Episode 14 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antiques experts...

-What a job.

-..with £200 each...

-You with me?

-..a classic car...

Buckle up.

..and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.

-Ooh, sorry.

-Ha-ha!

The aim? To make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

There'll be worthy winners...

-Yes!

-..and valiant losers.

So, will it be the high road to glory...

..or the slow road to disaster?

-Have a good trip!

-SHE LAUGHS

This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah.

Hang about!

It's only the fourth leg of the road trip with auctioneer

Paul Laidlaw and dealer Margie Cooper.

Here we go.

Penultimate day!

Past the halfway point.

And I'm feeling quite happy this morning.

Hmm, positively perky.

This is the bit I like. I like the bit where we're just tootling about.

-I know.

-When auctions are behind us, shops are ahead of us,

but for now, no pressure, good company, hey - pleasant sunshine.

Sounds too good to be true.

From her original £200,

Margie now has...

Despite losing at the last auction,

Paul is still in the lead

with a kitty of...

-Ah!

-I was just relaxing into this, and

now I've got to put my game face back on.

Dust it off and put it on.

-Yes.

-And put up with your gloating.

Crumbs.

They're in a Morris Minor which was first registered in 1963.

Seems Paul's a bit hot under the collar this morning.

Yeah. I can see in my rear-view mirror now.

I thought I was leaving you behind at the start line!

Cheeky.

Our pair's road trip kicked off and Hemswell Cliff in Lincolnshire.

They will gallop around Yorkshire and take a spin around the Midlands

before concluding in Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

Today, our adventure begins in Chesterfield in Derbyshire,

and we end with an auction in Leicester in the East Midlands.

Well, we're going to kick off...

-Yeah.

-..in this, under the same roof, Margie, you and I.

-Oh, no.

-That's lovely, isn't it?

-It's nice to be together, isn't it?

-You, you hanging around!

"What's he looking at? What's he picking that up for?"

They're best friends, really.

Told you.

Hey!

And good job their first shop is big enough for the two of them.

Here we are. How are your jolliness levels?

Are they still high? In fact, adios.

I'm chomping at the bit.

No time for stragglers.

Come on. Let's go find some treasure.

Bossy, isn't he? Olympia House is an emporium full of traders

dealing their wares.

-Right, then.

-Right. I am going to peel off left, yeah?

-Oh, nice.

-Yeah.

-See you.

-See you later!

Don't follow me.

Right. What can you get your hands on in here, then, Margie?

Oh, God, I hate these things.

Keep calm and take any advantage you can of the situation.

He's geared up.

There's an English classic, and an English classic that's had a life.

That is the Windsor armchair.

A design that goes back to, certainly, the 18th century, and

characterised by the use of bent wood elements.

What on earth are you talking about, Paul?

I am talking about, for one, the hoop back there,

and this horseshoe arm.

How on earth do you bend that wood without snapping it?

Well, you steam it.

You steam it, makes it pliable.

That one there is going to be all of 150-year-old if it's a day.

It's priced at £50.

Sounds like a strong possible.

Look at that.

Bagatelle. Don't you know what...? It's a game.

And you put your balls in there.

Fire it, and then it's whoever scores the most,

where the ball lodges.

I rather like the look of that.

Popular in 19th century taverns, bagatelle originates from billiards.

I think that's got quite a good look about it.

But not for £30!

Oh, Paul looks pleased with himself.

Come on, you've got to love this.

That is a London Transport Company toy ticket machine.

This is a Clippy's ticket clipper.

And here we go, we're playing buses, come on, let's play buses.

Have you got your wee ticket?

Give me your ticket, ma'am.

Stick it in there and your ticket goes,

a bit of paper goes in there and we go click, click, and

a wee punch you've made. "There you go, see you later."

You don't buy sweets.

Is that not tremendous? I mean, is that not tremendous?

Certainly is. And I think you've played that game before.

Look at the price tag on this, a piece of nostalgia.

1950s/1960s, yeah, £8.

That's nothing. £8.

£8! And if you are a collector of transport memorabilia or toys...

..I'm sure that is a gift.

Whether it's for me remains to be seen.

And I'll tell you what, you'd be damned unlucky not to make money on that at auction.

Uh-oh. What's this?

Yeah. I just think it's nice to have interesting things.

And that's interesting.

I reckon that this must be 100 years old.

In the days where they docked horse's tails...

Cos let's face it, it's like having long hair, isn't it?

Tails were a flipping nuisance to be looked after, they all soiled up.

It feels great. It's very tactile...

..like these things are. It's part of our history.

I know it's gruesome, but it's part of what happened.

Horses, especially those used for hunting,

would have had their tails docked, a practise now illegal.

Horses have their tails plaited instead.

But it's £45, and I'm not buying it for £45.

Dealer Debbie is on hand to help our Margie.

Whose is this little bit, section?

-One of the traders.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, but I mean, he's put here, he's only knocking £4 off.

You know, I'd be looking to buy that much cheaper.

Cos it's... I don't know whether they'll even...

-You know?

-I don't know, I just think they're really unusual.

-Yeah.

-They're not something that you would see every day.

-No, I absolutely know that.

Ooh, we've got an interloper.

There's big business going on here.

You need any mirrors? Would you like windows?

-It's all frosted. Makes you look better.

-Oh, I like his beard.

-I think it suits him.

-He looks very handsome.

I'm having a job to keep my hands off him.

Are you, really? I would be, too.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

I am, in a minute.

Control yourself, ladies. I think we all need to calm down.

Let's get back to business, eh?

Er...30 quid.

32.

-I've obviously got to do the best for the trader.

-I know.

-I understand that.

-So...

Oh, go on. Let's go for it.

-32.

-Yeah. Thank you.

-Fabulous.

-Yeah.

And while we're at it...

Debbie, what about this bagatelle?

Well, unfortunately, it's only just come into the shop last week.

And I have been told I can only knock £5 off,

which would make it 25.

Aw! Can't it just sneak under 20?

20 would be the bottom line on it.

OK, I'm not going to argue any more.

-Yes. OK?

-Right, so that's two items.

Margie has spent a total of £52.

Now, is Paul still playing at buses?

-Is it Sophia?

-It is.

Good to see you. I'm Paul.

Nice to meet you.

Very nice to be here. I've recced your joint.

Have you found something?

Yeah, a piece of frivolity but it is charming.

One wee vintage toy, tin-plate Clippy's machine...

-Yes.

-..with a modest price tag.

I hate to haggle over such modest sums but, somehow,

I dig deep and I find the stamina to do so.

Right.

Is there anything can be done on that price tag?

Could that be a fiver?

It can't be five.

-What can it be?

-It can be six.

-It is six, then.

-Yeah.

-There we are. Easy.

-Easy peasy.

Lemon squeezy.

But what about that charming Windsor armchair?

My offer is 35.

I can ring them and ask them.

-Would you?

-Yeah. Anna, it's Soph.

Would you accept £35 on that Windsor chair in your space?

-ON PHONE:

-Yeah, that's fine, yeah.

-Yeah? That's great stuff. Thank you.

-All right.

-All right, thanks, bye.

-Bye.

35 it is.

Easy peasy!

Great result. Two lots for auction.

£6 for the toy clipping machine

and 35 for the lovely Windsor armchair.

Ooh! I like that.

Meanwhile, Margie has made her way to the town

of Bakewell in Derbyshire.

She must have been behaving herself, because look where she's headed.

The lavish Chatsworth House.

It may seem like the unlikely inspiration for today's global

banana industry, but the majority of bananas eaten in the Western world

are directly descended from a plant grown in a hothouse on this very

estate, 180 years ago.

Yes, really.

-Hello.

-Welcome to Chatsworth.

-Thank you very much.

-Come on in.

-Great.

Head gardener Steve Porter is going to tell us more about the

green-fingered genius that made it all happen, Joseph Paxton.

So, Steve, I know Joseph Paxton was a famous gardener,

so how did he come to be in Chatsworth?

Well, he was spotted by the sixth Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick House in London,

where the sixth Duke had a home.

-Yeah.

-And he was obviously really impressed by Paxton, because in

1826, he offered him the job of head gardener here at Chatsworth,

and Paxton was only 23 at that point.

The talented gardener continued to impress with several incredible

creations, including the Emperor's Fountain,

which was twice the height of Nelson's Column.

But his experimentation in

glasshouses was the beginning of his fascination with tropical fruit.

As the years went on, he got more adventurous, and the glasshouses got

bigger and they got different shapes.

And he also worked with engineers to

develop bigger panes of glass and different ways of arranging the

glass so the light levels were better.

And this pioneering work with hot houses would be a fruitful project.

South-east Asian farmers first domesticated the banana, but Paxton

came across a specimen imported from Mauritius.

Wow! Gosh.

Amazing place.

-Warmer in here.

-Yeah!

The crowning glory, really, is the Cavendish Dwarf banana and the

Cavendish banana's named after the family here, the Cavendish family.

And Paxton, back in 1836, had obtained the plant and he bought

it here and he cultivated it. And he got it to flourish and flower and fruit.

And it was a huge success, so he was very proud

of this particular banana.

Some of Chatsworth's bananas were given to a missionary, John Williams,

who took them to the new colonies like Fiji and Tahiti.

The Cavendish Dwarf banana prospered abroad.

Time for Margie to channel her inner David Attenborough.

Ooh!

I feel as though I'm in the jungles of Borneo.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So how many crops do you get?

It varies from year to year.

Some years, like this year, we'll have six or seven bunches,

but the bunches have 100 bananas on, maybe, so, you know,

600 or 700 bananas.

Some years, we have much less.

But these are probably the plants that Paxton were growing.

Because they don't produce seed.

You can't produce them from seed. You have to take a bit of the plant

and grow it again, so there's every chance these plants have just been

perpetuated over the years.

-So we've got to treasure these.

-Yeah.

55 million tonnes of Cavendish bananas

are grown annually worldwide.

That's a lot of bananas.

And is that the end of the story?

Well, no. In the 1950s,

a disease called the Panama disease came along and wiped out many of the

bananas around the world. Lots of the commercially grown bananas

were just wiped completely away.

Luckily, the Cavendish Dwarf was immune.

So the Cavendish Dwarf survived, carries on, and still produces most

of the bananas grown around the world.

And, to this day,

seems to be immune to the disease and seems to follow it on.

And it all started here.

It all started back here, in the 1830s.

With more than 100 billion bananas being munched every year,

it's truly wonderful that the success of the Cavendish Dwarf

banana is all down to a Chatsworth

gardener with a passion for hothouses.

Right, let's seek out Paul and the Morris.

Don't panic, don't panic.

I think Margie is going to get a bit overconfident.

I suspect she thinks she's back in the zone.

She's rediscovered her mojo and she's going to overstep the mark.

I hope!

Welcome to Sheffield.

The city of steel is the hunting ground for Paul's next antiques mission.

Dronfield Antiques is a family-run establishment.

-Is it Howard?

-Yes, it's Paul.

Good afternoon.

Paul's wallet is bulging.

He's got just over £366.

In the Gods!

Let me show you a scarce mirror.

It's all about the decoration, ornament, round and about.

The surmount incorporates a scroll with the welcoming message.

Look at this. "Welcome, welcome thrice."

Either side, we've got these pooti, or amarini, and then this pendant,

floral swagger, ribbon-tied swag.

It really is, it's a jewel, is it not?

A confection.

But it's going to be about 1870, let's say.

I think, frankly, if you want it,

if you've got the right corner of the hall for it, that's worth...

It's cheap at £150.

And not inexpensive at 250.

I kid you not.

What's it worth at auction?

All bets are off then.

But it's a good thing. I'm going to leave it at that.

You still don't like it, do you?

Trust me, it's a rarity.

And it's not priced.

Let's continue the foraging expedition.

You've got to ignore this.

That's the red herring, because what it's not

is an ornament to sit on a sideboard.

What it is is an ornament to go atop a flag standard and these were

carried by armies, going back to the year dot.

I put it to you that that is European

and probably, I would think,

if not a German state, Austrian, Imperial Austrian.

And date-wise,

I'm going to suggest the First World War and I think this is a trophy of war.

And someone took it home in their kit bag or whatever and got home and

thought, "Well, there you go.

"That's my little souvenir of war.

"What I'm going to do, take it down the cabinet-makers."

And they turned up this nice oak sockle to display it.

That is a fabulous object by any measure - and scarce.

It's ALSO not priced.

Let's seek out dealer, Howard.

Howard?

-Fabulous mirror.

-Nice, isn't it?

-Very unusual.

-Can we play the game as we do?

-Go on, then. Fire away.

-50 quid?

-Ugh!

No, I'd need a bit more than that.

I'll give you a bit more than that.

75 would buy it?

Another tenner off it.

65.

70 would be better, wouldn't it?

Now, what about the First World War flag standard finial?

20 quid.

85 the two.

-Have we got a deal?

-We've got a deal.

-Excellent.

Operation Antiques was a great success.

£70 for the Victorian cast-iron wall mirror, and 15 for the

First World War flag standard finial.

And that concludes today's shopping.

So what's it going to be, the usual?

I don't know what I fancy.

-What do you fancy?

-No idea, until the menu is brought out to me.

Wondered what they were talking about there!

Time for dinner, then, and some rest, so - nighty-night.

Wakey-wakey! Buckle up,

because we're back on the road for another fabulous day of adventure.

Our experts certainly scrub up well.

You're looking very smart today.

Why thank you, Margie.

You know, are you like a jeans man on your quiet days?

No, no, no. Sometimes tweed shorts

or, if I'm swimming, tweed trunks!

Well, you look very smart.

Well, you are very kind.

Blimey, they're polite.

That won't last, of course!

Let's refresh our minds of what our luvvies have bought so far.

Margie has two lots - the antique

horse-tail docker and the retro bagatelle.

I rather like the look of that.

Margie has £271.32 for the rest of the day.

Paul has four very different lots.

The Windsor armchair, the Victorian cast-iron wall mirror,

the First World War standard flag finial

and the child's Clippy machine.

You'd be dammed unlucky not to make money on that at auction.

£281.06 is the sum he's still got to play with.

Trackie bottoms?

Tartan trackie bottoms. I have a pair of tracksuit bottoms.

I wore them the one time I went to the gym.

That was a mistake, so I'm still paying that subscription!

I can't imagine him in joggers!

The Nottinghamshire town of Newark is next for Paul.

Albert Street Antiques Centre has over 50 dealers selling under its

roof, and Paul's got just over £280 to spend.

What have we here?

Eggs in a basket.

Yeah.

Label tells us John Grensell.

Silver-plated with pottery egg, salt and pepper.

So that wants to be a novelty cruet set, but where is the third pot?

Mustard, most likely.

My problem is...

..I don't think they belong together.

Because they're rattling all over the place, are they not?

Now, if you know your stuff,

there's one name you think about when you think about ceramic eggs.

James Macintyre and Co produced extremely finely decorated examples,

commonly silver-mounted as little scent bottles.

Perfumes. And they are a joy and they're somewhat valuable.

James Macintyre and Company were a great pottery

in the late 19th century

and even had William Moorcroft working there for a time.

What on earth is that staple doing there?

Well, that staple and that one there is holding it together.

Because the poor little pepper pot was dropped and the wee egg burst.

But someone thought this was so valuable, so precious to them,

that they had the repair carried out.

One to think about. Anything else?

I like that.

This is good fun.

It's also silver.

English silver, fully assayed, early 20th century.

Why am I looking at it?

Not because it's silver, not because it's an egg cup -

because it's an egg cup that has features

drawn from a Scottish object, the Quaich.

Yeah, you know what a Quaich is.

Distinctly Scottish drinking vessel.

It's also by luxury goods company Mappin & Webb,

which can trace its origins back to a silver workshop

-in the late 18th century.

-I like that.

It's got something going on.

I'm going to find Simon.

And have a wee conversation.

It's priced at £22.

Simon, how you doing?

-All right, you?

-Good, thanks.

Having a ball, having a ball.

One little early George V silver egg cup.

Before, a cabinet had a little cruet and two bird eggs in.

-Yeah.

-£22 and if we cut to the chase,

what could both lots be together?

Egg cup, eggs?

Yeah. £30 the pair.

15 and 15.

That's not daft.

-OK.

-Thank you, sir.

-Thank you.

-Wonderful.

That's a pretty unusual lot. Well done, Paul.

Let's join our friend Margie.

I'd like to spend a bit, buy something now.

I bought sort of weird quirky things yesterday.

Right you are!

The town of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire

is where she's motoring too.

There are 20 dealers in here.

Margie's got a lot of ground to cover and she's got over £270.

Flies!

Maybe owner Rich can point you in the right direction.

What is that?

That, Margie, is actually a honey separator.

Well, how amazing.

It looks like a bicycle chain.

It's quite interesting, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It came from a smallholding.

Can't remember where, but...

Do you know how it works?

Put your honeycomb in there.

-Yeah.

-Give it a whizz round.

Yeah.

Yeah?

-And it separates.

-Yeah!

Is there a tap or something down there, or...

The honey separator is priced at £110.

How did you value that?

Did you think of a number and double it?

Well...

Yes! If I'm honest.

She's having a great time.

What's next?

That's quite nice, isn't it?

Not English. It's got a good age.

Yes, I think it's a wine or a liqueur decanter.

Probably German, mid-19th century.

It's got this nice gold decoration here,

there's a nice young chap going through the forest.

An exotic sort of bird here.

More little birds.

Yes, it's a good-looking thing, isn't it?

I like that.

It's priced at £75.

Let's get Rich over.

I was thinking more in the way of...

-..like 45.

-45.

It's your lucky day today.

£45 and it's yours.

-All right.

-OK?

-Thank you very much indeed.

Right, I'm just going to have a final little click up here.

-OK.

-And see if I'm on for it.

-But thank you very much.

-No problem.

-Yeah.

So do I go for this or not?

Or...

I am thinking

about the honey separator as well.

Oh, blooming heck, Margie!

Now then, Margie. I've had a word with him, the gaffer.

-He's the gaffer, is he?

-Yeah.

Well, likes to think there is, anyway. Yeah, actually.

-It actually doesn't owe him that much.

-I didn't think it would.

Right. So, he says to you, £50.

-OK?

-Well, that's very good of him.

That's...!

That's a huge discount, Margie.

-Decision time.

-What if I had the two?

Could it be eased a bit more?

I'll knock you a tenner off.

Deal?

Yeah. Thanks very much.

-We'll do it.

-No problem.

I must be mad.

You have the patience of a saint, Rich.

Thank you for your generosity.

40 for the glass wine ewer and 45 for the honey separator.

Dear, oh, dear.

Next, Paul's Nottingham bound.

The city is home to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood but it is also the

birthplace of another hero, the father of the Salvation Army,

William Booth.

-Hello, Julie.

-Hello.

Curator Julie Obermeyer is going to tell Paul more about this great man.

150 years since its creation,

this Christian movement with the military flavour

has become one of the largest distributors

of humanitarian aid in the world.

What's the significance of this room?

Well, we're standing in the bedroom, where William Booth was born.

On the 10th of April 1829.

It's a fine Georgian residence, Sue.

What was his background?

-Was it well-to-do?

-You could say the Booth family were comfortably

well-off in terms of having enough food

and having comfortable surroundings.

But when William was 13, his father became bankrupt and suddenly

life took a very different turn.

William couldn't continue with his school,

because they couldn't pay for it any longer so he was taken out and

apprenticed to a pawnbroker in Nottingham

and that would've been a real change for a young William Booth,

because he would have seen destitution,

people living hand-to-mouth, feeding, you know,

back in each week just to try to make ends meet.

Life as a pawnbroker wasn't to be.

In his teens,

he had started attending a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Nottingham

and was so moved by his experiences there that, walking home one night,

he had a conversion experience and is decided to dedicate his life to

preaching the gospel.

In his mid-20s, Booth met Catherine, a fellow preacher.

The genesis of the Salvation Army began when they met like-minded

preachers within a group called the East London Revival Society.

13 years later, rebranding of the group took place,

thanks to Booth's son.

William was writing that the Christian mission

is a volunteer army,

waging a war against sin.

His son Bramwell overheard him and said, "Dad, I'm not a volunteer.

"I'm a regular."

And so, William struck out the word volunteer and put in the word

salvation, and the name really stuck since that time and it just gathered

momentum, this idea of an army.

The Salvation Army grew in popularity

but thanks to its abstinence policy,

publicans were up in arms.

Riots became commonplace.

Members were in danger and needed protection,

so a unique form of bodyguards were born.

It was a Methodist family, Charles Fry and his three sons,

and they just happened to all play brass instruments

which worked really well at obviously drowning out opposition

and hecklers and it sort of developed from there, really.

Almost really naturally all over the country within about four or five

years, you had up to about 400 Salvation Army bands

all over the country.

And on that note...

BAND PLAYS A CAROL ARRANGEMENT

Superb.

Gentlemen, that was fantastic and of course, now it's Christmas!

And it gets you there.

It's such a sound.

I've got to say, you've got the cool kit with the heavy artillery.

-What is that?

-It's a tuba. Do you want a shot?

Are you serious?

-Yeah.

-Come on! You're a gentleman.

Gentlemen, come on. Clearly, I'm a virtuoso here.

A natural talent. Set me up.

There must be a few bars of something you can play

to end with this.

BAND PLAYS

HE PLAYS A ROUGH NOTE

THEY CHEER

What a beautiful day.

I feel great. I feel very relaxed. The sun is shining.

Margie has made her way to Bolsover in Derbyshire.

Bolsover Antiques Centre, brace yourselves.

Our Margie is on the mooch.

I don't want to do handbags, do I?

With a little under £200,

she's got a decent amount tucked away in her purse.

The man in charge today is Andy.

Lovely.

Brass-bound, lovely bit of mahogany.

Is it mahogany?

I think it's rosewood.

Is it? Yeah, Oh, yeah.

It is. Look, I can see. I love rosewood, don't you?

-I do.

-It's a really good hardwood.

Yes, has it got a whatsit?

-Secret drawer?

-Yeah.

Pull one of these up.

Yeah. Pull one of those.

That one? Wahey!

They always fly out.

Good fun finding them. Put all your love letters in there, Andy!

Yeah. Don't get many of those.

Don't you? Ah, what a shame.

-I don't, either!

-I refuse to believe it, Margie!

This is an antique and legal to sell, but the international trade in

rosewood is strictly controlled.

-No sovereigns, unfortunately.

-No, how many people have left the deeds

-of their houses and things in there?

-True.

-Yeah.

Right, so how much is that?

I've got 120 on it.

It's a nice clean thing, isn't it?

It's nice. Thank you.

-That's OK.

-Yeah.

After a final mooch and a mull, it's time to talk money.

So, like, something like 68 is out of the question?

It is, yeah. Really, it's got to be 80.

I could probably squeeze to 75 at the most.

Yeah. I like it.

-So I'll have it.

-OK. Lovely.

-Thanks very much, Marg½ret.

-No messing about there, Margie.

The Georgian writing box with a very generous discount from Andy.

That's it. We've completed the shopping for this trip.

Hurray!

MUSIC: Do You Know The Way To San Jose? arrangement

So, do you know...the way to San Jose?

Do you know the way to Leicester? Cos that's where we're going, kiddo!

No-one said anything about navigating.

I was just going to be chauffeured.

You're in for a shock, then.

Time for a bit of shut-eye.

We're off to the city of Leicester in the East Midlands for

the penultimate auction.

Churchgate Auctions is the place to test the profit-making skills of

Paul and Margie.

-Nearly there.

-The second last one.

-It is.

-Wait till you see what I've bought, Margie.

Oh, don't start!

Trying to wind me up.

You're going to love it.

Margie has gone large and spent £212 on five auction lots.

Whereas Paul is being frugal by comparison.

He's totted up a sum of £156, also on five lots.

Dish the dirt on one another's buys, please.

Well, I'm lost for words.

I think Paul's on a flight of fancy.

This is a child's ticket puncher.

This does not look like Paul Laidlaw, does it?

What a lovely piece of 19th-century glass.

And nobody cares.

I think she's going to struggle for no other reason than fashion.

Ouch! Great news.

I've never seen anything like this.

I'd be really interested to see how he gets on with this.

I don't like it but I think it's a good thing.

Dickon Dearman is today's auctioneer.

Now, what are his thoughts on our experts' buys?

My favourite item in the sale today

is the Georgian rosewood writing box.

It's got a very good interior.

It's also got the secret drawer and secret compartment.

It's got the original key with it, which is always a bonus.

The First World War Austrian flag standard finial is probably the most

unusual item in the sale today and I think that that's certainly an item

to look out for. It would definitely be one of the most unusual pieces

that I've seen this year.

Thanks, Dickon.

The auction is about to begin.

Blimey, it's a packed house, look!

Exciting!

-It's busy.

-Nice to see a busy auction house.

Must have heard about my lots.

-The word's out.

-Be quiet!

Zip it, Paul. Margie's horse tail docker is first to go.

I'm opening the bidding here at £30 on this.

£30 being bid. Do I see 35?

40. 45. 50. 55. 60. 65.

65 now.

65. Is there anyone at 65?

New bidder. 70.

£70 now.

£70. Is there anywhere?

Do I see 70?

£70 being bid.

Do I see 75 now?

75 is there? Selling then for £70.

Redeemed!

Certainly has!

Even though it's gruesome.

Note to self, love every one of my deals.

Well, it's your turn now to test the water with the well-loved Windsor

-armchair.

-£50, any interest at 50?

-£50 being bid.

-Yeah, not bad.

£60. 60. £70.

-Oh!

-80. 90. £100

has been bid just there. £100.

-I see 110? 110.

-Well done.

110 I have just there, madam.

-110. 120.

-Character.

-130.

-Character.

Gosh. Who'd have thought that would have run?

140 do I see?

No further interest. Selling for £130.

My goodness, that's a heck of a way to start, Paul.

Someone shares your passion.

I think you were a bit lucky with that.

Well, let's see if you can score high with the bagatelle, Margie.

I'm opening the bidding here at £30 on this.

-That'll do.

-Do I see 35 now?

35 just there.

£40. 45. 50, madam.

55. 55, 60. 65 there.

65 just there.

£70 now. £70.

Selling then, to you, sir, for £65.

Don't look so surprised.

I knew it was going to fetch that.

Fibber! Well done.

It's a lovely thing.

We are flying, Margie.

Yeah, aren't we?

Long may it continue.

Paul's child's clipping machine is next.

-Cheapskate!

-Opening the bidding here at £20 on this.

£20 has been bid.

Do I see £22? 22, 24.

26, 28, £30. 32, 34, 36 now.

36 now.

36, is there anywhere?

36 do I see?

Selling now for £34.

Oh, my giddy aunt!

Would you make some mayonnaise with those words?

Double helping, I think!

This is great.

Another chunky profit.

Well, that's very good.

How many percentage profit is that?

Millions and trill...

Gazillions!

Yeah! Not quite.

Time for Margie's honey separator.

It's different.

Any interest at 50?

£50 has been bid. Thank you, madam.

Do I see 55 now?

55. 55. Is there anyone at 55?

Stop, stop, stop. No, don't bid.

65, 70. 75, 75. £80. £80

has been bid. Do I see 85 now?

Is there anywhere? Selling, then, for £80.

-That'll do.

-Outrageous!

Unusual sells, and this is a fabulous return.

We haven't had a loss yet, have we?

Don't jinx it.

Look what's next.

Paul's super heavy cast iron Victorian mirror.

£50 have been bid. Thank you. Do I see 55?

55. 55 just there.

60. 65. 70. 75. 80. 85, now, 85,

85 - do I see any further bids?

No? Selling, then, for £80.

-Thank you.

-Look at that.

-I took a punt.

-Yeah, you did.

It's good to take risks and it still made a little something.

Was it the lowest profit of the day?

I can't remember. Really no idea.

Don't listen to her, Paul.

Margie's 19th-century glass wine ewer is next.

Tenner if you like, then. £10, 12, £14, sir.

14. 16. £16, 18, £18,

over there. 20. £20. 22, 24, £24, 26, 28.

£30, 32, 32. 34, 36. 38, £38. 38, 40. £40.

40 on the front. Back to you for 42, sir.

No. 42 now.

42, is there anywhere?

42, do I see?

Selling down here, then, for £40.

Thank goodness for that.

See what happens when you become too smug, Margie?

This audience here seem to know what they're doing.

I think... Do you know what, you're right.

Let's see how savvy they are with Paul's First World War standard flag

-finial.

-Any interest at 50?

£50 has been bid straightaway.

Thank you. Do I see 55?

60? 65? 70? 75? 80. 85.

-90. 95. £100.

-You paid 15?

-Oh, God.

-110 do I see?

Any further bids? No.

Selling over there to you, sir, for £100.

Well, someone knew what it was.

Another high profit for Paul.

I'm not going to be with you any more.

Patience, Margie, your top-quality Georgian writing box is next.

I'm opening the bidding here at £80 on this.

-Bang on.

-£80 on a commission bid.

Do I see 85 now?

85. 85. Is there anywhere, 85, do I see?

85 just there.

£90 now.

90, 90 just there.

-95.

-It's going to creep.

95. £100.

£100, thank you, madam.

-£100. 110.

-Well, I liked it.

110. 110, I have just there.

You bought well.

110 has been bid. 120 now.

120. 120. Is there anyone at 120, do I see any further bids?

It's about right for it, isn't it?

It was. It was well bought.

Not bad, Margie. It is a thing of beauty.

Look at us. Look at as with our profits!

Isn't it wonderful? Last lot.

Paul's George V silver egg cup and little egg cruets.

20, if you like, then.

£20. £20 just there.

It has been bid. Do I see 22 now?

22, £22, 24, 26, 28, £30.

32, 35, 37, £40, madam.

40. 42, yes, 45.

47. £50. 55.

It looks like it.

Yes, 70.

£70 now. £70 now.

70, do I see? 70, a new bidder just there.

75. 75.

Is there anywhere 75?

-Well done.

-75, £80.

80, madam, just there.

85 now. 85 is there?

Selling, then, for £80.

Thank you.

Well done. Over doubled.

Lovely way to finish.

-What an auction!

-We've done OK, haven't we?

Should we just go home early now?

Yeah.

Not do any more buying and selling.

I think we might have peaked, Margie.

-We've peaked.

-Come on, let's just blow the profits on a day's outing.

Come on!

No, you will not.

Let's get the abacus out and tot up the figures.

Now, Margie began with £323.32, and after saleroom costs,

she's made a profit of £87.30, giving her £410.62

for the next leg.

£407.06 was the starting figure for Paul. After all auction

costs, he made a marvellous profit of £191.68.

Paul is today's winner and starts the finale with £598.74.

Well done.

Hey, not a bad day.

Superb.

I'm flying and you're soaring.

That's my problem.

It's all good, Margie.

Come on. Let's soar over here.

Next time on Antiques Road Trip, things are hotting up for the final,

I think.

-How are you, my friend?

-Perishing, Margie.

Get your coat!

Pull over and give me a big hug.

Paul's going great guns.

It's child's play for Margie.

Whee! I'm getting good.

I am getting better.

Paul gets on his bike

and can Margie sniff out a deal?

Yeah, I can.