0:00:33 > 0:00:40If there's one place most of us like to be, it's beside the seaside - even on a rainy day like today.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44And more pleasure-seekers flock to this resort than anywhere else in Europe.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Last year, more than 16 million of them
0:00:46 > 0:00:52filled its hotels and guesthouses and saw its world-famous landmarks.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Welcome to Blackpool.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15In 1750, the population of Blackpool was 473 -
0:01:15 > 0:01:1850 years later it was 47,000.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21The reason for the 1,000% increase -
0:01:21 > 0:01:23the railways.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27With the railways came the masses, particularly during Wakes Weeks
0:01:27 > 0:01:31when northern factories and mills closed for their annual holidays.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34It was hardly first-class travel.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38In the very early days, they were transported in cattle trucks
0:01:38 > 0:01:40that had hardly been cleaned out.
0:01:40 > 0:01:46By the time they got to Blackpool, they were bruised and battered and determined to enjoy themselves.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59The Winter Gardens were opened in 1878 and, after a shaky start,
0:01:59 > 0:02:04became a huge success due to William Holland, the "British Barnum".
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Bill understood his customers and gave them what they wanted,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12which was all-day entertainment for just sixpence.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16He even offered a one shilling dinner and a one shilling tea.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19"Plenty of everything! Help yourself!"
0:02:20 > 0:02:23A new phrase for Blackpool was "Holland's weather" -
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It meant a sunny morning to send the trippers to the seaside,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31and a wet afternoon to drive them to the Winter Gardens.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36We have lots of what Holland called his "golden showers" around today,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41which might encourage visitors and Blackpudlians alike to come to our Roadshow -
0:02:41 > 0:02:44here at the Empress Ballroom, home of the political conference.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Hopefully our experts haven't slipped off to the Big Wheel.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53I think one of them's found something to his taste.
0:02:53 > 0:02:59Make sure they're the right way round. Some people have them the wrong way round, like that.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01- Yes.- It doesn't make sense at all.
0:03:01 > 0:03:07When you look at the modelling in the faces, that's how they go, cos he's giving her the glad-eye.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12- Mm.- Like so, and she's being all demure and cute...- Yes. - ..with her two little dimples.
0:03:12 > 0:03:19- That's right.- Now, we see a lot of this sort of thing at a Roadshow - made in Germany, slip cast.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21- What does that mean? Made in one piece.- Yes.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24- You can see right up the end of them.- Mm.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28- Mass production technique.- Yes. - Don't expect much value from them.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32- There is one thing that's nice about them, and that is the mark.- Yes.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35- This is by a factory called Hutschenreuther.- Yes.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40They made huge quantities of high-grade, slip-cast figures.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- They also made dolls, piano babies...- Yes.
0:03:43 > 0:03:49They have a sense of humour about them, which I think we'll take into consideration.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53- Normally, I'd be saying £20 or £30 for things like this.- Yes.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57- In this case, cos they're SO cute, aren't they?- Very. Bit like you!
0:03:59 > 0:04:02- I haven't got dimples. - No, you haven't.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06I'm going to put a value of around maybe £200 to £300 on them.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Oh, very nice.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13My husband who was a compositor, printer,
0:04:13 > 0:04:19happened to see them at the Antique Fair at the Marine Hall in Fleetwood
0:04:19 > 0:04:23and he just bought them in a book form.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27- Were they all in one big book? - Yes.- So you broke them up?
0:04:27 > 0:04:31- We did. We didn't know whether to or not.- We'll come onto that later.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35What's interesting is that they were published in monthly parts.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39It says here, "McLean's Monthly Sheet Of Caricatures."
0:04:39 > 0:04:41This one is May 1st 1833.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44And it says here,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47"Three shillings plain, six shillings coloured."
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Six shillings was really quite a sum in 1833.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53In a way, it was like the Private Eye of the day.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59It was the political cartoon, which the public, at that time, would have learned how to read.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04Today it's harder, cos unless you're very hot on your William IV history,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07it's difficult to read some of them.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09- Yes.- I'll try and read a couple.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14I think this one's very interesting because today there's much debate
0:05:14 > 0:05:19as to whether, you know, we should be a monarchy or a republic,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22whether it's too expensive, and, here, in 1833,
0:05:22 > 0:05:27they're saying that the monarchy was costing £600,000 a year
0:05:27 > 0:05:30whilst an American president was a mere £6,000.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35"Is there really a balance there?" was what they were asking.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37This is an interesting story.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Here we have the Russian Bear attacking Turkey
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- while England sleeps.- Oh, I see!
0:05:45 > 0:05:48What's going on here is that if Turkey fell to Russia,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51then Russia would be able to get into India.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54That would be critical to the Empire.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57India was the jewel in the Empire.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02They were suggesting that the monarchy were lying by idly, paying no attention.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07- You can see that just by looking at that picture?- Exactly.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09The same would apply to all of these.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12- A story behind every one of them. - Yes.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- Every one of them would have been lampooning something.- Yeah.- Oh!
0:06:16 > 0:06:20- It was a great shame to break them up like this.- Yes.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24Having said that, I'm sure that if you had sold it as one thing,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27- someone else would break it up.- Yes.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31You've done what someone else would have subsequently done.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Individually, they're not hugely valuable
0:06:34 > 0:06:38and some will be more than others, depending on the political elements.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43- You say there are 47 of them. - I think 47 or 48.- 47, 48.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Even at a tenner each, that's £500.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49I suspect they're worth quite a bit more than that.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54It's a nice collection and you're going to have to learn a bit more...
0:06:54 > 0:06:57We'll have to learn how to read them.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02- Condition's not very good, is it? - Not very good at all.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05It just gets thrown in the loft.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Oh, that's nice, yes - Lehmann.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Is it flapping? Yes, it flaps. It's missing a pair of legs underneath.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Made around...1915-1920.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20- In that condition, about £60, £70. - Thank you.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23And that - less, much less.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- About £15.- Thank you.- OK.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30- Now, sir, sorry about that! - That's all right.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Now, tell me the story behind these.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37A friend of mine wanted a job doing, he'd just moved house,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41short of funds, and said, "What about an exchange?"
0:07:41 > 0:07:46- Very good. Bartering's rife up here, is it?- It is. Very rife, I may add.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Let's have a look at one or two.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Datewise - we can date them quite easily from the Dion quins here...
0:07:54 > 0:07:57- Oh, yes.- ..who were 1935.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03There they are, the little group of quins with their dummies. One dummy missing. Very sweet.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07They're probably dating from about that period.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12We've got one here made by a company called Tipp & Co.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- Tipp? Ah, yes.- Tipp.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18There's the monogram on the front there,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21which is in pretty good condition,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25- That might be a little earlier. - Is the fireman missing?
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Missing a member of the crew there,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30but nice lithography here,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33showing the pistons and the hoses and so on.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37That's a bit earlier. That's probably mid-1920s.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42This is lovely. This has come a long way from London. ..Oh, I don't know.
0:08:42 > 0:08:48"London to Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Continent."
0:08:48 > 0:08:51- That's quite a tour. - Quite a reasonable bus route.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53And this I love too.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59- This is an AA man. They used to salute you by the side of the road.- They did.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01- They had a side car on as well.- Yes.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I believe there's a story about the AA man.
0:09:05 > 0:09:11If he didn't salute you as a member, there was a police trap up ahead.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Oh, is that so? So it was enforced.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17I was trying to get it back into circulation.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19It would be very nice, wouldn't it?
0:09:19 > 0:09:24It should be part of their customer service routine in the future.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26But that IS very nice.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Motorcycles have a cult following with collectors, as indeed buses do.
0:09:30 > 0:09:36- Now, I suppose you've got them out on display, have you?- No.- No?
0:09:36 > 0:09:38- Not allowed to?- Not allowed.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- Yes, I can see. - She's over me shoulder.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45In the background with the rolling pin.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48I think what you've got here is a lovely group.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Certainly we're talking about several hundred pounds,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54perhaps as much as £1,000 -
0:09:54 > 0:09:59I would have thought a fair exchange for work done all those years ago.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06- Many of these were converted to wristwatches at a later date.- Yes.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11That one, for example, has got this sort of...catch on the bottom
0:10:11 > 0:10:16by which they would have made a wristwatch out of a pocket watch.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I've handled Majolica ware, which is what this is,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21since 1969,
0:10:21 > 0:10:27and what amazes me about it is that new bits that I've never seen before keep appearing.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30- Did you know it was Majolica ware? - No.
0:10:30 > 0:10:36It was made by the Victorians in response to Italian maiolica, which they greatly admired.
0:10:36 > 0:10:44They discovered how to use the glazes and then put them onto much more wacky things like this vase.
0:10:44 > 0:10:52I mean, I think it was probably for a specimen...lily or flag iris,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55or maybe even a display of peacock feathers.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59We're right here in the middle of the aesthetic movement.
0:10:59 > 0:11:06The design here - although it doesn't look it really - has been very influenced by Japan.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08We've got these irises on here.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11They're very much a Japanese flower.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14And round the bottom here,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16we've got this wonderful toad.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21That's probably because they've been looking at little Japanese netsuke.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26We expect to find, on the bottom, marks.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Now, this is a piece by Minton.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34We've got..."Minton" with no "s" on the end.
0:11:34 > 0:11:41- They added an "s" in 1872, so we know this predates 1872.- Oh.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43So, quite an elderly object.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Where did your family...? Where did you get him from?
0:11:47 > 0:11:52My grandparents had a fish business. They travelled round Lancashire.
0:11:52 > 0:11:58They got very friendly with a lady customer who was a spinster
0:11:58 > 0:12:00and they were very kind to her.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04And, from what I know, when the spinster's mother died -
0:12:04 > 0:12:07my grandma had always admired this -
0:12:07 > 0:12:11- and I think they gave it to her as a gift.- Really? Oh, wonderful!
0:12:11 > 0:12:16- That would have been the early... about 1910, I would imagine.- Yeah.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20- It was an elderly pot then. You've known it since you were a child?- Mm.
0:12:20 > 0:12:26I think it's a great thing - hugely collectable, particularly in America, enormous market.
0:12:26 > 0:12:31I would have thought we were looking at somewhere between...
0:12:31 > 0:12:34- £3,000 to £5,000.- Yes.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37- All right?- Mm-hm.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42Well, this mallet is obviously an official tool. What is its story?
0:12:42 > 0:12:47In 1935, we re-laid the entire ballroom floor here in the Winter Gardens.
0:12:47 > 0:12:54At the end of the job, the Mayor of Blackpool was asked to come down through the ballroom
0:12:54 > 0:12:56and to lay the centrepiece
0:12:56 > 0:13:00in a special ceremony, using that very mallet.
0:13:00 > 0:13:07He hammered it into position and we, in fact, have a photograph of him doing that very thing here.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12There's an official standing in the background with the mallet in a box.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18- We're on that very spot.- We're on that very spot, where countless masters of ceremony have stood
0:13:18 > 0:13:21to direct ballroom dancers and ensure good order.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26- Your house must be a bit empty without this in it.- It is, yes.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30- Where do you keep it? - It's in the front room.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34- In the front room?- In the front sitting room.- So, how do you use it?
0:13:34 > 0:13:40- You've got objects displayed on it? - Oh, yes, all the family portraits and all the relics are on it.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44- It's an extraordinary piece because it's a real mixture of styles.- Yes.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49When you first look at it from a distance, you say, "English Arts and Crafts"
0:13:49 > 0:13:51because of the shape of it,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55- but all sorts of the detail just says French Art Nouveau.- Oh.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59- So, that was really popular around 1900.- Yes.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03For the influence to get to England, because I'm sure this is English,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07would have taken just a little bit of time,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10so I suspect this was made between 1900 and 1910.
0:14:10 > 0:14:17And it's got all the features you would expect to find on a kind of mixture of those two styles.
0:14:17 > 0:14:25What's very Arts and Crafts is the use of these metal hinges across the door to make it very decorative.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30That takes your eye across the curve of the outside doors into the centre panel,
0:14:30 > 0:14:37- which is, although it's got an Art Nouveau character to it, quite English, quite Arts and Crafts.- Yes.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43- As you come up, you get this really broad surface, very useful surface.- Yes, yes.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49- And you get these lovely pillars, deeply cut at the top with leaves. - Yes, yes.
0:14:49 > 0:14:55- It's echoed on the inside here with this branch of pomegranates, I think they are.- Are they? Oh.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00- Have you thought about a valuation? - No.- It's not been an issue at all.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04- Never bothered.- I think if you saw it at auction you'd see an estimate of
0:15:04 > 0:15:07maybe £4,000 to £5,000.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08What?!
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Oh, dear.
0:15:10 > 0:15:16Here is Satan himself, Rex Mundi, King of the World, beneath a pile,
0:15:16 > 0:15:21absolutely writhing with sin and iniquity.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27There's a reptile here for the lower order of the animal kingdom, a dragon, a scaly unwholesome reptile,
0:15:27 > 0:15:35and here are the damned - in serious trouble, falling against rocks - naughty ladies with long hair,
0:15:35 > 0:15:41naked gentlemen who probably led profligate lives. And there is a degree of hope in all of this,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44because we see at the top an angel.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48And he's reaching down to save this soul here,
0:15:48 > 0:15:55and I think from that point of view we can be certain that this is not hell. It's purgatory.
0:15:55 > 0:16:01- Wonderful object. Have you thought about what it does? - Absolutely no idea.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07It was once set with an engraved stone or piece of die-stamped metal
0:16:07 > 0:16:11or something like that, because it's a seal for a letter.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16In fact it's very ergonomic in a sense, works very well.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20The finger falls between the angel's wings to press down.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I'd like to think this belonged to a Cardinal, really,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27or a Roman Catholic priest, in the mid 19th century.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33It's fire-gilt, which gives it this look of gold, although it isn't.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Anybody would be very pleased to add that to a collection,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- for £600 or £700 today. - Good gracious!
0:16:40 > 0:16:47- He belonged to my father, and when my father bought a practice and came to Blackpool...- Yes.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51..A chartered accountant's practice, that was part of it.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Two shillings he paid, in about 1928 along with the paper clips...
0:16:56 > 0:17:00- He was an accountant?- Yes, he was. - Was it to frighten clients?- I dunno.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05- He said it's "somebody who's received his tax bill."- Exactly how it looks!
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- Do you actually know anything about him?- I know nothing at all.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Does the name Messerschmidt mean anything?
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- Forget the aeroplane.- Not really.
0:17:13 > 0:17:19Right. Franz Xavier Messerschmidt, born 1736,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22was an Austrian doctor.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28He developed a theory that there was a relationship between what was going on inside your head
0:17:28 > 0:17:32and the physical structure of it outside.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35There was a feeling that you could get into the way the brain worked
0:17:35 > 0:17:41by looking at physical features - the shape of the head, expressions.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Now, not surprisingly, Messerschmidt was considered to be a complete lunatic.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51He went on making these models through his lifetime, trying to prove this point.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56Later they were given silly titles - The Yawning Man, Constipated Man.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01That has nothing to do with it, cos at the time, people couldn't decide
0:18:01 > 0:18:04if they were serious medical exercises or entertainment.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07I think it's painted plaster, a later cast.
0:18:07 > 0:18:14- Yes.- Not necessarily late 18th C, but exactly the same figure. You have it in your insurance?
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- We haven't.- Perhaps you should.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Although seen as bizarre and quaint, they're very collectable,
0:18:21 > 0:18:26- particularly in Germany and Austria. £500 to £800 seems fair.- Good God!
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- A sweet revolving bookcase!- Thank you.- Where and how did you get it?
0:18:32 > 0:18:36It belonged to my husband's aunt and uncle -
0:18:36 > 0:18:40parlour maid and chauffeur at the cotton mills in Oldham.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45I think this was a piece of furniture that they inherited from there.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49- Would that have been in the 1920s? - Yes.- Or a little bit earlier?- Yes.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55- This mahogany-finish revolving bookcase dates from the early years of the century.- Oh, right.
0:18:55 > 0:19:02Revolving bookcases are VERY popular now and I like this one particularly because it's small
0:19:02 > 0:19:06and because it's got some rather interesting characteristics.
0:19:06 > 0:19:13It's on a three-legged stand, but what I like particularly is the Art Nouveau motif of a tulip
0:19:13 > 0:19:17and the stretchers are in the form of a stylised Chinese bridge,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20- the sort you see on willow-pattern plates.- Oh, right, yes.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24It's very sweet, and of course it revolves.
0:19:24 > 0:19:31It may well have been to contain something like the Waverley Novels or a set of Dickens, originally,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33and they've all gone missing,
0:19:33 > 0:19:39- but given the interest in revolving bookcases nowadays...- Yes?
0:19:39 > 0:19:45- ..this could easily fetch £600, £700, maybe a little bit more.- Oh!
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Right! That's VERY nice! Thank you!
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Here's something that's been lent to us by Blackpool Tower
0:19:52 > 0:19:57where it forms part of a display commemorating the life of the great clown, Charlie Cairoli.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01It takes us back to February 25, 1970, when Eamonn Andrews stepped up
0:20:01 > 0:20:05and said "Charlie Cairoli, This Is Your Life".
0:20:05 > 0:20:10Now, two things strike you at once. The book is neither big nor red.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15It didn't swell and turn red until later in the '70s. But here's another colour -
0:20:15 > 0:20:21Eamonn Andrews' signature and best wishes there, written as always in green. Here are a lot of pictures,
0:20:21 > 0:20:28other great entertainers and Eamonn himself - looking as excited and happy as he always was.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31A lovely piece of TV history.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35- You are Keith Harris, are you not? - I certainly am.- Absolutely wonderful.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39- The famous Orville. First time you've seen me with two hands?- Quite true!
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- I remember you very well with ONE hand, on TV.- Exactly.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46- You've brought an interesting picture.- Yes.- What's its history?
0:20:46 > 0:20:51My manager, a gentleman called Peter Dulay, he gave me this painting,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55and this is of the pier at Great Yarmouth.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59I worked at the Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth many seasons,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02many seasons there, and he thought it was a nice present.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05I think he bought it in London, I don't know.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09I wanted to know a bit about it. It's a wonderful painting.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13It is. What it shows quite clearly is there are some fishermen here,
0:21:13 > 0:21:18looking out to sea on a stormy day with a telescope, perhaps waiting for the fishing fleet to come back.
0:21:18 > 0:21:23- Most probably.- Probably worried - cos there's this great wind blowing,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26pushing the sea over the wall.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29- Yes.- I can tell you about McIntyre. - Ah.- He was a Sheffield artist.
0:21:29 > 0:21:36- Yes.- He's a bit off his beat here in Great Yarmouth.- Right.- He was very well respected in his local town.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40- He became president of the Sheffield Society of Artists.- Really?
0:21:40 > 0:21:46It's probably worth... A sale-room estimate might be £1,500 to £1,800.
0:21:46 > 0:21:52- Oh, really? Oh, that's nice. It's sentimental value, as I say.- Yes, I'm sure it's worth more to you.- Yes.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56We often get medals brought to the Roadshow,
0:21:56 > 0:22:02but rarely groups as wonderful as this. It contains not one, but two decorations for gallantry.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07- Are these from your family? - Grandfather.- Your grandfather was...
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Company Sgt Major Robert Moyse,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14"Distinguished Conduct Medal. Awarded the Military Cross
0:22:14 > 0:22:20"for conspicuous gallantry and initiative on the 8th August 1918
0:22:20 > 0:22:25"when his Company Commander had become a casualty and although wounded himself, he took command
0:22:25 > 0:22:29"and led the company through a dense fog, machine gun and shellfire.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33"They passed by a battery which opened fire with a machine gun.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38"This warrant officer rushed it by himself, capturing it and the field guns with one officer and 20 men.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42"He showed splendid leadership, courage and endurance." Wonderful!
0:22:42 > 0:22:46- Yeah.- It's not surprising they awarded him this -
0:22:46 > 0:22:52it was for junior officers, captain and below, and warrant officers -
0:22:52 > 0:22:56already on the top of his Distinguished Conduct Medal,
0:22:56 > 0:23:02which he had got in 1917 for consolidating a company position.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05He was obviously a great man of action.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08- Oh, yes. Just five foot four. - Five foot four?
0:23:08 > 0:23:13He had a medical reject at first, and he had to fight to get in.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17I don't suppose the Germans knew what hit them, coming out of the mist.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21The rest of the group is very interesting,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25because you get an Elizabeth II Meritorious Service Medal
0:23:25 > 0:23:29and the three typical First World War medals,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31the 1914-15 Star,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35the Victory Medal and the War Medal.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Then we get into the Second World War
0:23:38 > 0:23:42and at the end are various foreign medals.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47When you get a group that is as good as this, it's always worth framing.
0:23:47 > 0:23:53And particularly, framing it with a picture and also the citations. These are now getting very fragile.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57He didn't take care of 'em. Punched holes and stuck 'em in a file.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00- Some people would put them on a wall. - Probably thought nothing of it.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- No.- Often incredibly brave people
0:24:04 > 0:24:10think it's the sort of thing they do every day and they're modest and retiring.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16It's difficult to put a monetary value on one man's courage. Have you thought what they might be worth?
0:24:16 > 0:24:19- No, never.- I think that because...
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- I wouldn't sell them. - ..there are two of them,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27two decorations and this wonderful picture and the citations,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30I think these are worth between...
0:24:31 > 0:24:37..£1,500 to £2,000. They really are a super group - and thank you very much for bringing them.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38Thanks.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Tell me what you know about this pendant.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Only what my mother told me.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49It was bought in a lot from a sale at the Earl of Dudley's Estate.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51- Right, yes. - In the early years of the war.
0:24:51 > 0:24:57She told me it was made of silver gilt - the case - and had the original glass.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01- And I mustn't ever wash the ivory. - She was right there.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05- That's all I remember. - Did she wear it?
0:25:05 > 0:25:11- My mother wore it at my wedding.- Yes. - On a black velvet band.- Wonderful.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16This is extremely unusual, extremely rare. It is complete in every sense.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19She was absolutely right - don't try to take it to pieces.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21- I can see one prising the glass out. - Oh, no.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25To begin at the beginning - it's a devotional pendant.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30On the one side we've got the Madonna and Child carved in ivory.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Mm, yes.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37If we rotate it, on the other side we've a warrior saint on a horse.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41It has wonderful feeling in the way the ivory is carved on both sides.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- Yes.- Do you know anything about it historically?
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I don't - my mother thought it very old, but how old...
0:25:48 > 0:25:52- What did she ever say, or what did she mean by "very old"? - She may have done.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54It's a long, long time ago.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57I was only 12 when she bought it.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- Let's start... - I wish I'd asked before she died.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03- I could have.- She may not have known.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06It's one thing we never do is ask the right questions.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- 17th century, does that make sense? - Oh, right.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Probably... It's certainly European,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17not British. It was probably made in South Germany, possibly Switzerland,
0:26:17 > 0:26:23where the style particularly, this Mannerist approach to ivory carving, was very popular in that period.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28- The great thing is, it's not just the two sides, it's also this wonderful mount.- That is nice.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32At first you think the mount must be later but it's exactly contemporary.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37As you say, silver-gilt. The mount was made for the object.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41- Would it be a Catholic medal, if it's devotional?- Oh, yes.- I suppose.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47It would've been worn by a Catholic. When made, it came from a Catholic country into a Catholic world.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51She bought it during the war. We'll never know what she paid.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53- Very little.- I'm sure very little.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57It's the sort of thing one could've picked up for nothing in those days.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00- Pounds, I should think. - Today, it's a very important object.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04- How about, I think, £1,200 - £1,500? - Really?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07- Yes.- Oh, I say!
0:27:09 > 0:27:13- Busy day, Michael?- Haven't stopped for a moment, David.- Refreshment?
0:27:13 > 0:27:20- Thank you. ..Hang on! How clever. - Trompe l'oeil. Isn't it wonderful?
0:27:20 > 0:27:23- Where did it come from? - It was my mother's.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28So realistic. "Huntley & Palmers" on here, "Osborne Biscuit" there.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33It was actually made by the Bretby factory just outside Leeds,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36They did a number of decorative vases and things,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39but this is one of their well known ones.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43- I think it's great fun.- And still identical to today's biscuits.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46- Absolutely.- Discoloured, maybe.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Well, give it a bit of a wash. Very good, and worth quite a bit of money
0:27:50 > 0:27:52because Bretby is quite collectable.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56- That's going to be worth around £300 to £500.- Oh!
0:27:56 > 0:28:00- Almost the world's most expensive biscuits.- Gosh.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06I remember going to the celebrations afterwards with my Dad. I was only five.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08- But...- When Blackpool won?
0:28:08 > 0:28:11- Yeah, when we won. - Brought the cup back.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13- Yes.- You saw that?- Of course, yes.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19- Marvellous. Programmes are now very collectable, this one is very special, isn't it?- It is.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25Because there it is, it's signed by...all of the Blackpool team? Not quite, somebody didn't.
0:28:25 > 0:28:31- Bar one - Coleman. - And in particular, a signature like this - Stanley Matthews.
0:28:31 > 0:28:38The great Sir Stanley Matthews, only recently died. So, with those signatures today, £300,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41- £400, £500.- Excellent, very good.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43- Could be £500.- Mm.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46But you're going to keep it in the family, aren't you?
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Definitely. It's written in the will.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51- They argue over who should have it. - A programme written into a will.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53- Three sons.- Marvellous!
0:28:53 > 0:28:57- D'you know what it is? - We know it's salt-glazed.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00It's salt-glazed stoneware,
0:29:00 > 0:29:05made in Staffordshire, round about the middle of the 18th century.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09What I love is the decoration, these beautiful rosebuds
0:29:09 > 0:29:16enamelled in an almost three-dimensional relief with a little bud on the corner there.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Now, does that mean anything to you?
0:29:20 > 0:29:27- Well...I know it's quite rare for blue to be enamelled in colours.- Right.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31The blue was named after somebody called William Littler,
0:29:31 > 0:29:36who was a potter in Staffordshire in the middle of the 18th century,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39and then went on to make porcelain.
0:29:39 > 0:29:46But it's this enamelling I think is so wonderful, with the wonderful three-dimensional colours.
0:29:46 > 0:29:47What I think -
0:29:47 > 0:29:49I think it's a Jacobite piece,
0:29:49 > 0:29:56made for a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie - or his father -
0:29:56 > 0:30:01after the 1745 rebellion, because the rose in bloom here
0:30:01 > 0:30:09symbolises the Old Pretender, and the little bud here - the little sprig - his son,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13Bonnie Prince Charlie. They would have had all kinds
0:30:13 > 0:30:18of secret signs and symbols they would've used amongst themselves
0:30:18 > 0:30:22so that, drinking the loyal toast, they might've done it with that mug
0:30:22 > 0:30:30and held it over their fingerbowl of water so they'd be symbolically drinking to Bonnie Prince Charlie
0:30:30 > 0:30:35who was the exiled king over the water in France.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Have you ever dared to drink your tea out of it, or...?
0:30:37 > 0:30:41No. We've sat and nursed it, really.
0:30:41 > 0:30:46- We like the way all the little hairs on the stalks...- It's wonderful.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49It's a little moss rose.
0:30:49 > 0:30:56It IS a bit of a wreck. It's got a nasty crack right down one side,
0:30:56 > 0:31:00which obviously is going to badly affect the value.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04However, it's a small, attractive piece,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08it's got this Jacobite association with Bonnie Prince Charlie,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12and I think that if you were to go and buy that
0:31:12 > 0:31:15in one of the big London antique fairs,
0:31:15 > 0:31:21you could be perhaps having to pay about £5,000.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Thank you.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26This is a beautiful jewel. Did you give it to your wife?
0:31:26 > 0:31:30- To my mother YEARS ago. - Where did you buy it?
0:31:30 > 0:31:34I bought it from a pawnbrokers in Blackpool,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37and I thought it was perhaps
0:31:37 > 0:31:42a reproduction of a Renaissance jewel.
0:31:42 > 0:31:49- You are absolutely on target there, without doubt. How old do you think it is?- I think it's Victorian.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54It's VERY Victorian. It's actually possible to give it not only a date
0:31:54 > 0:32:00and to say it's a neo-Renaissance one, but, in this instance, because the work is so characteristic,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04we can be certain it's made by a particular maker, Ernesto Rinzi.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08He worked in Argyll Street,
0:32:08 > 0:32:15behind Regent Street, from about 1860 until the 1870s, when he turned his attention to miniature painting.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19We can be so emphatic about the authorship
0:32:19 > 0:32:24cos the palette of the jewel is very distinctive, obviously -
0:32:24 > 0:32:28blue, white and red - and one simply recognises it when you see it.
0:32:28 > 0:32:35- Let's look at it at the back here. There's a little compartment with a window in it.- Yes.
0:32:35 > 0:32:41It's a "compartment for souvenir", a souvenir in the form of a photograph or a lock of hair.
0:32:42 > 0:32:49We can see a tiny loop at the bottom, which was actually to support a missing pendant drop.
0:32:49 > 0:32:56- The composition of it would make more sense with the drop answering the pendant.- At the other end?- Yes.
0:32:56 > 0:33:02- Which may well have been set with a ruby, as this is. - Yes.- Anyway it's gone.
0:33:02 > 0:33:08It's slightly "the good news and the bad news" with this pendant. Life's like that, isn't it? God only knows!
0:33:08 > 0:33:12It couldn't be more fashionable today.
0:33:12 > 0:33:18That's the good news. The bad news is the condition isn't marvellous, sadly.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23Had it been in pristine condition, it would have been £3,500.
0:33:23 > 0:33:30- I know, "Ouch!"- Ouch! - In its present condition - it IS an ouch - I think it probably falls
0:33:30 > 0:33:37to about £700 to £800. People who collect this sort of jewellery are like stamp collectors,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41- very, very conscious of condition. - Perfection.- Perfection. Yes.
0:33:41 > 0:33:47But you chose it when the world had turned its back on it - that's the compliment to you.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51A brilliant discovery, and I can't tell you how I welcome it here.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54We think about metals in terms of awards and gallantry.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56This is something different.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00If one looks closely, it's got a picture of a Hoover on it.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03What an extraordinary thing. Where did you get it?
0:34:03 > 0:34:08An uncle of mine worked for the Hoover Corporation, selling Hoovers.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10- Right.- I believe he was awarded that
0:34:10 > 0:34:15for a number of Hoovers he was able to sell in one particular period.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18It's APPARENTLY a gallantry award
0:34:18 > 0:34:21The citation says he won the gold VSM.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26- What d'you think the VSM stands for?- Um, obviously to do with sales.
0:34:26 > 0:34:32- Yes.- So it could be a "sales medal". What the V stands for I don't know.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Yes. It's obviously the top of the tree
0:34:34 > 0:34:38cos we can see that he was the top salesman at that time, 19...?
0:34:38 > 0:34:441936, April. And the letter is couched ENTIRELY in military terms.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49It's to Sergeant Bosworth from Battalion Commander Burling
0:34:49 > 0:34:55- of the Northern Army. This presumably was the army of salesmen. - That's right, yes.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00Yet the whole citation is based on a military citation.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05The whole structure is as though they've just fought some bloody campaign and he's come out on top,
0:35:05 > 0:35:12- and I suppose in sales terms he HAD. - Yes.- Now, the 1930s, this was a very militaristic period,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14at the rise of Hitler in Germany,
0:35:14 > 0:35:19Mussolini in Italy - belatedly, the British rising to that threat,
0:35:19 > 0:35:25so military awareness was very much in the spirit of the age, but the combination of this,
0:35:25 > 0:35:27and the medal and it all coming together -
0:35:27 > 0:35:30is something I'VE never seen. Have you ever seen one?
0:35:30 > 0:35:35No. I've made contact with Hoover and they have no knowledge of it at all.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41So it's gone from history completely. I think to a serious collector who knew these things,
0:35:41 > 0:35:46- you're looking at £50 or £100. In a sense that's irrelevant.- Right.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Extraordinary insight into the attitudes of that period.
0:35:49 > 0:35:55I think it's a lovely thing. So can you tell me what you know about it?
0:35:55 > 0:36:00The artist is actually Adolphe Valette - he died in Lyon in 1942 -
0:36:00 > 0:36:05but in 1905 he was the Master of Art
0:36:05 > 0:36:08at the particular building on the left,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10and his pupils at that time
0:36:10 > 0:36:16were LS Lowry, Smart and Rowley.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19They were just three of his pupils,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22but LS Lowry... You can see where he's got...
0:36:22 > 0:36:24the actual bits and pieces from.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29- Yes.- This particular part here is the Manchester School of Art.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33- Yes, absolutely... - At the turn of the century.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36I sometimes wonder whether Valette suffers
0:36:36 > 0:36:44from being "the man who taught Lowry" or whether his own reputation is only in reflected glory of Lowry.
0:36:44 > 0:36:51- Yes, yes.- Um, but then we have to turn things around sometimes when we're looking at pictures,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and the thing that Lowry became deeply popular for
0:36:55 > 0:36:59- were those "matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs".- Yes.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03And that heavily stylised way of portraying the city of Manchester.
0:37:03 > 0:37:09In this painting you can see this figure, a classic "Lowry" figure
0:37:09 > 0:37:12with the slightly sort of globby feet.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17But also, other things about this picture remind you of Lowry,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21in particular the impasto -
0:37:21 > 0:37:27- the thickness of the paint and the way it's layered...- Yes. - ..whilst it's still wet.
0:37:27 > 0:37:32Different things used to make marks in the paint, not just the brush.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37The end of the brush was used to expose layers of paint underneath.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42It brings to mind something Lowry used to say about HIS pictures,
0:37:42 > 0:37:49- that you would only see them at their best, how they were intended to be - after about 20 years.- Yes.
0:37:49 > 0:37:56- When the paint had set, and you'd be able to see the layers of paint coming through from underneath.- Yes.
0:37:56 > 0:38:03Valette came fresh from Paris, full of ideas and a kind of picture library in his head built up
0:38:03 > 0:38:07- by looking at the work of French Impressionists.- Yes.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12In those days, Manchester was a very murky, smoky industrial city.
0:38:12 > 0:38:18Mist would cling to particles of pollution, making real peasoupers.
0:38:18 > 0:38:25- Yes.- And it was a wonderful opportunity to create these very moody townscapes,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30- with distorted shapes coming out of the mist.- Yes, yeah.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35Um, I don't know... I know Lowry has this wonderful reputation,
0:38:35 > 0:38:42- but I wonder perhaps if Valette had not been a Frenchman, whether he too would have enjoyed...- Yes.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45- ..a similar status.- Yes.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48You may want a valuation on the painting.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53- Yes, please.- Well, you know, he still is Lowry's master.
0:38:53 > 0:39:00- He is not Lowry, so he obviously can't command those...- No, no. - ..stratospheric prices Lowry can.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05But I think a pretty picture like this by Valette
0:39:05 > 0:39:10- should be worth as much as £4,000 to £6,000 at auction.- Yes.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13You should insure it for about £6,000.
0:39:13 > 0:39:20Well, this could be a scene from any station track side between Rickmansworth and Baker Street -
0:39:20 > 0:39:25that's where these Metropolitan electric trains were running.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28We open it up and what have we got?
0:39:28 > 0:39:35In fact, it looks like a jumbled siding. We've got Metropolitans, but other things too.
0:39:35 > 0:39:41Let's put this over here and unpack it, we can treat it a bit like a bran tub.
0:39:41 > 0:39:48First of all, we've got this LMS loco in - I have to say - slightly battered condition.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52- Who's responsible for that? - Not guilty.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53"Not guilty," he says quickly.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59No, I have a son who's a destroyer, but it was battered before...
0:39:59 > 0:40:03It was destroyed. He didn't actually wreck this one.
0:40:03 > 0:40:09Battered though it is - I mean, it's a pre-war Hornby locomotive.
0:40:09 > 0:40:16Even though it's a rather uninteresting tank loco, still probably going to be worth £100.
0:40:16 > 0:40:22- So that's an interesting one. What shall we go for next? - We're in profit.- In profit?
0:40:22 > 0:40:27- Tell me the story.- It was a friend of mine sold it me for the boys.
0:40:27 > 0:40:34- Yeah.- An electrician friend looked at the transformer and said, "Don't let the children play with it.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39- "It's lethal".- Quite right. - So they never even played with it.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Back in the box and away it went.
0:40:42 > 0:40:49This is a locomotive by the manufacturer Bassett-Lowke. There's the maker's name.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54If you hadn't seen many, you'd think it's another Hornby train.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59But actually, Bassett-Lowke, the quality of their locos,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02was very different to Hornby -
0:41:02 > 0:41:04the quality of the paint and castings and so on.
0:41:04 > 0:41:12In their early days they had German manufacturers making locomotives for them and retailing them.
0:41:12 > 0:41:19They are very collectable. This one, George V - I'd say we're probably talking about perhaps £250,
0:41:19 > 0:41:24£300, so... Maybe even a bit more actually.
0:41:24 > 0:41:30But I'm keeping my powder dry. We've a couple of nice Pullman carriages.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34We've got Alberta and Iolanthe
0:41:34 > 0:41:38and they're in reasonably good condition too.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42They're going to be around perhaps £100 each.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Are you keeping a tally on this?
0:41:46 > 0:41:54And then we come to the little Metropolitan loco and the two carriages.
0:41:54 > 0:42:00Now the reason why I like this loco particularly
0:42:00 > 0:42:05is that it was the first time that Hornby made a locomotive
0:42:05 > 0:42:11based on a real locomotive that anybody could see, going up and down
0:42:11 > 0:42:16on the Metropolitan Line between Rickmansworth and Baker Street.
0:42:16 > 0:42:23The box, I think, would probably be worth £60 to £80 on its own, empty,
0:42:23 > 0:42:30because they're that rare, and the Metropolitan set itself, I'd say between £500 and £700.
0:42:30 > 0:42:36So if we add up this group, we're talking about well over £1,000 and I would just say
0:42:36 > 0:42:43that I'm very pleased that the "destroyer" didn't get hold of them, and they survived to tell the tale.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47- Thanks for bringing them in. - Thank you.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51One thing I've learned today is that Blackpool once provided anchorage
0:42:51 > 0:42:58for Admiral Nelson's old flagship HMS Foudroyant, which, after a career sinking French ships,
0:42:58 > 0:43:04became a tourist attraction. Sadly, one night in 1897, a terrible storm blew up
0:43:04 > 0:43:07and drove the ship onto the beach at Blackpool.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12The wreck was bought by businessmen for the timber and copper.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16Here's the ship in her last moments and some articles from it
0:43:16 > 0:43:20and some things that were made from Nelson's old flagship.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24England expects every Antiques Roadshow shall come to an end.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28Until next week, from Blackpool, goodbye.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd