0:00:35 > 0:00:37It's the duty of every generation
0:00:37 > 0:00:39to moan about the attitudes of the next lot,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42but there's nothing really new in the world.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Take the lust to spend, and keep on spending.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49That isn't a modern condition - an acute shopaholic
0:00:49 > 0:00:52was diagnosed right here a couple of centuries ago.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58This is Alnwick Castle, 35 miles north of Newcastle.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00It's known as "The Windsor Of The North".
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It's been here since the 14th century.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08In the mid-1800s, Algernon, 4th Duke of Northumberland,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11went on a major spending spree, and transformed a grim fortress
0:01:11 > 0:01:14into an extremely desirable residence.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Out went the Gothic, though it had been enshrined by Canaletto,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22and in came architect Luigi Canina and a team of Italian craftsmen,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26to create the Renaissance-style staterooms.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30All very fine, but Algernon's credit card went into overdrive
0:01:30 > 0:01:32when he took himself off to Rome.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37He lashed out on 74 stunning paintings by top artists.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42And here, in his Admiral's uniform,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46the prolific 4th Duke stares over the dining room
0:01:46 > 0:01:48at the latest round of restoration.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53I suspect he'd like
0:01:53 > 0:01:56the new wallpaper, once red silk, now a lustrous green,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and the fact that centuries of grime and soot
0:01:59 > 0:02:03have been removed from the ceiling and the friezes.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Impressed? You will be!
0:02:10 > 0:02:13We are now entering the drawing room.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15The ebony cabinets flanking the fireplace
0:02:15 > 0:02:18were made for King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22The fireplace itself is Carrara marble...
0:02:22 > 0:02:23What else?
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The people in Versailles recently asked for their cabinets back,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32but luckily the current Duke of Northumberland
0:02:32 > 0:02:36was able to produce a receipt from a London dealer dated 1822,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39so they're not going anywhere.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Being an Englishman he was obsessed by the weather,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45and as 4th Duke of Northumberland
0:02:45 > 0:02:47he could afford to indulge that obsession.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51The library at Alnwick became a coastal weather station,
0:02:51 > 0:02:52complete with barometer...
0:02:52 > 0:02:55What's it saying for today?
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Ah... It's moved from "fair" to "change".
0:02:58 > 0:03:02In the dozen or so years since the Roadshow last came to Alnwick,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Jane, the 12th Duchess, has embarked on
0:03:06 > 0:03:09one of the most ambitious new gardens in England this century.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11And fitting in very nicely,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14a pair of 16th century Venetian wrought iron gates,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18acquired by Algernon on yet another of his shopping trips.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Well, it's all quite mind-blowing,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26but just in case the fountain jets get blown off course,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29we've herded our experts into the castle's outer bailey.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35They say variety is the spice of life,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37but spice is the variety of life.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Here's a little spice pot, with four layers.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44It starts at the top with ginger, then nutmegs, allspice and cinnamon.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46What do you use it for?
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Exactly that... LAUGHTER
0:03:48 > 0:03:51For all those herbs and spices. I use them for cooking.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Very good! Is this something that was handed down through the family, or...?
0:03:55 > 0:04:02No, my family was very friendly with a retired farmer and his wife, and when I became engaged
0:04:02 > 0:04:07in 1972, Hilda wanted to give me, as an engagement present, something that she had used
0:04:07 > 0:04:11during HER married life at the farm, and this was the gift.
0:04:11 > 0:04:18- Fantastic.- And as I married an army man, this has travelled the world with me, and I use it all the time.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23In fact, this morning I just reached into the cupboard and fetched it down
0:04:23 > 0:04:26and wrapped it and brought it. So it's not even clean!
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Well, I'm very pleased you haven't cleaned it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30You feel that generations of cooks
0:04:30 > 0:04:34have handled this, and there's nothing like when you're away,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36making a fruit cake, to make you feel it's home.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39- Exactly, yes!- You do the same? - Exactly, exactly.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42It's a lovely bit of treen, that is, a small object
0:04:42 > 0:04:47made out of wood, and it's made of box, and it's actually quite a...
0:04:47 > 0:04:51It would have been quite a sizeable lump of box
0:04:51 > 0:04:53- to create something like this... - Right.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Box being an expensive and very closely-grained wood,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59slow-growing, used for all sorts
0:04:59 > 0:05:03of kitchen equipment as well as, obviously, other things.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07And I've seen these over the years and it's been one piece of treen
0:05:07 > 0:05:10that I've always coveted myself,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13and one that has always been outside my price range.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Today, this little spice tower... We'd be talking about, perhaps,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21£300 to £500.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25- Good gracious!- Which isn't bad, considering that it is just a piece
0:05:25 > 0:05:29of kitchen equipment, and as far as date is concerned, it's dating from
0:05:29 > 0:05:35the middle part of the 19th century, so it's old, but it's still spicy!
0:05:37 > 0:05:42It was my father's water bottle during the World War II.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- Yes.- He had it all through prisoner-of-war camp.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- Oh, he was a prisoner of war? - He was.- OK.
0:05:48 > 0:05:54And within it, it actually reveals a small crystal set radio
0:05:54 > 0:05:59which he had, and he kept everybody informed when he could.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00Where was he captured?
0:06:00 > 0:06:02He was captured at, er,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Dunkirk, beginning of the war, and machine-gunned when he was trying
0:06:06 > 0:06:10to run across a road. He was then taken to a military hospital
0:06:10 > 0:06:14and they looked after him.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Then he had to go on the great march, as they called it,
0:06:17 > 0:06:23where they ended up in Poland, near Krakow at Stalag 11,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28I think, then he survived the five years in the prisoner-of-war camp
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and conveyed the messages to the rest of the camp
0:06:31 > 0:06:35about what was actually going on back home.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37By listening to this crystal set?
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- Yes.- Listening to the BBC?- Yes.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41And hearing how the war was going.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43So did he make this?
0:06:43 > 0:06:47They...made it out of things in the prisoner-of-war camp, yes.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48I've got to say, this looks like
0:06:48 > 0:06:53it's just been cobbled together out of old screws and bits of wood
0:06:53 > 0:06:57and bits of metal that he must have come across while he was a prisoner.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59- Yes.- That's astonishing, isn't it?
0:06:59 > 0:07:04I mean, what I find amazing is the ingenuity of people.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06- Now you've brought some pictures along.- Yes.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Um, this is presumably him, is it?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11It is him, when he first joined up.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13And what's the group photograph?
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Oh, it's a group photograph of the Stalag camp that he was in.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19And which one is he there?
0:07:19 > 0:07:21He's got the curly hair on him, there.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22The one at the end, at the far end?
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Well, I think what I find astonishing is that, of course,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29being in possession of a radio while a prisoner of war was an incredibly
0:07:29 > 0:07:32serious... probably one of THE most serious offences
0:07:32 > 0:07:36you could actually have, so he would have been shot,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and to have concealed it in such an astonishing way
0:07:39 > 0:07:43is really quite ingenious. Well, you know,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46these things have a value because there are people
0:07:46 > 0:07:52that collect clandestine equipment such as this, and although it's,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55if you like, cobbled together out of bits and pieces...screws
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and bits of wood and metal, you know, it's an amazing thing.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03And I suppose if this came on the market today, you'd probably find
0:08:03 > 0:08:06someone would pay a couple of hundred pounds for it.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Amazing for something that's, sort of,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- made of bits and pieces! - Yeah, really.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13- Belongs in a museum, doesn't it? - I would say so, yes.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Now as you probably know, inside the castle there are
0:08:19 > 0:08:23these two magnificent cabinets which belonged to King Louis XIV
0:08:23 > 0:08:27at Versailles. He was known as the Sun King,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30and here you've brought in this lovely mug with the sun on it.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Do you think this has anything to do with King Louis XIV?
0:08:34 > 0:08:38I don't think so. I think it's more to do with the Sun newspaper.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40- The Sun newspaper?- Yes. - Oh, what's the story?
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Before I was born my mum saw an article,
0:08:44 > 0:08:48and every baby that was born on 15th September 1964,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51the day The Sun newspaper came out, was given one of those,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54so I don't really know if there's many about, or...
0:08:54 > 0:08:56- So your mum got this the day you were born?- Yes.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59"Happy Birthday to you from The Sun, Britain's new
0:08:59 > 0:09:01national newspaper which - like you -
0:09:01 > 0:09:06- first saw light of day on Tuesday, 15th September, 1964". - That's right.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09And that's genuine EPNS!
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Oh, that'll please her!
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Well, it's a lovely case, and it's a case which
0:09:16 > 0:09:19has promise of something inside,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23and actually what I like about these disc musical boxes is that
0:09:23 > 0:09:25they sort of tell you everything.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29- It's wonderful, isn't it? - There, that's what it is, a symphonion.- Yes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Now, tell me the story about this disc box.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37Well, this comes down from my great-grandmother's adoptive parents.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- I can see a photograph flapping on the side, there.- Oh, yes!
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Is that relevant? Please show it to me.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45These are... These are the people who, um...
0:09:45 > 0:09:48- This chap, John Campbell, was a painter and decorator.- Yes.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Bought it for his wife on honeymoon when they were in Paris in 1875.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58- Did he, by Jove?- Yes.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Well, he was a very clever man, and I'll tell you why.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04- Go on.- Because this machine, invented
0:10:04 > 0:10:08by Paul Lochmann, wasn't actually produced until after 1886.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12- That's clever!- So he was a man ahead of his time, obviously!
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Yes, so that's one family story
0:10:14 > 0:10:16- shot down.- Family lore. Folklore!
0:10:16 > 0:10:18- I love family stories.- Yes!- Yeah.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22- Sorry about that. However, moving swiftly on...- Yes.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- ..let's enjoy the object as it is. - Yes.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28This is a sort of middle-of-the road size.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32So here's the disc, and underneath it we can see
0:10:32 > 0:10:34the two combs,
0:10:34 > 0:10:40- and the disc itself has got little holes punched in it.- Yes.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45And on the other side, those holes result in little raised notches,
0:10:45 > 0:10:50and as the disc turns round, so those notches
0:10:50 > 0:10:52- pluck...- Plucks the comb.- Yes.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55..pluck the...the comb one at a time,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57you know, for the... which creates the tune.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00These are called the star wheels,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and it's absolutely standard, centre drive, fourteen-and-three-quarter,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08or let's round it up to fifteen-inch, disc musical box.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12The real success of this, ah,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15concept was, of course,
0:11:15 > 0:11:20you could have an enormous number of tunes, and this looks like...
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Is it a list of...tunes available?
0:11:22 > 0:11:24It's a list of tunes available at the time.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27- Oh-oh, it's very... - It is very fragile, yes.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Isn't it just?
0:11:29 > 0:11:31But I know that by the latter part
0:11:31 > 0:11:36of the 1890s, there were about 2,000 tunes available, so it was
0:11:36 > 0:11:41an enormous step-up over cylinder musical boxes,
0:11:41 > 0:11:46and the sad thing, I suppose, is, Paul Lochmann invented this
0:11:46 > 0:11:49just too late, because in 1877 the phonograph
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- was invented.- Right.- And who wanted
0:11:51 > 0:11:57- plunkety-plunk music if you could actually then hear the human voice on a record?- Yes.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01I've been living with this for over 50 years and this is
0:12:01 > 0:12:03the only disc I've ever actually heard,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05- although we have another...- 25.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06- 25.- 25?- Yes, yes.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- Well, I hope you'll go home and put it through its paces. - Absolutely.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13I'm sure it's sick of hearing the same tune!
0:12:13 > 0:12:15- Probably.- For 50 years.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Um, value-wise, it is popular, they're always popular,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23it's in great condition, and we'd be talking about
0:12:23 > 0:12:26£1,500-£1,800, that sort of figure.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29- Fine, yes. - And I suppose the ultimate...
0:12:29 > 0:12:32it's all very well looking at the pretty pretty, but the ultimate
0:12:32 > 0:12:34is...how does it sound? Can I give it a go?
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Of course, yes.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40TUNE PLAYS
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Do you know, every time we come to Alnwick Castle,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02we always find the most glorious things, but the archivist,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05obviously, Chris, you've brought in the most fabulous things
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- for me to have a look at. - That's right.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Initially I get these because we've got this wonderful manuscript here,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15lovely, lovely green vellum here, and here's the title.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18"Antiquities, historical,
0:13:18 > 0:13:23curious, miscellaneous, manuscripts, Japan porcelain and glass".
0:13:23 > 0:13:24Yes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- So tell me about this book.- This is from the Duke of Northumberland's
0:13:28 > 0:13:31manuscript collection. It's in fact in the hand of the First Duchess,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Elizabeth, and it's a record, her own record of,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37of the curious items that she collected.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Um, the First Duchess was responsible for the family's move
0:13:41 > 0:13:44- back to Alnwick in the 18th century. - She was very keen on it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47She was keen on her historical roots and obviously on her history
0:13:47 > 0:13:51and this is why she collected some quite interesting items.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55The thing that actually stands out here, which I find extraordinary,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58- is Queen Elizabeth's gloves.- Yes.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01This is recorded here as being purchased at the Mussel Sale.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Oh, Mussel Sale, he was the, um, the eccentric magistrate.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08- That's right, from Hackney. - From Hackney, yes.- Ebenezer Mussel.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Ebenezer, yes, of course.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13He collected curious historical items
0:14:13 > 0:14:15including a whole Roman wharf from Richborough
0:14:15 > 0:14:18- which he re-erected in his back garden.- Well, as you would.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Much better than going down to the tile shop or whatever it is.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24But look, this is... can I touch these?
0:14:24 > 0:14:27- Yes, yes.- You've made me wear gloves, but I mean...thank you.
0:14:27 > 0:14:33These wonderful, wonderful kid gloves belonged to Queen Elizabeth
0:14:33 > 0:14:38and they're absolutely beautiful. Didn't she have long fingers?
0:14:38 > 0:14:41- Well, yes, it appears so.- I mean, if she actually filled them all up.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Yes. They're tapering.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46But the thing about kid gloves which I find...
0:14:46 > 0:14:50not disturbing... but rather, rather, rather nice,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53is the fact that you wear kid gloves
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and they imprint the fingers that they were, they were actually on.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01- Yes.- So we have a sort of an outer shell here of
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Queen Elizabeth and at the top here we have this lovely gilt thread,
0:15:05 > 0:15:10but they're absolutely wonderful, absolutely superb.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Let's pop this one over here.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18The other thing is this, this cap here.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Now tell me the story about this cap.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Well, this again is purchased from the Mussel sale in 1765,
0:15:26 > 0:15:31and it's recorded as Oliver Cromwell's nightcap.
0:15:31 > 0:15:37And we've got a little rabbit here and birds here,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39pomegranate there, another bird,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41it's absolutely exquisite, isn't it?
0:15:41 > 0:15:44- It seems a bit fine for a puritan if you ask me.- You're telling me.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48I don't think that's got anything to do with Oliver Cromwell, do you?
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It predates Cromwell, I mean, it's late Elizabethan.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Obviously, it's Elizabethan, but that's extraordinary.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57- Yes.- But I'm going to play devil's advocate here.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Here are you as a scholar
0:15:59 > 0:16:04and here's me, the common or garden dealer.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09I would be very cynical, that a sale in the middle of the 18th century
0:16:09 > 0:16:12would have a decent provenance on any of these things.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14There's no doubt of their period,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17- but they could be anybody's, couldn't they?- Well...
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- Go on, stick up for yourself! - We're certain of the provenance
0:16:22 > 0:16:24from 1770, when this manuscript dates from.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27- That's what she was told.- That's what she was told, and we know that
0:16:27 > 0:16:32she paid two pounds and 12 shillings for the lot at that time.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34- Well, it seems a bargain even then. - Yes.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Um, yes, a little collection like this,
0:16:37 > 0:16:43if it was no provenance, nothing, we'd be talking about £20,000...
0:16:43 > 0:16:46£30,000 something like that.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48But if you can prove it...
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Yes.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Well, probably 100 times that, I don't know,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54but an awful lot of money.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58- Certainly.- I'm so delighted that you haven't disappointed me.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Thank you, thank you.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Well, in its lifetime it's never travelled more than about a mile
0:17:03 > 0:17:05from where it was manufactured.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09It was made for a house and it's been in several houses within that area.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12- So which house? - Belsey in Northumberland.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Made for Belsey Castle and then to Belsey Hall,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17and then I bought it at auction when Sir Stephen Middleton died.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19So the old Belsey House, that was the old castle.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Medieval or whatever, yes.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Yes, and this was made at the cabinet maker's shop behind the castle
0:17:24 > 0:17:28for the new manor house in early 1700s, apparently.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31- Have you any documentation for that?- I have some documentation
0:17:31 > 0:17:34of where it's been, various pictures of its lifetime
0:17:34 > 0:17:38- in various houses and positions.- But we know nothing about the maker?- No.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41And it would be unique to find out exactly who the maker was,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43but it's extraordinary to know where it was made.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- Do you have an association with the estate?- I worked there.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49My mother's family have been there for many generations.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I'd love to find something that would match up with something else
0:17:53 > 0:17:54that I've seen in the area, to say,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57"that's that particular cabinet maker
0:17:57 > 0:17:59"who did this particular type
0:17:59 > 0:18:03- "of banding or this type of drawer and inlay and everything".- Yes.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Let's just have a look inside. It's just such a nice, warm piece
0:18:06 > 0:18:10- of furniture. Look at that interior. Of course, walnut as you know.- Yes.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14With lovely banding, I'm just going to point these out here, this lovely
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- feather banding, that's very nice. - Is that walnut as well?
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Yes, it is. Sometimes these are in different wood, but this is walnut.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23And it's beautifully done, like a sort of herring bone.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Nice with drawers. So often, you see these drawers have been taken out.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30What's been put in?
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Drinks cabinet, even a TV, things like that, I'm afraid.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37But this is as, as it was born, which is very, very nice.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Having said that, it's had a little bit of damage.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42Who did this, what's happened?
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I don't know. That's its, part of its history, I don't know.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Amazingly, somebody's...
0:18:47 > 0:18:50I don't know what they've done. Then they've over-painted it with black
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- to make it look like the black walnut.- Really?
0:18:53 > 0:18:54- It's quite bizarre.- Yes.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58That could, and should, be restored at some stage. It's not going to be
0:18:58 > 0:19:01easy to get someone skilled enough to do it without re-polishing
0:19:01 > 0:19:04the whole thing. My gut reaction is that we've got
0:19:04 > 0:19:06original handles, which is pretty rare these days.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- Yes.- Let's have a look.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Yes, we have, look at that. So you've got absolutely lovely
0:19:12 > 0:19:16- pine interior, oak sides, which is what you'd expect.- Yes, yes.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Because you don't see the inside of
0:19:18 > 0:19:22a drawer, that's pine, but there's no change of the handles.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24No extra holes, are there?
0:19:24 > 0:19:26None at all, and the original steel lock. Again,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29country piece, estate carpenter.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Probably didn't want to spend money on a brass lock.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34It probably cost about three pounds ten shillings,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37and it would have been three pounds 15 shillings, or whatever.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39If they'd put brass locks on.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42It's such a nice piece of furniture, but I love the idea of
0:19:42 > 0:19:46the history, so it's been basically in two families, more or less.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51Yes. One family for...till 1994. Then we bought it in 1994 at auction,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55- when Sir Stephen Middleton died. - So why did you buy it?
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I didn't think it was good for it to go away from Belsey
0:19:58 > 0:20:01after all them years, and I saved me money up and bought it,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04- which was quite a lot at the time. - That's fantastic, so you
0:20:04 > 0:20:06- bought it in 1994.- Yes.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09So I'm going to have to come up with a value now.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- I can tell you what it was then. - I don't think I want to know!
0:20:12 > 0:20:14I mean, prices have been a bit difficult.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17The problem with this is, it's not incredibly useful,
0:20:17 > 0:20:18but I think what is important,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and I'm not worried about the condition,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23I think the fact that it's the provenance...
0:20:23 > 0:20:25you've got a piece from a big house
0:20:25 > 0:20:28not far from here, and you know it's come from that house and
0:20:28 > 0:20:32it's never been anywhere else, that is worth quite a lot of money.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35So I think to replace this in an antique shop, insurance, whatever
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- you want to call it, £10,000. - Right. I see.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Is that more than it cost?
0:20:41 > 0:20:42Yes. Three times.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Oh, great! We're safe. We can go home now. Thank you.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47- Thanks very much.- Thank you.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53- Do you love it? - I absolutely love it, we really do.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57I think it's a...it's a fascinating dish. I've been doing the Roadshow
0:20:57 > 0:20:59now about ten years, and this is certainly the most
0:20:59 > 0:21:03interesting piece of Delft pottery I've seen since I've been coming.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06- Right. - And you've had it for how long?
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Um, well, I'm the seventh generation. I will be the seventh generation
0:21:09 > 0:21:13to have it because it belongs to my mother at the moment,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16but it's been in our family for six generations, beyond.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18So that gets you back to what,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21the mid-19th century or thereabouts, and it's going to be yours?
0:21:21 > 0:21:24- Going to be mine.- You lucky girl! It's fabulous. You know what it is?
0:21:24 > 0:21:29- I don't know what it is, no. - It's English Delftware, which is...
0:21:29 > 0:21:33technically means it's a tin-glazed pottery. They put tin oxide into the
0:21:33 > 0:21:37glaze to make it white, because it's a sort of buff colour underneath.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39- Yes. - And it gives it this creamy look.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43And it was in the 17th century to imitate Chinese porcelain.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Whereabouts would it have been made in England?
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Well, English Delft,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Delftware in England was produced in London, Liverpool, Bristol and
0:21:52 > 0:21:56a number of other places as well. These blue dash chargers, most of
0:21:56 > 0:22:00them are from either London or from Bristol. Probably a Bristol dish.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- So you can trace it back for 150 years or so?- Absolutely, yes.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07This is another 150 on from that, it's contemporary with Charles II.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09- Gosh.- William III.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Perhaps the end of Pepys' life.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16I mean, it's a fabulously ancient dish.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17Um...but you dropped it.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21No, my great-great-aunt dropped it.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- So when would that have been, then? - Mm, well...
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Great-great-aunt, 1900?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Yes, about that, I would think, yes.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- What a rotter.- Unfortunately, yes.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Um, it's known as a blue dash charger because of these
0:22:32 > 0:22:36dashes on them, and there are various different patterns you see.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41Tulip designs are very popular at this period, the late 17th century.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Charles II hiding in a tree, royal chargers, these all appear.
0:22:44 > 0:22:50The cockerels are a really, really unusual pattern
0:22:50 > 0:22:52to see on one of these. There are very few around.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55I don't know, I always think of it as a sort of French symbol,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59- I suppose.- Well, we thought perhaps it might have been French,
0:22:59 > 0:23:04partly because of the cockerel and perhaps Northern Brittany...
0:23:04 > 0:23:05Um, might be to do with a pub.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Might be to do with a pub, you never know.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11- But it is a very uncommon pattern. - Even better.- What do you do with it?
0:23:11 > 0:23:16Well, it sits at home, and historically through the family
0:23:16 > 0:23:20every time a son has been born, for some reason or other, nobody knows,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23there's always been a cheese put on it, in the Christening. I don't know
0:23:23 > 0:23:26why, but that's what it's been used for.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28- Have you got a son?- No.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30- Going to have a son?- No!
0:23:30 > 0:23:35- Maybe my sister or my brother, you never know.- But it will be yours?
0:23:35 > 0:23:36- It will be mine.- That's great.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40And it'll stay in the family, you know, from me it will go
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- to another member of the family. - Great, it's a really nice dish.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- It is a great pity it's been so badly damaged.- Yes, squashed.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49- In the past, you can see it's been riveted.- Yes.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52These are the holes, and the rivets have been taken out.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55But it's a lovely thing, it's a terrific thing to see.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59At auction at the moment, probably between £20,000 and £30,000.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00CROWD GASP
0:24:03 > 0:24:04Good God!
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- You've got to look that way.- I know, I'm too shocked to look that way!
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Over 30 years, more than three million items have been brought
0:24:28 > 0:24:32in to the show and not surprisingly, just every now and then a friendship
0:24:32 > 0:24:35blossoms between the owner and the expert. David Battie's been
0:24:35 > 0:24:37with the show for ever, and I have
0:24:37 > 0:24:40noticed a twinkle across the table every now and then.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43It is extraordinary how in a brief period,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46when you've got somebody's object,
0:24:46 > 0:24:52you can build up a relationship. For obvious reasons, we can't
0:24:52 > 0:24:56have the owners' names and addresses and telephone numbers. That would be
0:24:56 > 0:25:00quite wrong, but occasionally something happens
0:25:00 > 0:25:06and we get to know the person, and that happened at Liverpool in 1988.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11Mrs Ambrose, Nora Ambrose brought in her huge teapot,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14and Nora has been a sort of groupie
0:25:14 > 0:25:18round the north of England ever since. Wherever we go, there's
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Norah, and we have to have a kiss and a cuddle.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26When me mother-in-law gave it to me, she said to me "Look after it now,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30"because it's over 100 years old." She said, "It was very old
0:25:30 > 0:25:31"when I was a little girl,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35"because my granny used to have it even before us."
0:25:35 > 0:25:40I thought, "Well, it seems a bit far back, really, when she was 86."
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Well, we get told this, I think, as a story more than anything else.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47People say, "It belonged to my grandmother, and her grandmother".
0:25:47 > 0:25:50And they add it up and arrive at two or three hundred years,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53- and we almost always have to discount the story.- Yes.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55They've got muddled in the family.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58In this particular case, it's more than true.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01- This is actually a very ancient pot indeed.- Oh!
0:26:01 > 0:26:05But it is, is something which is of some value.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10- Have you any idea what it's worth? - No, I haven't any idea cos
0:26:10 > 0:26:13- me mother-in-law gave it to me. - Do you think it might be worth
0:26:13 > 0:26:17- several hundred pounds?- I don't know, I don't think so.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20- You wouldn't have thought so?- No. - So if I told you it was worth
0:26:20 > 0:26:23- £600 or £800, you'd be really shocked, would you?- Oh, I would!
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Right, so if I told you it was worth £1,500, you'd be really shocked?
0:26:28 > 0:26:33- Oh, you're kidding, aren't you? Well, I am kidding, actually.- Oh.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37It's actually worth about £5,000 to £6,000.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38Oh!
0:26:38 > 0:26:40CROWD GASP AND LAUGH
0:26:40 > 0:26:44- What happened next for Nora? You didn't propose, did you?- Well,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Nora finished the record by saying "Of course I'd never sell it",
0:26:47 > 0:26:51and the next thing that happened was that she was, five weeks later,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54on the telephone to an auction house where I worked, as it happened.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56"I want to sell my teapot".
0:26:56 > 0:27:02And my colleague said "It's cracked. It's chipped.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05"It's not worth the £5,000 you quoted on it."
0:27:05 > 0:27:09And it sold for £14,500.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14And Nora got her cheque from the auction house, and she went out
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and bought her council house with the money,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19so she's now living in her teapot.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25- You mean it?- I mean it, absolutely. It's exactly what the market is
0:27:25 > 0:27:28desperate for. I don't think I've ever seen such a large, good one.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Oh, gosh, isn't that marvellous!
0:27:35 > 0:27:38What a nice little spinning wheel. And it's obviously
0:27:38 > 0:27:43seen quite a lot of use, because there's an old repair here.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48And, you know, there are areas where you can tell that this has
0:27:48 > 0:27:50- been well loved and well used.- Yes.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- In your family?- It's been in the family a long time.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56It was left to my father by his aunt
0:27:56 > 0:28:00in the early '70s, and I couldn't say before that
0:28:00 > 0:28:03how long it's been in the family, but I imagine it's been
0:28:03 > 0:28:06- in for quite a long time. - Do you remember anybody using it?
0:28:06 > 0:28:08No, I've never seen it used at all.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12There are some spinning wheels that are used purely as decoration,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17so they would have stood in the main room in a grand house to remind
0:28:17 > 0:28:22the young ladies of the house what sort of tasks they might be
0:28:22 > 0:28:27- able to do, so if you didn't sew, you should learn how to spin.- Yes.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30But my feeling with this is, this was a working spinning wheel, and I
0:28:30 > 0:28:34- think it was a spinning wheel used for spinning flax.- Oh, yes, yes.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38Obviously one thing that's missing is the sort of drive band that would
0:28:38 > 0:28:41have gone round here and then connected up to this wheel here,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44which would have been made of something simple like leather.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46- Right. - Obviously breaks and gets lost.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49- What kind of wood is it? - Well, because these...
0:28:49 > 0:28:53I mean this is a really nice example of a country, country piece,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56so you've got the sort of woods you would have found locally.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00You've got elm, you'll have a little bit of ash, anything that's...
0:29:00 > 0:29:02- you know, fruit woods, that sort of thing.- Yes.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04People love these wheels,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08because they are also very collectable as treen.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11- Yes.- You know, objects made of wood.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14This lovely spindle turning. But there are signs of wear,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17which is great to see, because this
0:29:17 > 0:29:20is obviously not a reproduction. Look at the woodworm hole
0:29:20 > 0:29:22- round the back.- That's right, yes.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25- You can't fake that sort of thing.- No.- And when you look
0:29:25 > 0:29:28at something like this, you have to think about those things.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Is it a reproduction that was made yesterday, or is it an old one?
0:29:31 > 0:29:34And this is a 19th century one, but it's a collector's piece.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39- Yes.- I would put a value of somewhere between £600 and £800 on it.
0:29:39 > 0:29:40As much as that, yes?
0:29:40 > 0:29:42"Improved magneto newly invented electric machine
0:29:42 > 0:29:46"for nervous diseases". We've seen tonnes of these.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49- You've got plenty. - What, nervous diseases?
0:29:49 > 0:29:54- Yes.- We've seen plenty of these, but we've never done the experiment.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59- Right.- To see how many people the charge will go through.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01- There's plenty here. - All right, let's try.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Please don't turn the handle too fast.
0:30:04 > 0:30:05- Too fast.- Start turning.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08- Start turning.- Faster.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12- Not too fast.- I can't feel anything. Yes?- I've got it.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Yes? Can you all feel it?
0:30:15 > 0:30:18- Yes.- All tingling?- OK.- Well, your hair's certainly standing on end.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21ALL LAUGH
0:30:21 > 0:30:22I always get really excited
0:30:22 > 0:30:26when I see just a plain little box that has definitely got some age.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Tell me about this.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33Well, it was left to my husband by an aunt
0:30:33 > 0:30:38who said it belonged to her great grandfather,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42and it was put in the loft. And last night I took it out
0:30:42 > 0:30:45and I thought, "It's just plastic",
0:30:45 > 0:30:47but I thought, "Oh, I'll take it anyway".
0:30:47 > 0:30:53Well, I think what's lovely about this is when I do that, and you see
0:30:53 > 0:30:56this fabulous little service.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58You thought these were plastic.
0:30:58 > 0:30:59- I did.- But actually
0:30:59 > 0:31:05these are very early glass. This is a wonderful little children's
0:31:05 > 0:31:11service in its lovely original box. It was probably made about 1820
0:31:11 > 0:31:16or 1830. Look at these lovely little cups with their little handles
0:31:16 > 0:31:21and the plates, little compote here and even little spoons.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24- Yes.- So rare to find this. Just look
0:31:24 > 0:31:27at this lovely jug, and look at these hand-painted roses on it.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29- Yes.- So beautiful.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31- Yes, it is.- So it's glass, and look
0:31:31 > 0:31:35at the condition it's in after all this time, when you think it would
0:31:35 > 0:31:38- have been played with by children. - Yes, yes, indeed.
0:31:38 > 0:31:39And would you have any idea what
0:31:39 > 0:31:42- that would be worth? - Not at all, no.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47Because it's very rare. It's rare to find it, it's rare to find it in
0:31:47 > 0:31:51this condition. And because toys and dolls and anything to do with them
0:31:51 > 0:31:57are going up so much in value, I could easily see that sell for £500.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59- Really?- Absolutely.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06It was a wedding present. I've had it for 22 years now.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09It was from my mum and dad.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Well, I mean, does it worry you to know that they gave
0:32:13 > 0:32:15you something that was second-hand?
0:32:15 > 0:32:18- No, I did get one or two other things as well.- You did?
0:32:18 > 0:32:20- Yes.- Well, I'm glad to know.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Well, as with any work of art, what you're looking for is a signature.
0:32:23 > 0:32:29And although it's not very easy to determine, it's all in a name.
0:32:29 > 0:32:35And you can see here "Galle", and that of course is Emile Galle.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Does the name mean anything to you at all?
0:32:38 > 0:32:41I've heard of Galle, but I thought they were producers of glass.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44I didn't know they did furniture. That's why I brought it,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47to find out a more...if you knew anything more about it.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49OK, well let me just say that Galle in actual fact
0:32:49 > 0:32:54was a bit of an all rounder, and he did actually produce some
0:32:54 > 0:32:59very interesting furniture. And he's working down there in
0:32:59 > 0:33:03the Alsace region, down in that part of France which is
0:33:03 > 0:33:05quite close to the German border.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Let's have a look at the actual inlay, because this is
0:33:09 > 0:33:15all marquetry inlay. There is nothing here that's worked
0:33:15 > 0:33:18with a pen or anything. He is using
0:33:18 > 0:33:23the actual natural grain of all these different woods, um, to get
0:33:23 > 0:33:30this effect of almost like sunlight cascading onto, onto a seascape.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33The good news, of course, is that you've got a nest of three.
0:33:33 > 0:33:39- Yeah.- So let's have a look at the...intermediate one, OK?
0:33:39 > 0:33:41So we've got now,
0:33:41 > 0:33:45um, obviously we've got almost like a fishing village here.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Again, he's using fruit woods
0:33:47 > 0:33:52and burr woods to get this wonderful naturalistic effect, and again he's
0:33:52 > 0:33:54signing down here.
0:33:54 > 0:34:00Date wise, um, I think you're looking at around about 1902-1903.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02One thing I can tell you is that
0:34:02 > 0:34:081904 was a really bad year for Emile Galle. That was the year he died.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12- Oh, right.- OK, and let's have a look at number three.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Oh, that's rather nice, isn't it?
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Almost like red sails in the sunset, isn't it?
0:34:17 > 0:34:21- I like that one best. - Again, a clever use of wood grain
0:34:21 > 0:34:25with this almost macassar-type ebony showing through there.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Are they the sort of thing you regularly use?
0:34:28 > 0:34:32No, I never use them. They just stand in the corner with a cloth over them
0:34:32 > 0:34:34so they don't get dusty.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Well, it's a bit of a shame really that they're stacked away.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41If I wanted to go out and buy this set today, if I was going to give
0:34:41 > 0:34:44them as a wedding present, which is highly unlikely
0:34:44 > 0:34:48because I'd want to buy them for meself, then I dare say I'd have
0:34:48 > 0:34:53- to part with around about £2,000. - Really?
0:34:53 > 0:34:55Which, um, which ain't bad really, is it,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57for three old second-hand tables?
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Oh, that's smashing.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05We've got six wonderful diaries here. They are completely wacky,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08off the wall and during a time of war. And they make,
0:35:08 > 0:35:12not exactly fun of the war, but they're very stoical,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15they're very funny, and at the same time they seem to be making
0:35:15 > 0:35:18the best out of the situation. Now, who are they by?
0:35:18 > 0:35:21It's Thomas Cairns Livingstone, a gentleman who lived in Rutherglen
0:35:21 > 0:35:24in Glasgow at the turn of the 19th century, 20th century.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27I feel that they're very much
0:35:27 > 0:35:29like Mr Pooter. I mean, this is what he is, Mr Pooter
0:35:29 > 0:35:35of George and Weedon Grossmiths' book, The Diaries of a Nobody
0:35:35 > 0:35:37where, you know, everything worries
0:35:37 > 0:35:41him and nothing really matters at all that worries him.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44And here they all are, and they're just absolutely hilarious.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47But these have illustrations, which I think make it even better.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52I mean, on Wednesday December 2nd 1914, he says
0:35:52 > 0:35:55"Tommy got a bad cough, made him a wee bridge",
0:35:55 > 0:35:59I assume for his railway,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01"and at night brought him a new slate".
0:36:01 > 0:36:03I assume that was for going to school the next day.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07And this lovely illustration of this lady with her skirts blowing up.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10This is 1914, don't forget, they're all proper.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13"Very stormy, wild, wet day".
0:36:13 > 0:36:16And then he repeats himself the following day.
0:36:16 > 0:36:21Thursday 8th - "Wild, stormy, wet day. Tommy's still got a bad cough",
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and so on and so forth. He's really sending himself up,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27but he goes on with things like "Belgrade taken by the Austrians,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30"De Wett, the Boer rebel, captured.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33"King George in the British trenches".
0:36:33 > 0:36:36You know, he sort of goes from the sublime to the ridiculous,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39really, or from the ridiculous to the sublime, really.
0:36:39 > 0:36:451914. Let's go to...1915.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48"The heat waves continue. Zeppelin blown up near Brussels".
0:36:48 > 0:36:51And there they all are, and they're all falling out.
0:36:51 > 0:36:57It's just absolutely wonderful, tremendous. And this one, I think,
0:36:57 > 0:37:00- this is hardly Sunday night entertainment.- A bit risque.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02"Wild snow storm all day".
0:37:02 > 0:37:05This is 1916, Saturday 25th.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10"Worst we've had all year. After tea we all went to town to the salon,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14a picture house and saw "She". Came home duly edified".
0:37:14 > 0:37:19And there he does a picture of a naked lady with, um,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22the naughty bits censored. I mean, it's just absolutely ridiculous,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25and absolutely lovely.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Next one, "I've got a bit of a cough".
0:37:30 > 0:37:31ALL LAUGH
0:37:31 > 0:37:33You just love it.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37Look, you've obviously got good quotes from these that you want
0:37:37 > 0:37:40and I won't have shown the ones that you want.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44- What can you remember?- I think there's one where it's late at night
0:37:44 > 0:37:47and he hears a gunshot in the back alley of the street, and he knows
0:37:47 > 0:37:51the next day that a man shot his wife and he says "Oh, a man shot his wife,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54"silly fool", and it just summarises the whole manner
0:37:54 > 0:37:57in which he writes the diaries in.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59I love that. Well, I would have bought these any day,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02so where did you see them? Where did you...?
0:38:02 > 0:38:05There was a local auction just a few miles away from here
0:38:05 > 0:38:09a couple of years ago. It was just in a shoe box. Picked the first one up,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12read the first one and had to buy the lot. They're so good
0:38:12 > 0:38:14and you don't see many, many diaries like this.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16So what did you know how to pay for them?
0:38:16 > 0:38:19I didn't, really. I just really wanted them.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20You rash so and so!
0:38:20 > 0:38:23- I know.- Go on, tell me.- I think it was a couple of hundred pounds,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- with commission. - Right, that's including commission?
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Yeah, so I think it's money well spent.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Well, I think it was money well spent.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35I mean, I would say the war ones are probably the funniest, because
0:38:35 > 0:38:391918, 1919 is not quite as funny
0:38:39 > 0:38:43as the rest, and so I suspect that the others aren't as good.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45I'd put more value on these.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50I'd put sort of £200 or £300 on these each, and...and
0:38:50 > 0:38:55- a bit more on the rest, so we're coming up to about £2,000.- Wow!
0:38:55 > 0:38:58And I wouldn't be surprised if they're not worth printing.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02I'd love to see them in a wider audience. I think the amount of work
0:39:02 > 0:39:05and effort he's put into them, I think he deserves to be seen.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Well, I assure you if you get them on the Roadshow
0:39:07 > 0:39:10there will be a wider audience!
0:39:10 > 0:39:13Well, obviously we've got a marine chronometer here.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18And it's signed by the chronometer work GMBH Hamburg,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22which was a German manufacturer, Second World War period.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26To all intents and purposes, it appears to be a decent instrument.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Let's have a look at it. It's suspended in gimbals. Now, that's,
0:39:29 > 0:39:33there we are, that's confirmation of what I'm saying. It's actually got
0:39:33 > 0:39:37the Kriegsmarine logo on the back with the swastika,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40which proves that it's Second World War origin,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42and the marine number 339.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46The interesting thing about the Kriegsmarine mark on the back
0:39:46 > 0:39:49is that it's probably going to turn out to be one of the earlier
0:39:49 > 0:39:52instruments, because the later ones, towards the end of the war,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56first of all they were vastly inferior quality, and they had
0:39:56 > 0:40:01the logo and swastika on the front, actually stamped on the dial.
0:40:01 > 0:40:06The movement should hopefully come out and reveal that,
0:40:06 > 0:40:08yes, no question. Look at the quality of that.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The late ones, I can hardly describe. They're very poor
0:40:12 > 0:40:14quality, very poor finish.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18This is beautiful. It's all spotted all over the plates, this little
0:40:18 > 0:40:20machining mark. It's gilded.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22The screws, as you can see, are highly polished.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Now tell me, by any chance, do you know any of the history?
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Usually they're just spoils of war, but nobody
0:40:28 > 0:40:30knows where they came from.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35Yes, sure. We know quite a lot about its late history which is that it was
0:40:35 > 0:40:40the chronometer of a U-boat, a U1-10 which was captured by my grandfather,
0:40:40 > 0:40:42so that's how it came into our possession.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Not many U-boats were captured, most of them were sunk. I can't say
0:40:46 > 0:40:50I know them all, but I know three or four boats that were actually
0:40:50 > 0:40:53stranded and brought up and then captured. Any history on this one?
0:40:53 > 0:40:59Absolutely. It was in a convoy action, so it was pursuing a convoy
0:40:59 > 0:41:06bound for Liverpool, and it was caught by three Royal Navy vessels
0:41:06 > 0:41:11under the command of my grandfather, and depth charged to the surface.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15And the crew abandoned ship and they thought that they'd set the scuttling
0:41:15 > 0:41:20charges on it, but they hadn't. And my grandfather noticed that the ship
0:41:20 > 0:41:27wasn't going down and sent a boarding party on board who, um,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30retrieved as much stuff as they could from the U-boat
0:41:30 > 0:41:36including an Enigma machine and all the documents that went with that,
0:41:36 > 0:41:41- this, and other things.- Well, that's a very famous action.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46- So they got on board, they got an Enigma machine.- Yes.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49But not the first one, because I think some had come from Poland
0:41:49 > 0:41:52and there were a few, but it's the one where they got the code books.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56That's correct, so they picked up all the naval code books from it.
0:41:56 > 0:42:02And, er, fortunately the Germans were unaware that we'd captured this,
0:42:02 > 0:42:04this U-boat and its contents,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07so that was kept a very closely guarded secret,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10and it meant that we could, er, decode.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13- Decode them.- That's right. - The beginning of the decoding.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16And if I can remember the end of the story, they tried to take it
0:42:16 > 0:42:19in tow, and it sank. It really is a sort of real history.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22That's right, so it was actually fortunate that it sank in many ways,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25- because it enabled them to keep the capture secret.- Right.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29But it must have been disappointing at the time, as they were trying
0:42:29 > 0:42:31to pull their trophy in to shore.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33Fantastic history.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36Oh, well, that makes my life more difficult.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39One of these is worth,
0:42:39 > 0:42:43without the history, £1,500.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47And now I have to say, how much is the history worth?
0:42:47 > 0:42:49And I really don't honestly have a clue.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53It is such a significant piece of...
0:42:53 > 0:42:56of naval history in the Second World War.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01I mean, really, it's the point at which I suppose we began to...
0:43:01 > 0:43:05if not win the war, to turn the tide, because once we'd
0:43:05 > 0:43:09broken those codes, began to break them, there's all the stories about
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Bletchley and everything else... this is where the tide began
0:43:12 > 0:43:17to swing, and I...so...mmm, I really can't...
0:43:17 > 0:43:22- I'll say £5,000 or £10,000. How's that?- Yeah, yeah.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24- What a fantastic story. Amazing. - Thank you.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29In 700 years, Alnwick Castle has seen some great heroes
0:43:29 > 0:43:33from Henry Percy to Harry Potter, and now the Antiques Roadshow.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36I must say, for a place that's supposed to be forbidding
0:43:36 > 0:43:39and impregnable, it's been very inviting.
0:43:39 > 0:43:40But we mustn't outstay our welcome,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43so just a quick game of quidditch and we'll be on our way.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Until the next time, from Northumberland, goodbye.