Episode 14 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 over 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 fourth leg of the trip. Our experts,

Philip Serrell and Catherine Southon, are enjoying a jaunt

along the stunning Cornish coastline in a 1970s Citroen DS 20.

Shall we have a pasty?

-Have a pasty?

-Pasty.

Now then, do you have red sauce or brown sauce with pasties?

Oh, I don't have any sauce, I am not a saucy girl.

I'm inclined, I'd have red at one end and brown at the other.

And then you eat from the left and eat from the right

-and meet in the middle.

-Mmm, tasty!

Last time, Philip tried to drum up a profit,

while Catherine thought she had a wheel of fortune.

But it was all in vain, as they both lost out at auction.

I think that we flagged yesterday.

-I think we did.

-We flagged.

Between us, we actually bought some quite nice things.

You did, but it wasn't to be.

Both experts started with £200, and after three auctions,

Catherine has £223.42 to play with.

Philip has surged ahead with a whopping £321.44.

So there's about £100 difference between us, isn't there?

There is a very large difference between us, but new county,

-new challenge...

-Another day, another deal.

Oh, yes.

This road trip kicks off in Coleshill in Warwickshire,

meanders around the Midlands, heads due south towards the coast,

before turning west down to the tip of Cornwall.

They'll nip briefly into South Wales,

and finish up at auction in Wells.

Today, our experts start in the small Cornish town of Hayle,

and end at an auction in Bristol.

This is going to be interesting, there's a cattle truck in the middle of the road.

What's going on here? It's little sheepsies!

Shall we go and buy a sheep? Have we got enough between us?

It's been a lifelong ambition of mine on the Road Trip to buy a sheep.

-How much is it to buy a sheep?

-About 60 or 80 quid, I would think.

And farmer's son Philip Serrell should know.

Oh, look! Come on!

You've got one, you're losing one round the back.

-It's fallen!

-Don't worry, don't worry.

He's fallen, where's he going?

Oh, no!

Running after him is not a good idea, Catherine!

We've lost this man's sheep!

Remind me never to go sheep rustling with you, Catherine Southon.

This is like Wallace and Gromit, isn't it?

He's crossing the border! He's in Devon!

Anyway, after helping a local farmer...

-Top stuff.

-Right, let's shop.

-Come on, then.

-..both experts are kicking off their shopping at

the Foundry Antiques and Arts Centre.

Hello! Catherine.

You're Paul, hello, Paul.

-I'm Jan.

-Jan, hello Jan.

How does this all work, then?

We've got a sort of small antiques centre, here.

Various dealers' cabinets.

Jan here, she does the vintage side.

-You're a bit vintage, aren't you?

-I do dress like this all the time.

She actually lives vintage!

-Do you?

-Somewhat.

I think we're from the same era, aren't we, Jan?

Shall we go in there, is that all right?

You lead the way.

So, is some of this yours, then, Paul?

Yeah, this section over here is mine.

The cabinets there, they are rented out.

So everything we see on the shop floor is yours.

It's mine, and I can...

And you can... I was waiting for that.

I can negotiate.

OK, shall I have a little...?

You have a look around, give me a shout if...

If I see anything.

There's lots of lovely, lovely things.

I haven't got a lot of money, though.

I feel like last time I just went out on a whim and just bought this

and that, and all these wonderful things.

But I think I really need to be sensible this time.

And play it perhaps safe.

Could be a plan.

Now, this, what is this?

Mini cricket bat?

No, it's a very large page turner.

And it's actually poker work, so it's been done with a really,

really hot poker to create these wonderful patterns.

This is yours, sir, Sir Paul.

-Yes.

-I did notice that as I was turning it around,

you've got a bit of wear, there.

A little bit of wear, there.

It's a nice size, though, isn't it?

Yeah, I think it's probably made

more as a decorative piece than to actually use.

What have you got on that, my friend?

There's £9.50 on it.

Can you do five on it?

-Yeah, I'll do five.

-You can do five, OK.

Could I just put that to one side?

-I'm still going to carry on.

-Certainly.

Well, Catherine has secured one buy.

-How's Philip getting on?

-There's stunning things in here, aren't there?

There are some beautiful things, really interesting bits and bobs.

But it's not really my field.

My field is vintage.

-You look stunning.

-Thank you.

Could you give me the vintage look?

How about a little bit retro, a little bit '70s, maybe?

Yeah, that's...

-Let's go and have a look, then.

-Me and Noddy Holder.

Look at these, fantastic kipper ties. You must remember these.

They're vintage? I still wear them! Go on, do the deed, do the deed.

There's lots of people out there willing you to pull this as tight as you can, Jan!

Surely not, Philip?

There you are, Noddy Serrell.

Catherine, do you like this look?

I love the kipper tie!

-It's the business.

-But it's better than what you normally wear!

Now, now, Catherine.

Anyway, down to business, but be careful, Philip's hovering.

I think I probably will go for that.

I think I should make something on it, don't you?

-I would have thought so.

-Whatever she's giving you,

I'll give you a tenner more!

Play fair, now, there's a good chap!

£5, right?

Do you have some change, sir?

I should be able to find some, I think.

Thank you very much.

And if it doesn't give me a profit,

I'm going to whack Mr Serrell round the head with it!

Catherine's first purchase is secured, Philip's yet to start.

But hang on!

That's interesting.

Jan's got me on this vintage stuff.

I mean, I just think that's got a bit of a look to it.

A bit of tubular steel with either plywood or fibre glass or plastic

on top of it.

Thomas Chippendale, at this minute in time, is rotating in his grave.

I can hear the coffin creaking from here, Philip.

That actually looks a lot better from the top than it does from the

bottom, doesn't it? I wouldn't think that's '60s, is it?

It is '70s, isn't it?

I think more likely '70s with those colours and pattern.

And what is it? Is it just like MDF or something?

Chipboard or a ply.

It's a gamble, this, isn't it?

What's the ticket price on it?

It's 85...

How does 50 sound?

It's a very good starting point.

I'm working on the theory it won't be the end point,

but it's a very good start point.

I'm interested now, let's have a look and see what else we can find.

-Yeah.

-Let's leave Philip browsing.

Catherine's found Jan and her cabinet stocked full of vintage.

What would be really nice would be making up a lot of some sort of quite fun vintage accessories.

-Yes, yes.

-I like that.

-Disco clip.

-Disco clip.

It goes with Phil's kipper tie!

I like that. This is all coming back, isn't it?

Where did you get that from?

I've had that a long, long time.

I think it's probably from 1970, from one of my pieces.

-Oh, it was one of yours?

-Yeah.

So you've worn it?

-Yeah, a long, long...

-And with your hair, it probably looks amazing.

Have you got another few unusual beaded bits?

How about that? It's a Whiting and Davis, very, very collectable.

They are made in the USA, very popular.

They started their company by making chainmail for uniforms.

-Oh, right.

-Or, I do have a very, very big beaded collar necklace.

Oh, my goodness me, yeah.

That's lovely, isn't it?

You could go to dangerous territory here,

and end up buying all this stuff...

It's because it's girlie things, it always tempts you.

It is, isn't it?

Total ticket price for these three is £65.

Would you do 30 for the whole lot?

Ooh, er...

OK, I will do it for 30, because I am of the school of thought

that I need to put vintage out there.

That's jolly decent of you, Jan.

Is there anything else we can add to it, just to

sort of enhance it a little bit more?

Another necklace?

How about that one?

A nice long strand, double-stranded.

Rather fine beads.

Can that go with it?

-Yes.

-So I could have this at 30.

Yes.

I think you're being very generous.

I think that's very kind.

How about this one? Little beaded purse, there we go.

I've got to give you a little bit more for that.

Can we say 35 for the lot?

I think we could.

-Is that all right?

-I think that's a smashing little lot.

I think that really is. Jan, you've been an absolute star.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Right, what shall I do? I'm going to wear it!

This is the only chance I'm going to get to play around with it.

I look much nicer than he did in his kipper tie!

I think I've managed to suitably put both of you into vintage.

You have. We are really into vintage, now.

I know that looks awful with what I am wearing but I love it,

it's gorgeous!

-Let's leave Catherine all dressed up.

-Where's the party?

Philip's still with Paul, and he's got his eye on something.

That's interesting, Paul.

Yeah, it's a Masonic lodge in India.

I think about sort of 1890, early 1900s.

Have you got any other history to it?

They were big photographers in India, they were Madras Bangalore.

It's in a nice, what I call native frame.

You know, Indian-made frame.

Can we take that down and have a look at it, please?

-Yes, certainly.

-Let's have a look.

What's the best you could do that for, please?

35 on it.

I know I could do that for 20.

Which have you got more movement in, Paul,

the Masonic photograph or the retro table?

I couldn't go below 20 on that one, I don't think. But...

I was going to try and buy the two off you for, like, £55.

Would that work?

-I could do 60.

-Go on, then, I'll have a deal with you.

You're a gentlemen, thank you very much indeed.

Let me give you some money. Two, four, six.

There we are.

That's Philip's first two lots for auction.

Well done.

Meanwhile, Catherine has made her way

to the south-west tip of Cornwall.

She's meeting Professor Gareth Parry on the beautiful Porthcurno beach to

find out what part it played in the communications revolution of the late 1800s.

I've got to take my shoes off,

because I cannot go on sand with my shoes on.

You just make yourself comfortable, Catherine!

That feels better already.

So why this speech, why are we here?

Well, this was the landing site for the first telegraph cable that

connected this country with Bombay, as it was called then, in India.

And this was in 1870.

Up until that point, if you wanted to communicate between this country

and India, for example, it would take something like six or eight weeks.

-By letter?

-By sea, yeah.

But one man was about to change all that.

John Pender, a wealthy Scottish merchant,

had an ambition to connect the entire world with cables,

and this would eventually transform the way the British Empire was controlled.

Once the cable was installed, it went via relay stations,

messages could take nine minutes.

Pender wanted to avoid damage to his cables from shipping,

so he avoided ports like Falmouth

and instead brought his cables ashore on

the isolated Porthcurno beach.

So have we still got cables beneath our feet, now?

Yes, yes indeed.

There's the odd one or two of the old telegraph cables.

You may well have a cable going underneath your feet that goes

from Cornwall right out through the Mediterranean

to Japan, China and South Korea.

Something you would never think, while you were sitting here with

your ice cream, making your sand castle!

The original 19th-century subsea telegraph cables would emerge

in the cable hut,

where the signals were collected and taken to the telegraph station.

Within 50 years,

Porthcurno was to become the busiest telegraph station in the world.

So it really was the hub, wasn't it?

Yes. This map actually shows the cable network in 1920.

It really shows how the Eastern Telegraph Company that Pender formed

became one of the most powerful cable companies in the world.

Because, if you look at the map here,

we see red lines which indicate the routes taken by the cable networks

going right up to the Far East,

Australia, New Zealand,

and by this stage, Africa, South America.

And you can see how all the lines converge onto this one little beach.

What sort of messages would have been exchanged during this time?

Almost certainly diplomatic messages, trade, finance, commerce.

Pender's whole operation depended on the durability of his subsea cables.

If you hold that, you can see how heavy it is.

Oh, wow, that's really heavy.

Once the cables had been made, they still had to be laid,

and that's where Brunel's SS Great Britain came in,

which at that time was the largest ship in the world.

This was put on the ship, and I'm guessing it must have been

wound round lots of barrels or something?

They did wind it onto the decks,

they had what they called three tanks.

Then they gradually off-loaded it.

With the cables in place,

it was left to the operators to send and receive the messages.

This instrument is a Morse Inca.

And it was one of the early ways of getting a printed record

-of a Morse code signal.

-Right, what can I say?

-Help.

-Help, OK.

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

And three dots again.

-Perfect!

-You'd definitely get help with that.

Victorian innovation meant that the sleepy village of Porthcurno was

at the cutting edge of information technology.

Now, in the 21st-century,

the village is still synonymous with technology,

with fibre-optic cables making landfall on its beach.

Meanwhile, Philip is back up the coast

at the pretty town of Marazion,

famous for St Michael's Mount.

He's visiting his second shop, The Old Drill Hall.

-Hi there.

-Hello.

-You must be Christian.

-I am.

-I'm Philip, how're you?

-Very nice to meet you, very well, thank you.

-This is a place and a half, isn't it?

-Yeah.

You've got some stuff in here, haven't you?

-Thank you.

-We better have a look around them, hadn't we?

-Please do.

-I like stores and outside places,

have you got an outside place?

We have a pile at the back door at the moment.

Let's go have a look at the pile.

This is... A pile outside the back door is always a good place to start, I think.

Better out than in, eh, Phil?!

Lord above!

These are calf feeders or something like that, aren't they?

I think they are, yeah.

If they were older, I'd be interested in those.

-There are some boilers at the back.

-Oh, those old galvanised tanks...

-Are they whole?

-I don't think there's any holes in them.

-We can dig them out.

-How much are they?

£25 each.

-I'm going to be a real pain now.

-OK.

-But could I have a look at those?

-Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

-Can I go back in and have a look round,

see if I can find something else,

and then perhaps they could miraculously...

-Appear on the ground?

-What a good man you are, I like you.

You've just watched the master at work

when it comes to ducking hard work,

and that looks like hard work to me.

Sneaky! Ah, rust, Philip's favourite.

This gate has a £50 ticket price.

One to consider.

What else tickles his fancy?

-Christian!

-Hello.

-What've you been doing?

-Thank you for your help moving...

-My new best mate!

-Hey, Christian's got the measure of you, Philip.

-How old are these, do you think?

-To be honest, I'm not too sure.

I think there's a reasonable bit of age to them.

Perhaps '50s, are they? '50s, '60s.

-Are they velvet?

-Yes.

There's three or four pairs.

OK. If you paid the right money for them, that could be a deal.

-Did you buy these right?

-I think so.

-Could be interesting.

-So there's four pairs, if I bought all of them...

-There might be three.

-Oh, look at this now.

-We'd have to price it per pair.

-Let's just see what we've got.

Let's be fair to you and to me.

So that's

three pairs of curtains, isn't it?

-So how much are they?

-£100, for you.

For the curtains? Pull yourself together!

Hey, that went well.

That's a bit more than a chuckle, Christian.

See, he's getting the hang of this now.

I quite like that, the old pine pew, as well.

And how much is this, Christian?

The ticket price is 375.

I need to think about this. I like that gate that's down there.

And I like the two bits of galvanised.

I'm looking at 60 quid for the three.

How's that sound?

-Yeah, OK.

-All right?

-Yeah.

-I'll shake your hand on those, I'll have those for sure,

that's 60 quid bought.

That's £60 for the green gate and the two galvanised tanks out in

-the yard.

-And then here I've got a pine pew and I've got some curtains.

I'm going to an auction in Bristol, and I'm thinking to myself...

Big houses in Bristol.

Curtains... I don't know.

Would those come at 50 and that come at 100?

I'm only going to buy one of them.

-The curtains...

-Could come at 50 quid, could they?

Yeah, not the pew.

I'm going to buy the curtains off you for £50,

and those other bits of fine quality antiques.

-Super.

-Lovely job.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Philip has been busy, he's spent £110 on that little lot.

I think it's time to hit the hay.

Nighty night.

Morning, everyone. Today, Philip's in the driving seat

and our experts are enjoying the delights of the Cornish countryside,

hopefully without a sheep in sight.

-Big splash.

-Can I put in a special request today?

What's your request, Philip?

Well, we don't want any Katy Cropper/Hannah Hauxwell impersonations of you

yomping across the fields of Cornwall,

chasing sheep, cows, goats,

pigs or any other animal that you might find in a field.

Yes, Katy and Hannah may well be two of Britain's best-loved female

farmers, but our Catherine knows an antique.

So far, she's bought a poker-worked page turner and a lot of vintage

jewellery and purses.

-Where's the party?

-And she has a decent £183.42 left to spend today.

Philip has been a busy old bee.

He's netted an Indian Masonic photograph, some velvet curtains,

a wrought iron gate that he's combined

with some vintage water tanks to

make one lot, and a retro coffee table.

Thomas Chippendale at this minute in time is rotating in his grave.

And that leaves him £151.44 left in his kitty.

Our experts are making their way to the first shop of the day,

a pretty village called The Lizard,

which is mainland Britain's most southerly settlement.

Redruth that way...

Somebody was telling me how you pronounce it.

What you have to do, if you're Cornish, you have to go RedRUTH.

It's the last part of the word that you have to say.

-RedRUTH.

-That's it, you see, you've got it!

-PenZANZE.

-PenZANCE.

-Is that we say?

-That's brilliant.

-The last part.

-PAsty.

-PAsty.

-PAsty.

-You're getting the hang of this, aren't you?

Philip is dropping Catherine off at the aptly named Lizard Antiques.

-Well, I need to be here.

-I'm quite envious of you here.

I like it when you're envious.

-Bad luck.

-Now, now Philip.

-Bye.

-Bye.

-Hello...

-Hello. Good morning, Catherine, welcome to The Lizard.

Good morning, thank you. This is jolly nice.

This looks really like my kind of shop,

lots of rusticy metal and wood and...

Tactile, unusual, junky things.

There's no shiny jewellery and silver in here, is there?

-No.

-Right, I'd better get to it.

-Yes.

-I like your bottles. They're in lovely condition, aren't they?

-Yes.

-The actual labels?

-Completely cleaned up.

-That's such an old

-symbol, isn't it?

-Yes.

I remember that, Flying Horse.

I think that might do better at auction, maybe.

Quite fun to have these.

I'm not looking at the prices at the moment, because it upsets me.

-You never know, Catherine.

-These are real boys' things,

not really my thing at all,

but I've been very girlie and bought some jewellery.

What can you do on those?

Well, at the moment...

each of them is 25, so it would be 100, wouldn't it?

I could be really good and say 50.

I know they won't make that at auction.

Can you do any better on that?

OK, seeing as it's you and us girls are going to stick together,

I'm going to go for 40, which is a bargain, £10 each,

-you will definitely...

-I should do, shouldn't I?

-Yeah.

-And that's quite nice as well, for the bottles.

Seen better days.

-I know.

-But that's part of its charm, isn't it?

That's quite nice, isn't it?

-Are you OK with that?

-Yes.

I quite like that.

And, three shilling deposit.

You might get some money back on that one.

I notice you've got 42 on that, but can that be very, very cheap?

Did you get a bit of a bargain with that?

We could have some movement on that.

Right, OK. That is a possibility.

And Debbie has another wooden box in the window.

F Dibben, I think it says, Fish Market, Poole.

There's absolutely no way that this is reproduced?

-No.

-We've got a lovely bit of woodworm there as well,

-which is always nice.

-Try telling that to the wood!

And then it just slides off.

Does it still smell of fish?

Oh, yes, you can smell the haddock!

Ticket price for this fishy box is £65.

What about the bottle box?

-We haven't talked about a price on this.

-No.

Did you want me to put it together with that one?

And do a sort of joint price, or do you want them individually?

Let's have a look, what do they look like together?

Can I make you an offer?

It would be easier, yes.

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't pay any more than 30.

For the two? No.

Couldn't do that.

What about with the bottles as well, if I did...

What did we say on those, about 40?

Yes, 40.

And then maybe 30 on those.

Debbie, can I say 65 for the whole lot, rather than 70?

-Go on, then.

-Can I?

Yes, let's do that. Let's shake on it.

I'm going to shake your hand.

And I suppose you want some money.

So that's £35 for the bottles, and 30 for the boxes.

A pleasure doing business with you, thank you.

It's been really lovely, thank you very much.

-Lovely to meet you.

-You've got a lovely shop.

Right, I shall put these in my little holder.

-OK.

-This should be fun, Catherine.

-Watch out!

-How do I get out the door?

Meanwhile, Philip is on his way to

the famous old mining town of Camborne

to find out how a local man helped start a revolution in steam travel.

He's meeting steam enthusiast, Kingsley Rickard.

Camborne, home of steam, they tell me.

Presumably, whoever that is has got something to do with it?

This fellow is Richard Trevithick, or Captain Dick, known as locally,

and he was the fellow that invented high-pressure steam.

-Camborne man?

-Camborne man, born and bred.

-Clever man?

-He was quite clever, as a practical man,

he wasn't much of an academic.

I'm beginning to like him already.

He was born into a mining family and naturally, on leaving school,

he just joined his father on the mine.

His father was a mine captain, as they say in Cornwall,

that's a manager.

The Camborne area was the centre of a copper mining industry in the 18th

century, but the Cornish mines had to be constantly drained of water,

using primitive coal-powered low-pressure steam engines.

Once he got talking to miners,

he realised that one of the big costs in mining was that of coal.

The existing steam engines were very expensive to run, and he thought,

I must do something about steam generation,

and make some sort of boiler that's more efficient.

Trevithick invented the first high-pressure steam engine which

greatly reduced mine operating costs,

but his ingenuity didn't end there.

That really is something else, isn't it?

This is absolutely amazing, Phil.

This really is the world's first high-pressure steam self-propelled vehicle.

This is a replica of Trevithick's engine, which had the rather

brilliant name of the puffing devil.

Now then, you are dealing with a scientific idiot here, right?

Put it simply, you boil a kettle, steam comes off the kettle,

that steam can be used to harness to drive a piston.

Is that what this does?

-Is that a big kettle?

-It does the same thing.

Yes, it's a vast improvement on a domed kettle on a heat source.

-Right.

-Because you can't actually pressurise to any degree that shape,

and he needed to have this increase in pressure.

And so what he did was to have

a cylinder, and we've got it here, and then within it,

we've got another cylinder.

The pressure comes from the fact that on this end,

we've got a fire inside, so being a circular tube,

you can pressurise that much more than the old dome-type kettle.

It's using the heat more effectively.

I mean, this must have cost a fortune in those days to make it.

It cost about £35.

-Now, today...

-£35?

I can buy this!

I've got enough money. I can buy this.

Today, I would hazard a guess it would cost the best part of half a million.

Now, we've got lots of legs and bodies here.

How many does it take to operate this?

Essentially, it takes three to operate it,

and these lovely legs belong to the steersman and the driver,

and then on the back end,

you've got someone in charge of the water supply.

This diagonal arm is in fact the steering.

We've got the foot brake there, we've got a screw handbrake there.

Go on, then. I'm no you're dying to.

-Can I have a ride, mister?

-I think we can do that, Phil.

-And you've got to go on the backend.

-The backend.

Let her go.

In 1801, Trevithick's cutting-edge technology

was tested out on the streets of Camborne.

HOOTER BLOWS

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy.

I couldn't have put it better myself, Philip.

Determined to travel further and faster,

Trevithick put his invention on rails,

predating George Stephenson's Stockton to Darlington Railway by several years,

and the rest, as they say, is history.

Meanwhile, Catherine is in Redruth visiting her last shop -

Thornley Trading.

She's got £118 left to spend

and something has already caught her eye.

That is interesting, that little Deco trolley.

That, with some really good glasses on, some really good cocktail glasses,

really nice little decanters, that could look superb.

I can see a huge ticket on it, though, of £175.

It's Art Deco. It is '30s.

I'm going in for the kill.

Oh, lots of lights.

Hello. Do you like lights, by any chance?

Just a bit, yeah.

Hello, Catherine. And your name is?

-Walter.

-Hello, Walter.

-How are you doing?

-Fine.

I just had a look in the window.

-Your deco...

-Trolley.

That you've got one hell of a price on that.

-Can that be...?

-It's nothing to us.

What do you mean? What's nothing to you?

Putting high prices on things.

Oh, that's what you do, is it? You put high prices on.

I'm kind of looking at £40 on that, or less.

I...

-What could you do?

-I'd let you have it for 40.

-Came I have a look at it?

-Absolutely.

It's smothered in all sorts of stuff.

It is. We could be here some time.

I'm going to take my jacket off.

-What am I going to do with this lot?

-What are we going to do with this?

What's this little bit at the end for?

Oh, I know. That's to put your bottles in, isn't it?

There's a couple of pictures leaning against the front there.

Careful, if you can get to those.

-I'll do it, shall I, Walter?

-No pain, no gain, Catherine.

Look at that. That's good for serving.

You can actually take the drinks along.

Nice bit of chrome.

Nice bit of mirror. There's absolutely no way that that's later.

That is of the period, isn't it?

-Look at that.

-Look at that.

That's quite nice, actually, isn't it?

-Does it work?

-Yes.

SQUEAKING

Needs a little oil.

Yes, we have the movement.

-That's it.

-You haven't got a couple of nice little glasses, have you?

-To put on there.

-In one of the cabinets, I believe, yes.

There's some Babycham in the cupboard there.

There, these little glasses here?

Somewhere, I've got a bottle of champagne.

Oh, yeah, we'll have a bottle of champagne!

-No, it's only a dummy.

-Oh, have you?

Oh, yes, no, I'd love to see that, where's that?

-I will find it.

-How much are these glasses?

They've got no prices on.

-That's a good sign.

-Well, I'll do them a fiver each.

I'm creating a look here.

There you go, you're going to love that.

Oh, I do like a bottle of champagne.

You know what I like, don't you?

Don't get too excited.

It's only a dummy bottle, remember.

I tell you what, the glasses, the champagne bottle and the trolley,

60 the lot, and I'm amazed at my generosity.

-Are you?

-I am.

Well, because there's a few more glasses,

are you talking about those with it, or just those three?

No, you can have the other three as well. Now, that's looking fantastic.

It is, isn't it? Come to my party.

But we've got of '70s glasses here, so were going sort of '70s and '30s.

What do I do, do I buy the trolley by itself or do I buy the whole thing?

Decisions, decisions.

-Can I be cheeky?

-Just a little bit, Catherine.

Even cheekier?

-What's new?

-You know me.

Can I say 50?

Oh, blimey.

55, you've got a deal.

-Put it there.

-Right on, we sold something.

Right on.

That's the 1930s tray,

the 1970s glasses, and not forgetting

the dummy champagne bottle.

That's quite a nice lot, Catherine.

What did we say? 55, and there we go.

-And five, thank you very much.

-Thank you very much indeed.

Let's leave Catherine in Redruth and catch up with Philip.

He's heading to Falmouth on Cornwall's south coast.

He's got £151.44 left to spend

at his final shop, the Vintage Warehouse.

-Hi.

-Morning.

-I'm Phil.

-How are you? Good to see you.

-Hi there, Cole.

-Cole?

-Yes.

-And this is the Little Vintage Warehouse. I'm on a mission.

-OK.

-I've got some money to spend.

In an ideal world, I'd like to spend all of it.

-OK, sounds good.

-OK, let's go and have a look round, see what we can see.

Oh, Cole, I love this.

How cool is that?

So this is a 1950s Jielde?

What make's that? German or Scandinavian or something.

Very cool thing, isn't it?

How much is that? Oh, £400!

I've got nowhere near that. Are you open to offers?

-Yeah, we're open to offers.

-I love that.

-It's a great piece.

-Right, do you want to know how much I've got?

-OK.

-You might not want to know how much I've got.

-Right.

-Go on, Philip, put the young man out of his misery.

I've got, to the last penny, £151.44.

-£150...

-51, don't forget the one.

-OK.

-And 44p. I'd love to buy that. Can you do anything with that?

In all honesty, I'd have to give Ollie a call, who's the shop owner because...

-Would you mind?

-No, not at all.

-He might throw me out.

-Hey, let's not be too dramatic, Philip.

-He might, yeah.

-Blimey.

-See what he says.

-Worth a try.

-Yeah, give him a go.

-OK.

-Thank you.

I think this is so lovely because it's just such a cool thing.

1950s. It's sort of got that vintagey warehouse look.

Clearly, it's all adjustable, I would imagine.

Look at that, how cool is that?

You know, and we're going to Bristol.

Is Bristol bang on trend then, Philip?

Bristol's full of students.

I like your thinking. Anyway, Cole is trying to get through to Ollie,

-the owner.

-Yeah, can you hear me?

Hello, hello?

Technical difficulties.

-Can you hear me?

-Cutting edge communications, Lordy.

-Hello, mate, you all right?

-Right, we're in business, Philip.

You know the industrial 1950s lamp

with the brake disk for a stand on it?

Yes, so you couldn't do any less than about 200.

-You think it'll go for 300 at auction?

-Can I have a word?

Phil says can he have a word with you quickly?

All right, I'll put you on.

Ollie, how are you? I desperately want to buy that but I have only got

left £151.44.

Can you do me a deal?

Let me just hand you back to Cole, then, you can tell him.

Well, Ollie's just sold Philip the Jielde lamp for the bargain price of

£151.44.

I am so excited by that.

I absolutely love it. So I bought that with my heart, not with my head.

I wonder if it's going to turn around and bite me in the b-u-m.

Only time will tell, old boy.

There's the £1.44.

-Thank you.

-And there's the balance money. There you are, I have no more. The cupboard is now bare.

So, that's Philip's shopping done.

He's added the vintage lamp to the rest of his loot -

an Indian Masonic picture, the retro coffee table,

the velvet curtains and a lot made up of a wrought iron gate with

the vintage water tanks, and he's spent all of his £321.44.

Excellent work.

Catherine's haul includes a fishmonger's crate together

with vintage bottle crate, some automobilia glassware,

a poker-work page turner,

a collection of vintage jewellery

and accessories and a drinks trolley and glasses.

She spent £160.

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

Before I saw your things, I thought I'd done really well today and I was

actually really chuffed with my purchases.

Now I've seen yours, I don't know if I'm so happy.

I love your bits of automobilia.

They are a sale lot.

At £35, there's a profit there for sure.

Something that I don't think anyone's ever bought before on the Antique's Road Trip is your velvet.

Not the best colour, I don't think, but so much of it.

At 50 quid, could be curtains for me.

I just hope that all the bidders in Bristol will have seen the light.

After setting off from Hayle,

our experts are now heading for auction in Bristol.

So, you spent up again, Mr Serrell.

Every last penny gone out of the window, kerching.

I think you did really well with your buying. I hate saying that.

Sorry, could you just say... I didn't quite hear what you said.

-No, I said it enough.

-No, just one more time.

-No!

-Please, just one more time.

You did really well with your buying!

Thank you, because the car just popped and banged a bit then, you see.

Today's sale is at one of the area's newer salerooms.

East Bristol Auctions have been only open for four years

but old hand Evan MacPherson

has cast his experienced eye over our pair's lots.

The star lot we think is the Jielde lamp.

Perhaps the most iconic of lights from the 20th century.

That should do really well and we've seen a lot of interest in that,

so we're excited for that one.

Drinks trolley, well, that's a party in a lot so you've got six Babycham

glasses but you've got an empty bottle of champagne for display.

What you really need is the bubbles and you've got the complete party.

Different decorative objects across the board, so, yes,

-I think they should do well.

-Fingers crossed, then.

It's busy today and the auction house also accepts internet bids.

Experts, take your seats.

Excited!

-I love auctions.

-So today could be my day.

First up is Philip's wrought iron gate with vintage water tanks.

Those tanks are really cool.

Wax them up, great coffee tables.

Brilliant industrial garden planters...

Actually, they're really nice.

..coffee tables, interior tables...

Coffee tables, get in there!

Coffee tables.

£50 with me on the commission.

Do I see two or five anywhere?

At 50 with me.

No money, but with me at £50.

At £50 and selling...

Well, some lucky bidder has bagged themselves a bargain.

Would you like me to start lending you some money?

You might have to in a minute.

Very confident, Catherine.

Next up are your vintage automobilia bottles.

I've got interest and I can start straight away at 38 with me.

Do I see 40?

At 55 on the screen. Do I see 60 anywhere?

-Get in there!

-She's punching me!

-Keep going!

60, thank you. Anyone in the room? At £60 on my screen.

Oh, look, Phil, look!

-70!

-At £70, do I see five anywhere?

At £70.

-Five, there we go.

-75!

One more will take it.

Be sure. £75.

-I'm so happy for her.

-Are we done?

-Sold.

-Well, Catherine's off on a flyer.

Are you a little bit miffed? Are you?

-Yeah.

-Are you a little bit miffed?

Let's see if Philip can get back to winning ways

with his velvet curtains.

I've got commission interest all over the place

and I can start at 70 with me.

-Well done.

-70 with me. 75 with me.

With me at 75. 80. Five with me.

-Five with me.

-90.

-90!

-95, with me still. At 95.

And I've got more on them at 95.

Are we done at £95?

-Sort of OK, isn't it?

-That's more than OK, Philip.

You've drawn a handsome profit out of that sale.

Next up is Catherine's vintage jewellery collection, but bad news,

the disco hair clip has been lost.

To make things fair, if this lot sells for less than what she paid,

we'll pay Catherine back the original £35 purchase price.

How's that?

Start me at £50 for those, please.

Start me at £30, then.

Oh, no. Wrong day for jewellery.

Any love at £20?

20 on the screen, thank you.

Surely, wake up to this. Take a look at them, that is beautiful.

22. Asking four.

-Oh, no.

-Four? At £24.

Be sure...

That's a loss of £11, but, as promised,

we're going to return Catherine's initial purchase price of £35.

Right, Philip's Indian Masonic photo's next.

Someone start me at £50 for that, please.

40 and away, then.

-It's going the wrong way.

-Yeah.

Any luck with 35?

Start me at 20, then, and see where we get to.

20 on the screen, thank you.

Any advance on 20?

Come on, let's see where we get to.

22 now. Come back, four.

Four, thank you. Asking six.

26 now. Still no money.

I'm surprised, that's a good thing.

Do I see eight anywhere? At 26, and selling.

Blimey, a lucky buyer is going home happy.

What can Catherine's poker-work page turner do?

-You don't like it, do you? A bit boring, you said.

-Er... Yeah.

Start me at £40 for that, please.

-Oh, no.

-Start me at £20, then.

20, surely. 20, 20.

20 on the screen. Thank you.

At £20 do I see two?

-Are we done?

-Keep going!

I didn't want to work with her, I really didn't want to work with her.

At £20...

Anita Manning, she'd have been lovely. Anybody.

Thomas Plant in a dress, that would have been fine for me.

Crikey, that's turned a whopping profit for Catherine.

Did that make a profit? Did that make a profit?

-Shut up!

-Did it?

Now it's time for Philip's retro table.

Someone start me at £50 for that, please.

50.

Start me at 30, then, let's see where we get to.

Oh, dear, dear, dear.

Surely £30.

£30.

At £30.

Looks like it's in Poland at £30.

Or Portugal! £30.

It's like the Eurovision Song Contest, isn't it?

Portugal, nul points.

Never mind, Philip.

At least someone in Portugal liked your table.

And to all our Portuguese viewers, I'd just like to say thank so

much for that.

Right, here's Catherine's crates.

I can remember the Corona pop man delivering.

Yes, and then getting your money when you put them out afterwards.

Yeah. You remember Corona?

-Yes, of course I do.

-You've worn well.

Start me at £40 for those two, please.

40. Start me at £30, then, see where we get to.

30, 30, 30 on my screen.

-You're all right.

-Thank you, do I see two anywhere?

-Oh, come on.

-At £30.

I can see you hovering. Two and four, thank you.

-Asking six.

-It's a bit of profit.

Six. 38, now.

-Come on, one more.

-Are we done?

Are you sure? 38.

That's another profit for Catherine

and her drinks tray with glasses is up next.

Start me at £80.

Nice little lot, that.

-Come on.

-50 and away.

50. 50 on the net.

Thank you, at £50.

Do I see 55? Now 60.

That's 60, asking five.

That's a lovely little lot, people.

-We've got £60.

-Please!

-At £60.

Come on. That could have been so good.

Someone's going to be cracking open the bubbly.

Philip's last lot is the Jielde lamp.

-I am really in love with that lamp.

-I don't want to sell it.

You don't want to sell it?

-No, I want to take it home.

-I've got loads of interest, unsurprisingly.

I can start with me at 150.

Do I see 160?

-160.

-170 with me.

-180. 190 with me.

-Brilliant.

200. 220 with me.

Still no money. 240, sir.

250. 260 with you, sir.

Do I see 280 anywhere?

At 260.

-Well done.

-Do I see 280?

280 against you.

300, sir. No, shakes his head.

-Oh, my goodness.

-280.

Are we done at 280?

Very well done.

-Well done.

-Philip's ended on a high note with that whopping profit.

-Well done.

-Better go, hadn't we?

Come on.

Well, that's our experts' fourth auction completed.

Let's see how they're faring.

Catherine started off with £223.42.

After paying her auction costs, she's made a profit of £26,

leaving her with a princely £250.38 to spend next time.

Philip started off with £321.44.

After paying auction costs, he's made a profit of £72.98,

leaving him a handsome £394.42 to splash on the final leg.

You did well.

Well, I think I deserve a chauffeur.

Oh, go on, then.

But a chauffeur like me?

I'm prepared to take the risk.

-Are you?

-Life is all about taking a risk.

Off to the races we go.

Goodbye, then.

Next time on Antique's Road Trip...

It's our experts' final leg.

You buy biscuit tins, I buy biscuit tins.

And the competition is hotting up.

Phil, this is the best shop ever.

But Philip's taking it all in his stride.