Episode 13 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antiques experts.

-With £200 each...

-I want something shiny.

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

-I like a rummage.

-I can't resist.

The aim? To make the biggest profit at auction.

BELL RINGS But it's no mean feat.

Why do I always do this to myself?

-There will be worthy winners...

-Give us a kiss.

-..and valiant losers.

-Come on, stick 'em up.

-So, will it be the high road to glory?

-Onwards and upwards.

-Or the slow road to disaster?

-Take me home.

This is Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

Welcome to the ancient county town of Yorkshire

in the company of Natasha Raskin and Paul Laidlaw.

Look at that. Absolutely superb.

And now you are in medieval York.

-Vroom! Time travel.

-It is though, isn't it?

Yes, they're manoeuvring the Mercedes through the heart of a city

that's dominated by one of the great European cathedrals.

-There it is, there's the Minster.

-Look at that.

Oh! Look at that light on it.

Is that English Gothic, Gothic Perpendicular? One or the other.

If I don't see a flying buttress, I don't know what I'll do, Paul.

Architecture enthusiast and art lover Natasha from Glasgow...

No-one really likes these any more but I do.

..is already more than a wee bit behind her countryman.

-You've got all the money.

-Well, not all the money.

-I don't have all the money.

-You've got a lot more money than I've got.

And importantly, you've got more than what we started with.

Yeah, good point.

Paul from Carlisle, an auctioneer who even lists his guilty pleasure

as buying antiques...

It's good this, isn't it?

..started off with a full head of steam.

-AUCTIONEER:

-240...

-It's not funny!

And shows little sign of cooling down.

-Set off in Ayrshire, a gei dreich of course.

-Aye.

Now, glorious sunshine in York.

-Keeps going like this, it'll be taps-aff weather.

-For you, maybe.

I'm not taking my top off for anyone.

No, and neither am I.

Natasha began with £200 and has thus far

managed to slim that down to 192.

Whilst Paul, who started out with the same sum,

is well on his way to having increased it by three-fold

with £562 and 22 pence.

I seem to remember there's a random Roman pillar here. There is.

-See that? That's a random Roman column.

-How odd.

A Roman punctuation mark.

I would have walked straight past it, but thank goodness you're here

to tell me what it is.

After kicking off on the west coast of Scotland,

our crazy Caledonian couple will motor south, tootling towards

the eastern coast of England before arriving in Norfolk at Diss.

Today, we'll be heading for East Anglia

and an auction at Downham Market,

but starting out in the aforementioned city of York

where, in the shadow of the mighty Minster...

Have a great time. Bye, Paul.

..Paul's about to take the retail plunge at this centre.

The sheer scale of which would have his antiques antenna

all of a tiz-was.

Cabinets are wonderful, but they scare me,

all these spotlights and price tags.

I like a rummage.

Quite right. That looks more like it.

Although you might need to breathe in if you need to go any further.

Here we go.

You're looking at that and thinking,

"That's just like my granny's whisky water jug that sits in her cabinet

"with her finest cut crystal."

This is considerably older.

This is late Georgian, this is early 19th century.

In its day, this was an expensive thing.

Cut glass was very fashionable, it worked the light.

If you think of this in a candlelit room, flickering light,

glancing off all these surfaces, do have a magical effect.

And yet the ticket price is just £28.

I want to tell you how I can date this jug

and here's a wee trick of the trade.

Look at the handle.

Your glass blower worked a rod of glass.

He affixed it at the top and then worked it round,

it's soft and it's molten, to the bottom, press it and there you go.

There's a key change in manufacturing techniques

around 1820, 1830.

And from that point on to date,

the handle is put on the other way around.

And you can tell because there's a blob on the bottom.

So I can assert that, stylistically,

that's a Georgian piece, but it's not a reproduction.

The truth of the matter is

you stick that in a general auction, and you know what it is?

It's your granny's old crystal water jug.

I am heartbroken. Take it to auction and they'll walk past it.

D'oh!

Shrewd, Paul.

Still on the ball, despite his winnings.

But while Paul departs in search of a profit...

..Natasha is elsewhere in York seeking out one of the world's

most famous trains at the National Railway Museum.

-Good morning. Hello, I'm Natasha.

-Hi, Natasha, I'm Andrew McLean.

-I'm the head curator at the National Railway Museum.

-Lovely to meet you.

So lovely to see such a busy museum.

This is the cathedral of British railways,

the country that gives railways to the world.

I know that I'm here to learn about dozens of interesting locomotives,

but one in particular.

We've got one very special locomotive

that came back into steam earlier this year.

It's called Flying Scotsman

and we're going to learn a bit more about it.

-If you'd like to follow me.

-I sure would, thank you.

But the name Flying Scotsman doesn't only refer

to this speedy 20th century locomotive

because there's been a service between London and Edinburgh

bearing that name for over 150 years.

The Flying Scotsman service becomes the most famous train service

in the world. It opens up the tourism markets in Scotland.

Queen Victoria was populising Scotland at the time...

-Of course. Balmoral.

-Exactly.

People want to visit these places so it becomes a crucial train

that unites the two capitals of Scotland and England

and famous people like Charles Dickens use the train,

so it has a great reputation long before Flying Scotsman,

the locomotive, was even constructed.

But just like today, there were two routes,

with a rival West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow

providing stiff competition in the race

to supply the fastest and most efficient service.

-To the Dynamometer.

-To the Dynamometer.

Hence, this vitally important collection of gadgetry

dedicated to making the trains go faster.

This is a mobile laboratory.

So in here you have all sorts of equipment and technology.

The locomotive was out here so you have on the floor here,

these big armoured cables.

They were attached out the windows to the loco itself.

The information from the loco is being transmitted through these

to a series of dials the chaps are sitting at, noting down

all the various things to do with the power and the fuel efficiency,

but most importantly for the Flying Scotsman story

also the speed as well.

This car dates from 1906 so had already been in service

for almost 20 years when the LNER launched the flagship locomotive

that we now associate with the Flying Scotsman name.

This ground-breaking early British sound film

with a thrilling chase, in which actors like Pauline Johnson,

did their own highly dangerous stunts.

The real star though was the engine itself and the movie was

great publicity for its pursuit of the 100mph rail land speed record.

What was really spurring them on? What was it all for?

Why did they have to make 100mph?

Because of the competition.

By the 1930s, you also have car ownership taking over,

you had buses coming on the scene as well.

The railways were trying to keep ahead of the game and any advantage

that they could get would help to increase

the passenger numbers, so speed was a great seller.

So the Flying Scotsman had to live up to its name.

And that world record, fully authenticated

by this very Dynamometer on the 30th November 1934,

ensured the Flying Scotsman's place in history.

So there she is, Andrew, beautiful in racing green.

-She's spectacular.

-She is indeed.

When we first met, you used a lovely phrase,

"She's been recently brought back to steam."

When did she stop steaming?

She came out of service in 1963

with the advent of the diesel locomotives.

-She was earmarked for the

-scrapyard. Genuinely?

Genuinely, yeah. And she was rescued by a debonair businessman

who'd been a fighter pilot in the Second World War.

She's recently been restored back into working service.

You can't travel on board the Queen Mary,

you can't travel on board Concorde,

but you can still get on board Flying Scotsman.

I think we can get into the cab to have a look.

After a huge campaign, the old loco was bought

by the National Railway Museum in 2004.

-Oh, hello!

-Hello.

-Hello, I'm Tasha.

-Hiya, I'm Clive.

-Clive...

-Your hands, unsurprisingly, are boiling.

-They're just a bit warm.

-And mine instantly are black.

-That's the colour we come in.

-I've got to ask, am I allowed?

-You certainly are.

-To toot the whistle?

-Blow the whistle.

-Right, are you ready for this?

-Go on, go for it.

Here goes, lads.

WHISTLE BLOWS

Not feeling quite so chuffed is the other Scotsman -

the fleeing one.

Now departed from York and just pulled into Pocklington,

also the proud possessor of a prominent church tower.

-Hi, I'm Paul.

-Hello, I'm Pat.

-Lovely to see you.

-Nice to see you too.

-This is lovely, is it not? Three storeys?

-Three storeys, yes.

Do you know what? I cannot resist that staircase.

-I'm going to head north and work my way down.

-You go and have a look.

-See you in a minute.

-OK.

-Cheers, Pat.

Yes, no time to waste.

He's already had a bevy of browsing today.

I adore this.

Mid-20th century kitchen utility cabinet and it does everything.

Post-war austerity, small homes built for soldiers

returning from the war, setting up families.

This is your larder, this is your work-surface all in one.

You can have all your tins of Spam and dried eggs

and, rather usefully, this extending enamel work-surface.

Absolutely wonderful.

Now, few years ago this was little better than firewood.

Today, the price tag on your little kitchenette - £220!

What's that going to get you?

It's going to get you a square foot of marble work-surface.

Pants to that.

I love it, but it's not helping me today.

Looks like spending those squillions is proving almost as tough

as acquiring them in the first place. What about Natasha?

Behind the wheel of the Mercedes, eh?

No such worries, it seems, as she takes our road trip out west

towards Boroughbridge and her first opportunity to start catching up.

OK. Let's do some shopping.

-Hello, good afternoon. I'm Natasha.

-How do you do? James.

Lovely to meet you, James. Thank you for having me along.

Nice place. What's the plan?

I need to find something...something fun that's going to help me

close the gap because I'm way behind Paul at this point.

This could be quite fun.

I did quite well with my non-operational

growling German teddy bear.

And he was, kind of, in not the best working order.

This wee penguin is quite similar.

Here you can see his little feet have burst through.

It's probably late Victorian, could be 20th century Edwardian.

Look at how his wee head moves.

He's saying, "No, no, you cannot catch up with Paul Laidlaw."

Is this anything but good clean fun?

No price on him, though.

Ah, backstage...

Oh! I have it on good authority from James

that I'm allowed to go anywhere in the shop.

How about an old gun case?

The exterior doesn't really reflect the glorious interior.

This case has been made by Edward Whistler of London,

11, The Strand.

Maybe this is one those instances - don't judge a book by its cover.

Don't judge a case by its exterior, look inside.

It smells so good.

It smells of the grease that's been used to clean the barrels

and I like it.

I just need to find out how much it is

because, crucially, there's no price tag.

But while the Boroughbridge rummage continues,

Paul, still empty handed, has arrived at a third shop

just outside Pocklington at Baaar Farm.

GOAT BLEATS

-Greg.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-Nice to meet you, Paul.

-It is...

I would say it's nice to be here, but that would be an understatement.

In terms of first impression, today in this sunshine,

I love what I've walked into.

Oh, good. It's always like this.

PAUL LAUGHS

I think Paul may be pinching himself.

I am happy as Larry.

Suddenly, barns of the stuff.

Some containing militaria!

That's an ammunition box for a Lewis machinegun.

Great War period, an ingenious American design,

manufactured under licence

by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited.

Birmingham Small Arms Limited, BSA,

the same people that made the bikes.

Lewis machinegun is the one you've seen in the movies

that has the disc shaped magazine on top of the gun.

This magazine box is specifically designed to carry these disc,

or drum, magazines.

This one is in immaculately good condition.

The leather handle is missing and that is commonly the case.

That's priced up at £40.

Its value to a specialist buyer - £100 to £150.

But you think to yourself, "Done it again, Laidlaw, fantastic."

But here's my problem.

Too clever for his own good.

He takes this to an auction

where it's seen as another old deed box and it makes all of £5.

See the frustration?

He's definitely on the case.

And back in Boroughbridge, so is Natasha.

She's found a bit of a "barn-I-like", too.

Now, these are quite cool.

Are these proper stained glass?

Let's have a look.

Are they windows? No, they've got handles.

OK, let's see. Ah!

Steady.

Proper stained glass, not painted.

Nicely leaded. It's quite an attractive pattern, isn't it?

Very Art Nouveau, but not as old as that.

You can say that again.

Modern handles. So when was this cabinet, or whatever it was, made?

Probably 1960s, '70s?

The first one's not cracked.

I don't see any cracks in the second.

No, they're in pretty good nick.

No price again, though.

I don't really want to offer more that about £40 for the whole lot.

That's about a tenner a pane.

It is a "pane."

There you are. Don't get up, please. You look so relaxed.

I feel like this is sort of Godfather negotiations

-and you're sitting in the Godfather chair!

-Now, my dear, what can I do?

Softening him up, get ready for an offer he could well refuse.

There are a few things that have caught my eye,

the lovely leaded and stained glass panels in the shed.

They are about £30.

-£30 a panel. And the gun case.

-And the gun case.

The canvas gun case with that lovely green interior.

I was looking for about £75.

If I could tempt you to do the two items...

for £90? What do you think?

-Could we make it just a little... 110.

-110.

In the spirit of good fun and meeting one another halfway,

-should we say 100?

-105.

We could keep going all day!

-105 and we've got a deal.

-Oh, for goodness' sake, go on!

Go on!

And she's still got a little bit left.

-You'd better win.

-Thank you!

So while Natasha goes to grab her purchases,

her wealthy chum is still down on the farm.

One ammo box pending, he's thinking of leaving

his usual comfort zone with a few rustic items.

Daft garden pieces like your hoes and...

That's really nice, I'm no farmer or anything,

but it's supposed to be, I believe, for potato...

-That's for hoeing.

-For breaking up the soil on it.

What buys something like that?

I don't know what price we have on it,

it's probably very reasonably priced anyway. 65.

I could do a little better on it if that's something.

-I think we're going down the right lines.

-OK.

Or furrow.

If I could come away with a piece or three like that...

In for a penny, eh, Paul?

What about the likes of these Mexican hat troughs?

Yeah. Pig feeders.

We got them initially because we had pigs.

As you do.

What are these like to sell?

They do better at auction, really, to tell you the truth.

-OK, what's the price on them?

-I think 120, something like that.

-120.

-Yeah, 120. But usually at auction they go anywhere

from 80 on up.

That's a lot in there, isn't there?

That's just it, they are very cumbersome and heavy,

-but they make a real nice garden feature.

-I can see that.

Are you watching, Philip Serrell?

That's a charming thing by any measure.

Not how most people would describe a humble seed drill.

So, you've got your blade, your hopper

and these fantastic wrought wheels.

-Late 19th, early 20th-century.

-Maybe '30s.

-As late as that?

So, what buys something like that?

Got 65 on this, but if you look at the inside,

and it's not working right now, you'd need to mess with it.

It's rusted up, but this would be spinning, as you push it,

the wheel would drive this brush and shoot this seed down

this little hole into the ground.

Utterly charming. I see why people are into these.

What could possibly top that?

That's just a lovely object by any measure.

It's a cart jack for changing a wagon wheel.

So you adjust the height on that pin, how do you lock it up?

I don't think you lock it up.

I think someone needs to just hold it.

-So somebody you trust when you're underneath the axle?

-Exactly.

Price on that is £46.

-40 would buy it.

-Doesn't sound dear.

OK, Greg's got his pencil and paper, time to do that deal.

We've got the jack and the jack can be...

-40.

-40.

-Yeah.

We've got the Mexican hat troughs.

All right, so you're thinking about those.

-Yeah, I'm thinking about one. The bottom line on one of those?

-65.

-The seed drill.

-50.

-Put it on the list. Potato rake.

-I think that was 65 on that, too.

-But it could be...

-Again, it could be 50.

-OK.

So, what does all that lot come to?

-It comes to 205.

-205.

-You want all four.

-I might do!

-If the price is right.

If you tempt me with numbers.

-All right.

-160 quid means 40 quid a piece.

I don't know if I can do that.

190 would be it.

-So 190.

-For all four.

-Wait there.

-Yes.

-Don't go anywhere!

-OK.

Looks like I'm going to have to throw in a freebie.

Just something a bit more familiar.

I came here with nothing.

At this rate, I could walk out with five items.

And how I'm going to move them, I've got no idea!

Right, old ammo box.

-That is a big price tag.

-You think?

I don't, actually, but I'm going to say it is.

£40, viewers.

We're at 190, what buys five things?

230.

What?

220.

You like it? Good luck.

Crikey, Paul. Let's hope that none of that old ironwork

ended up in the boot.

Nighty-night, guys.

Now, usually at this point, we feature shots of a classic car

whizzing through some lovely landscape.

Sorry.

-What did you do to the car yesterday?

-Oh, I was driving.

-The car was fine!

-It was making the odd squeak, I'm not going to lie.

SHE MIMICS CAR SQUEAKING

Part of its Germanic charm.

Anyway, yesterday, Paul was our bulk buyer

acquiring a smallholding's worth of agricultural oddments

including a potato rake, a seed drill, a pig trough and a cart jack.

That's just a lovely object, by any measure.

Plus an ammo box,

leaving him with almost £350 for future purchases,

while Natasha plumped for some stained-glass windows

and a gun case.

I normally buy the opposite of this sort of item. I'm quite drawn to it.

Enough to reduce her float to just £87.

Now, sit back and enjoy this 2008 Skoda Octavia.

I'm still new to driving it so I do enjoy it,

but I quite enjoy being driven around, don't you?

Maybe this is a new show, the Taxi Road Trip.

Nice, but not enough jeopardy.

Later, they'll be heading south to an auction in Norfolk

at Downham Market, but our first stop is the Yorkshire village

of Cullingworth.

Once part of the old West Riding.

Thank you! Take care!

-See you later.

-Bye-bye!

And famous for worsted production.

Hello, good morning, I'm Tasha!

Hello, Natasha, welcome to Antiques at the Mill, I'm Cherry.

Cherry, lovely to meet you, thank you very much for having me along.

-All I can think of is "trouble at mill".

-Quite possibly.

I don't see why, Natasha. More like grist to the mill, darling.

This is big.

Exactly. The only thing that isn't is your wee fund.

I've not even got £100 left and I've got a lot to buy,

so I'm going to have to think cheap, but not common.

Whatever that means.

Not sure. How about that?

In Glasgow, there's nothing we like more than a hot wash

and here is what I'd call a pulley.

You'd do your washing and if the weather's not good,

which by the by in Scotland it usually isn't,

then you have the pulley in your kitchen,

in the heart of the home.

You've got the range going, you'd hang it on the pulley,

pull it up, and then the heat in the kitchen would dry the clothes.

Yes, it might smell a little bit of the stew on the stove,

but never mind that. These are great things. What's it got on it?

Oh, they've described it as a criel. I've never heard of that.

In Scotland, a creel's for catching lobsters,

but maybe that's another word for a pulley.

Proper Yorkshire dialect, actually. £75.

These are quite nice, actually.

Very old spool!

Genuine Yorkshire mill mementoes.

Right place, then.

So you've got a set of six skittles, and handily,

you've got the two wooden balls as well.

Now, the label here is lovely.

"Have hours of fun with durable wood toys originally created

"for the children of mill workers almost a century ago."

You get them for bobbins too.

Ah, more wood.

This appeals to me purely because, A, it's pretty good quality,

and B, because it's functional. It's not just a pretty thing.

People would buy this to sit in it. It's actually really attractive.

It's got a nice smooth seat

with a little bit of a drop for your bottom.

It's got this balustrade at the top here

and you've got this shell carving at the top as well.

It's £50. Perhaps I could get it for 20.

Then you'd be sitting pretty.

Definitely worth talking about.

I think the only trouble at this mill

will be you deciding what to buy.

This would have been very much a gentleman's item.

A little pipe cabinet.

Look how sweet it is!

It's got little hinged brackets there and they fall down.

Space for three pipes on one side, space for three pipes on the other,

and inside, space... more for display,

maybe your finer pipes go in the back there

and then a handy wee drawer that you see in all smoker's cabinets.

It's not that old. When's that from?

Probably the 1950s, judging by the handles and the condition.

£40 it has on it.

That is probably, if bought by somebody who collect pipes

and uses pipes, going to be used.

It's more for function as opposed to form. I quite like that.

So over to Cherry.

There is a pipe cabinet on the wall marked up at 40.

I was hoping that maybe we could do that for £20.

25.

25... Could we do it for 22?

-Go on, then, 22.

-OK, cool!

Not so cool is the fact that the other stuff she is after

belongs to a dealer who is currently elsewhere, so gird your loins.

-Would you like to speak to her, shall I?

-I'll give it a bash.

Hi, Sharon, how are you?

I like your stand, it's supercool.

Quite keen on the rocking chair.

You've got £50 on it, OK, and then I love the pulley and I love also

the skittles, the vintage skittles which have been recycled.

The pulley's on at 75 and the skittles are on at 10.

My maths is quite poor, and to me that adds up to about £60?

Titter ye not!

75. OK.

And what if we take the pulley out of the equation

and if we did the chair for 20 and the skittles for five,

could we do 25?

We can do 30?

OK, well, I think that's really generous,

and I'll go for 30 for the chair and the skittles.

Well, all that went smoothly, so £52 paid for those three items.

-Don't come again.

-I'll only come back if I make a profit. How's that?

-I'm just kidding.

-Oh, you will, you will.

-I believe you, Cherry.

-Bye.

-Bye, Cherry.

-Taxi!

Not the same one, of course. Paul has that.

En route to the nearby city of Bradford,

and the National Media Museum...

-Thank you, mate.

-Aye, see you.

..to discover more about a form of photography he finds fascinating.

Witness this find from the last series.

Stereoscopy. Incredible subject.

Photographs through a viewer, giving a 3-D effect.

-But does he know it all started with the Victorians?

-Hello, Colin?

-Paul. Welcome. Welcome to the National Media Museum.

-Lovely.

What an amazing looking building!

Amongst the huge collection of objects and images in here

is a section dedicated to the very earliest days of photography.

This is an example of a daguerreotype,

the earliest photographic process. At the same time,

-there was a chap called William Henry Fox Talbot.

-Indeed.

Who invented a different process using paper negatives, and we've got

some examples here of photographs taken by Talbot in the 1840s.

I daresay, in 1840, this was shocking.

If I had walked up to Joe Public and said, "Look at that," it wouldn't...

-Shockingly real.

-Talbot actually described this,

"A little bit of magic realised," and they are magical.

The fact that you could just use light alone

to capture a scene and to retain it permanently.

Chemistry had suddenly put those pioneers

on a par with the great artists.

But photography remained equally two-dimensional

until it was combined with the work of another Victorian inventor,

Sir Charles Wheatstone.

Stereoscopy actually predates photography.

-Right.

-In 1838, he wrote about the theory of binocular vision.

So, can I take it that this pair of photographs

-lead us into stereoscopy?

-Initially, you might think they're identical.

But if we look closely, they're not identical,

there's a subtle difference, and the difference is

this photograph is taken from the viewpoint of your right side

and this from the viewpoint of your left eye.

If you put these together

in a special instrument called a stereoscope,

your brain converts this into a three-dimensional image.

That's astonishing.

Stereoscopy and photography have an intimate relationship that goes back

right to the origins of both.

In 1840, Wheatstone was awarded the Queen's Medal by the Royal Society

for his work on binocular vision,

and the stereoscope soon ushered in a fascinating era of depth.

Into the parlour.

As his idea of capturing two images from slightly different positions

-revolutionised the new art form.

-Do you want to have a try?

-May I? Yes.

-Have a go.

-Look at this.

And it works immediately.

PAUL LAUGHS

The effect is still quite magical.

It's genuinely a 3-D image. You feel you could reach into it.

And you could buy views, which could be travel views, they could be works

of art, sculpture, celebrities from stage, from literature, politicians,

or they could be something a bit more racy,

like this, from the theatre.

-PAUL LAUGHS

-Showing a glimpse of ankle.

Not quite right, but here's an idea

of what was keeping them so entranced. 3-D?

So you could buy these,

take them home and view them in the comfort of your home.

So you could travel the world without leaving your armchair.

So you may not be able to afford the Thomas Cook ticket to Egypt,

but you probably can afford the viewer and the album of views

-and travel the world that way.

-Yes.

Sometime around the turn-of-the-century,

the fad began to wane, though.

Perhaps obscured by the rise of the moving pictures,

but it was always ripe for reinvention.

We're into the 1950s and beyond here,

where stereoscopy has become 3-D.

-Fantastic stuff.

-But it's not all about entertainment.

It also has a vitally important application,

and believe it or not, in this little wallet,

I've got an instrument here

which helped us to win the Second World War.

Go on, you've got my attention now.

This is a War Department type D stereoscope.

And this is the sort of instrument

that was used in the Second World War by the RAF analysts

to analyse the aerial photographs in 3-D

to actually work out where the launch sites were

for the doodlebugs so that the RAF could go over and bomb them

before they could blitz Britain.

So we've come from the pastimes of the Victorians in their parlours

to secret military intelligence during the Second World War?

Right the way through to today - virtual reality and apps

for your smartphone where we still see 3-D stereoscopic images.

Colin, that's an astonishing history,

and thank you for explaining it

and showing me all these wonderful artefacts, Colin.

It's been a real pleasure, Paul. Thank you.

Now, where's Natasha got to?

The Pennines, that's where -

at Hebden Bridge in the happy Calderdale Valley.

No smiley face for the cash she has left to spend, though.

Scary.

Yep. Just £35.

So choose wisely.

It's a pipe in the form of a clog.

Look how cute that is - just a tiny wee one.

-Just...

-SHE IMITATES PUFFING

Wooden tobacco section, Bakelite mouthpiece,

probably from around the 1930s or so.

And does it not fall into the novelty category?

Would go with her rack!

Wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but at...

£10, it's not exactly going to break the bank.

I'll put it in my pocket, keep it with me.

I was hoping to find something a wee bit more sophisticated.

The pipes are definitely calling.

Seek and ye shall find.

Here is a nice pipe.

Now, compare that in quality

to the clog.

You can see, instantly, that, A, it's more sophisticated,

and, B, it's probably an earlier model.

The quality is there.

This here...

Now, what is that?

Do you know, that's so light and thin...

Could that be the spine of a feather?

£38?

I think I'll have a bash at the two of them.

Remember, she only has 35.

-Hello, I'm Natasha.

-Hiya. Nice to meet you, I'm Peter.

-Peter?

I have come across these two pipes.

£48 full price here.

What if I offered, for the two...

-..£20?

-HE EXHALES

HE SUCKS AIR

-That would be a... a real bargain, wouldn't it, at 20?

-It would be.

Shall we try...

£40 for two?

I simply can't afford £40.

I think my very top offer... Is it too cheeky?

It's going to be 25.

Can we just push it to 30, and I might be able to meet you there?

Can we make it 27?

-Yes, go on, then.

-We could?

For you, yes, we'll do 27.

I thought you were going to tell me to pipe down!

THEY LAUGH

Just squeezed in.

-Well, that's brilliant. Wish me luck.

-Good luck.

-Thank you, Peter, bye-bye.

-Bye.

So while those two take a look at each other's lots,

why don't we do likewise?

Natasha spent £184

on some stained-glass windows,

a gun case, the skittles,

rocking chair,

smoker's cabinet and pipes.

While Paul parted with £220

on an ammunition box,

a Mexican Hat trough,

a potato rake, a cart jack,

and a seed drill.

So who's about to harvest a profit, eh?

What's to be said about a pile of scrap iron?

What on earth was I thinking?

Paul's clearly become a farmer in his spare time, so I'll go with it.

The gun case, I like.

The label makes it.

£40 paid, and that could make double that.

I've gone a bit traditional, a bit brown.

A little bit smoky.

I think we'll just pass over the windows, shall we?

Second-hand, nasty,

'80s, '90s - they may not get a bid.

Crikey!

After starting off from York,

our experts are now on their way to auction

in Norfolk at Downham Market,

and back in their shiny Mercedes.

What about all your sort of farming stuff?

-It's consistent.

-It is consistent.

You can actually find this auction with a magnetic compass.

The Hawkins family have been doing this for over 150 years.

-This is our spot.

-THEY LAUGH

Let's hear the thoughts of great-grandson-of-the-founder Barry.

One gun case.

The size for the stock in there is a bit on the short side,

so we may have a problem in making much more

than a tenner off it, if that.

The potato harrow, it is an interesting item.

I don't think I've ever actually ever seen one before.

Could make something in there, £30-50.

Stained-glass windows, they are, in actual fact, fairly modern.

£1 or so.

Thanks, Barry. I think.

Oh, we've got front-row seats.

And here they are, in their glory, Natasha.

£20?

A tenner? A fiver?

-£5 I'm bid. 8.

-You've got a hand up.

12, 15, 18, 20.

-PAUL:

-Still this lady here.

22, 25?

28 in the corner.

At 30.

30, 35? 40.

45.

-Ooh!

-All done at 45?

Seriously, I think that's a result.

I think you might be right.

Done with such style, too.

Barry is the fastest auctioneer in the west.

Or, no, are we in the east?

Now, I think this may be our very first cart jack.

Starting at £50?

Tuppence-ha'penny, then?

2, 5, 8, 10.

The cart jack at 10, 12, 15.

At 15... Look, it goes well in the garden, if nothing else.

At 15, 18, I'm bid at 18. 20.

20, the bidder's right there.

20, all done at £20?

-I'm taking some pain here.

-Oo-o-oh.

-Ouch.

And I think there could be more of that to come.

Could Paul have got this one wrong?

Is Downham not the market for this sort of stuff?

Have you seen the wee lot indicator?

It's so cool!

He does cricket scoring at the weekend(!)

You could get a job as the lot number clicker.

Ah!

Any pipe smokers in?

At least two, ideally.

I don't know if we're going to do £49.

Don't say "we". Did you say "we" or "they"?

Don't drag me into the mess.

There we are, £1,000, then, this time?

LAUGHTER

2 I'm bid.

5, 8, 10.

15. Come on! 18.

At 20. 22.

25. Come on!

-Yeah, come on.

-Shouting at them, that's great.

"You, bid!"

-40. 45.

-Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

You all right?

You're good.

At 55, right-hand, quickly, at 55?

The man commands bids.

Wait a minute, we started at five.

We got 55 because he just shouted at them.

Via two come ons!

That one was definitely down to Barry.

A big fan of Mexican food?

Yes, let's think positive for Paul's second bit of farminalia.

It's a beautiful day, people could be inspired by gardening items.

You're good at... You're like a tonic.

-David, I asked you to hold this up, didn't I?

-No.

Oh, dear. Start that one £50 or 60?

Surely. Go on.

A tenner? A fiver?

8, 10, 12, 15.

18, 20, 22.

25, 28, 30.

At £30. £30!

Oh, no, come on, come on, come on.

At £30.

SHE GROANS

You seem like you're about to implode.

Huh! He's not used to this.

You look like you just had, like, a jalapeno.

Natasha's turn. Her skittles.

Tenner? 2 I'm bid.

At 4?

4, 6.

Come on!

£8.

10, 12. 12.

Do you know, what are you hesitating? 12, 15.

15, 18.

At 18. Come on!

-I'm getting frightened.

-At 18.

I'm glad I'm selling, not buying.

Imagine you were on the receiving end of "come on!"

"That poor man traumatised me.

"And I bought some stained glass windows I didn't want."

Yes, but, strangely, it's only working for Natasha's lots.

So maybe it's just you.

Perhaps a bit of trademark militaria can turn things round.

Nice little ammunition box.

It's a nice little ammunition box.

Start that one £20 or £30?

A tenner?

5? 5 bid here.

10, 12, 15, 18, 20.

Oh, it's flying.

-22, 22, 22, 25.

-That's better than I thought. It's still cheap.

At 25, at 25.

Closing at 25.

-Commission bid's got it.

-£25.

You know what? I'll take that.

That's a loss, and I am not disappointed.

Yes, things are almost looking up(!)

Natasha's case. The gun one.

Is that more of a Paul thing?

Just trying to be cool in front of you, and it's not really working,

so I bought something about which I know nothing.

Here we are, lovely little gun case, then, for you.

Work it, Barry, work it.

A tenner? A fiver?

At £10.

12, 12.

15, 18.

-20, 22.

-Plenty of people are playing at it.

25, 28, 28, 28... Come on!

-At 28. There at 28.

-"Are you a man or a mouse?"

-Aw, Paul, it's going.

-£28.

SHE GROANS

-"I know nothing."

-Neither do I!

Well, that's three of us.

I think I should actually just give up

and become the clicker of the lot numbers.

That's all I'm qualified to do.

Perhaps spuds are more the thing.

Paul's latest rusty offering.

Right, there we are, look, being held up for you.

Right, you all know what it is? Right.

-Start me at £100?

-Ooh.

-50? A tenner?

-I like the optimism.

At £10.

£10!

SHE SQUEALS

-12, 15, 18, 20.

-Man!

£20, 22, 25.

28. £30, 30.

Oh, don't want to wear David out. You can put it down.

28, 30.

35, 40.

-Wait a minute, wait a minute.

-At 40?

Almost not lost money.

At £40.

Didn't quite rake in the profit I'd hoped for, did it?

-SHE GROANS

-Boom. Did you hear that?

Did you see that?

A few more pounds off his pile.

Anything else, Paul?

It's more cast iron garden scrap.

It's a seed drill.

She's right, invented by Jethro Tull.

Before the whole rock thing took off.

£40 or £50? A tenner?

I love his optimism at the beginning of these things,

-and then it just...

-It's a quick job.

-It is.

Now, all begin to wake up? At 5, 8, 10.

-At 10, 12, 15.

-We've been here before.

At 18, 18 on the floor.

20, 22.

22, 25.

On my book at 25.

25, quickly out at 25?

Was that my worst result at auction ever?

The Antiques Road Trip annals are being consulted as I speak.

I got two chapters of my memoir today.

One, just Barry L Hawkins, the man.

And then another chapter which is Laidlaw. Worst day ever?

Someone might read it while sat in this very chair, Natasha.

-Can you hold it up, David?

-Yes, David.

That chair, then, start that one at £50?

A tenner?

10, 12, 15, 18, 20.

-25, 28, come on.

-That'll do.

30, 35.

-The lady, it's against you there.

-Shout, shout!

-At 35...

-Shout. Scream at them.

I'm trying!

Where did I get to? Now I'm lost.

28, 30.

32, 35.

35, 38.

40, at £40.

-Come on!

-Yeah!

The bid is here at 40.

It's got history to it now.

At £40, 40.

45, 50.

-SHE GASPS

-It's flying!

£50, in the door at £50.

You're done at £50.

Natasha's had a comfortable victory today.

Let's get out of here and, erm...

-do a reality check.

-Yeah, yeah, OK.

Paul began with...

He made a loss after auction costs of £105.20.

So he's ended up with...

Whilst Natasha started out with...

And after a much smaller loss of £23.28 after costs,

she has just...

..for next time.

Still a long way behind, but she's the winner today.

Pinch yourself, Paul.

-That was real.

-Oh, dearie me!

Cheerio!

You get over there!

Next on the Antiques Road Trip...

Natasha does her homework...

-I'm getting all excited.

-SHE LAUGHS

..and Paul goes old school.

Many an old boy has come back and they've had the cane in here.

THEY LAUGH