Episode 19 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 scan Britain for antiques.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm all over ashiver.

The aim? To make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

-No-brainer.

-Going, going, gone.

There will 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!

Tempus fugit, eh?

It's the penultimate instalment of our road-tripping escapade

with auctioneers Paul Laidlaw and Claire Rawle.

And Claire's feeling the pressure of the Laidlaw's successes.

What shop am I going to be in? Will I find anything?

Oh, my God, the Laidlaw.

The Laidlaw will just march in... "Thank you."

Do the deal, walk out, make a profit.

What am I going to do?

Come on, Claire. Paul's your number one fan.

God darn it, you're formidable.

Formidable...!

When was the last time you said that?

I don't... I'm not sure anyone's said it to my face before.

Well, someone just has.

From her original £200, Claire's purse is full,

with £466.84.

Paul also began with £200.

He's made excellent progress and is the current leader

with £611.90.

That's a lot of money.

Yeah...

The trusty 1968 TVR Tuscan is their racy little number,

getting them from A to B.

You know what? Who does not want to do this?

-Yeah.

-English countryside, we're taking in the history,

the views, the topography, the wildlife...the rays.

We're catching rays in Yorkshire! Who knew?

Yeah.

You lucky beggars.

Paul and Claire set off from Wooler in Northumberland.

They began in the north-east of England

and will traverse through South Yorkshire

to finally land in the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire.

The city of Hull is our first stop,

and later, we'll auction in the city of Nottingham

in the East Midlands.

I have had to use your...your good advice, you know.

-"If you don't see anything, just keep looking."

-Yeah.

-Keep digging, keep digging.

-Did I really give you that advice?

-You did, I'm afraid.

-You fool! What?!

Oh, and there's the Humber Bridge.

Gosh.

Here we go. This looks good.

Now, Claire's first to get stuck in.

-Brilliant.

-Well, enjoy, what can I say?

Good luck, it looks good.

It looks all right, a bit interesting, doesn't it?

She's been dropped off at the deceptively large

Kevin Marshall Antiques Warehouse.

-See you later.

-Oh, don't get too many bargains.

We'll catch up with Paul later.

Bye!

Every inch is crammed full.

This is an amazing place.

Isn't it just?

It is just fabulous.

Great advertising stuff in here.

Big enamel signs.

These are so, so popular at the moment.

Oh, wow, another one.

Bristol Tips cigarettes this time.

And it's in its wooden frame, as it would have been mounted.

Single-sided, obviously, to put on a wall.

That's a nice thing.

It's just everywhere you walk, each room opens up

and there is just more treasure.

Whilst Claire's in her antiques dream world...

Oh...!

..what's our old chum, Paul, up to?

No good, I suspect.

She's good. I mean, she's frighteningly good, isn't she?

I mean, if I'm being really honest with you,

I have looked at some of her lots

and thought, "Railway lantern? Suitcase?"

HE YAWNS

And she consistently hammers home good profits.

Could our antiques ace be feeling the heat a little?

Back to Claire.

I love going to the back of these places.

You are never quite sure what you're going to find.

There could be more luggage in the back here.

Looks like the sort of place that will have luggage.

Oh, she loves her leather goods.

Oh, wow, OK. I have just noticed some amazing...

Hey, fancy tripping out in that?

You know, Hull nightlife.

Very Elton John, aren't they? Aren't those fantastic?

Goldfish in your heels?

SHE LAUGHS

I hear Paul has the very same pair.

What I was also heading for is this rather nice...

We're back to luggage, now, you notice.

..rather nice domed trunk here.

It's leather-covered, brass-studded.

Handle either side for carrying it.

And then, if you lift it up, let's see...

Oh, that's nice. Original lining of...

Sort of cotton lining, so that your clothes don't snag on the wood.

Cos obviously, basically, it's made of wood.

Very early trunks and things were made like this.

We're going back to the, sort of, the 16th, 17th century.

And then it was carried forward into the 19th century,

which...I'm fairly sure this one's a 19th-century one.

It's got that good shabby quality about it, I quite like that.

Yeah, the trunk and the advertising sign don't have a ticket price,

so time to chat money.

-Here's the man. Hello, Kevin.

-Hi, Claire.

-Hi. Good to meet you.

-And you.

-I love...I love your warehouse.

Oh, thank you.

What would the Bristol one be, that's in the...?

Well, for the Bristol, I could maybe do for £85.

OK. Just behind us here, this lovely domed leather trunk.

-What sort of...?

-Yeah, I think it's French.

You know, I wondered if it was continental or not.

It's got a bit of age to it, hasn't it?

-It has got some age to it.

-Yeah, yeah.

-If it had to go today, maybe 135?

-OK.

What I might do is have a wander,

cos I haven't actually ventured upstairs yet.

-Yeah.

-Talk about an Aladdin's Cave, it's just fantastic.

Claire's in her element.

Wonderful.

Now, what about Paul?

He's travelled west to the village of South Cave

in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Oh, yes.

Paul's visited this fine establishment before,

which you'll recall...if you're a fan.

Hello, Mr Cheeky.

How are you doing?

Hey - Mr Cheeky?

-We meet again.

-Come on in.

A bit personal.

Paul's £135 ahead of his compadre,

and he's ruminating on his buying strategy.

It's not fear of...

It's not competition that keeps me going here.

It's the love of the...

The thrill of the chase.

Oh, dear. You seem to have grown some antlers, Paul.

TIM CHUCKLES

What about Claire? No horns on her.

She's still in Hull, but now upstairs in her first shop.

And what's she found?

Mm...nice Deco clock at the back.

Arts and Crafts.

Mm - it's got a ticket price of £70, and is worth a closer look.

If she can get to it.

That's got more damage. It's lifting quite badly at the back of it,

I can feel now.

The face is a bit dished in as well.

Aren't we all?

Maybe this will help get a reduced price from dealer Kevin.

Kevin?

I did move a bit of stuff to get at it, so...

So I'll go and have a look at it.

Go and have a look and then come back and tell me what you think.

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

That was quick, Kev.

Well, I've had a look at it, Claire, and it is definitely ripply.

Yeah. It is a bit ripply.

It's sucked in some damp over the years it's been hung there.

So I wouldn't want to spend much more than about 25, 30 on it.

Claire has a combo buy in mind.

The prices, so far, are 85 for the sign,

135 for the trunk,

and 35 for the clock with the bished-in face.

200 quid, then.

Oh, hang on a minute...

£200 for the lot?

Yeah, 70, 100, and 30 quid for the...

70, 80, 90...

-Are you happy?

-I'm happy.

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.

-It's been an absolute pleasure.

Blimey! A £90 discount for Claire's three lovely lots.

Thank you, Kev.

HE WHISTLES

Let's catch up with Paul.

He's still mooching around in his first shop

and it looks like he's found something.

I do like something that is not priced.

Tell you what you've got. You've got pukka period lighting,

and you know how I feel about that.

Excited, eh?

This is a pendant gaslight.

And this would have hung in your hall or vestibule

back in the late Victorian era.

See how it works.

So you look at this form, here,

which is inverted, truncated pyramidal -

to be very geometrically precise...

Oh, I'd hate to play Scrabble with him.

It's in brass. Now oxidised.

Between you and me...

..I LOVE it. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Why?

A, scarce, B, not been converted to electricity.

Rare survivor.

What's wrong with it?

Any fool can tell you -

I shouldn't be able to do that.

It's missing all its panes.

Which is a bit of a PAIN.

Boom-boom. He's here all week, folks.

What is that? It's more trouble than it's worth.

Do I love it?

PAUL CHUCKLES

Of course I love it.

OK, then - let's talk money with Fiona.

Pendant gaslight.

With the glass missing?

And the tab's broken, and it's black as the Earl of Hell's waistcoat.

And it doesn't have a price on it.

And I'm hoping that is something that you'd go,

"Yeah, do you know what? I can do you a deal on that."

-Take a punt on it.

-Tenner,

-and I'm serious.

-15 and it's yours.

Let me dig my heels in for once.

15 and it's yours.

The hand is there, look.

It's that you're meant to do.

Looks like I did it, then, didn't I?

THEY LAUGH This is unusual.

I'm easy. I'm easy to deal with.

-Yeah.

-I bought something. Yeah, magic.

I thought you were going to dig your heels in.

The Victorian pendant lamp for £15.

Meanwhile, Claire has travelled north-west

to the village of Barmby Moor in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Now, is Bar Farm Antiques ready

for the rummaging hands of the lovely Claire?

-Hello, Greg.

-Claire?

-Hi, I'm Claire.

-Nice to meet you.

-Good to meet you.

Nice beard, Greg. He's from Louisiana, you know.

Welcome to Bar Farm.

There's a lot of outbuildings here, stuffed full of juicy plunder,

and she's going to have a good sniff around.

Right, this is the treasure chest I'm looking for.

Oh, what's that? Oh, dear.

Oh. Leg of mutton gun case.

Nice old one, leather.

Nice brass clasp on it, got a bit of age.

In quite good order.

They are quite collected.

People, you know, people shooting these days wouldn't use these now.

Um...

£85. OK.

Need to do a bit of a deal on that.

That's one possible - what's next?

Familiar territory again. Back to the suitcases.

That's the best one. That's the leather one.

Typical of its type. Good brown leather, solid...

Stitching's good.

Let's have a look inside.

Bit mouldy, but...

Fairly standard. Handle's good.

Most important - handle must be good.

It's so expensive to replace those.

Top tip, Claire.

A couple of things to talk to him about.

It's priced at £46. Time to talk money, Greg, yeah?

Well, I just, I found...

Leg of mutton gun case, which I quite like.

-Oh, right.

-You've got 85 on it.

-Uh-huh?

I'm wondering if you can come down a fair bit on that.

Like, what's a fair bit?

Well...if I could get it for much nearer, sort of, 50, really,

sort of just under, it would see me with perhaps a bit of profit.

But...

55? It really needs to be...?

-If I could, yeah...

-Yeah...

But there is another thing I want to ask you about,

so we could always come back.

Yeah, that's... We've got a general idea.

Yeah.

Now, will Greg give a good deal if there is a multi-buy in the offing?

Both of them for 70, yeah. Take both of them for 70.

Gosh.

Now you've put me in a quandary.

So that would be counting that as 50 and this as 20, really.

-Yeah, I think I'll do it.

-That's all right? You like that?

-Good.

-Thank you very much.

-Well, good luck.

-Thank you.

Gee, she does love leather goods. That's £70 for the two.

Paul, meanwhile, has travelled back to the city of Hull.

A seafaring port for centuries, the city has offered a vital link

between continental Europe and the rest of the world.

That link became ever more vital in the late 19th century

when thousands of Jews were desperate to flee persecution

from Tsarist Russia.

With a bleak future in their homeland,

they were eager to escape persecution and poverty.

Hull became a gateway port to enable the very much desired freedom

of a new life in the booming cities of the West.

Paul's meeting with Dr Nicholas Evans

from the University of Hull

to find out just how crucial the city's port was

to thousands of Jews.

Back in 1880 or 1900,

is this water full of vessels with migrants?

This really is the Ellis Island of Britain,

the entry point on which many people

would then have a subsequent rail journey -

to Leeds, to Manchester - or further afield

to the great cities of America - New York, Chicago, Boston,

those great industrial cities where Jews could have a new life

in the safety of America.

As Russia expanded in the 18th century,

she acquired the largest population of Jews in Europe.

The restrictions then imposed

caused great poverty and overcrowding.

From 1881 to 1914,

an estimated half a million Jews came through Hull

en route to America.

We just can't imagine the conditions,

the experiences these individuals went through

in order to flee oppression

and in order to provide a safe place,

where all they wanted to do was earn a wage,

to be able to worship freely,

and to be able to enjoy life and get a basic education.

The basic things in life.

Many of them were really in a terrible condition.

They'd eaten very little food, many had been ill,

and so, therefore, the assistance they received here was important.

From the state, they received medical offers of health assistance.

If you were ill, you were taken to a nearby isolation hospital.

If you were in need of food,

there was kosher food provided nearby at a nearby lodging house.

That surprises me and moves me.

You think Victorian times - harder times than today,

but you're telling me the state,

as well as the local population and various local communities,

step up to welcome and support these migrants?

The community and the indigenous populations,

they certainly didn't want more people arriving,

but if they did stay here, they would welcome them.

The key here for the Jewish community

was to ensure they were not an economic burden, these migrants.

Therefore, the poorhouse was not being overwhelmed.

With a mass exodus of migrants,

plans were put in place to allow for onward rail travel.

Nick, how did the railways handle

these increased numbers of people coming through?

You can see it precisely here.

You have the main railway station to our left

and on the right, we have a separate emigrant waiting room.

Along here, we've got one of

the longest railway platforms in Britain,

a separate facility, purely for the migrants.

And tracks either side.

Yes, you can see just how long this facility is.

On some days, when it was very busy,

you would have very long trains on both sides of the platform,

and they were taking people on a nonstop train journey

over to Liverpool, to the opportunities

in the New World.

The city of Hull proved to be

a gateway to a new life for the impoverished

and helped contribute to the improvement of millions of lives

from 1851 to 1914, half a million of which were Jewish.

Hey, what a wonderful day.

But it's time for a much-needed rest.

Nighty-night, you two.

It's a misty morning

as our pair tootle about in the West Yorkshire countryside.

You know what we've done, Claire, don't you?

-We've broken the weather.

-Yeah. I blame you for this.

I blame you entirely.

What a pair! Let's remind ourselves of their shopping bounty thus far.

Claire has transformed from cautious to bold,

with five lots in the bag.

She's going after the lead with a vengeance.

She has the advertising sign, the travelling trunk,

the wall clock,

the leather gun case, and of course, the beloved leather suitcase.

Claire has £196.84 for the day ahead.

Our current leader Paul - stop the press - has only one item,

the Victorian hall lantern,

which means he is overflowing with pounds and pence.

He's got £596.90 for the day ahead.

(Psst, he's rolling in it.)

Our Paul is astonished by Claire's mighty haul of goodies.

Five things in one day!

Let me see what a smug face looks like on Claire.

No.

-Go on, give me some smug.

-No.

It's there, under the surface.

-No...!

-I can see it. It's there! It's there!

THEY LAUGH

What larks, eh? But Paul's got to start spending and fast.

Pontefract is his first shopping location today.

I love a cake, me.

Here we go.

-Do you like my cat?

-Yeah, that's good, isn't it?

Big black pussycat and the sheep and the cockerel.

Enjoy yourself in the farmyard, there.

-Bye.

-Have a good 'un.

-Thank you.

-See you later.

With the stealth of a wild cat, what will Paul pounce on in here?

There's loads to choose from.

Oh, look, a nice horn, he's spotted.

Come on, Paul.

You've only bought one item.

Get a wiggle on.

That's rather grand, is it not?

It does not have a price attached to it,

so it's an unknown quantity in that regard.

Well, it looks perhaps more grand than it is.

It dates to the late 19th century

and I think this was probably rather affordable in its day.

This isn't for the big house.

This is a middle-class piece, is it not?

This is for the professional.

Do I like it? Well, why not?

As a furnishing piece, a statement piece, that works,

and I'm telling you now, it'll run away merrily.

It is a two-train movement, which means it strikes on the hours.

Shall we test it? You want me to test it, don't you?

Go on, then. Test it.

CLOCK CHIMES

Not exactly Big Ben, but it works.

Ta-da!

What a testament to 19th-century engineering.

But sadly, demand for such has fallen away

and while it was worth maybe £150, £200 ten years ago,

today at auction, that's worth £50 to £100.

Is that value for money or what?

It is, yeah? No-brainer.

Right, where's Mark to try and STRIKE a deal?

Ha!

Well, I would ask 50.

Would you haggle on 50?

-To what?

-Let's see.

-I'll show you something else.

-Go on, then.

Paul fancies having a go at the hunting horn he spied earlier.

So copper, brass and nickel hunting horn.

Not a really early one.

Early, I'd want to see dovetail seam,

or a seam at least - it's a spun one.

But it's named and it's not been abused.

-Yes.

-It's not got dents and bends.

What's that priced at? Or what could it be?

This only came in yesterday. I would've given it a little polish.

-How fresh to the market is that?

-How about that?

Somewhere around 50 for that.

That seems too much for me.

Well, I'll offer you 20.

Could you go a little bit more?

-Why don't we join them together, then?

-All right, then.

50 for the pair?

But that might be too hard to swallow.

Could you go to 60? Could you stretch to 60?

-Yeah, I could.

-Go on, then.

-That's fair. Meeting in the middle.

-OK.

-Mark, what a pleasure.

-Thank you.

We're gathering momentum, Paul.

The mantle clock for £35 and the hunting horn for £25.

Well done, boy.

Meanwhile, Claire has travelled to Leeds.

As we know, Claire loves everything railway

and, as a special treat,

she's off to find out about a pioneer of steam power.

Oh, goody!

The invention that changed the world,

the steam railway locomotive, has been around for over 200 years.

Names such as James Watt and George Stephenson

are synonymous with steam locomotives

but ingenious engineer, and adopted son of the county of Leeds,

Matthew Murray is a forgotten hero

of this once ground-breaking industry.

Without him, things could have been very different.

Claire is meeting with historian Neil Dowlan

at the Middleton railway.

How lovely.

Matthew Murray has no small role to play

in the development of what we would now think of

as classic Victorian engineering.

Greek and Roman columns on beam engines,

all beautifully cast, beautiful lines.

A lot of that is down to people like Murray

and he's one of the very earliest who are doing it.

By the year 1810,

the Napoleonic Wars were gripping Europe.

There was a block on imports of grain

and with the burgeoning war effort,

there's a high demand for horses and hay.

Horses were vital to the local mines,

therefore an alternative to horsepower was greatly needed.

The estate manager at the time for the colliery,

a man called John Blenkinsop, had to find a different solution to that

and the solution he came up with was a locomotive railway.

This is what Murray gets involved with.

The project itself, if you like, is masterminded by Blenkinsop.

He patents the rack motion

which actually allows the locomotive to adhere to the track.

The year was 1812.

Along with Blenkinsop's innovative rail design,

Murray manufactured the first commercially successful

steam locomotive in the world, the Salamanca.

However, Murray wasn't quick to patent his ideas

which meant others had free rein on his ground-breaking creations.

His locomotives were apparently seen by people like George Stephenson

and, as a result, Stephenson takes some of Murray's ideas

and uses them to create Puffing Billy.

And...

..he becomes famous for locomotives, perhaps more than Murray is.

Murray's role slightly forgotten

but still absolutely vital in the development of these machines.

It is the kick-start for the development of Leeds

as an engineering site as well,

and particularly locomotive engineering.

And within a mile of here, by the late 19th century,

there are about half a dozen locomotive manufacturers.

Without Murray's inventive mind,

Leeds wouldn't have been on the right track for steam power.

The cutting-edge developments here were leading the world

in replacing beast with machine.

And now for the bit Claire's been waiting for.

WHISTLE BLOWS

-So, Neil, this is really where it all started, isn't it?

-In a way.

Every railway line around the world starts here.

This is the first steam railway

but he's forgotten because his name isn't on the patent.

But, without Murray, it probably wouldn't have happened.

He's not bothered about whether he's famous.

He's more interested in the spread of ideas.

His legacy is actually that he created something

that would change the 19th century.

Humble and modest,

Matthew Murray cared more about the development and progress of man

than profits and patents.

His designs and skills proved so innovative

that he created the blueprint

for commercially successful steam locomotives.

Paul, meanwhile, has travelled 15 miles

to the town of Barnsley

in South Yorkshire.

He is on the hunt to harpoon some antiques booty.

Can he find it in here?

And he's got the Laidlaw eye on something.

What am I looking at? A broken pot priced at £225.

Why exactly?

Well, this is no ordinary pot.

You are likely to know, but you may not,

that that's a puzzle jug

which has a tradition certainly going back to late medieval times.

This vessel has one, two, three spouts.

Do you know what this is?

This is Russian roulette for drinkers.

Because if I go to have a wee sup out of here

and pick the wrong one,

it's going to pour all over me out of the other.

We don't want that.

That's the wager. It's a puzzle jug.

The puzzle being, "Which is the right spout to quaff from?"

The medium here is tin-glazed earthenware

and that accounts for all the damage

because if you look here, there are glaze losses everywhere.

I would call that fritting.

And worse still, there's a spout detached.

But the fritting is a hallmark of authenticity

and confirms an 18th-century date of origin.

What a lovely thing.

The very helpful Rachel is phoning the dealer

for the very best price on the £225 jug.

Bye-bye, bye-bye.

PAUL LAUGHS

I'm not an optimistic man.

What was the damage on that? 200 quid.

No. Slightly better.

OK. It would need to be a lot better but slightly is interesting.

OK, it would be 180.

I don't think it's dear, but it's not for me.

Right, OK.

If I wanted to take it home for myself,

I wouldn't haggle at 180 quid.

-Really?

-But as a business proposition...

OK, no success there.

What's this, then?

Oh, yes.

I'm an expert. You're asking the right man.

I've no idea.

Yes, you do.

Well, I might have an idea.

I think it's a smoke bell.

It is indeed a 19th-century smoke bell

to be hung over a candle lamp

to stop the soot staining the ceiling.

He knew that all along.

No price tag.

I'd buy that as a curio but I wouldn't pay much for it.

-Should I ask?

-Go on, then.

I should ask, shouldn't I?

It would be the only one in the auction.

-Yeah, come on.

-Well, there you go.

-There's no price tag on this. Shall I show you where it was?

-Yes, please. Thank you very much.

It was sitting precisely there.

On our sale shelf, Paul. It could well be your lucky day.

It's a sale shelf! It's a sale shelf.

This could be exciting for you.

That's going to be no money, I guess.

-I guess you're right.

-Single digit, just to take it away.

-Right, fine.

-Fiver.

Five quid.

You know what? I think we could do that for you.

I'm going to buy it and stick it in an auction and see what happens.

-OK, go for it.

-Before I do that, I'll shake your hand.

-OK.

-Magic.

Interesting, but not what you'd call a big-money buy,

but something is still on his mind.

Oh, yes. He's asked Rachel

to phone the owner of the puzzle jug once again -

this time, with a death-defying bid of £100.

Steady...

Wow, that was quick. Was it shockingly quick?

-I know.

-Never phone me again.

I didn't expect this at all.

-OK.

-But...

Yeah.

He's actually agreed to 100 quid on it.

Didn't expect that at all, but he has.

What I'm trying not to do here...

What I'm trying to do is maintain a professional demeanour,

but what I want to do is along the lines of, you know,

fist pumping and all that, so...

THEY LAUGH

-Understood.

-Let's stick to plan B, shall we?

We'll do this professionally and say, "Thank you very much, Rachel, very kind of you",

as opposed to, "Get in, give me a hug!"

SHE LAUGHS

There's no word I can say, is there? Apart from, get in, give me a hug!

I don't know what you have on that person

but it's obviously very powerful.

Well, one tries, one tries.

Can't imagine what.

I think you could say he's pretty joyful about his purchases -

the smoke bell for £5

and the fascinating puzzle jug for £100.

As Claire makes her way to her next shop,

she is in full-on rival mode.

I mean, one hopes he's under pressure

and makes the odd bad decision.

One can but hope the pressure will get to him and he'll crack.

Naughty Claire!

She's made it to her final shopping emporium

in the town of Featherstone in West Yorkshire.

Now, she already has a total of five lots

but she's still on the hunt for more, bless her.

-Hello, Linda.

-Hiya, Claire. Pleased to meet you.

Good to meet you.

Claire is under no pressure to buy, but something's tickled her fancy.

OK, crested china is not exactly doing what it used to,

but it's the more unusual pieces that are still quite collected.

This is a Scarborough piece, a bathing hut.

The Shelley potteries were renowned

for producing china souvenirs of British holiday resorts

for over 100 years.

There's a fish round here. Let's just see where that was...

It's another Shelley one.

"Fleetwood."

I reckon, if I can get those really cheap,

I might just have a stab at them.

The bathing hut is priced at £10

and the little fish doesn't have a price.

Linda, where are you? Claire wants to make a deal.

I picked out things that, you know, weren't expensive.

That's fine. We'll do the pair for 12.

-Is that acceptable?

-Oh, I was hoping you might come down below the 10,

sort of, 5 or 6.

If I do that one at... I'll do that one at 7 and that one at 3.

£10 is my best.

Could we throw in, for good measure,

Whitley Bay?

How about throwing that in to add to it at a tenner?

-That's fine.

-Is that all right?

-That's fine.

Brilliant, thank you very much. Thanks.

Claire adds the three pieces of crested pottery

to the rest of her haul -

the advertising sign, the travelling trunk,

the Arts and Crafts wall clock,

the gun case and the leather suitcase,

which makes a total of six lots.

Claire has dug deep and spent £280 exactly.

Paul has a total of five lots -

the Victorian hall lantern,

the 19th-century metal clock,

the hunting horn,

the smoke bell

and the 18th-century puzzle jug.

Paul has spent a total of £180.

Right, my darlings,

thoughts on one another's collections, please.

Leather...

HE YAWNS

Leather suitcase.

You know what, if there's any justice,

her luck with regards to suitcases ends here.

The lantern? Difficult to actually tell on that one.

He didn't pay an awful lot of money for it.

Doesn't look that exciting.

Am I worried? Well, I would be

if I wasn't in the lead and I hadn't bought five excellent lots myself.

I'm absolutely going to thrash him.

Yeah, look out, Paul, I'm coming along, yeah!

Oh, I'm excited about this!

We're heading south for the penultimate auction

in the city of Nottingham

where the girls are so pretty and all that.

For no reason whatsoever, I will be the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Oh, you're going to be the baddie.

-You're going to go baddie.

-Mwah-ha-ha!

Oh, he'd be great in panto.

Arthur Johnson and Sons have been in the auction biz

for over a century.

Philip Poyser is wielding the mighty gavel today.

What are your thoughts on Paul and Claire's gaggle of goodies, then?

The crested Shelley jugs, I think we're going to struggle a bit.

There aren't that many buyers of crested ware at the moment.

My personal favourite is the Delft jug.

Yeah. It's 250 years old.

There are easily damaged, yet it has survived.

Thanks, Philip. The auction's about to begin

and we're live for Internet bidding, too.

-Here it goes.

-Yeah.

-Big crowd.

-Busy, busy, isn't it?

It's a packed house.

And Paul's 18th-century puzzle jug is up first.

Identical puzzle jug to this, identical,

made £840 at auction

about four years ago.

Well, here's hoping, then.

Various bids on the book to start.

Going to start at 75. 75 bid, 80? 90, 100.

110, 120, 130, 140, 150,

160, 170, 180 190, 200.

210...220.

230, 240, 250. 250.

In the room at 250. 260 online. 270 in the room.

In the room!

280 online.

290 in the room.

300 online.

She shakes her head. Don't shake your head.

OK... 320.

-God bless that woman.

-At 320.

350. 350.

At £350 online...

Being sold, then, at 350.

Very well done.

And to you.

OK. What a way to start.

A phenomenal £250 profit.

No pressure on me now, then, eh?

Well, you never know.

Someone might really want your crested china. Maybe.

£10.

Well, I'll take five.

Oh, no!

£5, anybody, for the crested ware.

Thank you, £5. £5 bid.

This is going well, isn't it?

£8, thank you, sir.

One more will do it.

At £8, bid at eight. Make it 10?

-At £8, bid on my right, it goes.

-Ooh...!

-Done.

Sold at 8.

Oh, no, that'll teach me a lesson.

I'm saying nothing.

Just bought them to wind you up, really.

I thought they were quite sweet.

Backfired, that one, Claire, didn't it?

Yes, won't do that again.

It's Paul's hunting horn next.

I'm going 25 to start.

30, in the room now.

At 30. £30 bid. At 30.

5 online.

40 in the room. 45 online.

It goes online, then, at 45.

All out in the room.

-Did think it'd get more than that.

-That's enough.

"That's quite enough from you, Laidlaw."

Absolutely!

Yeah! Claire needs a fighting chance, Paul,

but it's still a £20 profit.

Next up, Claire's 19th-century travelling trunk.

£65 bid.

At 65. 70? 70. 70 in the room, 75 online.

Then it's coming in, the room's in, commissions are out.

85 online. 90 in the room.

95 online.

-100 in the room.

-There we go.

110 online.

120 in the saleroom.

130 online.

140 in the saleroom.

-It's determined.

-150 online.

150 bid.

Oh, they've stopped. Oh, keep going.

Last look around. It goes at 150.

That's more like it, Claire.

A profit, long may it continue.

That's a good buy by you and by the next buyer.

Paul's next with the unusual smoke bell.

Beautiful piece of glass and utterly useless.

£12, I've got. 12 with me.

At 12. 12 bid, 15.

18, 18 bid, 20.

20 bids in the aisle at 20.

I'm looking for 25, now.

£20. At 20.

Last call, then. It goes.

Done. Sold at 20.

Well, it's not exactly practical but it's still a beauty.

And a profit, to boot.

Claire's leg of mutton gun case is next to go.

£20.

Well, 10. 10 I've got, 10.

-10 bid, 10.

-Well, this is going well.

12. 12 bid. This is for nothing.

At £12. At 12.

15. 18. 20.

Five? 25 at the back now.

At 25, 25 bid.

This is not good.

-At 25, make it 30, please.

-Gee...

-At 25, at the back.

Sold. It goes. Done.

-At £25.

-Oh, that's cheap.

-That was cheap, wasn't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

Someone's definitely got a good buy there.

It's Paul's mantle clock next.

I've got five absentee bids here.

I can start the bidding at 75.

No! You jammy toad.

-GASPING:

-Madame!

At 75. £75 bid.

Well, it's going to the highest of the absentee bids, then.

At £75. I sell at 75.

-Well, fainting in shock.

-I'll take that.

Of course you will, Paul.

You're having a consistent run of profits so far.

Now, I've got to try and get my happy face on.

-Well done.

-PAUL LAUGHS

I hate you! I hate you!

Keep it together. Claire loves a suitcase.

She's tasted success at two previous auctions.

Fingers crossed. Well, everything crossed, actually.

Give me £20 to start this please.

10? Bid.

Thank you. 10, 10, I've got.

10 bid. At 10.

Front row at 10. £10 bid, at 10.

-I'll take 12 now.

-Oh, goodness' sake.

-Oh...

It's going to the opening bid then.

At £10. Being sold, and it goes.

Done at 10.

-Bombed out in Nottingham.

-Gone on holiday.

-It has.

Cheer up, Claire - things might get better.

Right. That's the last time I buy a suitcase.

It's not, though, is it?

No. It won't be. No, no.

Claire's Art and Craft clock next,

with the biffed-in face.

£20, then. Bid. Thank you. 25.

25 bid. 30. 30 bid.

35. 35 bid.

40. 40 bid. I have 40.

Gentleman's bid at 40. Against you online, as well.

At 40. 40, and I sell.

It goes at £40.

Good on you, Claire. A much-needed profit.

I'll try and take that as some sort of hope for the future.

Up next, it's Paul's hall lantern.

£40 bid. 45.

50. 55.

60. £60 bid.

-At 60.

-It's a good day for you, isn't it?

What did I tell you?

On the hall lantern at 60.

£60 bid, and I sell.

It goes, done at £60.

Cor! Profit's with Paul today.

Yet another goodie, eh?

Looked like an elephant had sat on it, but it was fine.

Did really well.

THEY LAUGH

Claire's feeling the pain.

Can her advertising sign rescue her from the doldrums?

With me at 70. 70 bid, 75.

80. 85.

90. 95.

100.

-£100 bid.

-Some bidders... Net.

At 100. At 100 bid.

The bid's on commission. £100.

I'll take 10. At £100.

I sell. It goes. Done at £100.

-Well, it made a profit.

-Can't argue with that.

And a pretty good one, Claire.

-Plenty profits. Shall we?

-Yeah, we'd better go. Onto the next. Yeah.

Let's tot up the sums, eh?

Claire began the penultimate leg with £466.

And, after auction costs, she's made a tiny loss.

£6.94.

Claire begins the final leg with a respectable £459.90.

No shame in that.

Paul, though, began with £611.90

and has made a whopper of a profit of £271.

Nice work, that man.

The mighty Laidlaw has a hat-trick of auction wins

and has a king-sized £882.90 for the final leg.

We've got one more crack at this.

-One more round of shopping.

-My last big chance.

Bye-bye, road trippers.

Next time on the Antiques Road Trip...

It's the last leg and Claire and Paul are bonding.

What he eats!

I can't tell you!

It's not nice.

You don't like my garlic aftershave, after all?

Ugh...