Episode 12 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antiques experts...

That's cracking!

-..with £200 each...

-Wonderful.

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

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

-I'm all of a shiver!

The aim? To make the biggest profit at auction. But it's no mean feat.

-No-brainer.

-Going, going, gone.

There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

So, will it be the high road to glory?

-Push!

-Or the slow road to disaster?

How awfully, awfully nice.

This is Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

Welcome to the second leg of the trip.

The sun is shining

and experts Catherine Southon and Philip Serrell

are in a 1970 Citroen DS20. Fantastique, eh?

-This is glorious!

-Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire.

-Hampshire, are we in Hampshire?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Do we talk posh down here?

-I say, how awfully, awfully nice.

Rather! Last time, Catherine bought lots of small, pretty things,

and Philip bought big lumps.

And so far it's 1-0 to the lumps.

Get in, dip your bread!

I wonder if Catherine will change tack?

-I'm going to start buying your things.

-What?

I'm going to come out with wood, outdoorsy things,

like a bench or something.

So you're going to buy a wooden bench or a metal bench?

Are you going for woodworm or rust?

Catherine started the trip with £200, but she made

a small loss last time, leaving her with £172.30 to spend today.

Philip also started the trip with £200, but he's made

a handsome profit, leaving him in the lead

with £259.94 to spend on this leg.

I want 100 lines, Miss Southon -

"I must do better at auction. I must buy rust and woodworm."

You are nasty.

Once the teacher... Ha!

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

meanders round the Midlands,

before heading due south towards the coast.

Then, turning west down to the tip of Cornwall, before nipping briefly

into South Wales and finishing up at auction in Wells, Somerset.

Crikey!

This leg sees our experts start in Winchester and end up

for auction in the Dorset town of Christchurch.

The city of Winchester was England's capital during the Middle Ages.

It's famous for its medieval cathedral

with the longest nave in Europe.

Our experts are kicking off the day

with a joint visit to Molly's Den Antiques Centre.

Sounds fun!

Come on! Right, what are you buying? I'll get it first.

Give the poor man a chance, Catherine!

-Hello!

-Hello.

-Are you Molly?

-Welcome to The Den. I am Molly.

-Lovely to see you, Molly.

-What's your real name?

-Matt.

-Matt.

Matt or Molly are either top dog or top bitch round here,

depending on how you look at it.

Right, I think I'm going to get lost.

I'm going to try, I'll see you later.

While she's gone, what I really want to find is just a profit.

-Are you the man to show me?

-We can find profit. We are good at that.

-Come on, then.

-You naughty boy, Philip!

That's nice, I like that.

-This is a good stool.

-Those are nice as well.

Are those separate, then, or are they all together?

No, it's for the set, 18 of them.

Look at that, Matt! 85 quid?

-I thought that was £8.50!

-Instant discount with that.

They look like 40 quid to me, Matt.

What do you reckon?

I do know him quite well,

so I'm sure we'll have room for manoeuvring.

What's this Phil's spied?

This is a Royal Navy's Officers of the Watch telescope

by Cooke of London.

And I would think this is 1940s or '50s.

There's no ships.

The telescope is also priced at £85.

I'm thinking, 40, 45 quid for the flags and 40 quid for that.

-I think you're a bit far away there, Phil.

-Hark at this!

£70 would be the best on that. And 60 for the flags. Bargain!

-That's a no, then, Philip.

-50 quid and I'll have the flags.

-I'll have to phone him up.

-Go phone him up.

-Shall I go and phone him up?

Go and phone him up, Matt!

Now, for the mathematically inclined amongst you,

there's 18 flags at £50.

That's roughly...

I'm waiting.

-CLEARS THROAT

-..pounds each, isn't it?

It happens as you get older.

Phil, the former teacher, is brushing up on his maths.

Let's see what Catherine's up to.

I do like this.

So we've got a crane without, obviously, its original string.

We've got the name Triang on the top, which is great.

Because that's a good English manufacturer

of tin plate and metal toys.

The problem is, there's something missing here.

I'm not quite sure what.

But it just doesn't feel complete.

It feels like there's a few bits missing.

But I just like it, it looks good, it looks the part. How much is that?

-£22.

-If I could get that for about £10, there is something there.

Ah, Matt's back.

The bad news is, he's not answering the phone.

-Who's that bad news for, you or me?

-Both of us.

Make a decision on those. 50 quid.

-55.

-Oh, Matt!

-50 quid, I thought we were getting on so well.

-Go on, then, 50 quid.

You're a gentleman, thank you very much.

That's first blood to Philip. What's Catherine found?

Now, this is the business.

That is just what I'm looking for.

We are talking mid-20th-century, French vintage croquet set.

And these are just lovely! The start and finish posts.

I think there might be a ball missing,

because there's six mallets,

and I think there should be six balls, shouldn't there?

I don't play croquet.

There's only two hooks.

It doesn't matter, it looks amazing. £55 is on that.

If I can get that for 30, I will be home and dry.

And Philip is going to be so jealous.

You've yet to buy it, Catherine.

Meanwhile, Phil's found another corner of the shop.

This might be interesting.

That was made about 200 yards from my office in Worcester.

This was made about 1775.

And if you turn it over,

there will be, like, a half-crescent mark on the bottom.

There it is. That tells you that was Worcester. Now, this is 60 quid.

In auction, sadly,

probably going to be around £50-£80 worth, no more.

And if you think, that is the thick end of 250 years old,

it's ridiculous!

It might just be worth my while

asking Matt what they can do on that.

Because if I can get that for £40 or £45,

there's a bit of a chance there.

And it's a proper antique.

-Matt, can I have a quick word?

-Yup.

-Do come and sit down in my office.

-Oh, thank you.

I quite like this.

It's just a little bit of Worcester.

What I do know is that that is worth 40 quid.

The lowest I possibly could go is 50.

I'll give you 45 quid for it, that's me finished.

-No, can't do it, I'm afraid, Phil.

-OK, fine.

-It is 50.

-Just too much money, really.

-All right.

OK, thank you very much indeed.

-I'd better pay you for what I have bought.

-Indeed. The flags.

The flags. I'm very pleased with those.

-There's 20, 40, there you are, that's lovely.

-Thank you, young man.

Thank you very much indeed.

Philip's happy and has headed off with his flags,

leaving Catherine to collar Molly. I mean, Matt.

This is what I like.

-The croquet set.

-OK.

The thing is, it's got a few things wrong with it.

-I'm going to be mean because I'm in a bit of a position.

-Right.

I'm going to offer you £20.

Because it has its faults.

I don't think he's going to accept that.

-But I can phone him up.

-Right.

-Give me five minutes and I shall pop back.

-Can you work some magic?

-I shall do my male charm.

-Oh, good. I shall wait here.

-OK.

-All right.

-Thank you, Matt.

-No problem.

That sounded positive-ish.

He wasn't horrified when I said £20.

It was a cheeky offer, wasn't it?

"She's" back. That was quick!

OK. My male charm didn't work this time.

-Oh... What do you mean, this time?

-£40. Normally does.

£40 is too much. Can it be 35?

-I'll tell you what, we'll do 38. How about 38?

-OK. Right.

The other thing that I saw was back this way,

there was a red crane, a Triang crane.

-You've probably seen it, because it's quite prominent.

-Yeah.

And I think that's got about 20-something on it.

-And what would you bid on that?

-Eight.

Cor, you're a hard woman, Catherine Southon.

-Eight is probably too cheeky.

-Is it?

-Yes.

What if you said sort of 12 and I'll give her a call?

-You are wishing you'd never met me.

-No!

Right, let's go and make some phone calls, yeah?

-Shall I come with you?

-Time for some refreshments, then.

I thought you might need something a bit stiffer than that.

Matt and Molly are back with news on the Triang crane.

OK, we've got the croquet set in the bag. Happy with that.

38, that's done.

-So, the Triang, the crane.

-15.

-15 is your best?

-Yeah.

-You want me to have that, don't you?

-I do.

-I'm going to just go for it.

What have I done? What have I done?

So, Catherine's bought the croquet set and the Triang crane for £53.

Come on, then. Let's go and pick up my goodies.

Philip is taking a break from shopping.

He's on his way to Southampton,

a city famous for its port and the cruise liners that use it.

But this year marks the anniversary of another grand form

of transport that's synonymous with the city.

It's 80 years since the first flying boat took off

from the city's waterfront.

Philip is meeting Alan Jones, a trustee of the Solent Sky Museum,

to find out about the city's close links to flying boats.

-Hi, Phil. Lovely to see you.

-How are you? All right?

-Fine, thank you very much.

Now, they said to me, we're going to take you to Southampton and you're going to see some boats.

I thought they meant boats that float, not boats that fly. What's all this about?

In 1914, an eccentric millionaire came to Southampton and said

he wanted to build boats that fly.

That man was Noel Pemberton Billing, and the company that

he founded started building flying boats for the military.

At the end of the First World War,

when the contracts for that all dried up,

then they saw the potential to put passengers in these things.

And in 1919, they put the first two passengers in,

started Southampton Airport and the very first scheduled

flying boat services to France, to Cherbourg.

That piece of water was declared in 1919 as the world's first

airport, and that's where the word comes from - air port.

So, airport is nothing to do at all with strips of tarmac on the land?

No, it's a port for landing aeroplanes.

That's pretty cool, isn't it?

They lack of runways during the early 20th century meant

flying boats continued to be developed, and the Solent

became the major air hub for flights servicing the British Empire.

The idea was that if you could build an aeroplane that would take off

on water and land on water, you could operate it anywhere,

and that was the driving force.

The time it took to travel to the furthest-flung corners

of the Empire was drastically reduced.

Six weeks to get a letter down through the Empire.

By the time we got to 1938,

we were doing it in six days with flying boats.

But it wasn't just the mail that was speeding along in flying boats.

Very wealthy passengers could also

drastically reduce their travel time.

OK, this is the Sandringham. As you can see, it's a big flying boat.

That's a monster of a thing!

This started life as a Sunderland, as a fighting aircraft.

After the war, it was converted to a passenger aircraft,

as we did with many of our military aircraft.

-And this one went out to Australia.

-How many passengers did this take?

This particular configuration was 40,

but it wouldn't normally have been as much as that.

-Probably nearer the 20, 25.

-And how many crew did it have?

A minimum of five, because you had your radio operator, your

engineer, your co-pilot, the pilot, a stewardess, perhaps two stewards.

You'd have to be very well-off to fly in this, I can tell you,

when you appreciate that they did a lot of the cooking on board,

they had three-course meals,

they had a bar on board, some of the best wines you can think of.

It was quite an adventure, because when you stopped and you got

out of this thing with your DJ on and your bowtie to go to

the local hotel, you'd have to get out and get into a boat.

Time for a peek inside the magnificent flying machine.

Just watch your shoulders as you go up, OK? Here we go.

That is going to be a quart into a pint pot, that is.

Yes, it is a bit of a tight squeeze.

This is so cool, isn't it? Where's the start button?

You've got your mag switches up here, which turn your engines on.

Imagine flying to Singapore in this.

The physical stress, I should think, of just flying the thing.

-Chocks away! Is that what they say?

-Not with this.

-Probably not.

You wouldn't have chocks with this, would you?

It's an absolute beast of a thing, isn't it?

If you had to sum up, which era was the golden age of the flying boat?

The late '30s, when you were getting into this business of

flying across the Empire.

That was the golden age of the flying boat.

In the 1950s, the advent of runways and jet engines quickly hastened

the demise of the flying boat, and it wasn't long before the sun

was setting on Southampton's halcyon days of aviation,

leaving the ocean liners as the only grand ladies

still setting sail from Southampton.

Meanwhile, Catherine's next stop is the pretty market town of Alton,

which is home to the aptly named Tiny Shop.

-Hi, there.

-Hello.

-Great shop. You are?

-Robert.

-Hi, Robert.

I'm Catherine. Wow!

It's not going to take me long, probably, to get round here.

That's right, Catherine. The clue's in the name, love.

Robert has been selling antiques here since 2008.

That's cute.

-Biscuits. Is it for biscuits?

-Yeah. From Scotland.

In the form of a suitcase, with all the little travel stickers on,

from White Star Line, P&O.

That is dinky doo. And another one.

See, this one's got the name on - Huntley and Palmers.

In the 19th century, biscuit makers started packaging their goods

in elaborately designed tins, making them very collectable today.

That is worse for wear, isn't it?

Can you imagine what that would have been like

with the original colouring there?

The base has got more of the colouring on.

So, it's kind of like a wicker... It's supposed to be a wicker work.

-It is a wicker basket.

-Clever. I actually like that one best.

-You wouldn't get many biscuits in there, though, would you?

-No.

So long as there's enough for me, eh?

There's quite a lot of the original colour there. What's on that?

I think the ticket's got 35 on that.

Ouch! Right.

What is your best price on that?

I think probably 20.

That's a... It's a possibility.

-Still a little bit punchy for me.

-Right.

I just want to see if there was anything in the window.

The only thing I really like was that little biscuit suitcase.

I thought that was fantastic.

And it has got quite a nice bit of its original colour there.

£20 isn't a lot. Normally, I would snap that up.

I'm just hesitating a bit because I think I slightly overspent in

the last shop.

Right. I love your suitcase. Can I offer you £18 for it?

-Yeah, I think so.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah.

I'm going to shake your hand at £18.

Because I think it's very dinky.

I suppose I'd better pay you for it now, hadn't I?

I can't believe I'm walking out of the Tiny Shop with a tiny suitcase.

And a whopping £17 discount.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Catherine's had a busy day,

and her third item brings proceedings to a close.

So, nightie night.

Morning, chaps.

Today, Catherine's in the driving seat,

and the weather gods are not smiling.

How can the weather be so glorious yesterday and so dreadful today?

I mean, this is seriously bad.

It's grey, isn't it?

Look, these are on full.

Never mind. Let's have a refresher on their shopping trip thus far.

Catherine has three lots - the biscuit tin,

the toy crane, and a croquet set.

These are just lovely!

This gives Catherine £101.30 for the day ahead.

Philip's been a bit of a slow coach.

He only has one lot - the vintage naval flags.

They'd make a great quilt, wouldn't they?

He has a rather lovely £209.94 left to spend,

and he's not going to let a bit of rain dampen his spirit.

-Oh, no.

-Do you know, I love shopping.

-I really, really, really...

-You're not a normal man.

I don't like paying for it, but I like shopping.

Yeah, I bet you don't.

I bet that really hurts, doesn't it, having to get your cash out?

I've got a combination lock on my wallet.

Today, Philip and Catherine are starting off in the Dorset

market town of Blandford Forum, don't you know?

Famous for its Georgian architecture which was constructed after

a fire destroyed the town centre in the 1700s.

Catherine's kindly dropping Philip at his first shop, the Corner Shop.

Come back penniless.

Now, now, Catherine, play nicely.

-Come back potless. Bye.

-Bye!

BELL RINGS

-Hi.

-Good morning. How are you?

-You are?

-Tony.

-Tony, lovely to see you. Wow, goodness.

-How long have you been here?

-18 years.

18 years - getting the hang of it, then?

-Lots of things in here, haven't you?

-Bits and pieces.

Tony's got a lot of stock, and I can see he likes his pictures.

-I love things like this. You see these everywhere.

-Yeah.

And I think I'm probably old enough

to remember my grandmother using one of these.

-For crimping pies, isn't it?

-Yeah, that's right.

-No, I'm not that old.

I'm really, really not that old.

Of course not, Philip!

You keep telling yourself that, old boy.

These are interesting things, Tony. Were these bought right?

-Yeah, I bought them at a car-boot sale.

-Really? For pence?

-A few quid each.

-Can I give you a few more quid each for them?

-I'm sure you could.

-These are basically school photographs.

This one is the Eton Rowing 8 from 1905.

And you look at these, and you know there's a lot of these young

men who, eight years later, were fighting in the First World War.

-That's right.

-Oh, now we're into my spot - cricket.

This is the Harrow XI and the Eton XI from 1900.

But I just think they're interesting.

Let's get down to the money side of it. What could you do those for?

-If I bought all of them...

-Eight of them.

How about if we said something like 70 quid for the eight?

No, that wouldn't sound at all good.

Would that not sound good, Philip?

No, that wouldn't sound very good at all.

You and I both know that the money immediately is the framing of them.

-Yeah, that's right.

-And in an ideal world,

I'd like to give you three quid each for them.

That's what I'd like to do.

How about if we said, say, 40 quid for the lot?

-Can I meet you halfway and give you 30 quid for them?

-How about 35?

If you're happy with that.

Go on, I'll shake your hand, because I like them.

Tony, I think that's me probably done. So, I'll pay for these.

There we are. You're a gentleman, sir. Lovely job.

Thank you very, very much indeed.

-Nice to have met you.

-Take care now.

-And you.

Well, Philip seems happy with his collection of pictures.

Meanwhile, Catherine's on her way to the nearby army garrison,

home to the Royal Signals Museum.

Her mission is to find out about a group of exceptional women

from World War Two's Special Operations Executive.

Adam Forty is the collections manager. He doesn't look it, though.

So, Adam, who were the SOE?

They were formed in the 1940s by Churchill, and they were

really agents who were sent to liaise with resistance in different

countries and create any kind of subversive sabotage and information

gathering that they possibly could, and report that back to London.

The SOE itself was really begun with the realisation that people

would be working in foreign countries,

so they would seek out from all sorts of different military

units, including the WAAF and others, people who were

fluent in Norwegian, Spanish, French, any foreign language.

The female side generally were recruited from all sorts of

different organisations and were given training in espionage

skills, parachuting, explosives.

In all, there was something like 3,200 female operators.

Not all of those were agents who got sent abroad,

but they might be doing activities here.

These women must have been pretty tough characters.

I mean, to do this sort of thing.

Not just tough, but astonishingly brave.

There was just a characteristic, perhaps of all people,

but particularly the female agents who went to France,

who were just determined to go and fulfil their task,

and if they were caught, not to give any information away.

Communications were vital for SOE field operatives passing

information back and forth between resistance groups and London.

The standard piece of kit was the suitcase radio.

The first one you can see here, which is the Type 3 Mk I.

This would have been carried...?

By the female operators going to France.

Have a go and see how heavy this actually is.

No.

That's impossible!

Oh, my goodness me.

32lb in weight.

So you can imagine trying to get off incognito, keeping it quiet,

looking like...

-Blending in.

-Blending in and all with a 32lb case walking out.

Clearly, a terrifying prospect of carrying that around France.

Yes, back in London, radio operators like Jean Argyle carried out

a vital role supporting agents in the field.

She was just 18 when she was recruited into the SOE.

My main responsibility was to decipher messages received

during the night and also to encipher those

which we were sending out.

I found the most exciting thing was when you were given one of

these messages which hadn't worked out and nobody could work it out

and you were untangling it like a lot of wool,

almost like a game but you knew that it was more than a game.

Lives depended on getting it right.

If there was a crisis going on,

people were perhaps in danger of being caught by the Gestapo

and having to move and let us know where they were going.

The threat from the Germans was ever present

to SOE operatives in France.

They reckon that if you were transmitting any more than

about six to nine minutes,

the opportunity would give the Germans enough chance to actually

find you and potentially be knocking at your door shortly afterwards.

To drastically cut down transmitting time,

the SOE invented the squirt bar.

-So how do I do this, then?

-If we do something very simple like SOS.

Can you remember your Morse code at all?

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

So if we get three dots out.

You won't want to do this in a rush, would you?

I'm not sure I've done that right.

No, that's right - three dots. Then a space.

-This is a space because it's between two letters?

-Yes.

And now you start your dash, dash, dash.

The Type A Mk III has got a little probe and the idea is

that you very quickly start transmitting,

you would put your probe down that device

and that would send your transmission in a very quick time.

Even with this quick transmitting radio,

operatives were still at risk of capture.

The Germans, of course, were quite aware of this system going on.

There were agents all over the occupied countries.

A lot of people were captured as a result of this and they would

sometimes make them go on sending messages and they would try

to put some message inside it to convey that all was not well

and that they had been captured.

This was always rather frightening.

Several SOE women never made it back from Europe,

including George Cross winner, Violette Szabo.

Violette Szabo was a radio operator.

She went in slightly after D-Day and they got stopped at

a roadblock, they ran off, she jumped over a fence,

damaged her ankle and had a Sten gun and eight clips of ammunition,

so told her colleague that she was with to scarper and she then

ended up with a gunfight with the Gestapo

until all her bullets ran out and she was captured

and sadly tortured and murdered.

The women of the Special Operations Executive played a major role during

World War II, both behind enemy lines

and behind-the-scenes back in London.

We had all these very heroic people who were risking their lives and

it did depend, amongst others, on me,

to make sure that they came back.

It's still raining in Blandford and Philip, who's got just

over £174 left to spend has arrived at Milton Antiques.

-Hello!

-Hi.

-Hi, a voice from upstairs. Shall I can come on up?

-Yes, please do.

-Goodness me.

-They're quite steep, aren't they?

For a man of advanced years, they are.

It's OK, Philip, we've got plenty of time.

-Is it all right if I hang my brolly?

-Please do.

-Is it all right to have a look around?

-Have a look.

-Thank you.

This has got some really good proper antiques in here.

This is a great place.

People today, they like decorative items and these Ottomans with

this upholstered rising lid, concave sides,

that's 19th-century and this might be for me, actually.

Look at this - this has got a lift up lid that you put your linen in.

What is the most attractive for me is the potential price

because this has got £95 crossed out.

£60, crossed out. Now £40.

Just hoping it might be a little less in ten minutes' time.

Only time will tell, Philip.

What have you got your eye on now?

This is quite a nice little bijouterie table.

This is a table that you put your little silver collectables in

and other items that people used to search eagerly for

about 20 years ago.

This is satinwood cross banding, ebonised inlay.

It's got a plant shelf underneath and what's interesting about

this, this is the way the antiques business flatters the eye

because on top, look, you've got this piece of bevelled plate here

and bevelled glass is expensive.

But, look, on the sides, they cheated a bit

and that's just plain, plain glass.

It's £135.

That's sweet, isn't it?

Philip is obviously taken by the bijouterie table and the Ottoman.

Would he find any more treasures downstairs?

This is such a cool little thing.

This looks like a primitive object of torture.

I'll tell you quickly what this is.

What you do is you take that out, you put your baby in there,

you put your food or whatever in there and, there you are,

you've got a baby walker.

What I love about this, if you turn it upside down, look,

wooden casters on it.

How cool are they?

I think that is absolutely lovely

but is the rest of the world as mad as I am?

Probably not, but what about the other two things you liked?

-Jules?

-Yeah?

-Your Ottoman stall on the bijouterie table.

What's the best you could do on each of those, please?

-On the bijouterie...

-You've got 135...

-On the ticket.

-We could go to 110 on that one.

-OK. And on the Ottoman?

It's already been reduced. I think it's a fair price.

-So it's £150 for the two?

-Yup.

Would £140 buy them?

-148?

-Oh, hark at this!

-SHE LAUGHS

-£140, the two. Would that be a deal?

-45.

-145.

-You're a star. Thank you, my love.

Thank very much indeed.

-I had better pay you that, haven't I?

-Please.

Just think how much easier it would have been if it had been 140.

-You've got to find some change now.

-You could always pay me 150.

Don't say things like that!

I'll get you some change.

I'm very, very pleased with those two items because, I think,

they are southern beaters.

TIM CHUCKLES Very confident, Philip.

Meanwhile Catherine has headed to Shaftesbury.

Pretty town on the Dorset and Wiltshire border.

Roundheads and Cavaliers fought over the place

during the English Civil War.

Dairy House Antiques is Catherine's next stop.

She's got just over £100 to spend at the centre which is home to

several antique dealers, and dealer Debbie is on hand to help.

Oh, I love the rocker. That's cute, isn't it? This one rocker.

I've bought a toy already, I bought a tin plate crane.

-That's what I bought earlier.

-Oh, that'll be good.

So it'll be quite nice to buy another toy. What's on the rocker?

48. I suppose something like that now, you wouldn't put your child

in it, you'd buy it for a piece to decorate the nursery, wouldn't you?

-You would, really.

-Maybe paint it or something. I don't know, though.

-Would a child be quite scared of that swan?

-Scares me.

Anyway, what else is there there?

Debbie, this is quite nice.

-Bone letter opener. The thing is it's nibbled.

-Yes.

It's a little bit nibbled. It's not perfect.

But I tell you what I like, I love the enamelled Union Jack there.

The problem is it has lost a bit of enamel and I'm guessing,

hence the price.

-Which is?

-18.

And that's going to be the price, as well. I can't do anything on that.

-Nothing at all?

-I don't discount under £20.

Just when I thought I'd found something.

Honestly, Debbie, to be in with the chance,

I really need to get some sort of reduction.

-I'll see what I can do.

-I would be very, very grateful.

-I appreciate that.

-I'll go and give her a ring.

-This is a lovely thing.

Letter openers, we do see quite often.

It's lovely and tactile, it feels good and the enamel is lovely.

Can you imagine what this was like when it was absolutely perfect?

Because the colours are bright, they're so good, but having

a little chip to the enamel is bad news because you can't repair that.

I can't get her on the phone, I'm afraid.

I will take a risk and say 15 but that's as good as I'm going

to be able to do, I'm afraid.

-OK, that's fine. I'll take that for 15.

-OK, brilliant.

-Thank you very much.

-I'll put it on the desk for you.

Well, who'd have thought it?

Now, Catherine is still taken with that swan and Debbie is speaking to its owner.

Hello, Simon, it's Debbie.

What's your best price on the swan rocking chair?

It's got £48 on it at the moment.

30?

Can he do a little bit more?

-He won't go any more?

-Is that your limit, Simon? 30?

-SIMON:

-Who is this?

-This could be interesting.

-Who is it?

What do you mean, "Who is it?" It's Catherine. For you, 25.

-Can I say thank you?

-Yeah, course you can.

Simon, that's really kind of you. Fantastic.

That's brilliant. Thank you so much.

So, Catherine has bagged the letter opener for £15

and the swan rocker for 25.

I owe you £40.

While Catherine is swanning off with her latest buys...

..Philip has come to the pretty village of Lytchett Minster

which is nestled on the Dorset coastline.

He's come to The Old Button Shop to try and bag one last bargain

but he's running low on funds.

-Thelma, it's you.

-Hello.

-I've been here before, haven't I?

-Yes, you have.

-About two years ago, wasn't it? On a road trip.

-Couple of years ago.

-Now, the thing is, I've bought four items.

I've got a set amount of money to spend and I can't go over it.

I won't tell you what that is just yet.

You're going to knock me down and jump on me.

Don't worry, Thelma, he's much better behaved these days.

Shall we have a look?

Thelma has got plenty of stock in here.

I quite like these glasses. Let me put them on the table by you.

They're really nice, those are.

They are 19th century, I think, aren't they?

So you've got those at £18 a pair and £17 pair.

That's £35 for the four. What could you do those for?

20 quid.

-Those are a possibility, aren't they?

-Are they a possibility?

They are a possibility but I haven't finished yet.

Got your eye on another glass, then, Phil?

Now those, Thelma, are they £4 each?

-Yeah.

-What can you do those four for?

-£10.

-Ten? You can do better than that. You're not trying.

-Eight.

You're still not trying. Hold on a minute. I haven't finished yet.

More glasses?

Little custard glass. I reckon I can do that for a fiver.

Let me tell you something.

We know that these are green glass,

probably little cordial glasses or whatever. 1900.

-Yes.

-1890, 1910, something like that.

Now these, you've called them sherry glasses but I don't think they are.

These are illusion glasses.

They're called illusion glasses because the bottom is so much thicker.

Basically, these don't hold as much so, whoever you were drinking with,

you could drink half as much as them and they all thought

you were drinking the same amount as them.

So I think these are really lovely. Right, Thelma.

One for the road.

You can have that for a fiver as well.

The combined ticket price on the glassware is £81.

-20, 30, 5.

-No, all of this is irrelevant, Thelma.

-Why?

Because however much you want, I'm going to tell you how much I've got.

It's a good job you're sitting down.

I've got £29.94.

-Go on a bit, please.

-For these?

-Yes.

-I'll have those.

Thelma, what a lady. You're a star. Thank you very much.

That last buy means Philip has spent every last penny.

He adds his 19th-century glassware to some vintage naval signal flags,

an Edwardian bijouterie table,

a Victorian ottoman and a set of historic sporting prints.

Catherine has spent £111.

Her haul includes a tin plate crane, a 1930s biscuit tin, a croquet set,

a bone letter opener and a child's swan rocker.

So, what do our experts make of each other's buys?

Well, Mr Serrell has done it again.

He has bought those fantastic signals for £50. How did he do that?

-I do not know.

-So you bought a plywood child's rocking swan?

But what I do like, that bone letter opener or page turner,

I think that's a lovely, lovely thing.

But the best thing of all by far is that bijouterie table and I

am jealous with a capital J.

That was super.

After setting off from Salisbury,

our experts are now heading for auction in the town of Christchurch.

You had me spending every last bean.

-You bought five lots and spent 85 quid or something.

-No, I didn't!

-How much have you spent, then?

-One of my items was £50.

-Really?

Or did I make that up?

If I'd have gambled all my money, would you have given me some? No.

Certainly not. You know where charity begins, don't you? At home.

Today's auction takes place at family run Bulstrodes Saleroom.

What does auctioneer Kate Howe think of our expert's lots?

The vintage signalling flags is a lot I particularly love.

You've got a good number, they are very,

very strong in the decorator's market at the moment and I think

they're going to do very well.

We've got a lot of interest in those already.

The vintage croquet set with the hand-painting looks the part,

lovely age to it.

We've got the summer months coming up

so I'm sure that will do very well.

The ottoman box, we've got gloss paint,

we've got tired upholstery and we've got damage.

All three key characteristics for a star lot.

I think we're going to struggle with that one, if I'm honest.

Oh, dear, Philip. Anyway, experts, take your seats.

It's busy in here today and the auction house also accepts

internet bids.

First up, though, Philip's 19th-century glassware. All of it.

£20 for them. Start me at 20, surely.

£10 then. They've got to go.

-Thank you, ten.

-Might have helped if she'd mentioned the word "illusion."

Yes. 12 on the internet. 14 in the room. Any more from the internet?

Put the hammer down. Smash the lot. 18 in the room.

20? Thank you. £20. £22. Internet against. Yes, 24.

26 in the room. 28. 30. Now we go five.

35. Shakes her head.

-Internet buyer will hold it, the room is out at £35.

-See?

-I don't know how that happened.

-Well done.

-Thanks, hon.

Don't break the champagne out just yet, Philip.

Next up is Catherine's bone letter opener.

£20, little bit of enamel there. Decoration. 20. Two. 24.

-You're off to the races.

-Bit more, bit more.

-26 on the internet.

Any more? We'll sell to the internet at £26.

-A little.

-It's a profit.

-A little bit.

-A little profit is better than a big loss.

-Small acorns and all that.

Now, can Catherine keep her winning streak going with her next lot,

a vintage tin plate crane?

-£10 to start me, then. Come on, £10.

-Oh, come on.

-£10. Ten is bid.

-Thank you. 12, 14 is bid. right at the back.

-Sit still, woman.

-16. All is fair in love and war.

-Oh, yes. Keep going.

-At 16. Anyone else?

-At 16. We'll sell to the room.

-Oh, dear.

-Never mind, Catherine.

There's still time to make a profit, girl.

It wasn't my type of thing, really.

You'd never catch me buying rusty stuff. I'm not into that type thing.

Really, Philip? Next up is your Eaton and Harrow sporting prints.

-£20, let's start then. Two, 24.

-He's bidding over there.

26, 28, 30, five,

40, five at the back,

50, five, 60, five,

-70, five, 80.

-Phil?

-It sort of helps.

-Internet is out. We sell to the room at 80.

-Thank you.

-Wow, you hit that one in six, Philip.

Now it's time for Catherine's 1930s biscuit tin.

-Jealous?

-Has it got any rust?

-Yes, it's got rust.

-Start at £30.

£30, low estimate. 35 and 40, five,

-50...

-Yes!

-Well done.

-..five, 60, five, 70.

-At 70 and five is bid.

-Keep going.

-80. Five. At £85 for this lot.

-So excited for you.

-We sell at £85.

That is a top buy, wasn't it?

-Crikey, Catherine. That's a whopping profit.

-Rust, you see.

I am the queen of rust.

Auctioneer Robin has taken over the hot seat from his

daughter just in time for Philip's Victorian ottoman.

£20 straight in, anyone. £20 bid.

22, the lady. 24, 26, 28, £30.

-Someone has your vision, Philip.

-New bidder. 45, I'm bid.

-At 45, selling it now.

-I'll settle for that.

-Yes, yes.

Its condition probably didn't help. It's Catherine's swan rocker next.

-I just don't know why I bought it. It's firewood, isn't it?

-Yeah.

£20 to start me off. Ten then. £10. 12 in the front.

14, 16, 18, 20, £20 front row.

-22. 22 at the back of the room now.

-Always knew I liked it.

-All done then at 22.

-Too bad, Catherine.

-No swansong with that lot.

-It's a loss but it's a happy loss.

-Now we've got Philip's naval flags.

-£50, anyone. Start me off then.

Ten for these, £10. 12, 14, 16, 18,

20, two, four, six, eight, 28. 30 here.

Five, 40, five, 50, new bidder.

She's got a bid over there, as well.

65. 70?

75. 75. £80 for the flags.

-£80.

-That seems quite low to me.

Blimey, someone's got a bargain. How will Catherine's croquet set do?

-I liked your croquet set.

-Did you?

-I looked at it.

It was either the flags or the croquet set.

-So we're going to see in a minute which I should have bought.

-Oh.

-£50.

He wants that down the end, my new friend.

£60. 65. 70. 75. And again? Come on.

-Yes, come on, come on.

-£80.

-Five, 85.

-See?

-Absolutely...

-Shh!

-90 at the back.

-90 at the back, shush.

-Any more then? Last time.

-Bidding.

-Back in again.

-I think he's done this before.

-95, any more now?

-100 at the back.

-100 at the back.

Are you going to have another go for a fiver? 105 it is. At £105.

-I think you've got your answer there, Philip.

-Never buy flags.

Always buy croquet sets. You made the wrong decision.

Next up is Philip's last lot, the Edwardian bijouterie table.

£60 on this, straight in. 65,

70, five, 80, five, 90. It's jumped on the net. £90.

-100, it has gone too now. 120. 130.

-No problems with this.

140, internet bidder.

-150, waving the arm. 160, 170, 180.

-I told you, 200.

-190, internet.

-190. 200?

-200, yes, please.

-200 it is. £200. 210 on the internet.

-220.

-220. 230 on the net.

230 I'm bid.

-Internet holds it at £230.

-That's a good find.

-That's all right, isn't it?

-Yeah.

That's brilliant.

Blimey, that is a stonking profit for Philip.

It has been real swings and roundabouts.

-Or even ducks and bijouterie tables.

-Come on.

That's the second auction completed, so let's do the sums.

Catherine started off with £172.30.

After paying auction costs,

she made a profit of £97.28,

leaving her a total of £269.58 to spend next time.

Philip started off with £259.94.

After paying auction costs, he made a profit of £125.46.

Wow! Leaving him with the princely sum of £385.40 to spend next time.

-Well, good enough day, I think, for you to drive.

-Yes. Are you ready for this?

-Drive on, drive on.

-Ready?

-As I'll ever be.

Why are you closing your eyes? Yee-ha, we are on the way!

Cheerio, then. Next time on the Antiques Road Trip...

-Change gear, change gear.

-Go.

-Catherine is on a roll.

-Could it be a bargain?

-Could be.

-Could be a bargain.

-And Philip is all at sea.

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