Carlisle

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0:00:32 > 0:00:34This week's Roadshow

0:00:34 > 0:00:40finds itself in a place with Celtic and Norse origins,

0:00:40 > 0:00:44which was for 250 years the northern outpost of the Roman Empire,

0:00:44 > 0:00:48before becoming fiercely Scottish and then, finally, English.

0:00:50 > 0:00:53Where am I? Well, that's a question I might well be asking MYSELF soon,

0:00:53 > 0:00:59because we're going on a pub crawl of Cumbria's finest, indeed only, city, Carlisle -

0:00:59 > 0:01:01strictly in the interests of historical research,

0:01:01 > 0:01:05because what happened here in the early part of the 20th century

0:01:05 > 0:01:08changed British drinking and social habits for ever.

0:01:10 > 0:01:14In January 1916, with the country reeling from the impact of war,

0:01:14 > 0:01:18Lloyd George took the extraordinary decision

0:01:18 > 0:01:23to close down almost half the pubs in the Carlisle area, as well as three of the four breweries.

0:01:23 > 0:01:26The rest were brought under state control.

0:01:26 > 0:01:28National security was at stake,

0:01:28 > 0:01:32because of the riotous behaviour of thousands of migrants who came to build and work

0:01:32 > 0:01:35in the largest ammunition factory in the British Empire.

0:01:35 > 0:01:38It was hard and thirsty work

0:01:38 > 0:01:44and at night the workers poured into the pubs of Carlisle with plenty of money and nothing else to do.

0:01:44 > 0:01:47They poured out again blind drunk and caused havoc in the streets.

0:01:47 > 0:01:51All this was seen as a serious threat to the war effort,

0:01:51 > 0:01:55but the nationalisation of the liquor trade soon had the desired effect.

0:01:55 > 0:01:58The government drastically reduced opening hours

0:01:58 > 0:02:01and diluted beer and spirits.

0:02:01 > 0:02:08They commissioned Harry Redfern to redesign Carlisle's state-owned pubs - his fine buildings survive.

0:02:08 > 0:02:12Redfern's establishments were more spacious, more appealing,

0:02:12 > 0:02:19and built to cater for a broader clientele than the dingy "men only" drinking shops which existed before.

0:02:19 > 0:02:22He designed rooms where food could be served

0:02:22 > 0:02:28and introduced leisure areas, all of which meant less concentration on the alcohol.

0:02:28 > 0:02:31It was the start of something big.

0:02:31 > 0:02:36Architects and town planners came to Carlisle to witness the revolution.

0:02:36 > 0:02:39Redfern's model pubs were reproduced throughout Britain.

0:02:39 > 0:02:43By the time the liquor trade in Carlisle

0:02:43 > 0:02:46was finally de-nationalised in 1971,

0:02:46 > 0:02:49the old-style taverns had vanished for ever.

0:02:51 > 0:02:54And now it's opening time at the Sands Leisure Centre

0:02:54 > 0:02:57for another session of the Antiques Roadshow.

0:02:57 > 0:03:02Time, gentlemen - and ladies - please. Can we have your treasures?

0:03:02 > 0:03:06I thought, "Ah, that's a Doulton plaque!" -

0:03:06 > 0:03:10these were made at the start of the 20th century,

0:03:10 > 0:03:13a mixture of transfer printing and hand colouring.

0:03:14 > 0:03:18And then I turned it over and looked at the back.

0:03:19 > 0:03:22And we've got a label -

0:03:22 > 0:03:24always a good sign

0:03:24 > 0:03:28when you've got a framer or gilder's label.

0:03:28 > 0:03:34But it says, "Carvers and gilders, picture makers and restorers, England,

0:03:34 > 0:03:40"bevelled glass and old frames re..." - what does that say?

0:03:40 > 0:03:43- Regilded.- Regilded.

0:03:43 > 0:03:46But where's the maker? Where's the shop's name?

0:03:46 > 0:03:50- It says nothing.- No. - So we started to peel back here

0:03:50 > 0:03:54- and there we suddenly get the original colour of the paper.- Yeah.

0:03:54 > 0:04:00Now, old paper does fade, but it don't go down that much.

0:04:01 > 0:04:07- I think the frames have been... - It looks as if it's been sprayed... - Artificially aged, without a doubt.

0:04:07 > 0:04:10And what we've got inside...

0:04:10 > 0:04:16- absolutely white, pristine piece of earthenware with no Doulton maker's mark on it.- Rubbish.

0:04:16 > 0:04:22Well... Now, OK, you say "rubbish". Where did you buy it?

0:04:22 > 0:04:26- In the local auction rooms. - And did you like it?- I loved it.

0:04:26 > 0:04:31- I like the blue and white. - And what did you pay for it?- £43.

0:04:31 > 0:04:33£43 is absolutely fine.

0:04:33 > 0:04:38One has to be careful, because these appear all over the country.

0:04:38 > 0:04:42We see them on every Roadshow - somebody's got a similar one.

0:04:42 > 0:04:46But if you paid £43 for it - it's a decorative object, you like it,

0:04:46 > 0:04:50hang it on the wall, no problem, but it isn't Doulton.

0:04:50 > 0:04:54- Oh, well... It nearly fooled you, didn't it?- It did - nearly did, yes.

0:04:55 > 0:04:58Are they yours or...?

0:04:58 > 0:05:03No, they were left to my sister from a friend in the family and...

0:05:03 > 0:05:05And is this a passion of yours?

0:05:05 > 0:05:09No, we... None of the family smoke at all, so...

0:05:10 > 0:05:14Well, if we think about the history of tobacco,

0:05:14 > 0:05:18it wasn't just men who started to use it, it was men, women and children

0:05:18 > 0:05:23and they called it tobacco drinking, which is extraordinary, isn't it?

0:05:23 > 0:05:26And it wasn't just in England that the pipes were being made.

0:05:26 > 0:05:31We've got several examples here, in fact, of, um...French pipes

0:05:31 > 0:05:35and the typical French pipe was known as a Jacob.

0:05:35 > 0:05:39- And here you can see there's the letter JA...- Yes.

0:05:39 > 0:05:43..COB on here, and these were known as Jacob pipes.

0:05:43 > 0:05:48And they very often had a wooden stem that was slotted in.

0:05:48 > 0:05:52This one, as you can see, has been painted, which is quite fun,

0:05:52 > 0:05:55but there's also something written

0:05:55 > 0:06:00across the top of his turban, and it says "je suis le vrai Jacob",

0:06:01 > 0:06:06which is, "I am the real, the true Jacob",

0:06:06 > 0:06:10because the pipes were so popular, loads of people started to copy them.

0:06:10 > 0:06:13And here's another Jacob pipe.

0:06:13 > 0:06:16This one is in very bright condition because it hasn't been smoked.

0:06:16 > 0:06:19As they get smoked, so the tars...

0:06:19 > 0:06:23- They change colours. - And this one caught my eye, too.

0:06:23 > 0:06:28This relates to the storming of Sebastopol, in the Crimean War.

0:06:28 > 0:06:35So that... I mean, Sebastopol was relieved, I think, in 1855 or - yes, about 1855,

0:06:35 > 0:06:38- so we can date that one quite precisely.- Right!

0:06:38 > 0:06:41- You're getting interested in pipes now!- Yes.

0:06:41 > 0:06:46Do you think you might start collecting? The more you look at them, the more you see.

0:06:46 > 0:06:49This is quite an interesting one.

0:06:49 > 0:06:53- This is by a company called John Pollock of Manchester.- Oh, right.

0:06:53 > 0:07:00They started in the middle of the 19th century and I think they only went out of business in the 1990s.

0:07:02 > 0:07:06The company had a very long and illustrious history of pipe making.

0:07:06 > 0:07:08And the DD

0:07:08 > 0:07:11stands for Dirty Dick,

0:07:11 > 0:07:14whoever Dirty Dick was. That's a Dirty Dick pipe.

0:07:16 > 0:07:21These are all basically 19th century, apart from those earlier ones,

0:07:21 > 0:07:24and the ones that are moulded here,

0:07:24 > 0:07:28they have a value, depending on the subject,

0:07:28 > 0:07:31of between £50, £60, perhaps £80.

0:07:31 > 0:07:35Very few of them would be over the £100 mark.

0:07:35 > 0:07:38But this particular one is the cream of the collection.

0:07:38 > 0:07:44It's a little monkey and he's dressed in what looks like a bellboy outfit.

0:07:44 > 0:07:49And he was probably made in the late 19th century,

0:07:49 > 0:07:53- made of salt-glazed - you knew that...- Yes.- ..salt-glazed ceramic,

0:07:53 > 0:07:59probably from Chesterfield, where there were four or five factories producing this salt-glazed ware.

0:07:59 > 0:08:03And, although it's a pipe, it's almost immaterial

0:08:03 > 0:08:07because whenever a salt-glazed miniature comes up for sale,

0:08:07 > 0:08:11there's an enormous amount of interest in it and it would be worth

0:08:11 > 0:08:15- something between about £400-£600. - Good heavens! Thanking you.

0:08:15 > 0:08:17OK.

0:08:17 > 0:08:20- Pretty, aren't they?- Very delicate.

0:08:20 > 0:08:23I've been frightened to wear it - I don't know how strong it is.

0:08:23 > 0:08:28- It IS very delicate, because it's made from mesh work...- Yes.

0:08:28 > 0:08:32..and tiny little panels and sections and little itsy-bitsy flowers.

0:08:32 > 0:08:36- It isn't what I would call robust. - No, I didn't think it was!

0:08:36 > 0:08:42- It's made of white gold.- Oh, is it? - Yeah. And if we have a look here,

0:08:42 > 0:08:46there's a little sort of maker's stamp there.

0:08:47 > 0:08:50And a little stamp for white gold.

0:08:50 > 0:08:54Usually, when you get little carved flower sections,

0:08:54 > 0:08:58they come from somewhere like Germany or possibly Austria.

0:08:58 > 0:09:00I think that's where it came from.

0:09:00 > 0:09:03- Oh, it's not English, then? - I don't think so, no.

0:09:03 > 0:09:10- The little stamp on the back there suggests it's probably Austrian, Vienna maybe.- Oh, that's interesting.

0:09:11 > 0:09:14There's a little carved flower head in the middle

0:09:14 > 0:09:19- with a carnelian.- Yes, but I didn't know what the others were.

0:09:19 > 0:09:24- Lapis lazuli.- Ah!- The mixture of the blue against the brown works well.

0:09:24 > 0:09:27And tiny diamonds in between

0:09:27 > 0:09:30in these twin, lozenge-like settings.

0:09:30 > 0:09:34- It's very fussy. - Mm, it is.- But it works very well.

0:09:35 > 0:09:40And then the additional facility of being able to... Look.

0:09:40 > 0:09:43Oh, how clever.

0:09:43 > 0:09:50So if you've got a slightly larger wrist you can adapt it, rather like a wristwatch strap, I suppose.

0:09:50 > 0:09:52Yes, it's a bit like a watch strap.

0:09:52 > 0:09:55Now, tell me a bit more about this one.

0:09:55 > 0:10:00I inherited that from my favourite aunt - I think it was her mother's.

0:10:00 > 0:10:04- I think this is made in around about 1900-1902.- Right.

0:10:04 > 0:10:09Lovely diamonds set throughout and mounted up in silver settings.

0:10:09 > 0:10:14And then in typically... You see, you have a diamond three-stone loop.

0:10:14 > 0:10:17- Does that come off?- Yes. - How do you do it?

0:10:17 > 0:10:20You simply pull that...

0:10:20 > 0:10:21like that.

0:10:21 > 0:10:24Then, at the bottom of this

0:10:24 > 0:10:28fully flexible, swag-like drop,

0:10:28 > 0:10:31you have a beautiful, smooth,

0:10:31 > 0:10:34teardrop-shaped natural pearl.

0:10:34 > 0:10:38So it's a really nice piece, it's well made,

0:10:38 > 0:10:42and whoever mounted the diamonds has found a good quality pearl

0:10:42 > 0:10:45that balances up the frame.

0:10:45 > 0:10:48Different periods, different styles,

0:10:48 > 0:10:51but both in their own way very commercial.

0:10:51 > 0:10:56I think that the Continental mesh work bracelet

0:10:56 > 0:10:58ought to make £800

0:10:58 > 0:11:04- and I think insurance - probably around £1,500 for it.- Right.

0:11:04 > 0:11:11But because this is so jam-packed with diamonds, it has this lovely pearl and is in such good condition,

0:11:11 > 0:11:17- in auction, that would probably make around £2,500.- Oh, my goodness.

0:11:17 > 0:11:22- Which of you was responsible for putting this together?- I am, really.

0:11:22 > 0:11:27- And what inspired you to go in for this?- Just the colour of it.

0:11:27 > 0:11:32Everybody refers to it as cranberry and that's a sort of fictional word,

0:11:32 > 0:11:38because generally a lot of it is actually - and has been for many centuries -

0:11:38 > 0:11:41called ruby glass.

0:11:41 > 0:11:46The Germans discovered how to make this in the late 17th century.

0:11:46 > 0:11:49That one is very nice, of course,

0:11:49 > 0:11:54because it's got the spiral in it, and it gives a variation of colour.

0:11:54 > 0:11:58I can remember when they were £10 or £15

0:11:58 > 0:12:02but I suppose they're now up to £70-100 each one.

0:12:02 > 0:12:04Now this says...

0:12:04 > 0:12:07Is that £15 or £75?

0:12:07 > 0:12:10It's actually £75. £75.

0:12:10 > 0:12:14- And where do you think that comes from?- I don't know.

0:12:14 > 0:12:19Well, I'm not sure whether it comes from Bristol or from Sunderland.

0:12:19 > 0:12:23In both areas, they made glass of this colour.

0:12:23 > 0:12:26- But I think that's a full price. - Yes. I think so.

0:12:26 > 0:12:32- I thought they might have seen you coming, but I don't think that's possible.- No, no.

0:12:34 > 0:12:36And, technically, this is wonderful.

0:12:36 > 0:12:40You've got a layer of clear glass in the middle

0:12:40 > 0:12:44and then white inside and red on the outside,

0:12:44 > 0:12:48which by the time you've overlaid it on the white, looks like pink.

0:12:48 > 0:12:52Again, probably from the Stourbridge area

0:12:52 > 0:12:56and dating from 1880, 1890.

0:12:56 > 0:12:59That's a very unusual piece.

0:12:59 > 0:13:05- I hope you'll go on and find lots more.- Yes. Thank you very much.

0:13:05 > 0:13:09This is a fabulous model of the Royal George. Who made it?

0:13:09 > 0:13:16Well, as far as I can gather, my great-great-grandfather, that was my grandfather's grandad.

0:13:16 > 0:13:18- Your great-great-great-grandfather? - Uh-huh.

0:13:18 > 0:13:22- And was he a sailor? - No, he was a coal miner.

0:13:22 > 0:13:26We were a coal-mining family. Nothing to do with ships.

0:13:26 > 0:13:29My grandfather was pretty good with his hands, with wood,

0:13:29 > 0:13:33so probably he inherited it from his father and his grandfather.

0:13:33 > 0:13:37Not only is it extraordinarily rare to get an original photograph with the maker,

0:13:37 > 0:13:42but look - the stand alone is beautifully constructed, isn't it?

0:13:42 > 0:13:46- It's been re-rigged as well. - And polished.

0:13:46 > 0:13:51- And I love the figurehead nearer you. - It's beautiful.

0:13:51 > 0:13:56The standing rigging was to hold the mast up and the running rigging was for putting the sails up and down.

0:13:56 > 0:14:00The rigging was supposed to be on the lines of 1790-1810, I believe.

0:14:00 > 0:14:05There were many boats named the Royal George during the Georgian period.

0:14:05 > 0:14:08They were ships of the line.

0:14:08 > 0:14:14This is quite small in comparison to some of the actual models called the Royal George,

0:14:14 > 0:14:21but even so, exceptionally fine, and the photograph adds so much to its desirability to a collector.

0:14:23 > 0:14:30It's not worth a great deal because it has been restored, but certainly, at auction, about £1,000 to £1,500.

0:14:32 > 0:14:37It was a present from my brother. He was in Germany doing his national service.

0:14:37 > 0:14:40Well, these cameras were made in Germany

0:14:40 > 0:14:44in the 1950s and '60s - the time your brother was out there -

0:14:44 > 0:14:47- so he would have probably bought it new.- Oh, yes.

0:14:47 > 0:14:53It's a Petie camera and this model is known as the Vanity model, for obvious reasons -

0:14:53 > 0:14:56it's not just a camera,

0:14:56 > 0:14:59it's a powder compact and vanity case.

0:14:59 > 0:15:03And then, on the top, this one pulls out and it's for lipstick.

0:15:03 > 0:15:07And the camera comes out of the top, like that.

0:15:07 > 0:15:09Was it difficult putting the film in?

0:15:09 > 0:15:14- Was it fiddly?- Not really.- And what sort of photographs did it take?

0:15:14 > 0:15:21- Um, about two inches square!- So you almost needed a magnifying glass to look at them!

0:15:23 > 0:15:26- Any idea as to its value?- No.

0:15:26 > 0:15:32- No.- It's just it was precious to me because it was a present.- Mm.

0:15:32 > 0:15:35Well, it's not particularly old - about 50-60 years old -

0:15:35 > 0:15:40but if this came up at auction you'd probably get perhaps £400-600 for it.

0:15:40 > 0:15:43Oh, very good.

0:15:44 > 0:15:49- It's for a cheese?- It's a sort of gondola-shaped cheese coaster.

0:15:49 > 0:15:54It's printed with THE classic, early-19C blue-and-white design -

0:15:54 > 0:15:56the willow pattern.

0:15:56 > 0:16:01Staffordshire potters produced willow patterns on all shapes and sizes.

0:16:01 > 0:16:03This is a particularly eccentric one.

0:16:03 > 0:16:08When it came to putting a print like that on the inside of a curved shape,

0:16:08 > 0:16:16they would take an existing print that may not have been intended for this particular artefact -

0:16:16 > 0:16:21the print has been stretched so that they could re-adapt an existing print

0:16:21 > 0:16:25onto a new shape. It's a jolly nice thing.

0:16:25 > 0:16:28Well, this was probably made circa 1810, 1820.

0:16:28 > 0:16:34It's rare and, to a blue-and-white collector, I think probably worth...

0:16:34 > 0:16:39- in the region of £700 to £1,000. - Oh, smashing. Yeah.

0:16:39 > 0:16:44- It's a very, very classy object. - Thank you.

0:16:44 > 0:16:47There's a pub in Carlisle called the Malt Shovel

0:16:47 > 0:16:52and here is the very object - a malt shovel and, presumably, a malt fork.

0:16:52 > 0:16:59- How did you come across these? - I have a pub on the outskirts of Carlisle and, when we bought it,

0:16:59 > 0:17:03the estate manager at the time came across these and gave them to us.

0:17:04 > 0:17:09It was long before your time that Lloyd George nationalised the pubs,

0:17:09 > 0:17:13but do any of your older customers talk about it?

0:17:13 > 0:17:16- One or two of the very older chaps. - What do they say?

0:17:16 > 0:17:19That the beer wasn't all that good!

0:17:21 > 0:17:26My grandfather got it from Robinson in Ilkley and it's been in the family ever since.

0:17:26 > 0:17:30Robinsons - as you know - are a prominent Ilkley maker.

0:17:30 > 0:17:33They specialised in this kind of furniture.

0:17:33 > 0:17:37It is a cross between furniture and engineering, really.

0:17:37 > 0:17:43In Robinson's catalogue, this is an invalid couch - absolutely ingenious.

0:17:43 > 0:17:48The back here raises up. If you could turn that wheel...

0:17:48 > 0:17:50Look at that.

0:17:50 > 0:17:53And what I really like is the gearing

0:17:53 > 0:18:00because it's so nicely geared that you can be lying on this couch and adjust it yourself, can't you?

0:18:00 > 0:18:03And the same thing happens down here - here's the wheel

0:18:03 > 0:18:07and this piece also is raised on the gearing.

0:18:07 > 0:18:11The other ingenious thing is the suspension system -

0:18:11 > 0:18:17this is a continuous coil of wire zigzagging right the way down and it's really rather comfortable.

0:18:17 > 0:18:19Very much so.

0:18:19 > 0:18:26- It looks like it should be plugged into the mains!- It could even be a sun bed, couldn't it?

0:18:26 > 0:18:29Um, presumably you must have a mattress for it?

0:18:29 > 0:18:32Yes. It's the original one.

0:18:32 > 0:18:36It's horse hair, but it is in need of repair.

0:18:37 > 0:18:43- A great thing. Now, have you any idea how much it's worth?- No idea at all. - You've not got it insured?- No.

0:18:43 > 0:18:48Well, if you were to buy one of these - and they'd be difficult to find -

0:18:48 > 0:18:53- you'd need to be paying somewhere around £2,500.- Good grief!

0:18:53 > 0:18:57- Is that more than you thought? - That'll please my wife.

0:18:57 > 0:19:01Well, they were a gift from my father's cousins

0:19:01 > 0:19:05and um, this is for grapes, so they said.

0:19:06 > 0:19:11- Right.- And the spoons... Now, they're made of a special metal, I think.

0:19:11 > 0:19:15- This is the information you were given?- Yes, that's all,

0:19:15 > 0:19:19- but they must be a lot of years old. - That's true.

0:19:19 > 0:19:22Let's have a look at these first.

0:19:22 > 0:19:27- These are NOT for grapes.- Oh. - These are actually for sugar.

0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Oh, yes.- These are sugar nippers

0:19:30 > 0:19:34and when you get into...about 1730, these really start to develop.

0:19:34 > 0:19:36Oh, yes.

0:19:36 > 0:19:41Then these dominate right through until about 1770, when sugar tongs -

0:19:41 > 0:19:45as we tend to think of them - really came into their own.

0:19:45 > 0:19:51They're marked, in fact, just there, just next to the grips.

0:19:51 > 0:19:57It's a partnership, in fact - London goldsmiths called Faux and Love.

0:19:57 > 0:19:59Now, I'm intrigued with these,

0:19:59 > 0:20:04that they suggested that they were some special metal other than silver.

0:20:04 > 0:20:07Because they ARE actually silver.

0:20:07 > 0:20:11- They are? Oh.- The marks - and this may be what threw them -

0:20:11 > 0:20:16the marks are very difficult to read, and just two.

0:20:16 > 0:20:20Most people expect to see four, or perhaps five, marks

0:20:20 > 0:20:22- on a piece of silver.- Mm-hm.

0:20:22 > 0:20:26But at this period - again, around the 1760s -

0:20:26 > 0:20:33they only put a maker's mark and we've got the maker's mark there.

0:20:33 > 0:20:36That's actually WF - William Fearn -

0:20:36 > 0:20:39a very important spoon maker.

0:20:39 > 0:20:42That's the standard mark next to it.

0:20:42 > 0:20:47We've got the little lion passant. But they're very difficult to read.

0:20:47 > 0:20:51So... These, in this sort of condition,

0:20:51 > 0:20:55I would expect to see them on sale for perhaps £120-150.

0:20:56 > 0:21:00- Really?- That sort of price. And this, a lovely set of six -

0:21:00 > 0:21:04again, one would expect to be paying the best part of £100 for those.

0:21:04 > 0:21:09- If not a bit more.- Uh-huh.- Um, so that's a very nice little group.

0:21:09 > 0:21:13Thank you very much for telling me about them.

0:21:13 > 0:21:17My husband's grandfather started off as a ship's captain in Manchester

0:21:17 > 0:21:22and eventually became a ship owner.

0:21:22 > 0:21:26And when my mother-in-law recently died,

0:21:26 > 0:21:34my husband, who's a keen sailor, said he would like all the boats in the house - there were quite a few.

0:21:34 > 0:21:39The most important aspect of this very decorative object is the ship,

0:21:39 > 0:21:41and it's done in quite good detail.

0:21:41 > 0:21:45What I particularly like, though, is the background,

0:21:45 > 0:21:50with the houses, the palm trees, the church.

0:21:50 > 0:21:55The bottle itself - it's got some marks on the bottom here.

0:21:56 > 0:22:00If we have a look, we can just make out

0:22:00 > 0:22:04- "Co, Limited." - Well, I think it's "& Co, Limited".

0:22:04 > 0:22:09- So that would indicate that it is a British bottle.- Yes.

0:22:09 > 0:22:15It was always a lovely thought that the sailors themselves made this - I don't think actually sailors did.

0:22:15 > 0:22:21Not all of them, by any means, and I think they were often sold as souvenirs

0:22:21 > 0:22:25in ports and harbours all around the world.

0:22:25 > 0:22:30So what we have is a very nice ship in bottle, good size, good condition,

0:22:30 > 0:22:33with this very pretty and evocative background.

0:22:33 > 0:22:38It's an object which collectors would in fact be willing to pay

0:22:38 > 0:22:42probably £300 for, so it's worth looking after.

0:22:43 > 0:22:46- Thank you very much for bringing it. - Thank you.

0:22:46 > 0:22:50I have to admit that this vase is not the sort of thing

0:22:50 > 0:22:53I would love to have at home.

0:22:53 > 0:22:57- No, neither do I. I hate it. - You hate it?- I hate it.

0:22:57 > 0:23:00How did you come by this monstrous object, then?

0:23:00 > 0:23:07Well, we were emptying my mother-in-law's house and she had got it from HER mother.

0:23:07 > 0:23:12My husband said we should keep it, and I said no, but he won.

0:23:13 > 0:23:18- Normally, these come in pairs... You've got a pair?- Yes.

0:23:20 > 0:23:24Now, I have to defend it, because actually this is a masterpiece -

0:23:24 > 0:23:27a sort of technical virtuosity.

0:23:27 > 0:23:30They've done amazing things with this pot.

0:23:30 > 0:23:35It was made in Germany in about 1880 in a place called Mettlach.

0:23:35 > 0:23:37And they specialised

0:23:37 > 0:23:42in producing these vases in a sort of historical style.

0:23:42 > 0:23:47They were trying to make them look sort of Renaissance, but they failed,

0:23:47 > 0:23:53because they put elements together that never happened together before.

0:23:53 > 0:23:56But, as a result, you get incised decoration here

0:23:56 > 0:23:59with inlaid colour,

0:23:59 > 0:24:05and you get rococo decoration done with layers of grey stoneware slip

0:24:05 > 0:24:10and then the handles are done in a sort of maiolica technique,

0:24:10 > 0:24:13all covered with tin glaze.

0:24:13 > 0:24:17This is obviously the heroine offering the hero

0:24:17 > 0:24:20a glass of something

0:24:20 > 0:24:24and on the other side, another scene from German legend,

0:24:24 > 0:24:28a sort of Viking with a winged helmet.

0:24:28 > 0:24:32I don't know what this chap - oh, it's a chapess, it's a lady.

0:24:32 > 0:24:36- I think it's a lady. - A lady with a horse.

0:24:36 > 0:24:38Oh, I think one has to say

0:24:38 > 0:24:44- that this pot wins en enormous number of prizes for effort.- Right.

0:24:44 > 0:24:48But I would agree with you, at the same time,

0:24:48 > 0:24:54that it isn't everybody's cup of tea, but there are people who like this sort of thing.

0:24:54 > 0:24:56- Really? - And somebody might well pay you

0:24:56 > 0:24:58between £1,000 and £1,500 for the pair.

0:25:02 > 0:25:06Well, I only wanted to... I was proving a point to my husband.

0:25:06 > 0:25:13I said they were worth nothing and if that was the point, they were going in the bin.

0:25:13 > 0:25:18- Well, I wouldn't do that because, of their kind, they're extremely good.- Thank you.

0:25:18 > 0:25:25- A strange round box with skulls on - do you know what it's for?- No idea.

0:25:25 > 0:25:29Well, it's a simple snuff box. It looks as though it's been carved.

0:25:29 > 0:25:35But in fact it couldn't have been carved with that much detail -

0:25:35 > 0:25:38you can just see these numbers on the skulls, and the little circles.

0:25:38 > 0:25:41- It's actually been moulded.- Ah.

0:25:41 > 0:25:43Rather like an early form of plastic,

0:25:43 > 0:25:48- but plastic wasn't around in the 1850s or 1860s when this was made.- I see.

0:25:48 > 0:25:50So the actual technique interests me,

0:25:50 > 0:25:55but also what interests me is it says along here,

0:25:55 > 0:25:58"the cranium du Docteur Gall".

0:25:58 > 0:26:01Dr Gall was the person in the late 18th century who came up with the idea of phrenology,

0:26:01 > 0:26:07- that your characteristics were to be found by prodding around on your skull.- Yes.

0:26:07 > 0:26:13- Various parts of your skull related to parts of your personality.- I see.

0:26:13 > 0:26:15- Where did you get it from? - Well, my father left it to me

0:26:15 > 0:26:20and he got it from his great-aunt...

0:26:20 > 0:26:23roughly 50 years ago.

0:26:25 > 0:26:28- See, the lining here is tortoiseshell.- Mm.

0:26:28 > 0:26:31And, again, back on the outside,

0:26:31 > 0:26:35three images of the skull and the various numbers.

0:26:35 > 0:26:38And then if you look at the bottom of the case,

0:26:38 > 0:26:42here are the numbers with the various characteristics.

0:26:42 > 0:26:46So if you look at number 24 it says "l'amour",

0:26:46 > 0:26:49so that's where all your love tendencies came.

0:26:49 > 0:26:55- You could actually see where that was on your skull.- Oh, I see. I had absolutely no idea at all.

0:26:55 > 0:26:59I think he was born around 1750 and died around about 1828,

0:26:59 > 0:27:04- but phrenology items were made up to the end of the 19th century.- Yes.

0:27:04 > 0:27:07This has a dual interest.

0:27:07 > 0:27:13- Not only would a snuff box collector like it, but also somebody interested in phrenology.- Yes, I see.

0:27:13 > 0:27:15A lot of doctors collect phrenology.

0:27:15 > 0:27:20- I would see this at auction somewhere in the region of £600-800.- Oh.

0:27:20 > 0:27:22It's a very nice piece.

0:27:24 > 0:27:28There's a wrist watch - let's have a look.

0:27:28 > 0:27:34You have to look very carefully at old wrist watches to make sure the movement

0:27:34 > 0:27:38isn't by someone like Rolex, which will push the value right up.

0:27:38 > 0:27:43If not, sadly, they're worth very little. ..What else have we got?

0:27:44 > 0:27:46A thimble there... What's this?

0:27:51 > 0:27:53Where did you get this?

0:27:53 > 0:27:59It's just as I inherited the box, just a mixture of bits and pieces.

0:27:59 > 0:28:05- I didn't think it had any value... - Did you think the mount might have been gold?- No, no.

0:28:05 > 0:28:12- It is.- Is it?- And did you think the stones might have been...? You thought they were paste.- Paste, yes.

0:28:12 > 0:28:14They're real stones.

0:28:14 > 0:28:18All these are real gems - topaz here at the bottom, wings here.

0:28:18 > 0:28:22They're all foiled to enhance their colour

0:28:22 > 0:28:27and they did this quite frequently round about the late Regency period,

0:28:27 > 0:28:32- so it probably goes back to round about late Regency times.- Amazing.

0:28:32 > 0:28:36- 1825, maybe, at the very latest. - Really?- Yes.

0:28:36 > 0:28:42- That one, in the box of costume pieces, is worth about £400-500. - £400-500?- Mm.

0:28:42 > 0:28:48- It's been in that box for the last two years.- Is it going to keep on living in there?- No.

0:28:49 > 0:28:53Well, there she is, churning away at her butter,

0:28:53 > 0:28:57as she's done year after year, poor thing. Now, is she yours?

0:28:57 > 0:29:01It belonged to my husband's grandmother.

0:29:01 > 0:29:05- Oh, right.- Who died about 20 years ago. She was a lovely little lady.

0:29:05 > 0:29:08She had some treasures and this was one of them.

0:29:08 > 0:29:12- And this was something that you knew as a child?- Yes.

0:29:13 > 0:29:17This used to stand on the dresser in the kitchen.

0:29:17 > 0:29:20And when I went to dinner with her,

0:29:20 > 0:29:26- I asked for it to be brought down. - And you'd be allowed to wind the handle.

0:29:26 > 0:29:31Here we've got a little china doll, glazed china doll,

0:29:31 > 0:29:35dressed in this printed cotton which looks as if it's probably faded a bit

0:29:35 > 0:29:39but the kitchen itself is made out of paper and cardboard

0:29:39 > 0:29:43with these rather sweet little accessories

0:29:43 > 0:29:45which are labelled "dairy" and so on.

0:29:45 > 0:29:48And the little doll herself would probably date

0:29:48 > 0:29:55- from the 1860s, 1870s - she COULD be as early as that.- Oh, right.

0:29:55 > 0:29:59It doesn't mean to say that this was made at the time,

0:29:59 > 0:30:05but I don't see any reason why it couldn't have been made in perhaps the 1870s or 1880s.

0:30:05 > 0:30:09So it's a lovely evocative scene of a time gone by.

0:30:09 > 0:30:14I would have thought, in auction, we'd be talking about £300.

0:30:14 > 0:30:17It's a lovely object and one which...

0:30:17 > 0:30:21- Well, you obviously do treasure it. - I love it.

0:30:21 > 0:30:26- 1774.- Mm.- That was before they were nationalised.- Yes. Yes it was.

0:30:26 > 0:30:31- And was it any different running it one way or the other? - I wasn't in it before, so...

0:30:31 > 0:30:36There was a lot of rules under the state management system.

0:30:36 > 0:30:43One man could not buy another man a drink, women were not allowed in pubs, and lots of rules like that.

0:30:43 > 0:30:48- No treating?- No treating - wouldn't go down too well these days.

0:30:48 > 0:30:52These things aren't always considered to be that politically correct now.

0:30:52 > 0:30:56But it does have a value

0:30:56 > 0:31:00- and I suspect at auction it would make about £300 or £400.- Not bad.

0:31:00 > 0:31:04- These are all empties, aren't they? - Yes.

0:31:04 > 0:31:09Now, we have full bottles. What's the story of these?

0:31:09 > 0:31:14Well, these are produced by Carlisle & District State Control - that one's got the address

0:31:14 > 0:31:1819 Castle St, Carlisle, which is about 800 metres away from here.

0:31:18 > 0:31:22It was Demerara rum produced by the State Control,

0:31:22 > 0:31:27which came about in about 1917, I think, and then was disbanded

0:31:27 > 0:31:29in about 1970.

0:31:29 > 0:31:32I believe it was one of the few nationalised industries

0:31:32 > 0:31:36that made a regular profit, about £500,000 each year.

0:31:36 > 0:31:41That one, and the bottle of whisky, belonged to me mum. She worked for Carlisle State Control.

0:31:41 > 0:31:46I presume your mother would have tasted the contents - was it good stuff?

0:31:46 > 0:31:51She was a teetotaller, actually. She didn't like drink at all.

0:31:51 > 0:31:56She sold many bottles and pints of it, but she would never drink.

0:31:57 > 0:32:00I was related to a Small...

0:32:01 > 0:32:07It's inscribed "James Small At Ye" - there we have the sign of the ship -

0:32:07 > 0:32:09"bound for" - this is the interesting bit -

0:32:09 > 0:32:12"bound for Virginia."

0:32:13 > 0:32:16- "At St Neots."- Yes.

0:32:17 > 0:32:19And then the date, 1730.

0:32:19 > 0:32:23There is a curious thing straight away.

0:32:23 > 0:32:261730, we're into the reign of George II - is that right?

0:32:26 > 0:32:31- I couldn't tell you.- He would have been three years on the throne then.

0:32:31 > 0:32:35But what have we got here? We've got the impression

0:32:35 > 0:32:40of the Customs and Excise mark for William III - he died in 1702.

0:32:40 > 0:32:44So there's 28 years between the last official use of this mark -

0:32:44 > 0:32:48- this should have a George II inscription.- Yes.

0:32:48 > 0:32:54It's a humble pottery and they were simply using old marks, they couldn't be bothered to get new ones cut.

0:32:54 > 0:33:00Because this inscription is genuine, 1730 is the date

0:33:00 > 0:33:04and this is the mark that would have been put on a tankard

0:33:04 > 0:33:09made for James Small, who would have drunk regularly at the sign of the ship.

0:33:09 > 0:33:14- Ah.- And pub signs are always showing things much older than the present.

0:33:14 > 0:33:19- So, do you not think that he actually did travel?- I don't know.

0:33:19 > 0:33:24Only you can establish that by going through the Small side of your family

0:33:24 > 0:33:28because, to make an inscription "bound to Virginia"

0:33:28 > 0:33:32suggests very strongly that's what he was going to do.

0:33:32 > 0:33:36Maybe he didn't like it, maybe he came back.

0:33:36 > 0:33:42The material is salt-glazed stone ware. It could have been made in a number of factories.

0:33:42 > 0:33:47There were factories in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire,

0:33:47 > 0:33:50but it could also have been from London.

0:33:50 > 0:33:57It's more likely to have been local to where this Ship pub is - is there a Ship at St Neots?

0:33:57 > 0:34:00- It would be interesting to find out. - I wouldn't know.

0:34:00 > 0:34:03So you've got tons of history

0:34:03 > 0:34:08- for you to carry on researching here. - Yes.- And is it going to go down the family line?

0:34:08 > 0:34:10Better had do!

0:34:10 > 0:34:15Because pottery usually goes down the female line, so you're in business, I hope.

0:34:15 > 0:34:19- Well, it comes from my father's side of the family.- OK.

0:34:19 > 0:34:25- So, you would certainly have to insure for between £3,000 and £5,000. - Really?- God!

0:34:25 > 0:34:28Because the big thing is Virginia.

0:34:28 > 0:34:33- Yes.- You only need an eccentric, but rich, collector of English ceramics

0:34:33 > 0:34:38in the States - preferably in Virginia - to say,

0:34:38 > 0:34:41"Gee, that's a real swell tankard," you know.

0:34:41 > 0:34:44And it is!

0:34:44 > 0:34:49My initial reaction looking at this, is one of horror, because of the top.

0:34:49 > 0:34:54- Sure.- Let's open this out and we'll see the top in its full ghastliness.

0:34:54 > 0:35:01- Yes. I believe the top to be later than the underneath. - I think you're absolutely right -

0:35:01 > 0:35:05the colour is quite extraordinary in the surface.

0:35:05 > 0:35:08It just looks utterly false.

0:35:08 > 0:35:12Most people call this a credence table. Is that how you know it?

0:35:12 > 0:35:18It was known in the family as the zebra table - why, I do not know. But I believe it's a credence table.

0:35:18 > 0:35:23Most unusually, we've got two cupboard doors in the frieze here.

0:35:23 > 0:35:25Can we get that one open?

0:35:25 > 0:35:29And these are hinged on metal pins which are still in situ

0:35:29 > 0:35:35and on the edge of each door we can see where the tongue of the lock engaged.

0:35:35 > 0:35:41So my guess is that we had a single lock in the centre - here is the escutcheon -

0:35:41 > 0:35:45- and the same lock engaged both doors. - Yes.

0:35:45 > 0:35:48And then below we've got

0:35:48 > 0:35:51this marvellous ribbed, or gadrooned, leg

0:35:51 > 0:35:55coming down to this rather unusual cross stretcher.

0:35:55 > 0:35:57Most tables of this type

0:35:57 > 0:36:01have a stretcher round the periphery but this is most unusual.

0:36:01 > 0:36:05It's got a repaired but substantially original joint.

0:36:05 > 0:36:11- And the colour is great. - What age do you reckon it to be?

0:36:11 > 0:36:16- I was going to ask YOU that.- We've always reckoned it to be Jacobean,

0:36:16 > 0:36:18early Jacobean, but that again...

0:36:18 > 0:36:22Possibly earlier. This style of ribbed decoration

0:36:22 > 0:36:28on these doors, the gadrooning on the turned legs, these are all consistent

0:36:28 > 0:36:31with a late Elizabethan or Jacobean date,

0:36:31 > 0:36:35- so any time from about 1580... - Really?

0:36:35 > 0:36:39- Possibly as late as 1640 but my guess is around 1600.- Yes.

0:36:39 > 0:36:43And it's all there, really. It's a marvellous base.

0:36:45 > 0:36:49I suppose you MIGHT be able to buy this

0:36:49 > 0:36:53in its present condition, with this later top,

0:36:53 > 0:36:57for...between £2,500 and £3,500.

0:36:57 > 0:37:03- But with an original top, something like this would be worth in excess of £15,000.- Yeah?

0:37:03 > 0:37:06Never thought of putting a clock in a bucket.

0:37:06 > 0:37:09It was a way of bringing it down.

0:37:09 > 0:37:12This is a beautiful electro-mechanical clock.

0:37:12 > 0:37:15It LOOKS like a conventional skeleton clock,

0:37:15 > 0:37:19but the electrical part is winding the mechanical part.

0:37:19 > 0:37:24Instead of having a main spring in the normal way,

0:37:24 > 0:37:26it's got a very small main spring

0:37:26 > 0:37:30- and then uses an electric motor to rewind it.- Yes.- The advantage of that

0:37:30 > 0:37:34is that the spring is rewound quite frequently.

0:37:34 > 0:37:37When it's rewound, it maintains a more constant force.

0:37:37 > 0:37:42- Now, it's got a maker's name on it, called...- Harwood.- Yes...

0:37:42 > 0:37:44who I don't know. Can you help me?

0:37:44 > 0:37:48- He was my great-uncle. - That's a good start.- Yes.

0:37:48 > 0:37:52- Do you know when he made this one? - No idea.

0:37:52 > 0:37:55I knew him when I was about ten years old

0:37:55 > 0:38:01and I wasn't interested in what he did. Now I would have been.

0:38:01 > 0:38:03- He died just before the war.- Yes.

0:38:03 > 0:38:07- Died before the war. - Before the Second World War.

0:38:07 > 0:38:10OK, I'm wiring this thing up...

0:38:10 > 0:38:12Is it going?

0:38:12 > 0:38:16- What it's theoretically supposed to do...- It DID do.

0:38:16 > 0:38:20- It lights up...- It lights up. - ..as it winds up.

0:38:20 > 0:38:23- Now watch the light. - It SHOULD come on.

0:38:24 > 0:38:27And the escape is working...

0:38:27 > 0:38:29There's a light but we have no light.

0:38:29 > 0:38:32Most likely find the bulb's gone or something.

0:38:32 > 0:38:37It's worth taking a little time to look at the quality of the mechanism.

0:38:37 > 0:38:39It's a pierced fretwork -

0:38:39 > 0:38:44conventional skeleton clock practice, which was to pierce out the frame -

0:38:44 > 0:38:48but you can see that it's been spotted or knurled

0:38:48 > 0:38:50all over the plates.

0:38:50 > 0:38:54It's actually done with a small scraper.

0:38:55 > 0:38:58Now, the screws have all been blued.

0:38:58 > 0:39:03- They've all been highly polished and then blued over.- Yes.

0:39:03 > 0:39:06And the pillars are beautiful.

0:39:06 > 0:39:09They've been polished, circulared and lacquered,

0:39:09 > 0:39:14and the whole base has this machining pattern or scraping pattern.

0:39:14 > 0:39:18It is stunning. It's a sophisticated and complicated clock.

0:39:18 > 0:39:23He was very able. Some of the clocks he made were absolutely beautiful.

0:39:23 > 0:39:28- Have you got it insured? - Our son has because it's really his.

0:39:28 > 0:39:31- He should have it insured for £5,000. - Five?

0:39:31 > 0:39:35I don't think he's got it insured for that.

0:39:35 > 0:39:41The connection is the Hudson Scotts branch of the Metal Box Company where I worked from 1968.

0:39:41 > 0:39:43We had our own artists' studio,

0:39:43 > 0:39:46and these pictures were part of it.

0:39:46 > 0:39:48We'd pick the designs off paintings

0:39:48 > 0:39:54- and transport them onto tins. - So these belonged to your company? - Absolutely.

0:39:54 > 0:40:01When they closed the studio down in '69, the paintings were offered to the staff.

0:40:01 > 0:40:05- How wonderful. And you purchased these?- I liked these two.

0:40:05 > 0:40:09And others. I can't remember what happened to them.

0:40:09 > 0:40:15- Have you liked looking at the paintings?- Yeah, I really like that one.- Because of the dogs?

0:40:15 > 0:40:19- Yes.- Yes, this has a more serious subject,

0:40:19 > 0:40:24and it's decorative in colour but it's...it's rather poignant.

0:40:24 > 0:40:28The painting at the top is signed by Arthur Wardle,

0:40:28 > 0:40:30a very well-known animal painter.

0:40:30 > 0:40:35I think it's a particularly good group of dogs,

0:40:35 > 0:40:38and you've got the guns and the pheasants.

0:40:38 > 0:40:44I think anybody would be enchanted by the sympathetic studies of the dogs.

0:40:44 > 0:40:48The way that the broken-down fence and the landscape is painted

0:40:48 > 0:40:50is beautifully observed and rendered.

0:40:50 > 0:40:56- How much did you pay?- We'd to give... - This one.- Well, it was BOTH of them

0:40:56 > 0:40:58because they came as a job lot.

0:40:58 > 0:41:05We had to give a donation to the Sports and Social Club and I think both of them cost me nearly a pound.

0:41:05 > 0:41:08- Gosh. And that didn't surprise you at the time?- No.

0:41:08 > 0:41:10How incredible.

0:41:10 > 0:41:13This watercolour...

0:41:13 > 0:41:15it's signed here

0:41:15 > 0:41:21Septimus Scott, and he worked at the beginning of the 20th century.

0:41:21 > 0:41:25In this, what appears to be a rather cheery scene,

0:41:25 > 0:41:27we have these soldiers going off to war,

0:41:27 > 0:41:30and the young boy waving happily.

0:41:30 > 0:41:34And we have to really consider the relationship

0:41:34 > 0:41:37between him and the older gentleman.

0:41:37 > 0:41:41I believe that this must be his grandfather

0:41:41 > 0:41:45and that this boy's father probably would be going off to war.

0:41:45 > 0:41:48He could be waving him goodbye.

0:41:48 > 0:41:52So it's a much more thought-provoking painting

0:41:52 > 0:41:58- and its value would be probably in the region of £2,000 to £2,500. - Good heavens.

0:41:58 > 0:42:00This wonderful painting of the dogs

0:42:00 > 0:42:04should be valued between £10,000 and £15,000

0:42:04 > 0:42:08and should be insured for as much as £20,000.

0:42:08 > 0:42:11- That one?- Yes.- Good heavens!

0:42:11 > 0:42:16Earlier, Lars Tharp was looking at an 18th-century stoneware tankard

0:42:16 > 0:42:22which seemed to be linked to a Ship Inn at St Neots and he wondered if such a place existed.

0:42:22 > 0:42:26Well, there is no Ship Inn at St Neots, but there WAS,

0:42:26 > 0:42:30from the early 17th century until well into the 20th century.

0:42:30 > 0:42:35If you think our theme of public houses has become an obsession,

0:42:35 > 0:42:39all I can say is, to the people of Cumbria, your very good health

0:42:39 > 0:42:42and from Carlisle, goodbye.

0:42:58 > 0:43:02Subtitles by BBC