the tin. £20.

15, 10, £10 start.

Come on, guys. Nice and unusual piece for a tenner. 10 bid there.

Advance on 10. Keep it going. Advance on 10, 12.

Advance on 12, 14. 14, 16. Advance on 16. Advance on £16.

-All out on £16 then, ladies and gentlemen.

-I'll take that.

-I'll take that.

-All day long you'll take that.

-I will take that.

Good start. What about Paul's slightly random choice?

-It just doesn't say Paul Laidlaw.

-If anything it says funky Manchester.

-London.

-Funky?!

-Yeah, come on! It's cool.

-It's not cool.

Who will give me £40? £30, 20.

£20 then. £20. Come on, guys. Nice set there for £20. 20 bid.

An advance on 20.

Advance on £20, going cheap. 22, 24.

He's got commission bids.

30, 32, 34, 36. Advance on 36.

Does nobody have any style?

Still going cheap, guys. Nice set there for £36.

All out on £36 then.

Na-na-na-na-na!

It is not cool!

The object or Paul's mature response to profit?

How will Kinbuck rate Catherine's little collection.

I'll bid 18.

An advance on 18. 22, 24. I'm going to go to 25.

An advance on 26. 28.

Advance on 28. Advance on £28.

-Don't stop at £28.

-Going cheap, guys. 30. An advance on 30. 32.

-It's got legs.

-34, 36. Advance on 36. Still going cheap.

All out on £36 then.

-That was really cheap, wasn't it?

-A temporary setback, I'm sure.

Time for Paul's bargain militaria.

I'll bid 10. An advance on 10. An advance on 12. Going cheap.

An advance on £12.

All out on £12, guys. Going cheap.

14, 16, 18, 20. An advance on 20.

-22, 24.

-Oh, you've got it here.

-All out on £24.

A margin, that'll do.

That's quite a return.

How can you get something for £1 and turn it into £24? That's magic.

I'd have rather of got it for a tenner and sold it for 240.

That would have been magic.

Now, there have already been a few people sniffing around this.

Got a number of bids. I'll start the bidding of at 20. An advance on 20.

-Good.

-Nice wee item here, guys. 22. Advance on £22. 24, 26.

-Advance on 26. 28. Still going cheap.

-It is cheap!

Come on you horse lovers here. 30.

An advance on 30. All out on £30 then.

-Last chance.

-I'm happy.

You're going to be happy.

And why not? A fine profit.

Paul spent over half of his meagre outlay on these beauties.

I'll bid 30. An advance on 30.

Advance on 30. 32, 34.

Advance on 34. £34.

They're faltering. I'm going to lose money.

All out at £34 then.

Does that hurt?

HE WHINES

His first loss of the trip.

Makes it competitive at least.

Swift return to form with his cradle?

Nice wee piece here.

Been kept in good condition.

It's a shame about the wee break at the end.

(Don't mention that!)

I'll bid 12. An advance on £12.

-Come on, guys. It's going cheap.

-That's got to be 40/50 quid.

-That is gorgeous.

-He's going to sell it for 12 quid.

All out on £12 for the rocking cradle then.

What just happened?

-What just happened?

-Straight face, Catherine.

Do you remember all of those conversations I've said, "auctions

"terrify me because of the uncertainty"? I rest my case.

Now, she's already sold a Sooty and a Sweep on this trip.

How often do these come up?

They never come up because no auctioneer would

stick a lot number on one.

This is something quite different.

Oh, no! He loves it, he loves it!

I'll bid 15.

An advance on £15 in the room. 18, 20, 22. An advance on 22.

Come on, if you don't like curling you can use it for the floors.

-Come on!

-Advance on 22. All out on 22. 24. Advance on 24.

All out on 24 then.

-He's still bidding.

-26. An advance on 26. Advance on £26.

Somebody make it stop.

All out at £28.

-I was actually hoping for a bit more, to be honest.

-What?!

She smells blood.

I've got the Laidlaw nervous twitch.

Is it catching? It's catching!

Jig along because you're little bit of bijouterie is up next.

I'll bid 80.

An advance on 80. 8, 90. Advance on 90. Advance on 90.

Still going cheap.

An advance on 90. All out at £90 then.

That was fantastic.

Where did that come from?

This is turning out to be another great auction for Catherine.

I didn't even get the chance to get into that. It was just...

SHE MUMBLES

Come on Kinbuck. Prove Paul wrong by bidding on his Georgian candlesticks.

I've got a cold sweat on.

Who will give me £40? £40. 35, 30 then. £30. 20 to start me.

£20 for the 18th century candlesticks there. 15 then.

Tenner starts. £10 for the candlesticks. 10 bid there.

An advance on 10. Going very cheap, guys. An advance on 10.

All out on £10 on the candlesticks.

Well, I didn't lose money.

Over 200 years old. Lordy!

Very good auction.

Interesting. Lovely. Want to come back here. When's the next one?

-Let's go.

-Get out of here.

Paul started out with £392.34 and after paying auction costs,

he made a profit of £10.12.

So he has £402.46.

Catherine began with £195.92.

And after auction costs she made a profit of £62.

So she wins today and has £257.92.

It's not much but it's in the right direction and I beat you.

What do you mean it's not much? What?!

Take me to lunch, driver.

Next on Antiques Road Trip...

How to make friends...

You tantalise me, Colette.

SHE PURRS

-..and influence people.

-I wouldn't offer any more than £10.

-Are you familiar with the term "on your bike"?

-Oh!