Episode 5 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.

Why do I always do this to myself?

There'll be worthy winners...

Give us a kiss!

-..and valiant losers.

-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!

Crikey O'Reilly!

It's the very last outing with our adventuring auctioneers

Charles Hanson and Catherine Southon.

And after a week of trekking about, we're up north.

-This is Yorkshire land.

-You've brought me to Yorkshire!

You might even call me a Yorkshire lad, actually.

You're from Nottingham,

you're from Derby, now you from Yorkshire.

Where else are you from?

When you actually sort of maybe annotate the word "northern..."

You do talk some rubbish, Charles.

True. Harsh words, though.

Northern lad and dapper chap Charles has been scouring for treasure

this week with some top antique-ing.

Oh, thank you very much.

But his old foe Catherine isn't larking about,

and she's on a run of form she doesn't want to stop.

Love it! Love it! Love it!

Seems the mood is friendlier than ever.

Yes, we are closer as friends, but certainly, on a financial footing,

you've taken two or three big steps in recent days.

I have. Does that upset you, Charles?

No, because I want to be with you.

Oh, Charles, you're so romantic!

-Thank you very much.

-Talk to me, dear!

Crikey Moses!

Well, things have been hotting up this week.

Starting out with £200,

Catherine has a highly respectable £431.60

tucked away in her back pocket.

But way out in front,

Charles has built his original stake to a stonking £735.

Well done, that man. He's learned everything from me.

Modest. With lots to play for,

our pair are winging around the country in their sporty MGB GT.

I used to have one of those.

In some respects, Yorkshire is almost the capital of the North.

-Isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yes, it is.

-I feel there'll be lots of tea drinking today and dunking biscuits.

-Tea drinking. Absolutely right.

This week our biscuits dunkers have been ambling their way north,

blasting around the Midlands,

and now they're heading towards Congleton in Cheshire

where the trip concludes, after more than 700 miles.

They kick off this deciding leg in Elsecar in Yorkshire,

before darting across to that ultimate Cheshire auction.

But the big thrill today

is the chance to start their shopping together.

Now, no fighting, you two.

This is all supposed to be lovey-dovey and fun.

-It's quite small.

-Doesn't matter. Look, I can see a sign

and it says, Catherine, "Elsecar Antiques, enter here."

Is there enough for both of us?

-Yes.

-Are you sure?

-Looks quite small.

-Isn't this lovely?

-Oh, I see, it goes back.

-Look at the enamel signs.

# Show me the way Show me the way! #

Charles looks keen, and Catherine looks intense.

There's plenty of cabinets full of collectables, enough to go around.

Now, who's first to find something?

Oh, look at these!

Aren't they the most gorgeous things you have ever, ever seen?

A pair of hand-stitched gloves for...

Must be a doll, they can only be for a little doll.

Aren't they gorgeous?

In the Victorian era, they wanted their children to have their dolls

and they wanted their little dolls to be wearing the same things

that the little girls were wearing,

these beautiful little handmade leather gloves.

£78 seems a huge amount of money,

but I might buy these because they're so adorable.

Ooh, this is lovely, lovely, lovely!

Hang about - there's more.

Again, this is going to be for a doll.

And this is ivory and silk.

Isn't that super? For a dolly.

How funny is that? That's brilliant.

Whilst ivory may not have many FANS...

this Victorian piece was made long before the 1947 CITES agreement

making it legal to sell in the UK.

Right, what else?

Now, that looks interesting.

"Short account of the anatomical arrangement and functions

"of the various organs of the human body."

Lovely.

So you've got the chest organs, the abdominal organs,

all the muscles, all the ligaments, the bones...

What's on that?

£38.

It's rare if it's complete.

There's no stopping her this morning.

One cabinet down and three things to think about.

What we have got is really good, rare antiques.

And he's just gone off and he's just buying

an everyday, run-of-the-mill item, and I'm here with the classy finds.

Let's see, shall we?

"Four pieces of iron cannon grape shot, circa 1640.

"Found near the Civil War siege town of Newark in Nottinghamshire in 1972

"from the period when the forces of Charles I

"fought those of Oliver Cromwell."

And these four were found in Newark,

shot when our country was in turmoil.

Cromwell took the country into a republic

and Charles I lost his head.

I mean, they're only £65.

And to me, they're full of history.

I'm going to buy these.

Well, Carl's in charge today.

What's the best price, Carl, on this lot?

Er, the best I can do is 55.

-You couldn't do 50?

-I'm OK doing 50.

I just cannot turn away from real history.

I'll take them. Thank you very much.

-£50.

-Thank you very much, Charles.

-For such real history,

and these balls might just roll away at the auction.

A cracking spot, and Charles is off the mark.

Hold on, deja vu, anyone?

Am I seeing things? There's some more.

These are more and these were also found in a field in Newark in 1972,

four more pieces of iron cannon grape shot

from the mid-17th century.

Yes, we've definitely been here before.

Time for Carl again.

You did take away the four balls, didn't you?

-I did indeed, yeah.

-I found four more.

I might double up.

Can I spend £100 and buy eight balls?

So give you another 50 for these?

-Absolutely.

-I'll take them as well.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Carl.

Same deal twice over.

Well done, Charles.

And Catherine's venturing away from her favourite cabinet.

-Have you found something?

-I've found so much.

-Have you really?

-Yeah, so much history.

-Good. It's good.

-Have you found anything good?

I'm just... I'm just talking through

not just decades of history, centuries, baby.

Don't talk, don't talk, just do it.

-OK, I will.

-Yeah? Less talking, more buying.

-OK.

Sounds like a plan. Oh, he's off!

Outside.

Uh-oh!

Sometimes you see objects in antiques centres

and you get slightly excited by, not so much potential worth,

but where it came from, where it began life.

And what we've got here is almost a piece of sandstone

that's been carved with these figures, you wonder is it...

an embellishment off a cathedral, is it English?

Ohh!

And it's very heavy.

And look at the carving down here, you've got a seated figure,

and it's just a very speculative, quite magical piece of old stone.

It's probably 16th or 17th century.

It could make 50, it could make £1,000.

That's exciting.

Is it worth a punt?

Yes, but at the right price.

It could well be a 17th-century cathedral embellishment,

but then again it might not.

No ticket price. Time for a chat with Carl. Come on, Carl.

-There's a very interesting object outside.

-Right.

It's that stone statue.

-Where did it come from?

-It came from an old mill in Batley.

What could be the best price, just because it's just...

a sleepy object?

The absolute best, best, best price for Charles Hanson is £500.

Oh, God, Carl!

Blimey!

Well, you mull that over. What's Catherine up to?

Eye-eye!

I spy with my little eye one of these very nice, early, glass...

I think that is glass, yeah, glass eye.

And if you think about our eyes and the different types of colours,

we've not all got blue eyes or brown eyes,

there's so many different tinges and things, and look at this, here.

The glass has all been painted, and you've got a sort of almost...

Would you call that a hazel-y yellow colour?

I suppose you would.

I have no EYE-dea.

It could be third-quarter 19th century.

They've got £30 on that.

I'm tempted by that as well.

Brilliant. I hope Charles isn't having the same amount of luck.

Well, negotiations on that stone carving are still ongoing.

If I said 380, would that swing it?

I've got a three in front of it instead of a four.

I really appreciate that offer. You want it gone, don't you?

-I would like it gone, yeah.

-It's gone.

-Thank you very much.

Crikey, Charles, bold move.

One shop down, three lots bought, and £480 spent.

-See you, Carl, bye.

-Thank you, bye-bye.

-See you.

While our big spender makes off with the car,

Catherine's back at the cabinets.

Oh, that's cute.

Is this yours, sir?

-It is.

-I like your little piggie cookie cutter.

-Yeah.

-I know it's only a bit of metal,

but isn't that lovely, to be in the shape of...?

Yeah, I think it's like folk art, it's handmade.

-Yeah.

-And it's stood the test of time, so...

It's a really pretty thing.

It's lovely. So you press in, you get your bit of biscuit...

-Yeah, yeah.

-Or pastry, and then you push it out with these little holes.

I like that.

£28.

But I feel that needs something to go with it,

rather than being on its own, maybe we could buy

another couple of biscuit moulds.

-Yeah.

-That's a nice one.

-Oh, that's lovely, with a strawberry, there.

-Yeah.

Biscuit or butter?

Butter stamps were used to decorate freshly made butter.

But this could just as easily be a biscuit stamp.

Worth a shot? Or a pat?

-What price have you got on that?

-I have got 48.

Would you accept 40 for the two?

-Go on!

-Yeah.

-Would you?

-Yeah.

-You didn't hesitate on that one!

-Is that OK, £40 on that?

-Yeah, yeah. Yeah, fine.

-I'm going to shake your hand. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

And she's up and running.

But with a stack of other things under consideration,

Carl's been on the phone to the vendors.

What's on offer?

The eye and the book, we can do £45.

I'm happy with that. We'll go for that,

-I'm happy with the book and the...the eye.

-Yeah.

Eye-eye! That leaves the doll's fan and gloves.

Absolute best, best we can get to on those is 110.

I do really love those gloves.

I'm very tempted.

I'll take it on me own back, I'll do an extra £10 discount,

so the gloves and the fan, 100.

I can't say no to that, can I?

-Having a deal?

-I'm going to do a deal with you.

Thank you very much.

Hey, it's all happening this morning.

Catherine parts with £185 and bags an armful of items.

Now, how's life on the road?

There was a man called Hanson, who once took a chance.

In Yorkshire he did find a piece of Chippendale to dine on,

and the Chippendale made £1 million.

You never know.

If you say so, Carlos.

Our wandering wordsmith is heading for Doncaster.

The town's rich link to the railway industry is remembered in one of

the most fascinating and rarely seen collections in the country.

Trustee David Rogerson is meeting Charles

at the unlikely venue of a local school.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-You must be David.

I am. Welcome to Doncaster Grammar School Railway Collection.

-Charles Hanson.

-Nice to meet you.

-Can't wait to see in here.

Come on in!

As lines opened and expanded during the mid-19th century,

Doncaster became a crucial stop

between London and the industrial North-East.

-Did it really transform Doncaster?

-Oh, absolutely and completely,

particularly when the plant works came a few years later,

and they started building carriages and wagons,

and later on, locomotives in Doncaster right in the centre.

The whole area of Doncaster was built just for the railwaymen.

It was a game-changer for local people, but also for the children.

2,500 locomotives were produced in Doncaster,

including the most famous of all, the Flying Scotsman.

Railway fever engulfed the town.

The children who attended Doncaster Grammar

were particularly caught in the excitement.

Hidden on the roof of their school is a secret entrance,

hidden behind which... Well...

So, here we are, there's a black door, David.

Have a look what's inside.

It's incredible. I cannot believe the quantity

of everything you can imagine...

It is just quite overwhelming, isn't it?

How, within a 1930s school, did this collection begin?

Because the boys were interested in railways,

they formed a railway society.

-How long ago was that?

-1936, I think.

Over the years, the enthusiastic society members

saw their collection take over the school's cramped attic space.

After the Second World War, it really took off as a club.

And that's the Railway Society members in 1949.

That's amazing.

One pupil, a lad named Tony Peart,

became largely responsible for filling this incredible space.

He was 16 at the time,

and he was writing to all the chief mechanical engineers round Britain

because, then, they were just beginning to scrap things,

but nobody realised that they had any value,

so he wrote to the chief mechanical engineers and said,

"Have you got anything interesting to send me?"

And they did.

They certainly did. Around 2,000 items.

From locomotive nameplates to more unusual railwayana

are crammed into the school's attic.

What's this peculiar thing?

This...was an eyesight tester

to make sure that the driver could see where he was going, basically!

-Isn't that wonderful? And that piece of turned wood...

-Yes.

This must, I suppose, date back to late-Victorian times,

and, of course, I suppose... Yes, you're quite right,

if you're going to an optician's, via the railway test,

you'd be looking to make sure you pick up the signals, I suppose.

Absolutely right. That's what it was for.

And just looking around, I mean...

I almost dare not touch anything in case the whole lot falls down.

Believed to be the largest private collection of railway memorabilia

in the country, it's certainly a tight squeeze.

There's a load more stuff in here.

There we go. Goodness me!

It's just... It's not so much the collection,

it's how somebody can actually put it up!

In 1936, the distinguished railway engineer Nigel Gresley

sent the society something that became one of the earliest

and most cherished items in their fledgling collection.

He sent the society a picture of his latest locomotive, the Silver Link,

which is signed Nigel Gresley.

It's so Art Deco, it's all about speed,

high living and that wonderful loco.

This man, Sir Nigel Gresley, was pretty important.

Oh, extremely important.

Not only did he build the Flying Scotsman, he also built,

in this class of locos, Mallard,

and Mallard, of course,

has the world speed record for a steam loco, built in Doncaster.

The engineering excellence of the town was proven

when the Mallard broke that speed record in 1938,

but today, the schoolboys' affectionate collection of items

from the age of steam is a humble celebration

of Doncaster's lasting contribution to the rail industry.

Although I'm in a car, I'd better get steaming.

-'Fraid so.

-Thanks a lot.

-I've really enjoyed that. I'll be steaming later.

-I'll see you.

# Take me right back to the track

# Yes! #

Elsewhere, Catherine's down the road in the village of Thurnscoe,

where she's gone for a gander around a great big barn of a place.

-Hi, I'm Catherine.

-Hello, Catherine, I'm Christine.

-Hi, Christine.

-Welcome to Harrison's Antiques.

Right. I feel I should buy something big.

-Big?

-Yes.

-Right.

So, the word for today is "big".

There's a lot of big furniture down here.

-Yeah.

-Big, big, big. OK.

I probably won't buy any sort of big pieces of furniture

because it's just not me, to be honest with you.

Big. But not furniture.

Any thoughts?

I'm tempted to have a look at your smalls.

-Right.

-So to speak.

-The smalls are all in the cabinets.

Right.

There's some silver. What are you looking for?

I'm interested in that, your card case.

It's not big, but it's a lovely bit of silver.

Tell us more, Catherine.

It is actually a really nice quality card case,

and when you open it up inside,

this little piece is actually a piece of ivory,

and that's actually a little aide-memoire,

so you could write down,

with your pencil, who you'd perhaps seen that evening,

or perhaps just a little place to make a note.

Like the doll's fan earlier, this ivory is pre-1947,

meaning it's legal to trade.

But isn't that lovely there as well? You've got a propelling pencil.

Sadly it hasn't got a pencil in it, but we can't have everything.

Where would the fun be in that?

No ticket price. Thoughts, Christine?

I would say the best price I could do on that would be £35.

35. Would you take 30?

I'm not going to argue over £5, I'll take 30.

That's lovely, thank you. I like that.

Cor, you snapped that one up.

Catherine wraps up shopping for the day

with a less than giant silver card case.

Time for a bit of shut-eye. Nighty-night, you two.

It's a new day, and the final shopping expedition of this trip.

How's the mood this morning in the MGB GT?

We're quite peaceful now, in our association,

the South against the North.

You are quite a well-educated, well-mannered, sophisticated...

extravagant lady, and you might say I'm the opposite.

What do you want to borrow?

No, nothing, but I'm just saying...

-It's not money, cos I haven't got that.

-No.

Well, quite. Our pair flew out of the traps yesterday.

Catherine picked up a doll's fan and gloves,

an anatomy book and glass eye,

a biscuit cutter and stamp,

and a silver card case, leaving her just over £216 to spend today.

Charles made some big purchases,

splashing out on two lots of 17th-century cannon grape shot,

and a 17th-century stone carving,

leaving him £255 to shop with.

Look at these birds, look! They are little hen pheasants.

Hello!

Oh, look, Charles! They look a bit like you.

Why?

-Because they're sort of tall and thin.

-Thank you.

-They're youngsters.

-Come to Daddy!

Hardly.

Hoping to ruffle some feathers

in the antiques emporiums of Lincolnshire,

Charles is shopping in Grantham this morning,

and just look at him go!

Like Zebedee.

Oh, right...

It's always good to just be on all fours and go for a crawl

in an antiques centre, keeps you young as well.

If you say so, Charles. And wear out your knees.

What a shame.

On first impressions, he looked...

like a bronze Japanese fisherman,

but just by closing your eyes and handling him,

he's too warm, he's just slightly too moderate in temperature

to be bronze, so we know he's a base metal,

and furthermore to that we can just...

tell by the tap, tell by the weight,

he is spelter, he is only worth 36

rather than being bronze and worth more like 360.

Moving on.

This is what we call an oval basket, and this pierced basket...

I suppose was more made for decorative purposes only,

but you'll see...

It's quite tired.

You've got a rivet almost lacking here

in the latticework of the border of this basket.

That handle has been off, and it's been restored,

and it's described as a pretty 19th-century basket...

..with a wonderfully painted bloom of flowers,

but sadly you've got that chip,

you've got a restored handle, you've got a piece lacking,

but it's still here.

Food for thought.

We'll leave Charles to ponder them.

I wonder if city girl Catherine's yet got to grips with the MGB GT.

I'm not used to driving in the countryside,

I'm used to much bigger, wider roads.

But it's quite nice and peaceful.

Meg seems to be squeaking a lot. Meg, what's wrong with you?

Are you missing Charles?

Who wouldn't be? Back in Grantham, it's decision time.

Is the broken porcelain basket a goer?

It's described as 19th century.

I'm fairly happy it's 18th century,

and probably came from the Thuringian works in Germany.

Although it's been restored, it's quite a rare item.

So I think what I might do is go to the counter and ask them

about the basket, and see if they can do me a deal on the £19.

Well, dealer Sharon is on hand to help.

Time for the Hanson charm.

What's the best price on that, please, madam?

Beautiful painting.

To an old friend from Derby.

-12.

-12?

-Yeah.

£12 for a nice porcelain basket.

Thank you ever so much.

That's one more purchase made.

Charles, do be careful.

Zebedee.

In the meantime, Catherine has meandered to Leicestershire's

Belvoir Castle, residence to the Rutland family for ages.

It's also home to the grounds that would inspire the last great project

for the country's most revered gardener, Capability Brown.

However, his plans were lost for nearly 200 years,

and only a chance discovery has led to the Duchess of Rutland

fulfilling Capability Brown's vision.

-Good morning, your Grace.

-Hi, there.

-Catherine.

-Emma. Call me Emma.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you.

This looks wonderful. It looks wonderful.

Born Lancelot Brown,

his tendency to see the capability of each garden

earned him his nickname.

He transformed the 18th-century English landscape,

moving away from formal gardens

to capture a more natural, English style.

Why was he so important?

What he did, which really hadn't been done before,

is he looked at a landscape in a very different way.

Completely out of the box from anything we'd ever had before.

Today's notion of a beautiful English landscape

is largely of Capability Brown's making.

Some 270 gardens and parks are attributed to him,

including those at Blenheim, Burleigh and Chatsworth.

It took so long, with all these people digging and no diggers,

to put these landscapes in place

that I feel very lucky in that we here have one of his very last.

Brown died with his design for Belvoir unrealised.

It was then thought that his plans were lost in a fire in 1816,

so when they were discovered in 2003, the 200-year wait

for his visionary landscape could finally be brought to an end.

Well, this was his last great landscape.

To prevent copying, Brown rarely gave his plans to his clients,

so this discovery offers a rare insight into Brown's vision.

I call it the world of Belvoir

and, actually, what he's doing, he's framing the outside,

but there's an entire world within the middle,

so there's the river running down the middle of our valley

that we've just extended and done the last bit over there.

If you look from this spot here,

you'll see the river looks as if

it's running and disappearing down the valley.

Which is, I think, what he intended.

To fulfil the designs, the Duchess and her team

had to dig out huge lakes,

and plant around 100,000 trees.

There was one wood, to the top, do you see?

-Right.

-And that is where I put a nine-acre wood in,

to do the final bit of this landscape.

So I followed this map.

It's gold dust to me, too.

Finally, the last Capability Brown design has been laid out.

Where he imagined the entrance to the estate

offers a spectacular spot to enjoy his landscape.

Oh, gosh, there it is! Oh, this is stunning!

So, this is how, once upon a time, you should have seen the castle.

-That is the most beautiful view.

-Yeah.

That is such a wonderful entrance.

And why Mr Brown was so key in his designs

was because your eye was always being drawn to vistas,

and you're tempted by the leading of a plantation to go and look,

-do you see?

-Mm.

Brown created views to delight and entice,

and thanks to this incredible discovery, we can all now enjoy

another landscape masterpiece by Capability Brown.

Oh, I could stay up here for ever.

It is absolutely beautiful.

Back on the road, Charles has made his way to Navenby,

which boasts the aptly named Navenby Antiques.

-Hello.

-Hello, Charles.

-How are you?

-Very well.

-Nice to see you.

-Amazing.

It's amazing. We say this country's very small.

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

You have, you've been three times, now. Always pleased to see you.

It's nice to be wanted, eh?

Right, Charles, your last shop of the trip,

and £243 weighing you down.

This delightful urn, with these really rich enamelled flowers,

full of neoclassical influence

from the time of King George III, Robert Adam,

and this was made perhaps ten years before the French Revolution.

A lot of history for £25.

I'm scatty, I'm just pulling things out left, right and centre.

While Charles has been browsing,

Catherine's made her way to Melton Mowbray,

home to pork pies and Melton Antiques & Collectables.

This is her last chance to shop.

-Hello, there, I'm Catherine.

-I'm John, nice to meet you.

-Hello, John.

-This is Margaret.

-Hello, Catherine.

Hello, Margaret, you look lovely, wonderful dress.

So...what have we got here?

Lots of cabinets.

Your favourite. Lots to scour, and just over £216 to spend.

Duh-duh-duh-dooh... Ooh, that looks nice.

What's that? Going to have a look.

Little elephant.

Bronze elephant, that's heavy.

An elephant. With the castle on top.

Elephant and Castle.

And it's on this sort of quite heavy base and I would say

that that is maybe a paperweight or something like that.

That's just really nicely cast.

What's the price on it?

£65.

Certainly unusual. Right, John?

I have found...this.

-OK.

-Do you know anything about it?

It's from the Law Society in the Elephant and Castle in London.

And it would have been produced

to sit on the lawyer or solicitor's desk at some point.

I think it's charming.

It's a match holder. She seems keen. Time for John to call the vendor.

But Catherine's not done yet.

I've found something else.

I quite like that.

Now, so what have we got here?

We got...

an ashtray.

Like a rocking cradle.

And that, I think, is rather cute.

Yes, I think it's a cigar rest. It's a bit different.

£18, silver plate.

A real novelty ashtray.

I think that's a bit of fun.

While you were making the call, there was something else.

I was sort of strangely interested in this.

What would you do on that? I don't know if I want it or not.

We could do that for 10.

£8 discount, there.

And the vendor of the elephant is willing to accept £55.

What to do, then?

Shall we do a nice round 60 for the two? How's that?

-That will be fine.

-Yeah? OK. Fantastic.

That's £10 for the cigar rest

and £50 for the bronze elephant.

So, Catherine's all finished up.

How about Charles?

Look at this table. Just look!

Look at the frieze here.

You've got this gorgeous shell inlay,

which is also down here.

This chamfered leg,

which actually is cut in on the right angle,

confirms to me that this D end, although it's been repolished,

will date to around 1785.

If you sat round this table in 1785,

you may have been talking about King George III's mental health.

You could have been talking about the Seven Years War

that happened ten years ago, and I just feel I've got to go out

with a bit of a send-off, in my week.

It's priced at 595.

If you don't ask, you never get.

Talk about sticking your neck out.

It's gorgeous, but brown furniture, as we know, can be a gamble.

This looks serious.

There's that lovely D-ended dining table.

I like it a lot. It's priced at 595.

What's your absolute best price on it?

I've had it a while, I acquired it, well...

I would let you have it for £300.

I've got left over £243.

I'll tell you what, Charles, I'll have the 240,

you can keep the £3, how's that? And my margin's quite well, thank you.

So you're saying to me I can put that £3 back in my pocket?

-You can, yes.

-And you will take 240, and if you look at me truthfully

and say there's a margin and there's still money in it for you...?

There's a very good margin for me, Charles, thank you.

-I'll take it.

-You're a good man.

And that leaves me £3 left over.

And all to play for in my grand finale.

What a way to finish, eh?

How exciting! Charles takes a chance with his George III dining table,

which he adds to his 17th-century grapeshot,

which he keeps separate from another lot of grapeshot.

A 17th-century stone carving

and the porcelain basket completes his lot.

All of which cost him a total of £732.

Catherine's spent £275 on a doll's fan and gloves,

the anatomy book and glass eye,

the biscuit cutter and stamp,

the silver card case,

the bronze elephant match holder,

and the silver-plated cigar rest.

But what do they make of each other's lots?

Can't believe Catherine bought

a silver card case aide-memoire for £30.

If it doesn't treble up and make nearer £100, I'll be very surprised.

I'm in trouble.

Charles's carving, he calls it 17th century.

There's something about it, I'm not sure what,

but it looks a bit odd to me.

I admire him for spending that amount of money,

and only time will tell.

Yes. But time for this road trip is fast running out,

as our eager pair make their way

to their final auction

in Congleton in Cheshire.

It's been a week to remember.

-Aww!

-A week... Really, Catherine, I would say

you're a fairly high-class lady, you like fine things,

and you like quality and that's why I was quite impressed

that you liked me as well.

I'm not going to say too much, cos it will go to your head,

but I shall miss your little fidgety moments.

Blame it on the boogie and all of that.

I shall miss the shimmies, the dancing, the movements.

-Yeah.

-You know, I'll miss it all, Charles.

There's still plenty of drama to enjoy, though.

Congleton has been home to this firm of auctioneers since the 1930s,

and today they play host to Charles and Catherine's final auction.

-Will we conquer?

-I don't know, this is the end!

-The end!

-I know! It's nigh!

Neil Ashley is the man in charge of the gavel.

What does he make of our pair's offerings?

The doll's gloves and fan, quite a quirky and cute little lot.

Should get quite a bit of interest on those.

We put an estimate of £50-£80.

The George III D-end mahogany dining table.

As a whole, dining tables are not fashionable any more.

We think it'll make £200-£300,

which is a fraction of what it would be worth 15, 20 years ago.

Oh, dear! Well, let's find out

what the audience in the sale room think of it all.

There's only one, two, three, four... Maybe 35 people.

-And that's daunting.

-Petrifying, in some ways.

-Yeah.

Let's not dwell on it. First up is Catherine's bronze elephant.

20? £20 bid.

-It's bronze!

-£20 bid. Five.

-Hand over there.

-30. 30 bid, 30 bid. Five.

-40.

-£40. Five.

-Come on!

-50.

-You've broken even.

-50 I'm bid.

-Take it on the right.

-That's good.

-£50, £50...

-Come on!

-At £50...

In defence, he sold it. That's OK.

Not a flying start, but not a loss.

Nothing to trumpet about.

I'll take that.

What's next?

Glad you asked. It's Charles's porcelain basket.

-£10 bid. 15.

-Come on!

-Yes!

-20.

-Go on!

-£20 bid. Keep going.

-Come on!

-20 bid. Five.

-We're in Congleton!

-30. £30. £30.

-Don't leave it now.

-That's it!

-£30, £30, hammer's up.

I sell, then, at £30...

You feel like you're just being hit in the chest.

He's so hard with that gavel, isn't he?

The nice profit makes a good start for Mr Hanson.

There's a lot more to come. How do you feel?

This is only the beginning, I'm exhausted!

I'm nervous. Now, how will the doll's gloves and fan fare

for Catherine? Fingers crossed.

20? £20 bid.

£20 bid, £20 bid, £20. Five. 30 on the front row.

-35.

-Go on!

40. £40 bid.

-Come on!

-£40 bid, £40...

-Come on!

-No, don't leave it.

-Their hands are too big.

-With £40 bid, I sell, then, at £40...

Oh... Charles. I loved them.

They were a real find, and someone here has got a real bargain.

-The gloves are off, now.

-The gloves are off.

-That isn't the best start.

-No.

-Hey...

-It's OK.

Yeah, that's it, look for the positives.

Next up is the first of Charles's grapeshot lots.

We've got a commission bid of £10 only.

£10 bid. 15. 20.

-Five.

-Come on!

-25. 25, 25, 25...

The bid's on the right, and I sell and make no mistake, at 25...

MJ 0325.

Next lot is...

It was over in a flash and that's a tough one to take for Charles.

I feel like I've been hit by a ball in my chest.

Bad luck. Let's hope

Catherine's anatomy book and glass eye isn't as painful.

-Commission bids, £10, £15.

-Wow!

-£15, 20.

-Five.

-Keep going!

-It's selling.

-30. Five.

-Shut up!

-35? You're all out in the room. 35, the bid's with me.

-£30.

-Keep going, keep going.

-£30 I'm bid, 35?

35? All out in the room, you lose, I sell, then, at 35.

The early optimism seems to be waning.

Another loss for Catherine.

-Shall we hold hands for the next one?

-There we go.

Well, it's worth a try.

What are the chances it's second time lucky for Charles's grapeshot?

Commission bids with me at £10 only.

-£10!

-15, 20.

-Come on!

It'll go with the last.

£20 bid. Don't lose it!

22, I'll put you in. 22.

-Good lad.

-22.

-22 bid.

22 bid.

-Still cheap, commission's out.

-It is cheap.

22, make no mistake, at 22...

It's not a lot of money for a piece of history, is it?

But another loss for Charles.

-It's gone.

-I love you, Charles.

-Thank you very much.

At least you have each other, eh?

Now, time for Catherine's biscuit cutter and stamp.

£10 bid. £10 bid. At £10, bid.

15. 20. Five. 25.

25, and it's on the right. 25, I'm bid. 25 bid.

25, our bid, 25 with the bid, 25.

Hammer's up, if you lose, I sell, make no mistake at 25...

Crumbs! It's not cutting it today.

We're not doing very well, here, are we? It's the end of the road.

We've had a wonderful week,

and this obviously is just how sometimes it ends,

it can be a bit of a dampener, but...

-Come on!

-We've got the big ones to come.

Yes, Charles spent big on his stone carving, but will it pay off?

-Good luck, my friend.

-Thanks for the memories.

I've got a £100 commission bid. £100.

£100. 120. 150.

200. 220.

-Charles!

-250. 280. 300.

-Charles!

-£300.

-It is worth all of those, Catherine, and more.

-£300. Ten, if you like?

310. 310. I am going to cash it.

At 310 I sell, make no mistake, at 310.

-Oh... You did...

-It's "ching-ching" for him, but it's...

..bust for me.

That big loss for Charles takes a sizeable chunk from his lead.

-I lost £70.

-We can relax, now.

I was more nervous than you.

Perhaps a chance for Catherine.

Her cigar rest is next.

-£10 bid. 15, if you like?

-Come on.

At £10 bid, at £10 bid, £10 bid.

At £10 bid. At £10, £10...

-Oh, come on!

-Come on!

-Sat down, make no mistake...

-I'm going to cry like a baby now.

-At £10, bid.

-I'M going to cry like a baby!

-I'm going to cry for the memories.

-£10...

What can you say, eh? At least it's not another loss.

This is our finale.

Can I say thank you for a wonderful week?

-I've enjoyed every lot we've sold.

-Just wait till we get to the end.

Now, the gamble of the road trip - a George III table,

a lovely item Charles bought at a great price, but how will it do?

£100 bid. £100?

-120?

-Don't make a man cry!

It's such a good table! Come on!

-140. You're out?

-Roar us home!

-Come on!

-Come on!

-140.

140, I sell, then, make no mistake, I cash at 140.

He's cashed it.

Ouch! That's one gamble that didn't pay off.

-That is so cheap.

-Thank you.

It doesn't matter. Someone will enjoy it

and it will live for another 200 years.

Now's your chance, Catherine.

A profit is much needed for your silver card case.

20, 20 bid. 20 bid.

-Five. 25. 30.

-Come on, it's worth it.

-35. 40.

-Come on. It's worth £80.

-45.

-It's heavy!

-Go on!

-55.

-Go on!

-55, on my left. 55.

-55, 55, 60!

-It's a heavy thing.

-Keep going!

-Keep going! 65, 65 bid.

I'll take it on my right. 65.

-Don't lose it now.

-That's not bad, Catherine, that's OK.

-Come on!

-At 65, I sell...

-It's a heavy thing.

-At 65...

That's a profit.

More than doubling her money, Catherine ends on a profit,

but is it enough to win?

Time to find out.

Catherine started this final leg with £431.60.

After auction costs,

she made a loss of £90.50 giving her a final total of £341.10.

Charles spent almost all of his £735, and after costs,

made a painful loss of just less than £300,

leaving him with a final total of £435.14,

so, despite losing the day,

Charles holds on to take the Road Trip title this time.

Well done. All profits of course go to Children In Need.

-Ready?

-Ready.

-Let's go.

-Whoo!

-Let's go.

-Charles! Not that low!

-On your marks, get set...

-Go!

-Go!

-Yay!

Down to London!

Steady on!

It's been one hell of a week.

-You're a bit close for my liking!

-Thanks a lot!

There's been some sweeping successes.

Yay!

And some minor mishaps.

I've...lost my dog, now.

But in the end, there's been a lot of love.

-I think I need a kiss for that.

-Thank you.

Cheerio, chaps. You've been great.

-Keep going!

-Just indicate left,

I'm sure the car is on the left somewhere around here.

I'm sorry. Sorry!

Next time...

it's a brand-new adventure with Christina Trevanion and Mark Stacey.

I think that's your strategy, Christina, flirt, flirt, flirt.

OK. My strategy is going to be no flirting, no haggling.

HE LAUGHS