Episode 30 Antiques Road Trip

It's the nation's favourite antiques experts

with £200 each, a classic car,

and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.

-Going, going, gone.

-Yes!

I'm loving that bird.

The aim? To make the biggest profit at auction, but it's no mean feat.

Yes!

There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

Don't I look handsome?

So, will it be the high road to glory or the slow road to disaster?

-I'm going now.

This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah.

All this week we've been hitching a ride with a right couple

of charmers, antiques experts Charlie Ross and Thomas plant.

I've thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed my week.

Hasn't it been wonderful?

Charlie ran his own auction house for over 25 years

so really should know a thing or two about antiques by now.

I am a past master at buying things about which

I know absolutely nothing.

Thomas has clocked up over 20 years as an auctioneer, but despite his considerable knowledge

is still yet to win a Road Trip.

I could really go completely wrong from now on in.

Our chaps began their journey with £200 each,

but over the week Thomas has been streaking ahead

leaving his sparring partner lagging behind.

-Final leg.

-And I'm back here with 200 quid.

I think that's marvellous.

Charlie sustained some bruising losses leaving him

with just £209.92 to spend today.

Thomas on the other hand has made steady profits,

so he has a luscious £553.44 to play with.

Doesn't it show?

Despite the feverish competition our chaps have been

jollying along quite happily in their natty 1971 Triumph Spitfire.

This week, Thomas and Charlie are travelling from Watchet in Somerset

to Shropshire, via North Wales before looping

back down south for their final auction in Bedford.

Today our chaps are kicking off in Walsall in the West Midlands

and then pop into Staffordshire and Leicestershire

before travelling south to the auction showdown in Bedford.

Traditionally, the town of Walsall

has sat at the heart of manufacturing in Britain

and is most famed for making saddles,

hence the local football club's nickname of the Saddlers.

Our couple of antique-hunting cowboys have ridden into town

hoping to round up some quality antiques.

-First stop for Thomas is the Curio Shop.

-Hello, I'm Thomas.

Hi, Thomas. I'm Spencer. Pleased to meet you.

-Thank you for letting us in.

-You're welcome.

-It's lovely and tight in here, isn't it?

-It is, it's the way I like it.

I'm going to have a good rummage if that's all right.

Lordy, there's stuff everywhere. Get rummaging, Thomas.

Wow.

Spencer's not lying, he's crammed.

But before long Thomas spots a muffin dish.

From Winchcombe...

..in Somerset.

There's a terracotta body

and then the glaze and this glaze is a Nash glaze

and he's just done a graffiti design around there.

I like that. I'm going to buy that.

I like the £8.95 price bracket,

but we'll have to wait and see what else we find.

And he's not stopping there. How about another bit of pottery?

See, this is a blank.

A Staffordshire blank, 19th century.

Before the age of television, et cetera,

some happy amateur has painted this as a still life.

Crying shame that it's got a great big hairline crack running all the way through it.

But what a super thing.

And there is a mere £24 on the ticket.

Have you forgotten you're rolling in it, Thomas?

There speaks a man who's keen to win.

Meanwhile, the opposition is on the road travelling nine miles

north-east to the cathedral city of Lichfield.

Charlie is hotfooting it to a road trip old haunt,

the Lichfield Antiques Centre.

-There's a reception committee to greet him.

-Lovely day!

Mainly women.

-Nice to see you again.

-Me too.

-Come on, get a move on, Roscoe.

-How are you all?

Somewhere...

I've got to find the lot of my dreams.

Could this be just the ticket?

There's a Chinese mirror,

but it's a quite unusual form.

It's got...

a bank of drawers at the bottom.

It's then got a typical,

what looks like a triptych mirror on the top.

Crudely made, the dovetails,

and they are dovetailed just of pine, they are very crude,

but it's got this rather nice

typically Chinese gilded decoration.

But it's £185.

The poor man needs help. Any ideas, Madeleine?

-This one.

-Right!

George IV solid silver sauce ladle, "Glasgae",

you've got the full hallmark there.

Pretty thing, isn't it?

It's got nine pounds on... Oh, no, sorry £90!

I thought it was 9,000.

You thought it was 9,000, good line.

Good line.

It's a nice thing. Who does it belong to?

One of our traders.

-It's quality.

-It is quality.

Mark's the owner of this cabinet.

Perhaps Charlie can do a deal.

If you buy a package, two or three items,

I'm sure we can do something for you, Charlie.

I'm all for a package.

Is this your cabinet here?

A nice Tiffany buckle there.

Go on, let's have a look.

It's a nice piece.

It's a great buckle, isn't it? A great buckle.

American Express Company,

Wells Butterfield and Company

-and I think Wells was the Wells Fargo.

-Wells Fargo.

Yeah, but the great thing about it is it's made by Tiffany,

one of the great, great,

Art Nouveau movement makers,

most famously known for their glass,

their wonderful glass lamps.

I must say they don't quite fit together, really,

a Scottish silver ladle and an American Express buckle,

but it might give me a buying base, mightn't it?

We have delivery, Charlie, so...

You know, I've got a wife and three kids.

-Have you really?

-No.

THEY LAUGH

-No wife and no kids?

-No.

-How do you do it?

-I don't know.

That's remarkable.

Now he's got a rapport going, Charlie's decided to chance his arm.

I don't suppose that Chinese cabinet is likely to be ridiculously cheap?

I could possibly do a deal on that.

I mean, it's priced at £185.

I'd have to buy it for 65 quid I think.

65.

Um...80?

I'd pay £70 cash for it

and run and pray.

I'll take £70 to help you.

Oh, to help me.

It might beat Thomas, you never know.

Look at that, one purchase down and he's all excited.

Mark!

I'd like to buy the two of them for £70.

Charlie, you're...

Oh, Lordy.

No. It's Scottish silver, Charlie.

-It is Scottish silver, absolutely.

-Quality.

-SCOTTISH ACCENTS: "Glasgae".

-Aye.

-Aye.

It's the very, very best.

90 for the two.

75?

Charlie, I can't.

85 and that's it.

Make it 80 and I'll give you the other fiver.

-Oh, you can't do that, that's cheating.

-Go on, then.

-80 quid?

Yeah, yeah.

-Look at you, you're smiling all the way to the bank.

-I've been done.

-You haven't been down.

-I have.

This was priced at 35 quid until you saw me coming through the door.

Is that right?

-So I owe you 150 quid.

-It sounds like it, yes.

140, 150, how's that?

Thank you, Charlie.

Back at the Curio Shop, Thomas has just put aside the muffin dish

and the painted plaque

and now he has something else in his sights.

There's a corkscrew in this front cabinet, please.

Also, there's a corkscrew in there, please.

Thank you. This one has got a rosewood handle.

Obviously wine is quite popular.

Lovely, lovely twist on that.

They are certainly something else to think about

and now for another possible corker.

These are cork pictures from the 1900s made in China.

You've got these pagodas and the Prunus trees.

They've aged.

The landscape has been carved out of cork

which is then layered to create a 3-D effect.

A bit more rifling and Thomas unearths another cork picture.

There's some sort of quality to them.

I think they're rather fun, these cork pictures.

The ticket price is £18.95 and the quite fashionable these days.

Time to see if Spencer is amenable to a deal.

-Spencer.

-Yes, yes, Thomas.

-I've done my homework. This is £95 for the whole lot.

-For what?

For the corkscrews, for the muffin dish, for the plaque,

without the pictures.

So we've got to add almost another 40 on top of that.

So that's 135.

That's the ticket price. What are you offering?

-£65.

-Oh, dear.

-I know, I know, I know.

-Oof!

-Where can we go?

-I see this whole deal at being £100.

-Oh, Spencer! That's what I see.

-You're not going to budge?

-Not going to budge.

-In fact, if you don't give me the money, I'll show you the door.

-Yikes!

Spencer's no pushover.

-£80.

-£95.

-Halfway at 90?

-Deal.

-You're a star.

-Am I? Thanks.

-Cheers.

-£90. There you are. A pleasure.

-Thomas, good to meet you.

Good to meet you as well. What have I done? Four items in my first shop!

Hmm. Are they going to make a profit in Bedford?

We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

With all this shopping extravaganza over,

Thomas now has a chance to find out why Walsall

is so famous for making saddles.

Just down the road is a museum dedicated to this heritage

-and waiting to show Thomas round is curator Mike Glasson.

-Hello.

-I'm Thomas.

-Hello and welcome to the Leather Museum.

-Leather Museum.

I believe that Walsall is famous for leather.

It is unique in the world, really, as the centre of the saddlery trade.

-And you're going to show me round?

-Absolutely.

-We're going to start in the tannery.

-Lead on, then.

-Follow me.

-Why is Walsall famous for leather?

-It goes back to the Middle Ages.

Walsall became a centre for making what's called lorinery,

be it stirrups, spurs, metalwork associated with riding and horses.

And then at a later date somebody had the bright idea,

"If we are making all the metalwork,

"we might as well make the leather work as well."

In the 19th century, the Walsall leather industry

profited from a society very much centred around horses,

with one of its biggest customers being the British Army.

Over here we've got an example of a typical Walsall saddle.

This is a military one

but it's representative of the sort of thing that would have been

made in Walsall for most of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The saddlers tended to be men.

All of the cutting out and assembly was done by men

but the stitching was generally done by women.

And one of those women volunteers is here today.

Sue's showing Thomas how leather stitching was traditionally done.

Pay attention, Thomas.

It's double hand stitching,

and that means we've got a needle in each hand.

We're coming from the left with our left hand, obviously.

Then you go through with your right hand,

retrieve it with your left hand.

You've got two loops and you pull.

-Sue, do you think I could have a go?

-Certainly, yes.

Uh-oh! Don't mess it up, Thomas.

Left-hand first. Pull it through.

Pull it through with your right hand.

Now put the right-hand needle in the same hole,

going to the left.

Hang on. Have I cast that over this side here, like this?

-I think you've got a bit of a knot coming, there.

-Oh, my gosh.

This is more complicated... I thought, "I'll do this.

-"I'll be all right."

-You're very good.

Bear in mind if you don't get it as neat as it possibly can be,

they'll give it you back and you have to undo it and do it again.

-Really? I don't want that to happen.

-Yes. Best stop there.

As the age of the horse disappeared,

the leather industry here had to reinvent itself.

The skilled craftsmen and women instead turned to making light

leather goods such as travelling bags, hat boxes and wallets.

In the '60s you get the beginning of mass imports from economies

in the Far East and that's really bad news for Walsall.

Nevertheless, I think leather retained its cachet

so quality in the top end of the market.

There is still a cachet about English made.

The made in England brand is very powerful.

Walsall leather companies now make goods for top end designers,

such as Mulberry and Ralph Lauren.

-We have for Royal warrant holders still in Walsall.

-Really?

So it is very much a top end quality trade.

This is a good example.

This is a bag that was made to be presented to the Queen.

Two were made and we've got one of them.

It's so lovely to hear that a trade in this part of Britain,

from the 19th century, and before,

you said, but still very popular.

And still going today. Thank you very much.

It has been a real pleasure and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Now, while Thomas has been luxuriating in leather,

Charlie has left Lichfield behind

and is heading back to Walsall with his remaining £59.92.

This is where we dropped Thomas earlier.

I wonder if he's still in here.

-Hello!

-Hi.

-Anyone in?

-Yes.

-Hi, I'm Charlie.

-I'm Spencer. Pleased to meet you.

-Lovely to see you. Is there any room for you in this shop?

-No!

The question is how will Charlie fare in Spencer's Aladdin's cave?

-It's an experience.

-Oh, my goodness me!

-This is where all the stuff goes that you can't sell?

-Yes.

-What an honest answer!

-THEY LAUGH

Luckily, Spencer has an idea of something that might be visionary.

Good Lord!

-From an optician.

-Yes.

The box of opticians' lenses is Edwardian.

That is either worth three quid or 200 quid,

depending on who wants something like that.

You test people with these. Look at that.

You can't see anything through something like that.

Is it ridiculously cheap? Is it sort of free?

-HE LAUGHS

-What does that mean?

-Yes. No, but is it a 20 quid thing?

-It's 50.

-It's not much each, is it?

-No.

-30 quid?

-HE LAUGHS

Sorry.

-It's got to be 50.

-Did I mention that Spencer's no pushover?

Can you do the lenses for 40 quid, if I don't steal that...

-Could you do it for 45?

-I like that.

That is a very good impersonation of Roscoe begging.

THEY LAUGH

I'll give you 40 quid cash and run.

You can give me 45 and get out.

-THEY LAUGH

-I don't know why I'm laughing.

I'm going to just take a ridiculously silly gamble

-and give you 45 quid for those lenses.

-OK.

-45.

-It's going to you, sir.

-Thank you.

So it's time to reunite our two experts.

-Hello, my son.

-Hello.

-Had a lovely day?

-Lovely day. I've been waiting for hours.

-What have you been doing?

-I've been pretending to shop.

HE LAUGHS

Of you go for a little lie down now, chaps. Night-night.

Day two and the sun is shining

but there is a tinge of sadness in the air.

It is such sad, sorrow news. It's our last buying day together.

Do you think if we could finish with a dead heat

-they would then give us another week?

-I hope so.

How sweet.

So far Thomas has spent £90 on two corkscrews, a muffin dish,

a pair of Chinese cork pictures and a 19th century painted plaque.

That leaves him with a magnificent £463.44 to spend today.

Charlie, meanwhile, has already splashed out

£195 on four items - a silver ladle, a brass belt buckle,

an early 20th-century Chinese table mirror

and an Edwardian optician's box, leaving him with a miserly £14.92.

This could be your first ever Road Trip win.

Our chaps have left Walsall behind

and are heading for the beautiful hamlet of Shenton in Leicestershire.

Do you know where we're going now?

-We're going to share a shop.

-Are we going to share a shop? Oh, no!

Yes. Sadly, the peace of this rural idyll is about to be shattered

as our experts descend

on Whitemore's Antiques and Crafts Centre.

On hand to meet them are dealers Margaret and Dave.

-Margaret, are you coming with me?

-Yes.

Come on, Dave. Take me somewhere. Take me in here. This looks lovely.

And pretty much straightaway, Thomas hears something calling him.

It's an art deco speaker in an oak case with a painted black

front to it of Pan playing pipes.

It's a speaker, it's nothing else, but it's quite decorative.

(And there are huge collectors for this stuff.)

It has £75 on the ticket

so that's one to think about but there's plenty more to see here.

Just get browsing, you two.

Roscoe's so relaxed, isn't he?

He's got that real relaxedness about him. It's so wonderful to be around.

A-ha! "Keep calm and relax"!

Fat chance.

-Has something caught his eye at last?

-An old drum...

made by the world-famous Henry Potter & Co, London.

£49, which is not a lot of money for a snare drum.

Beautiful brass workmanship on it. Isn't that fabulous?

Do you think you'd sell a £49 drum for £14.92?

Time to get David.

It's just beautifully, beautifully made and it's a good maker but...

That is Margaret's.

-If you give her a cuddle...

-Yeah.

..you can have the drum for the paltry amount that you've offered us.

-It's all I've got in the world, Margaret.

-You are cheeky!

-I'm sorry.

-But you can say no.

-As you are on your knees...

-Do you want a cuddle?

-If you give me a cuddle.

-Is this my lucky day, Margaret? Melt into my arms!

-Wonderful.

Splendid! It has been reskinned but passport to success.

-So you're very happy?

-I'm over the moon.

-Jolly good.

I'm so pleased I came along today.

The sun is shining...

# And with musket, fife and drum

# Oh no sweet maid I cannot marry you

# For I have no coat to put on... #

Well, that has cheered him up. How are you feeling, Thomas?

(I'm feeling under pressure

(and I don't like that feeling cos Roscoe is quite a quick buyer.)

No pressure at all, Thomas. You just take your time, mate.

-Margaret.

-Hello again.

-(The speaker.)

-The speaker that you're interested in. Yeah.

-75, is it?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the best on that?

I actually had a word with the tenant

and he is willing to let you have it for 55.

What would he say if I offered 45?

-I really will have to have another word.

-Do you mind?

(I want to buy it for 45 quid)

because they've got the potential of only making 20.

Thomas, he has actually says he will go with your offer of £45.

-I should have said 35!

-I don't think he would have gone that low!

THEY LAUGH

I think that's lovely. Let me give you some money.

Well done, Thomas, the deal is done. And without a cuddle, too.

-Thank you.

-Roscoe. Wake up. What are you doing?

-Would have you been doing?

-Shut up.

-I've been here for hours.

I've had four cups of coffee, spent my money.

That means you're going to be stopping all the way to your visit.

"I want a wee-wee! I want to go to the loo." Come on.

There's no rest for the wicked.

It is easy for you, when you got no money, to find something.

-For me it's just more difficult.

-Don't be pathetic.

-It is more difficult.

-I bet you've got a great pocketful of money.

-I have got a pocketful of money.

-Calm down, children.

With our Charlie entirely spent up,

what better time to go visit an amazing piece of local history?

Thomas is giving him a lift to Bruntingthorpe Airfield.

-What do you think is in there?

-Look at that!

-You're going to have some fun today, you lucky boy.

-I certainly an.

-Look at you!

-You go and spend that 550 quid!

-Off you go.

-Have a lovely time.

-I will.

-You lucky old thing!

-You might never see me again!

-Enjoy yourself!

Charlie is meeting Chris Norris, who has something rather special

-tucked away in his shed.

-Is this your garden shed?

No, not really, but if I can just show you.

Charlie is in for a treat.

He is about to get up close to some of the fastest military jets

ever built - not one but two English Electric Lightning jets.

These magnificent machines have been bought by the

Lightning Preservation Group, of which Chris is a member.

They were built to defend British airspace during the Cold War

with the aim of intercepting aircraft from the USSR

as they approached our airspace.

This is the closest I have been to a Lightning

since I had my Airfix model at home when I was probably about ten.

We actually bought this aircraft in 1988 direct from the RAF

for the princely sum of £11,300.

These Lightenings have been decommissioned now

but still remain a remarkable feat of engineering.

Once these supersonic jets were able to fly over twice the speed

of sound and could climb 50,000 feet per minute

to an altitude of over 16 miles, flying faster than Concorde.

The original design was conceived in 1947.

-That's just two years after the end of the war!

-Absolutely.

They were flying Spitfires and Hurricanes!

It was a quantum leap from that and then you went to the

Lightning in squadron service in 1960,

when it first entered service.

And it was an immense plane for the guys to fly.

This underneath here, that is an enlarged ventral tank,

-which increased the range.

-What was the range?

-They could only stay out for about an hour.

-Is that all?

-I suppose at that speed they can go a fair distance.

-Absolutely.

Here is the engines.

One on top of the other, which is quite unique

but can be a problem, if you get the problem with the top engine,

you then went from a single fire to a double fire

and there was a lot lost, which ended up in the North Sea.

If you get a fuel leak from that one, it explodes this one.

-Absolutely.

-Thank you very much. It's wonderful from the front.

When you pull back the doors,

the view of it is absolutely breathtaking.

-It looks like a wasp coming towards you.

-Absolutely.

Rather a large wasp.

The Lightning was never required to fly in a combat situation

but instead acted as a deterrent to the Russians.

It has got two Red Top missiles on this one.

-That's those things at the front.

-They're air to air.

-Air to air.

I'm Looking at that ladder thinking it needs climbing.

-Am I allowed in?

-I think that can be arranged, Charlie.

# Take my breath away

Step aside, Tom Cruise.

# Take my breath away... #

-HE CHUCKLES

-There are a lot of knobs up here.

HE CHUCKLES

Pretty cramped, isn't it?

How on earth does anybody concentrate on all this lot?

-Extraordinary instruments, here.

-You are one of the elite now.

-Yeah.

I'm so thrilled. What is my mission, sir?

I'm absolutely terrified, to be honest, Chris.

-Tell Thomas there'll only be one for tea.

-OK. Nice knowing you!

-Goodbye, sir.

-Goodbye.

As the Cold War was drawing to a close,

these extraordinary planes had had their day.

Lightnings were finally decommissioned in 1988,

a year before the falling of the Berlin Wall,

paving the way for a new generation of super jets.

I'm a very, very privileged guy to be sitting in one of these.

I shall savour this moment for a long time.

And I shall think of the chaps that flew them.

While Charlie disappears over the horizon,

Thomas has more earthly matters to consider.

He's travelled six miles east of the village of Kibworth.

He's come to splash the last of his cash at Kibworth Antiques Centre.

-Hello. I'm Thomas.

-Hello, I'm Sharon.

-Nice to meet you. Is this all yours?

It is. We have about 40 different dealers within the centre.

With £418.44 burning a hole in your pocket,

what's the plan here, Planters?

I've already got five lots so here I'm looking to add

to one of those lots and the best lot is going to be the corkscrews.

We either buy more corkscrews, buy every single corkscrew I see,

to make it into a beefy lot of corkscrews,

or we buy a coaster, buy anything wine related.

So that should be quite fun.

This is a cellarman's corkscrew.

It's just literally your bog-standard for your cellar

and there were loads of these produced.

There's definitely a cellerman's one. It's no money.

That is definitely something which we are going to add to the lot.

We've found this corkscrew.

There's a corkscrew there. So we will leave that there

and see if we can find any more items.

A-ha! He's spotted something.

There are these two studio pottery bits which are quite nice.

Sharon.

Thank you.

And the other.

They are quite fun and colourful, aren't they?

-They're lovely. Really nice.

-They're really sweet.

-They were at £20 each, weren't they?

-They are, yes.

(Do you think I could have them for 20 for the two?)

-(No.)

-No? Why not?

Because I'm not allowed to let you have them for that.

-What could I have them for?

-You could have them for 17 each?

-Really? Yes.

-Not...

-I'm afraid.

-Not 30 for the two?

Do you want me to call the dealer? See what the very best is?

-Do you mind? That would be really helpful.

-For the two?

These could go with my muffin dish to make a lot,

a lot of studio pottery, contemporary pottery.

-What's the news?

-OK. I've spoken to the dealer.

Because you are buying the two, he's happy to do them for 30 for you.

Look at that! Isn't that lovely! What a nice chap.

-I'll have those and the corkscrew.

-Yes.

Not a great deal, I know, so could I...

What could I do for that?

What could I have the whole lot for? What are you going to do?

I would say there is really not a lot to do on the six.

But I would say let's do the two for 34.

Thank you very much. 35. There you are. Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. That concludes my work.

Just stuff the rest of your cash back in the pocket, old fruit.

So with both chaps shopped out,

it's that time again when they have to reveal all to each other.

First on the chopping block is Charlie.

What have you got here? A drum. A signed drum.

It's a signed drum by Henry Potter of London.

Unfortunately this, of course, not original

-but I like the brass work on it.

-How much was that?

-That was all I had in the world, Thomas.

-Was that with Margaret?

-That was £14.92.

-How did you get that off her?

-Because I gave her a cuddle.

-Roscoe!

-That is my gamble.

-I didn't see that.

Because that could make 20 quid and it might make 150 quid.

Some of these are remarkable. Look at the thickness of some of them.

HE LAUGHS

-Anyway, how much was that?

-45 quid, the lot.

-Oh! £100.

Have a look at the back of that.

-Who made it?

-Tiffany!

-Yeah.

-"Tiffany Broadway New York".

-40 quid.

-I quite like that.

-Right. Whip it off, Thomas.

HE MIMICS FANFARE

You've bought some corkscrews.

-One very ordinary one, one slightly better and...

-Yeah.

-They are too expensive. They're my bad buy.

-What about your plaque?

It's a 19th-century Staffordshire plaque, painted still life.

May I have a look at it? I think it is rather well painted.

It's beautifully painted.

It's lovely, like a 17th-century Dutch still life.

-This time I went for colour.

-How much?

-£15.

That's... That... I think that is a good profit.

I've never been a great lover of these. They're chancy.

I've never been a great lover

but there is something wonderful about them.

They were 30 quid for the pair. You can't say fairer than that.

You can't. 165, I think you've spent.

It's something like that but I've got loads of money left.

You've got about 400 quid and all that lot

and I have got precisely...

..rien and these bits!

Someone has got to lose! How many Road Trips have you ever won?

-None. How many have you won?

-One!

-THEY BOTH LAUGH

We're going to be all square at the end of this. One each.

-Thomas, it has been a treat, old bean.

-Hasn't it?

-A treat.

So, what did they really think?

The spectacle things, I mean...

I mean, those were doing really well when he had his saleroom.

HE LAUGHS Poor old Charlie.

Disappointing, Thomas. Disappointing, old boy.

Quite a good plaque with a crack.

I can't stand the belt buckle. I really don't like the belt buckle.

He has done all right but I would rather he had spent £400 or £500.

Thomas and Charlie have had a thoroughly enjoyable final leg,

kicking off at Walsall in the West Midlands before passing

through Staffordshire and Leicestershire.

Now they are en route to their final auction in Bedford, Bedfordshire.

Oh, Roscoe.

-Good luck, old bean.

-Good luck.

-I'm told there are some very fine corkscrews at this sale.

-There are.

Fine and rare. Come on, Roscoe.

Last time I have to get out that car.

Today's battlefield is W&H Peacock,

a thriving auction house that has been in business since 1901.

Presiding over the proceedings today is auctioneer David Fletcher.

Let's see what he thinks of our experts choices.

The so-called Tiffany buckle,

I'm not terribly happy about this lot really.

In my view that is not by Tiffany.

I hesitate even to call it a reproduction because I don't

think anyone ever made them so we have catalogued it as modern.

I hope someone will part with a tenner for it but you never know.

The Staffordshire painted plaque. An interesting thing this, really.

I think this will do OK. Plenty of people buying this sort of thing.

Not as saleable as it might have been five years ago.

I like to think it might make £100.

Charlie started this leg with £209.92

and blew every penny on five auction lots.

Thomas began with the princely sum of £553.44 and spent £169,

also on five auction lots.

It's an uphill struggle for Charlie

but he still has a chance to win the day.

Settle down, chaps.

First up is Charlie's buckle, made by world famous designers Tiffany's.

Or is it?

It is sold as a Wells Butterfield & Co style buckle.

It is marked Tiffany but is not being sold as Tiffany. £10 for it?

-Why don't you actually shoot me?

-10, I say. 5, I'm bid.

8. 10. 12. 15. 18.

This is better than I could possibly have hoped.

22. 25. 28. 30.

-35, sir?

-See? It is all right!

-At £35. All done?

-Hang on!

-40. Fresh bid, now. At £40.

This is a world record price for a buckle.

-I beg your pardon, sir!

-HE LAUGHS

On my left at £45.

Tiffany's or not, it still made a profit.

Had he not said that, it could have made £450.

I'm not speaking to him again.

Thomas's first lot of the day is next, his three corkscrews.

30, £20.

Bid, thank you, madam.

At £20. At 22, online.

-Online, now you are going.

-22, 25, 28.

-At £30.

-They are taking off now.

In the room. At 30.

All done, latest bid at £30.

A loss for Thomas,

especially after the auction house takes its well-earned commission.

It's a very small consolation to me but today I'm winning.

Today you are winning.

Will your next lot drum up a profit, Charlie?

30.

20.

Oh.

£20 I'm bid, thank heavens.

£20. Latest bid at 20.

22, 25, we are off now, 28, 30.

-35, all done at 35.

-That is enough now.

It is far too much.

Another profit for Roscoe. Things are looking up!

Now it's Thomas's Art Deco speaker.

40, 30, 20... Oh, dear.

-£10, the lady over there, thanks.

-This is wrong, this is wrong.

-Thomas, this is not fair.

-12 online, thank you. At £12. 15, latest bid.

-Come on, come on.

-18 may I say?

It is in the room at 18.

-It's an iconic thing.

-It is.

-£20, all done?

-Come on.

Another blow for Thomas.

Charlie's lead today continues.

I think I bought it and then thought, Oh, dear. You know how you do.

I've done a Roscoe, bought two items now.

It's Charlie's gamble lot up next,

-his optician's box.

-£50 anywhere?

-Oh, Roscoe.

-Most of you are wearing specs so you are probably all right.

30, I've got it online, thank you.

-£30 online. At 30.

-Now five.

At £30. All done and I sell.

The buyers just didn't have the vision for that one.

Why, when I lose money do you laugh?

When you lose money, I say, it's all wrong.

Because... HE LAUGHS

You're cruel man.

Now, Charlie wasn't keen on them, how will the bidders feel?

Five I'm bid, thank you, at £5.

I think they're overpriced at five.

-I don't think they are.

-Six anywhere?

All done at a fiver. Six. Eight.

-It's creeping.

-10.

-There, double figures.

£10. 12. 15.

18. 20. 22. At £22.

Back of the room, all done.

Clearly not much interest in those.

Another loss, I am afraid, Thomas.

Let's see if Charlie's silver will ladle up a profit.

£30 I'm bid.

-It's worth it.

-Two, five. With me at 35.

Not you, online. It is here at 35.

40 online. 42 I've got here.

45 I'll take. 45.

-45, in the room now.

-In the room at £45.

At 45...

GAVEL

A small profit but a profit nevertheless.

Superb. A little gentle nibble.

-Thomas's collection of pottery is up next.

-£10 is all I'm bid for them.

£10, it's a start.

All done, I shall sell for just a tenner. 12, latest bid.

15. 18, Madam? 18. At £18.

Anyone would think we were going up in thousands. 20.

LAUGHTER

Gentleman's bid at £20.

All done, sir, at 20.

It's really not going well.

That's Thomas's fourth loss of the day.

It's Charlie's big hope now, his Chinese cabinet.

-10 anywhere?

-Oh, dear.

10 I'm bid, thank you, madam.

£10 at the back of the room. 10. 12 anywhere?

At £10. 12 online.

15, 18 may I say?

18 online now.

-At 18, 20, 22, fresh bid.

-Fresh bid.

No? At £22, the lady on my left.

Ouch! Poor old Charlie!

Stretcher bearers?

Thomas's victory is insured now but by how much?

It is his last lot, the plaque.

50 to get on?

A sea of blank faces.

50 bid, thank you, madam. At £50.

55. 60. 65. 70.

-Thomas!

-Five.

-Ride it, Thomas, ride it!

85, Madam? 85.

-90.

-Make it a cool 100.

-95.

(Go on, Madam.)

-I said it would make £100. £100.

-You did, you are a clairvoyant!

-£100.

All done?

And true to form, Thomas goes out on a blinder.

-Well done, old bean.

-Well done, Roscoe.

I can only say, it's a bit like my life, really,

I have done my best, and so often my best is not good enough.

-Come on, you've thrashed me.

-Oh, Charlie! Don't despair.

Let's see who won the day.

Our Roscoe started the final leg with £209.92,

and made a loss of £64.78 after auction costs.

Leaving him with a miserly £145.14 at the end of the trip.

Thomas, meanwhile, kicked off with £553.44,

and after making a much smaller loss of £11.56,

he is crowned not only today's winner,

but also the champion of this week's Road Trip, his first-ever win.

He's left with a grand total of £541.88. Well done, Thomas!

All profits of course, go to Children in Need.

CHARLIE LAUGHS

You've got one under your belt now, Planters.

-I have, I have.

-There will be no holding you.

Roscoe, but you did so well to begin with.

But what you've done is you've lost and you've bought,

you've lost and bought,

and then you've made money and then you've lost money.

But that's quite cool.

Don't ever spend ever spend more than 40 quid on anything!

-Come on, that's the rule, isn't it?

-Toot-toot!

It's been a marvellous week.

-And what a week it's been.

-Well done!

Once upon a time, long, long ago, Charlie won the first leg.

Since then...

# I don't wanna talk

# About the things we've gone through

-I feel your pain.

-Thy will be done.

# Though it's hurting me now it's history...#

-You may indeed!

-Mwah!

-Do you want a cuddle?

-No!

-£60, sir.

-Oh!

Don't I look handsome?

Ha-ha-ha-ha!

# The winner takes it all...#

I've never been in a car with such a rich person.

I only came in here for an insole.

# Beside the victory

# That's her destiny

# But you see

# The winner takes it all...#

But despite the yawning gap in their fortunes,

something beautiful has blossomed out on the road.

You have improved me. I have learnt so much from you, Roscoe.

-Your temperament has been such a pleasure.

-My mate, Thomas.

And all he taught me.

Bon voyage!