Episode 27 Antiques Road Trip

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-The nation's favourite antiques experts, £200 each, one big challenge.

-Well, duck, do I buy you?

Who can make the most money buying and selling antiques as they scour the UK?

-What's my wife up to?

-The aim is trade up and hope each antique turns a profit.

It's not as easy as it looks. Dreams of glory can end in tatters.

Do I hear £1,500?

Will it be the fast lane to success or the slow road to bankruptcy?

-I can't keep this posture up for much longer!

-This is the Antiques Road Trip.

This week, we're in Scotland and on the road with two very respectable gentlemen,

Charlie Ross and James Braxton.

# Oh, flower of Scotland... '

Oh, no! Please! With over 20 years' experience in antique auctioneering,

James Braxton has a soft spot for nice items and shop assistants.

It's nice to see something I like. It's very nice.

It's just a nice item. I like this shop. It's got some nice things.

It's a lovely piece, isn't it?

Auctioneer Charlie Ross loves a bargain.

And at times, struggles to part with his cash.

I was going to be very rude, but I'd better not. I was going to ask you to knock the ten off!

Yesterday's auction was a momentous occasion. Charlie's £8 Staffordshire elephant packed her trunk

and trotted off to America for an amazing...

27 for the last time.

That's £2,700!

Crikey! On any normal day, James would have been on cloud nine

when his £200 increased to £256.06.

But this wasn't a normal day.

After his astronomical win, Charlie's £200 rocketed,

giving him £2,447.96 to flash around.

I don't know what to do next, really, when I next go shopping.

Do I blow it all?

-Or do I miserly tuck it all away?

-I'd blow the lot.

And as the chaps launch into round two,

their classy 1967 Sunbeam Alpine is soldiering on.

I've got a lot of money now. This is something I'm not used to.

As a rival and competitor, I would urge you to go large.

As a friend, I would say keep that £2,000 aside

and go mental with your £450.

Well, he would say that. This week's road trip takes James

and Charlie along the beautiful east coast of Scotland, before heading west,

where they finish up in the coastal town of Ayr.

On today's leg, they're leaving Buckie and heading for auction two in Aberdeen.

First stop is the fishing village of Cullen.

Cullen was established in 1189 and has a long history,

but its main claim to fame is the local speciality that's named after the town, Cullen skink.

Smoked haddock, potato and onion soup.

Sounds delightful, if a little fattening.

-Coffee House.

-Excellent.

-Well, good luck and like a tip or two?

-Yes, fire away!

-I'm in slight need of one. Go on.

-Look for an elephant!

I'm going to buy anything that's an exotic animal or red.

-Don't let me down.

-OK, toodle pip.

James gets straight to work in his first shop of the day,

Cullen Collectibles.

Our strategy is to try and find something for, obviously £8

and sell it for 2,700, but failing that,

I think what I'm going to do is, before I commit to anything,

I want to build a good holistic hole of five items.

And I will do that by careful browsing.

Careful browsing.

While you do your careful browsing, Charlie's wasting no time.

He's not even in the shop

and he's spotted a pretty little powder compact priced at £65.

It is really interesting. Glasgow Exhibition 1938.

It's not silver, unfortunately.

You'd expect that enamelling to be on silver, wouldn't you? Well, I would.

That quality is good enough for it to... And this building?

That was the centrepiece of the exhibition.

The exhibition marked 50 years since Glasgow's first international exhibition held at Kelvingrove Park

in 1888 and was a chance for Glasgow's industries, old and new, to be showcased to the world.

What would be your best price on that?

-I'll make it 50 to you cos I like you.

-That's very kind of you.

I really like that. I really like that hugely.

I'm going to continue on round. I can't imagine I'm going to get out of this shop without spending money.

You've got enough to buy the contents and the building,

unlike James, who's hoping to fight back with a £30 pair of cannons. I don't think so.

They're die-cast. They're die-cast metal. Sort of aluminium alloy.

They're more look than substance because these are pretty light fellows.

With a single finger! You'd expect them to be heavy.

The interesting thing about cannons is they were made of iron

or bronze and in those early days, the Spanish Armada, Henry VIII,

Elizabeth I, when you captured a ship, you took their cannons.

Very often, you'll find British ships with Spanish guns in them.

It's not something I'm going to buy for 8 and make 2,700 on.

Yesterday's battle was lost, but today, it's all still to play for.

Time to negotiate hard with owner Harry.

If I offered you a compelling £15 for those.

£15?

-For that one? And 15 for that one?

-OK, I was a bit cheeky there. £20.

-Erm...

-Would you do that for 20?

-What about 25?

-25?

-I'd like to do it for 20.

-Would you?

-Yeah. It would really help me here.

-Could you do it?

-As it's a nice day, they're yours.

-They're a lovely lot.

Thank you. That's very kind. I suppose you want some money, don't you?

Well done, James. That's a great buy.

But be warned, your cheeky competitor has turned to the eerie world of witchcraft!

This is a very, very odd thing.

-What is it?

-Well, it's African and I think that it's witch doctor's...

That's my feeling. But it's very odd. I've never seen anything like it before.

I haven't seen anything like it. Hoo-woah!

-That's the sort of thing.

-Yes. Very much so.

Have you tried Googling an object like that?

You can't Google a picture. That's one of the problems.

What would be your best price on this? These are not bed fellows.

But this and your Glasgow 1938 compact.

Well, the best I can do for you would be 125.

-And that would be the last...

-I've had such a fantastic time...

Yet again, Ross has bought something about which he knows nothing!

And when I bought this, I do not want to see you going into your back garden and whittling away

-and making another one!

-No. No.

Cos if you do, then there'll be an awful lot of this going on!

Fabulous! I'll have them both! I like to take a gamble.

Well, you've certainly done that. I just hope it pays off.

And after Charlie's dabbling in black magic,

James is searching for the light.

Travelling 40 miles to the north east corner

of the Aberdeenshire coast and the fishing town of Fraserburgh.

The largest shellfish port in Europe,

Fraserburgh has a busy commercial harbour.

It's also home to Scotland's first mainland lighthouse

and the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses,

which is where the lucky James is spending his afternoon. Showing him round is bright spark Jim.

This is really where it all started.

When the lighthouse service was first formed in 1786,

it was a man called Thomas Smith, a lamp maker in Leith,

and he was given the task of providing lumination for lighthouses.

And this is what he came up with. A mirror reflector.

And the first lighthouse at Kinnaird, these were the type of things that was put on top.

There were 17 of them, set in an array, each with an oil lamp.

And that actually produced a light that was visible 12 miles.

Smith's 17 lamps were positioned on top of this 16th century castle

until 1824 when his stepson, Robert Stevenson,

designed his lighthouse to fit inside the castle.

Time for James to conquer the lighthouse's 72 steps. The big question is, will he make it?

Maybe on the way up, you'll notice some chains hanging down thing the centre of the tower.

And one of those chains was this big weight.

And it's that weight descending the tower that supplies

the power for the machine upstairs.

All lighthouses were clockwork driven,

but unlike the old long case clocks

which required to be wound every 30 hours or eight days,

these needed to be wound every 30 minutes.

Every half hour as the machine goes round, this would ring.

And then wind it.

-93 turns of this handle.

-93?

-Bring the weight back up again.

Give you another half hour's run.

Failure to wind the handle would bring all the machinery

to a standstill and at that point, you had a career change!

Anything that interfered with the character of the light,

then some ship could mistake this for somewhere else and take a bearing.

Every lighthouse had its own character.

Vessels could the flashes, time them,

look at their chart and know precisely

which lighthouse they were looking at.

This is your blank space, here. So you've no light here.

Your light's travelling round and as it's travelling round,

you'll start picking up the edge of the beam if you look into the prism.

This is all your flash, right through the centre of the lens.

-Yes, now I see it clearly.

-Right out this side as well.

And then you'll get the cut off.

-So that's a beam two metres in diameter.

-Two metres in diameter.

-Then you're back to blank again.

-Huge.

-And you wait for the next one.

If you manage to duck under, and just step straight across.

Looks tight! Now for the science.

All this is refraction. They take the light coming from the bulb

and they bend it round in parallel to that.

The ones that's above it,

they bend the light that's going up and bend it down away.

The bottom ones bend the light up,

so you've got very little wasted light.

It's a very odd sensation! Slightly out-of-worldly!

But very beautiful. Beautifully constructed. All bronze and glass.

This is superb.

And all from one tiny bulb. Extraordinary!

So while James makes his way back to Cullen, it's time to swap shops.

Charlie's heading to Cullen Collectibles

and still has over £2,300 to spend.

So chop-chop!

A very fine Wedgwood casket.

No, it's not. It's tin!

It's a Crawford's biscuit tin

in the form of a Wedgwood casket.

Across the sale room, you could get away with that being Wedgwood.

A wonderful pastel blue. Wedgwood blue.

It's even got impressed decoration on it.

With a classical scene on the top, pressed brass feet. Look at that!

It's a true antique, if you didn't touch it. I rather like that.

At £5, is it not a bit on the cheap side

for a man with your heavy wallet?

I hadn't moved more than about two yards in your lovely shop

when I saw a fantastic piece of Wedgwood!

-Yeah(!)

-And then I touched it! But it's great. Biscuit tin.

I don't know if it said £5 or 50p. I couldn't quite tell.

Cor! That's such a nerve!

How much would you like to take for that?

-What about £3?

-I think £3... I'm not even going to negotiate.

I think that's a cracker. It's got enough age to excite me.

And it's a statement and it's fab.

At £3, it's mine!

After that purchase, he's still got, yep, over £2,300.

Down the road, James has arrived in Abra Antiques, as in "Cadabra".

It's got a couple of chips.

But after his usual carefully considered browsing,

he's going oriental.

I quite like this, Tom.

So we've got a paperweight here and I'm just having a quick look at it.

And it's nice, isn't it? I haven't really come across these before.

It's a paperweight, rather like we have a paperweight,

but this is a sort of tablet form. It's nice and thin.

And just carries a very nice Chinese mythological scene on it.

It's a dragon and a phoenix.

In China, the dragon and phoenix are symbols of auspiciousness.

Any sightings of a dragon and a phoenix were considered

a lucky sign, said to herald a period of peace and prosperity

for the country, and maybe James Braxton.

£48, Tom.

-The Cullen Chancer, I'll call you!

-Oh, dear!

James, I'm not sure insulting Tom is the best way to start negotiations.

Could you do that for me for £20?

Oh, dear. This man's a rogue!

He's a rogue! I don't want to pay £48 for it.

That's for sure. I'd rather like to pay you £20 for it.

-Well, I'd rather you paid me 25.

-25?

-I'll meet you at 25.

Yeah. I'm OK at 25. Thank you very much indeed.

Good final purchase of the day, James. But no time to dawdle.

Charlie's waiting with all that cash.

-Ah!

-Roscoe!

-Comment te?

-Fab!

-Fancy a swim?

-A swim?!

-Yeah, come on!

-Get in, man!

-I need a swim. It's been a hard old day!

So how many items? Did you buy quite a few?

-I couldn't spend any money though.

-Really?

-Couldn't get in to my two-and-a-half grand!

-You want to get that wad out!

-Get spending! Here we go.

-I'd rather have a swim.

Go for a swim?! A swim in the North Sea?!

Oh, surely not!

Oh, no!

They're serious!

Is this after the watershed?

I can't keep this posture up for much longer!

-I'm breathing in!

-My body is normally like this!

And they're going in! I don't believe it!

This is not how I thought the day would end!

Look at them go! Look at that James Braxton!

Hoo-hoo-hoo!

Oh, good night, chaps!

As dawn breaks on a rather miserable day,

our experts are straight back at it.

I think somebody's training a hose in here on me. What's happened?

I've never been so wet in a car with a hood on!

Well, you have been bathing!

So far, James has been cautious with his shopping, spending just

£45 on two items, the pair of model cannon and a Chinese paperweight.

James has £211.06 for the day ahead.

Charlie meanwhile has hardly loosened his purse strings.

He's spent £128 on three lots.

An African witch doctor's mace, we think, an enamel compact,

and a biscuit tin.

Leaving him with a colossal £2,319.96 still to spend.

I haven't been able to spend lots of money.

The one thing I won't be doing today is swimming.

Charlie and James are heading 25 miles south to Dufftown,

where James will start his day's shopping.

-This is Dufftown, is it?

-I think it must be.

Located on the banks of the River Fiddich, Dufftown is home to several Scotch whisky distilleries

and as such, promotes itself as the malt whisky capital of the world.

Unfortunately, our boys must resist temptation

and focus on the antiques, as the auction is just around the corner.

-Thank you.

-May all your profits be small ones!

-Bye.

-Bye.

Ha-ha! As Charlie heads off on his own little adventure,

James goes to Collectors Cabin,

an antique shop that also sells Scottish dress.

You've got all your various trench art here. And the Spitfire ashtray.

That's quite nice. I'm surprised that's still there.

There's masses of shells everywhere. Shell casings here.

Everybody smoked in those days,

so there were lots of opportunities

to make ashtrays and various other things.

During the First and Second World Wars, these decorative items,

known as trench art, were made by soldiers, prisoners of war

and civilians out of brass from shell casings.

-May I look at you rather nice white onyx fellow?

-Please do.

-What's that? Just painted on?

-It's hand painted, yes.

-This presumably would have been a cigarette box.

-I think so.

I think it's a charming item.

Onyx is the mineral that often displays different colours in multiple layers.

This beauty is from the 1920s and has a price tag of £125.

Onyx generally comes from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

When it was first discovered, incredibly precious, you know.

They're quite vulnerable to damage. It's pretty damaged there.

The piano hinge is fine.

Well, time's ticking on, David.

There's a couple of things I quite like the look of,

but it's that nutty problem of price.

Uh-oh! Here we go.

-This was the item that sort of caught my imagination.

-Yes?

Your rather nice Spitfire, the ashtray. David, I see that at £25.

Ah, I think I see it at £55!

-I do like these white onyx things. I see that at £50.

-Aha.

-I see it at quite a bit more than that.

-I know you do!

-Can you help me out here? A package deal.

-A package deal?

What would be your package suggestion?

Package suggestion would be £75.

The Spitfire and the onyx come to £180!

You sound like my plumber! I'll go to 30 on that.

-Can we make it 80 for the two?

-80 for the two? She's smiling!

-Go on, put there, David!

-Shall we?

-Well done. Thank you.

-OK. Are we happy with that?

-Yeah!

Nice bit of negotiating, James,

and you've still got £131.06 to spend, and you resisted kissing her!

Meanwhile, 13 miles south of Dufftown,

Charlie Ross has a prior engagement. Looks grand.

Ballindalloch Castle is one of the most beautiful

and renowned castles in Scotland.

Known as the Pearl of the North,

it's one of the few privately owned castles

to have been lived in continuously by its original family.

The Macpherson-Grants have resided here since 1546 and Clare,

its current incumbent, is showing Charlie around.

-Please come in. This is the drawing room.

-Lovely.

-What glorious proportions! And this is mid-16th century?

-Yes, it is.

-1546, it was built in.

-And your family have been here since then.

Yes, they have. And I arrived here when I was five years old.

It was made quite clear to me

from that time that this was path of life.

I was brainwashed by my parents

that I would come here and look after the castle.

-You don't regret that, do you?

-No, not at all.

It's been a wonderful challenge and enormous fun.

-You could never be bored here.

-No, but hard work.

-Very hard work.

I'd love to show you my Staffordshire collection.

Of course, 19th century, and those...

-The little castle and the...

-Little pastille burner.

-I have a particular love of Staffordshire.

-Really? Why?

Because I did manage to buy an early 19th century Staffordshire elephant,

but £8 I paid. Very badly damaged.

Went off to the local auction up the road and sold for £2,700.

-Heavens!

-Bought by somebody in North Carolina.

-My word!

-I'm prepared to offer you £8 for your pastille burner!

-No way!

Charlie, you are such a cheeky sausage!

Who is this distinguished gentleman?

I wanted to show you this portrait because he was my great grandfather

and he and two other great agriculturalists

started the first pedigree herd of Aberdeen Angus.

From 1860, Sir George Macpherson-Grant

spent almost 50 years refining the breed to establish

the foundation for what is arguably the best beef breed in the world.

He took an animal from the county of Aberdeen

and an animal from the county of Angus and bred them together.

For their ease of breeding, for their milkiness and of course,

they fattened quicker than any other animal on grass alone.

-And that is still the case.

-It's still the case.

They graze peacefully in the Cow Haugh at Ballindalloch.

-There is no greater name than the Aberdeen Angus.

-No.

Every chef in the world knows Aberdeen Angus.

And it is, we think, the best in the world.

Aberdeen Angus are hornless, solid black or red cattle,

and the Ballindalloch estate is home to 100 head.

There we are. Don't they look absolutely wonderful?

Look at them. How could you not have wonderful meat

from an animal that is so happy?

-Glorious colour!

-Aren't they?

In the summer, they lose their winter coat

and get this fantastic what we call bloom on them.

-How long has there been an Aberdeen Angus herd here?

-Since 1860.

And they've gone all over the world.

From as far as New Zealand, Australia, America, Canada...

-All over.

-Yes.

-And whenever you eat your next piece of beef,

you have to think of Ballindalloch.

I will! And I shall enjoy it all the more for that!

Dirty beast! Charlie, you've had a lovely treat,

but I'm afraid it's back to work.

The boys wave Dufftown goodbye

and continue travelling on 55 miles east to Clola.

No, not Lola! It's Clola!

Clola is a hamlet in Aberdeenshire.

The neighbourhood extends to a radius of a little over a mile.

It may be small, but it's home to its very own antique emporium.

-Spend, spend, spend.

-How many items are you search for?

-I need lots of items, Brackers!

-Sorry?

-I've been struggling of late.

I've still got far too much money left.

Spread over three floors, with a mixture of antiques and collectibles,

this is their final chance to spend big.

James is straight to work with owner Tom

and has found himself a pestle and mortar.

-Where did you find this, Tom?

-Inherited during a house clearance.

Oh, right. OK.

Years ago, these sort of things were very popular,

along with pewter, and people love pestles and mortars.

The word mortar derives from Latin mortarium,

meaning receptacle for pounding.

And pestle comes from the Latin pistilum, meaning pounder.

This one's a 45 pounder.

And then you've got... I quite like this.

I spied this earlier, as I was walking round.

-This is a lovely fellow.

-Yes, the bushel.

-The bushel.

-This was a measure for...

-For grain. Wheat or barley.

-Was it level, the bushel?

-Yes, it would have been.

-It's an imperial measure of grain, isn't it?

-That's right.

So things were sold by the bushel measure, or counted.

It was a unit to which you could record price.

The bushel measure was used from the Middle Ages,

but rarely in Scotland, Ireland or Wales. So this could be a good purchase.

Very nice. And...there we are. It's all there.

Now, I'm quite interested in the two.

Could you do me a tremendous deal, Tom?

I could probably offer you a nice deal on it.

-What could you offer me on that?

-40?

-40. And what about this one?

Could you go as low as say 45 on this?

-No, I'm afraid I couldn't go as low as 45.

-What could you do on that?

-How does 60 sound?

-60.

Could you either do 50 on this or 35 on that?

Yes, I could do 35, on the pestle and mortar for you. Yes.

What about 50 on that?

-Not quite.

-Not quite.

I'm going to go for that one at 35, Tom.

Well done, James. Nice final buy.

Downstairs, Charlie still has over £2,300.

But he's on the case.

An old bushel measure. Couple of granite troughs.

Hello! A completely knackered garden urn.

Reconstituted stoneware.

I could cement that on to there, couldn't I,

with my immense do it yourself skills.

# The minute you walked in the joint

# I could see you were a man of distinction

# A real big spender... #

£10?! Look at that!

If that isn't worth 30 or 40 quid,

re-stuck together, I'll eat my hat!

I'd give 40 quid for that if somebody stuck on.

But when I was downstairs, I saw a broken urn.

It says £10 on the label, and I was going to think,

if it came in that condition, it probably came for nothing, didn't it?

Would you like to take a five pound note for it?

-Let's go and have a look at it.

-Have a look at it. Shall I lead on?

I'll show you exactly where I found it. This was the object.

-This is the object.

-Yeah.

But I stuck the top on the bottom and it looked really nice.

-Nice when it's put together.

-I tried you at a fiver. What's the verdict?

-I can meet you half way, sir.

-Could you? £7.50!

Fancy getting something to the nearest 50p!

I think that sounds very reasonable, sir. May we shake on that deal?

It's not going to be your biggest sale of the day.

Last of the big spenders, eh, Charlie?

And with the final purchase made,

it's time for our chaps to reveal all.

-I've been absolutely pathetic. I put my hands up.

-Really?

-Sorry.

I've been walking around these places with nearly £2,500

and I've let you down.

-No. I've let you down.

-You haven't spent it?

I've let you down in such a big way

that you'll probably want to leave the room.

-Let's have a look.

-First one.

-Splendid! Does it come with something?

-It comes with t'other.

-A pair?

-A pair!

-Aren't they splendid?

-£20.

-You bought the pair of them for 20 quid?

-I did.

Brackers, you're back in it. You're on fire.

"At 2,600. At 2,600..." THEY LAUGH

Come on, Charlie. Time for your biscuit tin.

That's very nice. Yeah, that's very nice, isn't it?

I just bought it because people collect biscuit tins

and I couldn't find a genuine antique and that's the closest I could get.

-Yeah, I think that's nice. It's got a strong sense of style.

-Yeah.

-Well done.

Very kind words, James.

Now for your World War II trench art.

Oh.

MIMICS AEROPLANE ENGINE

-Battle Of Britain stuff, isn't it?

-Yeah.

It's quite a nice model of a Spitfire.

I don't know whether I'd prefer it with a propeller or not.

Probably not. They always look a bit naff when they tack one on the front.

It's nice. I like that.

I wonder what he'll think of your £40 compact.

It's an enamel - and chrome, I'm afraid, no more than that -

-powder compact.

-Oh, that's rather nice, yeah.

So, I just thought, "Bit of history.

-"We're in Scotland..."

-Yeah.

-It's going to be tight, isn't it?

I think it's going to be tight with that.

Thank you for your pearls of wisdom. THEY LAUGH

Let's see your white onyx box, James.

Ooh, I say. How lovely. It's very nicely painted.

-It is nicely painted, isn't it?

-Oh, it is!

-God, what a great bit of work.

-Yeah.

I'm not a great lover of onyx, but I like the decoration.

Brackers, are you troubled by evil spirits?

Occasionally, occasionally.

-Are you? Close your eyes.

-Closing.

Open them.

Da-a-a-h!

WAILS SPOOKILY

-Are you feeling better?

-Yeah. Hugely better.

-That's very good, isn't it?

-It's a gamble.

-Quite nice carving.

But that is the gamble lot of all gamble lots.

Yeah, it is quite a gamble, isn't it, that one.

That looks painful to me. I'm not sure what it is,

but probably best to leave it to the bidders to decide.

-OK, here you are.

-Now for James' pestle and mortar.

-Good weight.

-Good weight.

-Do you know which is the pestle and which is the mortar?

-I do.

-The mortar is the cup-shape one.

-Correct.

-The pestle...

-Is the bit you grind with.

-I like it.

-Great weight. I like that.

But will James like your last lot?

-Very handsome. Very handsome.

-Go on, then.

-Campana-shaped garden urn.

-I know.

-I think it'll make, uh...

-30 to 50 quid.

-Yep.

-Cost £7.50.

-That is cheap.

-It was cheap, wasn't it?

-It was cheap.

You found some silver!

And last, but not least, is James' Chinese paperweight.

-I just thought it had a nice...

-Charming object.

And, of course, anything from the mystical East has got a chance.

-It has got a chance, hasn't it?

-Course it has.

-How do you rate it?

-50 quid.

-I think more.

Yeah, you think that might make 100 quid, do you?

-I think it might make more.

-"1,000, 1,100, 1,200, 1,300..."

"Tokyo on the line, Tokyo on the line..."

"Sold at 16,400...."

-JAMES LAUGHS "Brackers takes the lead." Well done, old bean.

-Thank you.

That was all very polite and courteous, old boy,

but what do they really think?

That compact - I didn't have Father Roscoe down as a compact man,

and at £40, I think that's a guaranteed loss.

A real chancy item is that Chinese plaque.

That just could make him a few bob.

It's been a spectacular second leg from Cullen, via Dufftown and Clola,

with the final destination of Aberdeen in sight.

Aberdeen - what a lovely city.

Scotland's third most populous city, Aberdeen was historically the centre

for the fishing and shipbuilding industries.

However, with the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s,

the fishing fleet moved up the coast and the oil industry moved in.

Aberdeen is now famous as being the oil capital of Europe.

But it's auction day as our two experts cruise into town.

It looks like a saloon. Are you sure it's not a pub?

John Milne Auction Room in Aberdeen was founded in 1867

and is one of the major auction rooms in the northeast of Scotland.

Colin Edwards is our auctioneer for the day,

and he's kindly cast an eye over our experts' choices.

Model cannons. They're decorative pieces,

I'm sure we've got plenty of big country houses around

that would be crying out for a couple of cannons at the front door.

Witch doctor's mace. OK.

Um, I don't know whether it's a witch doctor's mace or what,

but there are quite a few collectors of African pieces,

so, yeah, it might do all right.

My favourite piece, I think, would be

the onyx box with the salmon painting on the top.

I think that's the prettiest piece of the lot.

James Braxton started today's show with £256.06

and spent £160 on five auction lots.

Charlie Ross began with £2,447.96

and spent a measly £135.50 on four auction lots.

It's the moment of truth. Who will win and who will lose?

Let the auction begin.

First to go under the hammer is Charlie's garden urn.

Will it be an earner?

Stoneware garden urn at 30?

20?

£10?

-Oh.

-Garden urn at 10?

-Surely... Ten I'm bid.

-Oh, madam.

-Be still, my fluttering heart.

-15. 18.

£18. All done at £18?

-All finished at 18?

-BANGS GAVEL

-814.

-Splendid.

Splendid. Very good.

I'm afraid it's not the £40 you thought,

so are you eating your hat now or later?

Brackers! I'm into a profit.

And after the not-so-expensive garden urn,

it's Charlie's not-so-expensive biscuit tin.

Ten I'm bid, I'm bid ten.

To be sold, one bid at £10.

12.

£12, beside me at 12.

All done at £12?

14. 16.

18. 20.

£20. Beside me at £20, all done at £20?

-Oh, 22, new bid. 24.

-LAUGHTER

£24 on my left at 24.

All finished at £24? All done this time? 24?

-BANGS GAVEL

-Your bid, sir. 865. Thank you.

Do you know what's most, most pleasurable about that?

-What? Tell me.

-I bought that in a shop

-that you had been into immediately before.

-Mm.

That's fighting talk, Charlie.

But will James' model cannons blow the bidders away?

-They'd look great in any home, wouldn't they?

-Oh, they're nice.

We have the pair of die-cast model cannons on black metal carriages.

-Uh...

-40 quid.

-Cannons,

£80? I'm bid 80.

We've got £80.

One bid of 80.

-Going to be sold at that one bid of £80.

-Brackers!

-Blimey.

-All done at 80 for the decorative cannons?

-All done at £80?

-BANGS GAVEL

-308.

-Brackers.

-Well done, thank you.

That's a fantastic £60 profit, James. Well done.

Braxton is back.

-That two and a half grand is being whittled down.

-Yeah.

Let's hope your luck continues.

The pestle and mortar are about to go under the hammer.

-£40.

-40.

20?

£10? Ten I'm bid, I'm bid £10 for the mortar and pestle.

-That's too cheap. No.

-Too cheap.

18. 20.

22.

£22, lady's bid at 22.

-25.

-Oh, getting there, getting there.

£25, lady's bid at £25. All done at £25?

-BANGS GAVEL

-Your bid.

Oh, dear. Slipped back a bit, there.

Oh, dear, James. that's a £10 loss. not what you needed.

Sorely tempted to bid for it.

Fingers crossed for James' model Spitfire.

£20.

CHARLIE MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY

£10? Ten I'm bid.

12. 15. 18.

20. 25. 30.

£30, far back, at 30.

-Getting your money back.

-All done at £30?

-BANGS GAVEL

-388.

-Money back...

-Yeah, money back.

-..but not with commission, of course.

Yup, sorry, James, but the auction house must take its earnings,

so a break-even is, in fact, a loss.

They've decided it IS a witch doctor's mace,

so let's see if it's something the people of Aberdeen are looking for.

£30 for the wooden mace?

-What?

-20?

-I've got 15 here, Colin.

15, I'm bid 15.

Thanks, Steven. One bid at £15.

One bid at 15, going to be sold at £15.

Oh, madam, you must need a witch doctor's mace.

All finished?

-18.

-Bidder over there, sir!

20.

£20, with Steven at 20.

All done at £20 for the mace, all done at 20?

-BANGS GAVEL

-825. Thank you.

-Robbed.

-Robbed. Desperately undersold

Ouch. Sorry, Charlie.

Witch-doctoring just isn't big in Aberdeen.

That's really made quite a hole in my two and a half grand.

Hopefully, James with have more luck with his Chinese paperweight.

Start me at £60?

40?

£30?

20?

Oh, dear. This isn't looking good.

Five? Five I'm bid.

Six. Eight. £8, in the second row at £8.

All done at eight?

10, 12, 15, 18.

-Now we're going.

-£18, seated at £18.

All done? 20. £20.

-You'll get 100 yet, Brackers.

-It's a good item.

All done at £20? All done at 20?

-BANGS GAVEL

-There. My gut feelings were wrong, there, weren't they?

-Brackers, that was terribly bad luck.

-It was bad luck.

I wouldn't be too smug, Charlie. Your final lot's up next.

It's your chrome compact.

20? I'm bid 20.

Here, bid 20, straight in.

-£30 beside me.

-Come on.

To be sold at £30. All done at 30?

-35.

-Well done, madam.

-40. £40 on my left.

At £40. All finished at £40? All done at 40?

-BANGS GAVEL

-Lost opportunity there, I'd say.

Mm.

-So what's that bring you up to, then?

-I've made a small loss.

I'm surprised at that.

Here we go.

Now it's James' last stab at a big profit.

All we need are two onyx-loving fishermen

to battle over his box and he'll be in with a fighting chance.

Oh. It's quality.

£60. Bid 60, I'm bid 60.

Giving me 65. 70. Five. 80.

-Five. 90. £90, on my right, at £90.

-Oh, go on.

-£95.

-CHARLIE SIGHS

A gentleman's bid at £95. All done at 95?

-BANGS GAVEL Well done, James.

-I know. Thank you.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Great profit to end on, James,

and I think it's fair to say, it's one-all in auction victories.

Summing it up, you are as good as I am bad.

So modest. James started today's show with £256.06,

and after paying auction costs, made a profit of £45.

He's making slow and steady progress and has £301.06 to carry forward.

Charlie, meanwhile, started with a ridiculous £2,447.96

and made a disappointing loss of £51.86.

Despite his defeat,

he still has a huge £2,396.10 to start the next leg.

But will he spend it?

-Congratulations.

-Thank you, thank you. Steady work.

You've got a little catching up to do, but...

By your calculations, when might I slip into the lead?

I think you'll be in the lead in January 2085.

We need to lure you into some big ticket items, Charlie.

-Yeah, I think you need to get me spending. All clear?

-All clear.

Next time on the Antiques Road Trip, James speaks his mind...

Stop sitting on your wallet and get some money out.

You just want me to come down to your level, don't you?

You want me to stick my dosh into something and burn it.

..Charlie gets personal...

I think that's a cracker. Look at that.

-The four faces of James

-Braxton.

Ha-ha! ..and they both enjoy the moment.

Do you dance, James?

THEY LAUGH

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd