Episode 19 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, but it's no mean feat.

-Sorry.

-Why do I always do this to myself?

-There'll 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.

Morning. Today's forecast calls for blue skies.

On this fourth leg of the trip,

we're horsing around in sunny southern England...

-New Forest. Ponies.

-Ponies, yeah.

Here we are in the beautiful New Forest.

..with two blue-sky thinkers - James Braxton and Raj Bisram.

Yeah, isn't that lovely? Beautiful.

Raj has been steeped in antiques trading since the tender age

of ten, and he's very much in tune with the ancient landscape.

I mean, this has been like this for...thousands of years.

-Thousands of years.

-Yeah.

"Thousands". Well, James is no less a legend of this game,

ever ready to steal a bargain.

You can expect to see some sort of highwayman rushing out any moment.

The only highwayman I've seen in the New Forest is you, James.

Both our aficionados of old stuff began with £200.

Raj has now traded that up to hold £432.66...

while James is a hair ahead of him -

well, he's got a bit more - having accumulated £471.90.

It is close!

Today, they're driving a dashing white darling - the 1968

Renault Caravelle, and it looks as if they've made a new friend.

Hello, Daisy. Want to say hello to James?

After starting off in Bath,

our experts have roved around a fair chunk of southern England.

Later, they'll zip up to the Midlands,

before heading back down to Binegar in Somerset.

On this leg, they begin in the New Forest village of Brockenhurst,

and aim for auction in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Crikey Moses!

Two more new friends in the New Forest. Giddy up!

-Nick, you obviously live in this area.

-I'm very blessed to live here.

-You are. All the best to you.

-Enjoy the rest of your stay, guys.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks a lot. Bye.

Cor, they're friendly sorts round here, aren't they?

So Brockenhurst should be just the place to kick off

with some more shopping.

This morning, Raj is dropping James off at his first shop, where

we'll hope for a little less horsing around, and maybe a bit of dog work.

-Ah, here's my shop!

-Oh, James.

-How exciting.

-Here you go, James.

-Great. Thank you.

And don't forget what I said - spend everything you can.

I will. OK, see you, chief.

All the best, James.

Bye. Good luck.

Come on then, James. Time to shop!

-Hello. James.

-Hi, I'm Pam. Nice to meet you.

-Hello, Pam.

This is lovely.

I'll say! Pam has an electric shock... I mean eclectic stock,

including many pieces brought back from her travels in France.

And speaking of which...

-We've got a little light here. That's rather nice.

-That's lovely.

That's actually, I would have thought...

Yeah, that is a Deco piece.

Oh, yes. This table lamp, a la Francais,

perhaps dates from the early 20th century.

You'd think something like that might be made of bronze,

but this is a sort of wrought iron, isn't it?

-No, I think that's a sort of poor man's version.

-Yeah.

-But quite pretty.

-Yeah.

-Is that quite cheap?

Well, it depends what you call cheap. I have 55 on it.

-But there is always movement, as you know.

-Yeah. That's...

I quite like that.

That's a possibility then, but James is on a real rummage this morning.

-Do you want a hand, or are you all right?

-I think I'm all right.

-OK.

Any breakages will be paid for.

That's you told then, James.

Interesting, behind there, there's a Coromandel, Chinese Coromandel

screen, which is lacquer

and applied bits of...

Generally, they were mother of pearl and bone.

I might ask about that.

Actually, I think this is a Japanese screen with

a type of lacquer work which is called Shibayama.

Right. Let's get down and dirty.

After you, then, James.

So, I'm after the screen, but to get to the screen,

I've got to uncover a couple of items.

Yeah. Well, keep at it then. CLATTER

Oh, my gosh! Remember, you break it, you buy it, James!

This is the screen.

It may be two-fold screen, but it's missing quite a lot of bits,

isn't it?

Missing the top bits as well. What's the other side like?

Oh, yeah. It's also missing a ticket price.

I quite like this.

The more effort you put in, the more you're going to get out,

so I'm going to start unpeeling the stuff.

Unpeeling.

Lord, unpeeling, he goes.

And your little Kashmir table, the carved one?

Yeah, definitely Kashmiri. North Indian subcontinent.

Well done, James.

-Quite nicely carved.

-It is nicely carved, yes.

They're beginning to do slightly better, these.

That is an old one as well.

It's not one of the sort of really modern ones, but it's quite sweet.

-Very frustrating.

-I think they are an intelligence test, to be honest.

-I think, yeah...

-Yes, well done, James.

You just have to...

You have to keep working and then finally, it finds its form.

-And as you can see, dust comes free with that one.

-Dust comes free.

Yeah. No charge.

Very reasonable then, Pam. What's the asking price?

-I've had it a while.

-Yeah.

-That can be £50.

-£50, yeah.

So, James now has his sights on this table, the little

French Art Deco jobby and not forgetting the substantial screen.

Oh!

And then a bit of china.

So, what a... That's the great thing about antiques.

-You can see the world.

-You can indeed.

Pam's offered this three item round the world jaunt for £130 all in.

Well, it's cheaper than the flight!

-Could I do the lot for 110?

-Oh, goodness!

-Could we meet in the middle at 120?

-120, you read my mind.

-Put it there.

-Brilliant.

-OK.

-Thank you very much indeed, Pam.

-That's great.

-Such a gent, James.

So, he has the screen for £50, the table for £40, and the lamp for 30.

Well done!

Thank you, Pam! Thank you!

In the meantime, Raj has travelled onwards.

He's heading for the New Forest village of Beaulieu,

which is home to the British National Motor Museum,

where Raj is strolling off to meet curator Richard.

-Hi there.

-Hello, Raj.

-Nice to meet you. What a fantastic place!

This enormous museum celebrates every facet of our automotive

heritage, from the supercharged to the frankly silly.

But today, Raj is here to learn about

a very British sort of motoring obsession - caravanning,

and Richard's taking him into the museum's backstage

archive rooms to learn more.

Well, leisure caravanning actually started in 1885,

with William Gordon Stables.

Wanderer was the first caravan, the first leisure caravan, and as I say,

William Gordon Stables built that himself,

he was an ex-naval officer, he was a surgeon,

and he had to retire early due to ill health in his mid 30s and

he was looking for something to do, I think, so he built this caravan

and he went from Twyford in Berkshire

back to his town of birth, Inverness, in Scotland.

This near 600-mile journey, horse drawn, was the first caravan holiday

and William Gordon Stables chronicled his adventure

in his 1886 book, The Cruise Of The Land Yacht Wanderer.

# You know, I'm the wanderer

# Yeah, I'm the wanderer

# I roam around, around, around, around, around... #

Once he'd published his book, of course, people reading it,

the wealthy and the aristocracy were thinking - what a great idea.

So, it became more popular and in fact,

the Caravan Club was formed in 1907.

And he became vice president.

The Caravan Club championed this new hobby in its early years.

It grew quite quickly in its initial stages as well. From those

first 11 members, within five years they had nearly 300 members.

267, I think, in 1912.

And a third of those were women.

Caravanning afforded these Edwardian ladies all sorts of new freedom.

The chance to go out into the countryside and actually take

part in activities, which would have been barred to them before -

hunting, fishing, sports, that sort of thing, they could do.

So, they would get together as groups,

usually unmarried women, would go off in a caravan to the country.

And here we can see a leisure caravan,

-just before the First World War.

-This actually, to most people,

I'd say would be much more recognisable as a caravan.

Absolutely. This would probably be a single horse would be pulling that

and quite often caravans would

actually have been hired out for the day,

so we're looking at the change from the wealthy starting to

be able to hire a caravan just for the day to go out into the

New Forest or a day trip to the seaside, as they're doing here.

But as the pursuit became more popular, the First World War

loomed and the new caravans took on a more serious purpose.

They soon learned that they could be used for accommodation,

they could be used as ambulances, so the Caravan Club members

actually donated 50 caravans to be sent across to the front.

After the war ended, caravanning for leisure took off once more.

So, you have returning servicemen who have seen caravans in action

and how useful they could be, and at the same time,

the government was selling off lots of surplus materials.

And so, lots of enterprising businessmen could buy this

material quite cheaply and make trailer caravans.

One such one was the Navarac caravan,

which was actually made from aircraft parts.

These new caravans were designed to be towed by motor vehicles

and Richard's taking Raj on a little trip to see an early example.

-Richard, is this one of the first commercially made caravans?

-It is.

This is an Eccles caravan,

really the first commercially produced caravans.

What year were these first manufactured?

The company started in 1919,

so right at the end of the First World War.

This caravan dates from 1926, so they went all the way through

the '20s and Eccles is still a well known name today.

-Wow! Fantastic!

-From these beginnings,

caravanning grew in popularity through the 20th century,

becoming one of our most beloved hobbies and giving the masses

access to life on the open road.

Raj is quite taken.

He'll be buying one!

I quite like this!

In fact, if you don't mind, Richard,

would you shut the door and leave me to read my book?

Ah!

Life doesn't get any better!

You said it, Raj. Don't get too comfy, will you, or drop off?

Now, James has travelled on to the market town of Ringwood,

where he's sauntering off into his next shop, not a care in the world.

-Hello. James.

-Oh, hello, James. My name is Peter.

-Hello, Peter.

-Good to see you. Take me to your cheaper parts.

-The bargain basement.

-The bargain basement, please.

-Which happens to be upstairs.

-Perfect! Perfect!

-Follow me.

-We shall, Peter. We shall.

-So, up these lovely stairs.

Here we are, James, at the bargain basement.

-Yeah.

-The first thing that catches my eye is this wonderful oil lamp.

-How much is that then, Peter?

-Well...

-Don't look at the label.

-Glasses on.

-Do you need to...? Watch your head.

I'll watch my head. Well, we've got that marked at £225.

-It's too expensive.

-But if not that lamp, maybe a spotlight.

Peter's love is not only oil lamps, but it's am dram.

Peter is just directing a local theatrical production.

So that's his life. You can tell it, can't you?

He does have a dramatic flair,

but is this an item I see before me, or just an old pot?

-Look at this!

-Just feel the weight of that.

-That is a wee beastie.

-Yes.

-That is a wee beastie, isn't it?

Yeah, it's a substantial French copper cooking pan and lid.

Look at that! You could really...

You could cook something up in that, couldn't you?

-You could.

-I've got a very lovely dish that I do.

Sausages and lentils with a bit of paprika.

That's a lot of sausages and lentils.

-That'd be lovely, wouldn't it? Feed an army!

-Certainly would.

There's no ticket price on it, so Peter will find out what

the cost could be while James browses the rest of the shop.

When you come back,

I want a soliloquy from one of your latest productions, Peter.

A soliloquy? Well, I could give you...

I am the very model of a modern major general!

-But I don't think I will.

-JAMES LAUGHS

Come on now, Peter!

Our James is the very model of a modern antiques maestro, methinks!

What think thou?

A brown cheese drainer. Blessed is the cheese maker.

# I am the very model of a modern major general

# I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral

# I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical

# From Marathon to Waterloo in order categorical... #

Oyster dish. Here we are.

# I'm very well acquainted too with matters mathematical

# I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical

# About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news... #

Bamboo. The blessed material.

# But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,

# He is the very model of a modern Major General. #

But he hasn't spotted anything else that takes his fancy,

so back to that copper pan he goes.

But what can Peter propose?

-You're a man of the amateur dramatic, aren't you?

-I am, yes.

-I want a dramatic...

-Dramatic. Well, let's say £90!

I'll give you 70.

75.

-75, you have yourself a deal.

-Right.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-You're welcome, James.

-Thank you, Peter.

That is a fine item, isn't it?

It's an absolute star. But just as James is paying up, look who it is.

-Oh, here he is.

-Hello! Hello!

-Peter, Raj. Raj, Peter.

-I'm Peter.

Hello, Peter. Lovely to meet you.

Look at that. Big money passing hands!

-Can I just check it?

-Check it.

-My goodness!

-See?

-Peter, you are in luck!

These are all real!

Thanks for checking, Raj.

But James is spending some serious cash today.

-For him to spend that much money on one item...

-Yeah.

-Have I done well?

-I can't...

Peter, you don't know how well you've done, OK?

Believe you me, that is normally a month's budget for him.

-But I hope I can find something as well.

-Yeah. Well, good luck.

I'm going to...

So, it's goodbye to James and the hunt is on for Raj.

It's a papier mache apple. I should really buy it for James.

Teacher's pet.

But how's he feeling, now he's cased the joint?

Even though James got here first, I'm sure he's had trouble

buying here because there's not very much you can buy for a fiver.

So that leaves the door open for me.

And I'm sure I'm going to find some bargains. I like this shop.

Pretty comfortable.

Come on, Raj. You need some buys. What's this?

Well, these are quite interesting. I'm not a fisherman,

but I do like sporting items and these are very unusual lures.

Yep, attractive to fish and to Raj. Focus, focus. That's it.

£148 on the price ticket, which is way over what I would want to

pay for them, but they are interesting.

If I could get these at 30 to £40...

I know it's a lot to knock off, but if I could get them for that,

I'm going to do a deal.

That's a big ask! Can Raj's powers of persuasion reel Peter in?

-Who writes this stuff?

-I've got a price in mind.

-Can I make you a crazy offer?

-Yes.

I was hoping that if I could get those for £35 there would be

a small profit in it. I'll happily pay you 40 for them.

-All right, we'll go for 40.

-We will?

-Go to 40.

-You'll go to 40?

-40, yeah.

-Right, let's shake hands then.

-If you insist.

-Yeah, lovely.

Fantastic. So we've done a deal at £40.

That is a generous and kind discount from Peter.

But might fate deal Raj another good hand?

I mean, this is a nice, brass crib board.

I mean, it used to be a great pub game, crib. I still play crib.

I love it. Not a lot of people do these days but it's still a nice...

It's still even a nice decorative piece.

That might date from the early 20th century. It's ticketed at £23.

Peter?

-Peter? Are you there?

-Yes, Raj. What have we got here.

Nothing earth-shattering, OK? I do warn you.

-The crib board.

-Yes?

Can offer you a tenner for it? You haven't got a lot of money on it.

-£10 then.

-We have a deal. Thank you very much indeed.

So, all that remains is to pay Peter and skedaddle.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Lovely to see you.

You too. Thanks again.

And that swift deal brings us to the end of a

jam-packed first day on the trip.

So nighty-night, chaps.

But another bright summer morning finds our two boys back

in the car and raring to go.

James, a lovely, beautiful morning in Hampshire.

What a lovely day!

-Oh, it's gorgeous.

-Well, it's the Caribbean of the UK, isn't it?

Hah! I don't think I'd go that far.

But Raj has hooked two lots -

the fishing lures and the cribbage board.

He still has £382.66 in his wallet though.

While James has collected four lots - the Oriental screen,

the Art Deco lamp, the Kashmiri table and copper cooking pan.

He still has £276.90 left to cook with.

And of course,

Raj had a sneak peek at that pricey pan as James was paying for it.

But it's more decorative than usable these days, that pot.

Oh! Excuse me!

RAJ LAUGHS

It's a lovely, heavy pan.

We could magic up some magic dishes IN that pan.

A nice, big Bouillabaisse. That would be nice.

Oh... Whelks and eels.

Whelks and eels, that's what we need.

Nah. What you want is buys.

This morning, their first shop is in the village of Wickham,

a pretty and pastoral place with roots dating back to ancient times.

-In!

-Fantastic.

-In we go.

-Well, good luck.

-There it is.

-Enjoy some lovely handbags, second hand clothing.

-Let's hope so.

-Enjoy your day.

-A world of great days.

-Goodbye.

-See you later.

-Bye, bye,

-bye, bye. Bye.

Raj is headed straight for Warwick Lane Shopping Centre

where he's meeting Steve.

-Hi, Steve.

-Hello there.

-Oh, Raj.

-And you must be Steve.

-Indeed he is.

This is a large place with plenty of stock so Raj better look shipshape.

We're near the sea. How's that?

RAJ LAUGHS

Ridiculous.

But it's not a life on the ocean wave he's heading for this morning.

I mean, these could be a good buy

if I get left up the creek without a paddle.

You might be right.

But what's this then?

The whole world of telecommunications is

changing and people are collecting old telephones,

Bakelite telephones are fetching lots of money

and so are some of the 1960s and '70s telephones now.

They're even making money and what I've found here is an old...

An exchange. An old exchange telephone system.

This vintage device known as a dictograph comes with a small phone

extension and plenty of retro charm.

PHONE RINGS Hold the line please, caller.

It's really an interesting one because, I mean,

this exchange has got land channels, typists, planning,

drawing office, I mean this would probably have been used by

a council or something like that.

If I can get this at the right price...

It's got £30 on the ticket. I'd like to get this for £20 or below.

Steve can speak to the vendor by phone, probably.

-I will give her £20 for the two items.

-OK. All right.

-And it's going to be cash.

-And it's cash.

-And it's cash.

-All right, I'll go and ask.

-Use your charm.

-You've got a nice smile there.

-I will. All right.

And while Steve flashes his pearly whites...

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

James. Get off the line. There's a train coming!

Ha! But we have an answer.

-Steve. How did you get on?

-Good news. She'll do it.

-20 quid.

-Fantastic. Brilliant. We have a deal.

-All right.

-So, £20 for the two, yeah?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Fantastic.

He's got the dictograph and the little phone extension

set up for only £20.

Dog-on-it.

But there might be something else maybe downstairs.

This is interesting.

It's German or Austrian and it's a pipe.

But it's really quite old. It's dated 1807.

-1807!

-Yeah!

The pipe is finished with hallmarked silver,

a touch of quality, methinks.

You know, I can just see an old Austrian or German farmer

sitting in the Gaststube drinking his beer and smoking his pipe.

You paint quite a picture, Raj.

Ticket price on that is £55.

Time for another word with young Steve who can negotiate perhaps

on behalf of the vendor again on the phone. Maybe.

I'll offer you £20 for it.

I don't think he'd go down that far.

I think he'd be happier with £30 to be honest with you, Raj.

£30 I think is too much. OK, I tell you what I'll do,

A good dealer will split it down the middle, so what about £25?

-All right, then. OK, £25.

-Fantastic. We have a deal.

-Thank you very much, indeed.

-Fantastic.

With two more items bagged, our boy in blue is wandering off.

James, meanwhile,

has motored on to the environs of the village of Twyford.

A fan of our greatest historical feats of engineering, he's planning

to pay a visit to Twyford Waterworks

where he's meeting trustee, Martin Gregory.

-Hello, James.

-Martin.

-Hello, Martin.

Welcome to Twyford waterworks.

This beautifully preserved Edwardian pumping station and water

treatment plant was designed to draw fresh water from wells

deep below the Hampshire, countryside's chalky landscape.

After the Acts of Parliament in the 1860s that required local

authorities to build waterworks to supply clean water,

in Hampshire, we drilled wells in the chalk and pumped

the water out to the customers around the area.

The Waterworks has been supplying water to the area ever since.

But the clean water drawn from these wells

has one big disadvantage.

Hampshire water's very hard which did present a problem.

-And what's the problem with hard water then?

-Two problems.

One, you get limescale in the pipes so the pipes fur up.

And two, the soap won't lather, at least,

old 19th-century soaps won't lather.

Luckily, an Aberdeen doctor,

Thomas Clark patented a system for getting around this in

the 1840s and all the waterworks in Hampshire were equipped with

this Clark's lime softening process.

This method used chalk quarried here on-site to produce

a substance known as lime which is essential

in the water softening process.

Here we are up at the top of the railway incline.

-Ah! That looks very much like chalk.

-It is chalk.

It's chalk that's been quarried just down below us

and is being brought up here to the Lime Kiln.

-Don't tell me these poor people had to lug it up, did they?

-No.

From the start in 1903, getting it up the hill, up the incline,

we had a hydraulic engine.

-Well, that makes sense, you're a waterworks.

-That's right.

A water engine driven by the water that we're pumping up to the reservoir.

-Really?

-Yes.

-And is that still functioning?

-That still functions. Come and look at it.

-Oh, lovely.

-Jubbly.

Obviously, James can't wait to see this water-powered engine move

the skip of chalk up the hill. Here we go.

Right, so here is the hydraulic engine. The water comes in

this pipe here, there's the throttle valve, so open

the water valve and let some water in. There you are.

So, release the break. And up it comes.

Now, we can see it coming up the incline now.

And that's just pressure of water?

And that's just the pressure of the water in this pipe here.

Isn't that fabulous?

Once the water drawn from the wells has been softened,

it was pumped out to a reservoir from which it supplied local homes.

Martin, what is this mighty machine?

This is the machine that did two jobs.

It raised water from the wells, with one set of pumps

and it delivered water to the reservoir with the other set of pumps.

-Wow.

-It's a steam engine made in Leeds in 1914.

Although this engine is no longer in use,

the plant is still pumping water today.

We're still supplying about 20 million litres

a day of water to the public water supply.

The only thing that's changed is it's

now electric pumps in place of steam pumps. Marvellous.

But it's time for James to hit the road.

So, Martin, I must thank you. It's been absolutely fascinating.

In the meanwhile,

Raj has travelled on to the seaside city of Portsmouth where he's

strolling to Parmiters Antiques with just over £337 in his pocket.

-It's his last chance to shop.

-Hello, there.

-Hello, Raj.

Hi, you must be Ian.

That he is. This place is a real treasure trove.

Absolutely stuffed with weird and wonderful items

but could Raj have bitten off more than he can chew?

The Big Apple.

This is right up my street.

There are some really unusual, wonderful things in this shop.

This is fantastic. Let's just hope I can afford one or two of them.

Over here, we've got those three owls and something that I was

told when I first started out in the business was that the owl was

-a lucky emblem of the antique dealer.

-Oh, yeah?

Well, let's hope those bring you luck in your search, Raj.

What's it going to make at auction? Can we keep looking?

-I mean, I know that's out of my league but...

-900.

-900.

-I had to know.

-That's out of the question then. But wait!

-The mirror?

-You might be in business.

-Oh!

-Came in a house clearance.

-Yep?

Age. It's got age.

Yes, it's got age, it's got age, it's nice bevelled glass,

it's a nice, decorative one.

This 19th-century brass mirror is certainly striking,

but at what price?

Hit me with that.

£45. That's a bargain.

-35, we got a deal.

-You got a deal.

£35, Ian, we have a deal.

Marvellous. We have a deal.

Without much reflection at all, Raj pounces on that excellent buy.

-Once again, thank you very much indeed.

-Great to meet you.

-You too.

Thanks, Ian. You're a gent.

Meanwhile, James has motored on to the ancient city of

Winchester where he has one more shop

in his sights with £276.90 left.

Here, dealer Mary resides. Hi, Mary.

Not contrary.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-James.

-Hi, I'm Mary, nice to meet you.

Hello, Mary, good to meet you.

This place specialises in vintage and industrial homewares.

But it's not quite the usual antiques emporium.

The stuff you'll want to see is probably downstairs.

-Basement, oh! Will you lead me down?

-In the basement.

-Yes, I will.

-Will you lead me down? Come on.

Deep down in the basement,

there's mood lighting and all sorts of retro and reclaimed items.

But one important question

is playing on James' mind this afternoon.

Why do people like buckets?

The buckets, we find people mainly buy the buckets

-for planting outside.

-Ah.

-Or as a bin.

-As a funky, different, cool bin.

-A cool bin, isn't it?

-A cool bin.

And they have integrity. They are nicely made,

-they've got some weight.

-Exactly. They are very well aged.

Some builder has kindly mixed some pug.

Added a bit of cement.

-Didn't quite clean it out, did he?

-Naughty monkey.

Anyway, the old fire buckets.

But James is still quite taken with it.

Could you do me a special deal?

-I could.

-Taking into account the pug?

-That's additional extras.

-Oh, is that? Oh, sorry. Silly me.

I'm not quite in the vintage retro field.

I see that as a condition problem, but you see that as an asset.

-I do indeed.

-An asset.

-You could do a little bit on it.

What's your price on that?

-So, we could do it for £20?

-£20, £20.

I'll tell you what, would you do it for £19?

-19 is fine, yes.

-Thank you very much indeed, Mary.

Well, lovely. I'm a vintage convert.

Ever the optimist, James.

He's got that for less than a purple note.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much indeed. Bye.

So, James has bagged that as well.

Oh, Lordy, he's keen to get to the auction.

As well as the fire bucket, James also has the Oriental screen,

the Kashmir table, the Art Deco lamp and a large copper pan with lid.

He spent £214 exactly.

While Raj has the fishing lures, the cribbage board,

the dictograph, the pipe and the brass mirror.

He spent £130, but what do they think of each other's finds?

We'll soon see. Sea.

Surreal.

Pipe I don't think much of.

Lures I don't think much of.

Cribbage board, what's a cribbage board?

James' fire bucket, all I can imagine is, he's worried,

cos things are hotting up and he'll need the fire bucket

to put the flames out.

Modesty precludes me from saying who will win the auction,

but I'll be very cross if it ain't me.

That's fighting talk. I love it.

As they head to auction.

They began in Brockenhurst and are now aiming for the saleroom,

in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

We're off to Shrewsbury, which is...

Shroos-bury, Shrows-bury, Shrews-bury.

Is it a Shrews-bury or is it a Shrows-bury?

That's a matter of heated debate locally.

-It is pretty. Look at the costumes.

-I know.

It's lovely.

They're headed for Halls salesroom,

which is just on the outskirts of town.

-Wow.

-A purpose-built auction house, raring to go.

Well, let's hope they do us proud today.

Good rooms for good items.

Today, our auctioneer is Alexander Clement.

Before the off, though, what does he make of James' and Raj's lot?

I think the thing which will move the quickest is the Kashmir table.

Nice size and well carved.

The mirror, I really like. It's really nicely made.

It is well cast. Nice quality.

I like it, but will the market agree with me? I don't know.

The sale's about to begin.

Take your seats, please, gents.

What's your sense and feeling?

I think the stars are aligning for me.

Good items, good saleroom.

Hopefully good prices.

First up, it's Raj's set of fishing lures.

Will they bring in a profit?

Interest here with me on commission at £10 commission bid.

15 online. 20 here.

25, commission's out. £25 online bed.

-Any advance on £25?

-25, go on.

Go on. Keep going.

Online bid, 25. And I'm selling if we're all done.

£25...

Only a loss of £15.

Don't despair, Raj, you have bigger fish yet to fry.

Don't dwell on it. Just move on. You've got another four options.

You're so kind, James. You make me feel so much better.

Now, one for James, as his Oriental lacquered screen greets the room.

We will start this one at £30.

-£30.

-It'll make it. It'll make it.

I'll take 20 if it helps. £20.

-Oh, dear.

-Surely there must be 20?

-Hey, your dreams are coming true.

-I'll take ten then.

£10.

At £10.

-Turning into a nightmare.

-£10 I have online.

-15 now.

-Here we go.

-Still online.

-Keep going.

-I will sell then if we're all done.

No, 20. £20. Any advance?

-25.

-Oh, dear.

£25 there. Settling there and I'm selling.

Fair warning now. If we're all done then at £25...

30. Fresh place in the room. Thank you.

-Blimey.

-Any advance on that 30?

And I'm selling, if we're all done. Fair warning now.

£30. All done then at 30.

Only a £20 loss. Dear, oh, dear. That wasn't expected, was it?

No.

Not the best start for Mr Braxton either,

but there's everything still to play for.

That was the lot I thought you were going to make loads of money on.

-I mean, that's a really nice thing.

-Nice thing.

Raj is next to try his hand, as his cribbage board is up.

Start this one with a quick start, £10.

-Yeah, come on. Straight in.

-Ten I have in the room here at £10.

Any advance at £10?

-Not a loss.

-15 online.

-£15 then.

-One more.

Are we all done? I'm selling then, if we're all done.

Fair warning now at £15.

It's a profit.

I didn't think I'd be saying this,

but that was the first profit of the day.

First profit of the day.

Indeed it is. Well done, Raj.

You must be a little bit depressed with your screen.

I know, I can tell. I already know your smiles.

OK? You've got one smile which is really happy, made lots of money.

Then you've got that other smile, haven't made a penny yet.

Very sad.

But James has a chance to turn that around with his Kashmir table.

We'll start here with a commission bid.

-£20 commission bid.

-£20.

£20, that's good.

How prophetic it is. Good.

25, thank you.

30, 35, 40.

45, 50.

55, 60.

65, commission is out. £65.

Any advance at £65?

That's more like it. Keep going. Keep it coming.

All done then. And selling. Fair warning now. £65.

That's a nice little earner for him.

You've got to be pleased with that. That's a really...

-Oh, it's nice.

-Yeah, yeah.

It's nice to have your tastes ratified by a larger public,

-isn't it?

-RAJ SIGHS

The dictograph is next.

Will it ring in a profit for Raj?

I have interest here with me on commission.

I can go straight in with a commission bid of £10.

Oh, God. I don't like it when he says that.

-But it's only the start.

-15 online.

20 with me. 25, 30.

-Well done.

-35, 40.

40.

On commission then and selling if we are all done. 45.

Your mate's woken up, see.

You've got a friend there. You've got a friend.

Wiped your smile off your face.

I can't tell you. You've made my auction here.

Thanks indeed to the bidder in the room, that's a real winner.

-How much did that make again, James?

-Sorry?

-Did you catch that?

-How much did it make?

-Yeah, 45.

45, lovely.

And the man of taste sitting there, 40.

There was a few people online as well. Don't you have a go at this

man next to me.

I should jolly well think not.

James' Art Deco lamps now tries to light the way to riches.

Let's go straight in at £10.

-Oh,

-£10. £10 I have online.

15, 20.

25, 30.

35, 40.

Thank you anyway. £40 online bid. Any advance there?

Give your mate a nudge.

I will sell then to the online bidder.

If we are all done then at 40.

£40.

I do wish I could walk into a shop and buy an Art Deco lamp for £40.

You walked into a shop and bought it for £30, to be fair, James.

Based on what we've sold so far, the copper pan will make a loss

and my fire bucket will make a loss.

If you carry on like this, I actually am going to buy,

there is a violin coming up and I'm thinking of buying it.

Serenade me.

HE IMITATES PLAYING VIOLIN

Chin up, chaps.

As the pipe which took Raj's fancy tries to smoke out some buyers.

We'll start this one at £20.

-£20.

-So cheap.

-£20 anywhere?

-25.

-25.

30, 35.

Yeah, well done. Steady work.

In the room then at £35...

-40.

-40?

-Fresh place.

-45.

-45.

-Thank you anyway.

And I'm selling if we're all done then.

Fair warning now, £45.

Well done.

Well done, very good.

James has piped down as that lot strikes gold.

Well, that lot didn't go up in smoke, did it?

Listen, I'll do the jokes, thanks, Raj.

This sizeable copper pan now for James.

20 I have, at £20.

Here in the room. 25 online.

30.

35.

40.

Here in the room then and selling if we are all done, at £45.

45.

That cops a loss, sadly.

Could've melted it down for more.

I mean, these are lovely pans, but to be honest,

they're quite decorative more than unusable.

I mean, people these days, they want nonstick, don't they?

Nonstick! Don't give me nonstick.

Nonstick...

Tell you how you get nonstick, is you stand over the pot

and occasionally use a wooden spoon.

That's how things don't stick.

Thanks, Delia.

Raj has one last chance to shine now with his brass mirror.

I'll go straight in here with a commission bid of £30.

-Commission bid.

-£30.

-Any advance on £30?

35 online.

40 here with me.

Online is quite busy, isn't it?

45, 50.

45, 50, 60.

I will sell to my commission bid at £50 if we're all done.

At 50...

Well done.

You see, steady work, Raj.

You've come out smelling of roses, really, haven't you?

How many profits?

-Four?

-Four.

-Wow.

You don't sound at all jealous, James.

Another one to Raj.

Well, you came in very confident.

-I did, I did.

-You liked your items.

I liked my items.

And as if to cement his less than stellar day,

now, it's James' dingy fire bucket.

I have interest here on commission, at £10 commission bid.

-£10. Straight in.

-Any advance then at £10?

-Hey, look.

-Oh, my man.

-25, 30.

-Oh, my God.

-I don't believe it! No.

-35, 40.

45, commission's out.

-£45.

-£45!

At £45...

45.

-Goodness.

-Talk about blaze of glory.

Well done. £45. God.

-Anyway, OK, that put my flame out, didn't it?

-Yeah.

An unexpected run on the bucket cheers James right up.

On the very last lot.

After you.

So, let's do the maths.

James began this leg with £471.90.

After auction costs, he made an unfortunate loss.

£29.50.

Leaving him with £442.40 to carry forward.

Don't look so gloomy.

While Raj has clinched victory.

He started with £432.66.

After auction costs, he made a profit of £17.60

and leaves today with £450.26.

So, he is today's victor and has narrowly stolen James' lead.

Well done.

It couldn't be closer now.

-I mean, you were in front.

-You've taken it.

I know, but only just. So, what a last leg we're into.

-What a last leg. You sound like Mo Faro.

-Or even Mo Farah!

As long as I come back with a gold, I'll be happy, all right?

Tripping over at the beginning and now you're racing ahead.

For the moment, I'm going to run round the back of the car,

so you can drive me away from here. OK?

Oh, it'll be my rather grudging pleasure I think, Raj.

Shouldn't have happened with my lots.

It really shouldn't have happened.

That's the luck of the saleroom, James.

Onto the final trip, eh?

Cheerio.

On the next Antiques Road Trip, it's James and Raj's final showdown.

If Raj is keen to win, I'm keener to beat him, OK?

As the competition really heats up.

I know what James is up to. I know what he's up to.