Peters Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Attic.

This is the show that searches out hidden treasures

around your home and then we sell them at auction.

Well, today I've come to the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea and it's time to take a stroll on the pier.

This very British seaside town enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s

when tourists flocked to visit Clacton-on-Sea's sandy beaches,

arcades, funfair and, of course, its now iconic pier.

Built in 1871, the pier was to become the heart

and soul of the resort and it continues to be the town's number one attraction.

Clacton may not be the tourist hotspot it once was, but it's a great British seaside resort,

full of nostalgia and it's nostalgic treasure we're hoping to find today that we can take to auction.

Today on Cash In The Attic,

Jonty is impressed by great taste...

What is very clear he had a very good eye because we have got real, genuine quality here.

There are some emotional decisions to make...

Jean gave these to him as presents so therefore it might be a little bit difficult.

And at auction we're all surprised by some results!

Well, let me just say, you were wrong on your reserve and you were both wrong on your estimate,

but in a positive way, thank goodness.

So, will there be a happy ending when the final hammer falls?

I've come to the East Anglian coast

to meet a couple who have called in the Cash In The Attic team

to help them raise some funds

for someone's artistic aspirations.

Amanda and Gary Peters have been married for two years

and have two gorgeous sons, Ben, who is eight months and Tom, who is nearly two.

Amanda has always been extremely close to her family,

especially her grandmother, Jean, who was recently widowed.

Jean's bungalow is full of a lifetime's collectables,

but she's decided to have a clear-out so Amanda and Gary have called us in to help.

-Good morning, Jonty.

-Oh, there you are. How are you doing?

I'm fine. This is near where I live, so I'm happy about that.

Home county, yeah. I have a little confession.

I'm an Essex boy as well.

Jonty, you're far too posh...

-No...

-to come from the same area as the likes of us.

-Born in Essex.

-Really? Whereabouts?

Brentwood in Essex, where I was born.

-All right, OK.

-Not raised, but I was born there.

There is a revelation.

I wonder whether we're going to have any revelations here because the family want to raise some money

for a rather artistic venture, so we do need to find some stuff.

-Let's get working.

-Come on, then.

-Good morning, guys.

-Hi.

-Good morning.

So, I understand you're both fans of antique programmes including Cash In The Attic, is that right?

-Yes.

-Yes, we are, just a little bit!

OK, so what has made you decide to call us in, then?

My grandfather passed away fairly suddenly in the summer and he left all sorts of things behind

and too many memories for my grandmother to have about.

She had plans with him to turn this room into a conservatory/artist's room

for her to sit and paint in the garden and for him to look out into the garden.

So how much money, Gary, are we looking to raise, do you think, to do this project?

We think about £400 should just about cover it to get all the paint and bits and curtains and stuff

that she wants in, so the chairs and all that stuff for her painting.

That sounds like a lovely idea, doesn't it? Are we going to be meeting Grandmother today?

I don't think so. She's ever so camera-shy!

Oh, is she? Oh, bless! OK. Well, l really admire you for taking this on then on her behalf.

Well, Grandmother and Grandfather were married for 53 years

and it's just in memory of their love for each other

and the relationship they had and all their hopes for the future.

OK, so we need to raise £400 to turn this into an artist's studio and your challenge for the day,

young man, is going to be to see how closely your estimates come to those of our expert, so shall we get on?

-Yup.

-Come on, then.

Amanda's grandmother's house is full of reminders of her late husband, Sam, but she's determined

to part with plenty of items and with the help of her family, realise the dream of an artist's studio.

Our expert, Jonty Hearnden, is already hard at work rummaging in the dining room.

This man lives and breathes antiques and he has already found something

that he hopes the bidders at auction will fork out for.

-Oh, there you are, Jonty!

-Aah...

-Are you planning on entertaining?

-Look at this!

-So where is this collection from, Amanda?

It's from the Silver Vaults in London. My grandfather bought it in the early 1970s.

He didn't cut corners if he went to the Silver Vaults. They're very well-known.

Absolutely, and you can find all sorts of goodies there.

Now, if I pick one of these up, I've had a check

and it's usually clear under an eye glass

but here you can see this is the company who made it, Roberts & Belk.

-Yes.

-That's the maker of everything that we see in front of us.

-Oh, right.

-Originally, they started off as silversmiths as early as the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries,

but by the turn of the 19th and 20th century, they were known as Roberts & Belk

and obviously this set here is a relatively contemporary set.

So how many people can we seat with this?

It's a full 12-piece service.

-Right.

-Including a fish set, dessert set.

I think there are just over a hundred pieces here, in all.

-Wow!

-Have you any idea what your grandfather paid for this, Amanda?

He wouldn't say.

No, I bet he wouldn't!

He would never tell my grandmother exactly how much he paid for it, so...

She probably doesn't tell him what she spent on her hair and make-up.

We do have that, so no, I really don't know how much he paid.

So, Jonty, what sort of valuation do you think we might be talking about here?

-Because it's not silver, I can't put a silver price on it.

-No.

It's plated, and as a consequence, I can see this selling

for around the £100 mark only because it has to be resold.

Dealers will have to make their profit at the other end as well, so estimate for auction, £100 to £150.

-OK. Are you happy with that?

-Not bad at all.

In this market, we just have to be realistic and if we do that, then we can all come up smelling of roses.

£100. Let's see what else we can find. Follow me.

The cutlery set is a great start to the rummage and Amanda is evidently delighted

with Jonty's valuation, but we've got lots to do so we need to press on.

We've spread out around the house and it doesn't take long for me

to spot these two silver-plated Mappin & Webb serving trays.

Sam bought them in London at the same time

that he bought the cutlery set and they should fetch £20 to £30 at auction

and in the hallway, our wannabe antiques expert, Gary gets his first opportunity to guess the estimate.

Gary, where do these prints come from because we've got a set of four prints here

all hanging on the wall there, a work uniform.

I believe it's just another item that Sam acquired whilst he was down in London at the markets, as usual.

And they look like London scenes. You can see very clearly...

Have a look at this, it's very small, but it says Fleet Street.

Come and have a look at this one

and here it says The Strand and it has that wonderful 19th century feel.

There's not a motor vehicle in sight, it's all horse-drawn carriages.

Now, the artist who drew these was a famous engraver from the mid-19th century

and he left his mark, not by a signature but by something else. Take a look at this.

Look at the side of this what looks like a massive great big laundry basket.

It's got the initials, "TSB"

and that's not a savings bank!

And have a look at this, "TSB Boys." OK. Follow me

and it says "TSB Boys" again there, all right?

That is the artist's name, that's where he left his mark.

Clever, isn't it? His name was Thomas Shotter Boys.

He was born in the early 19th century and he died in the 1870s

so essentially what we're looking at here are copies of his works.

They're worth putting in the auction, but we won't get much for them.

What price would you put on these?

I would have said, being as there's four of them, I would have said £10 each, £40 for the four.

I think you're about right. Absolutely spot-on, so for auction values I would put £30 to £40

and let the market choose where it wants to go with these sorts of pictures

because somebody will buy them, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Excellent! Right, well they can remain hanging on the wall just for the time being.

Let's go through there.

With the prints bringing our total to £150 so far, our fund for the artist's studio is growing steadily.

In the kitchen, Jonty finds these four assorted silver and silver-plated napkin rings

which have been tucked away in a kitchen cupboard.

They were an anniversary present to Amanda's grandparents from her mum,

Madeleine, about ten years ago and Jonty hopes they'll make us at least £10 to £20 at auction.

With all our efforts today going towards funding Amanda's grandmother's art studio conversion,

it's clear that both her grandparents have been a huge part of her life

and I'm keen to find out more about them.

Are you there, Amanda?

This is a really lovely bungalow.

-So long have your grandparents been living here for?

-They're here for 11 years.

Right, OK. So are they Clacton people?

Well, they moved from Southend in 1979 with my mum to a house near Colchester,

lovely big house in the country and 12 years ago now,

it sort of became too much because we had acres of grass

and my grandfather said he couldn't possibly mow it any more

and the stairs and the whole place got too much for my gran's knees, so they retired to Clacton.

-Do you remember that house?

-Yes. I lived there 15 years.

-Really?

-I lived with my grandparents.

-OK.

So how did that come about?

My mum moved with my grandparents up here and I was born the following year, so we all lived together.

Wow! It must have been great having a childhood somewhere like that?

It was ideal. I had a pony and we had horses and I had lots of trees to climb

and lots of areas to play in so it really was a lovely, lovely childhood.

Do you find it's a role reversal, because your grandparents had a big role

in bringing you up and now you're helping your grandma out?

Yes, it is, and it's nice to be able to do something for them, or for my gran now.

She played a big part, she was actually my head teacher for a year.

She was head teacher for a school that I went to,

so to do things for her, it's nice.

So how important do you think it will be for her to have

this dining room space converted into this conservatory cum studio?

It's something she's wanted for a number of years and something they planned together.

She stopped doing her art and her writing when my grandfather became ill

last year and also when he had a heart attack several years ago

and so she has now, sort of found the freedom to get back into it.

She enjoys sitting there watching the birds and she enjoys her painting so to be able to sit there

comfortably and to paint and to watch the birds in the garden and watch the boys

-playing in the garden, I think will really improve her life.

-Excellent.

We're not going to be able to do that, unless we make the money you need

so we had better go and see if the boys have found anything else to sell.

the big boys that is, rather than the small boys!

Having heard just what having her own art studio will mean to Jean,

it's extra motivation to search hard for the rest of the rummage.

We rejoin the hunt for valuables and it's Gary who has unearthed our next find.

It's a collection of decorative display plates

which Jonty values at £10 to £20 and in the bedroom,

Amanda and our expert are on the scent of more items

that her grandmother is happy to send to auction.

-Amanda?

-Mmm.

-I've got two scent bottles here.

One is silver-necked and one has got a lovely silver top to it.

What do you think...? Ooh, I see we've got a pair! I didn't realise that!

So we've got a pair of scent bottles here, so where are they from?

They're from my grandmother's grandmother.

-She was a health servant in London in the 1910s.

-They're lovely! It's so nice to have a pair.

Now, if we have a look at the neck of this particular scent bottle, once upon a time this was space

so that somebody could personalise them by putting one's initials there, but these have been left,

which, to be honest with you, is probably better than having somebody's initials there.

It means that somebody can take possession of these

and not worry about them belonging to somebody else, so let's have a look at this one here.

So here we have a different shape.

we have an oval shape with a silver top.

Now, once upon a time this was a hinged top and it's just become loose

and on the inside we have the lovely glass stopper which is in perfect condition.

Now, around the mid-19th century to the late 19th century these were very, very popular and the reason

for that was that the manufacturers dispensed perfume into containers like this but by the 19th century,

all of that changed because the larger perfume manufacturers

produced bottles themselves which rendered bottles like this superfluous.

Well, I think that it's great to have a pair.

I didn't realise that we had this pair which is really very good news indeed

and we've got this other scent bottle, so we'll sell the three together

and if we put a very teasing price of £40 to £60 on them, I'm sure they'll sell for more than that.

-It seems reasonable.

-Are you happy?

-Yes.

Well, I'll pop those back down there and see what else we can find.

With that healthy £40 in the pot, we're progressing nicely towards

our £400 target, but there's still plenty of ground to cover.

Downstairs, Amanda picks out this colourful 12-piece Royal Albert dinner set,

bought by her grandfather, Sam many years ago.

Our expert reckons it should fetch us at least £40 to £60 and in the living room,

Gary's passion for watching antiques programmes leads him to discover an item

-that could hold some great potential.

-How are we doing, guys?

Hello. I haven't found anything.

-Have you had any luck, Gary?

-Yes, I've found this.

-Wow! Let's have a look.

-Wow!

-That's very nice.

-Can I have a look, Gary?

-Yeah, go for it!

-So we've got this proud ceramic lion,

but anything that is ceramic, turn it upside down because you learn so much.

Can you see here it says "Beswick, England"? That's really good news for us because Beswick,

at the moment, is selling very well indeed and there's all sorts of reasons for that.

Not only has the factory gone out of business recently,

so they're irreplaceable, but really Beswick had attention to a lot of detail.

I mean look at his face, and look at his teeth, for instance,

and if you touch them, you can see how sharp that is.

-They're sharp, yeah.

-They're quite extraordinary, so that's wonderful. Good news.

-So what else have we got here?

-We've got a cow.

Can I have a look on the underside?

Now, there's no markings there, but for my money,

that looks like the quality enough for a Beswick animal

so I think that's lovely. Where did these two come from?

They were presents from Amanda's grandmother, Jean, to Sam, her grandfather.

They got the lion for his zodiac sign and the cow because he was a master butcher.

Why does that leave us with a couple of spaniels, a palomino horse and a Shetland pony?

Well, the horse and the ponies, because they had ponies themselves at the stables they used to have.

-OK.

-I'm not actually sure about the dogs.

-So who gave these to...?

Well, that's where it comes in.

Jean gave these to him as presents, so therefore it might be a little bit difficult...

-Difficult to sell.

-To sell them?

-But we can always as I say have a chat with her and see what she says.

How much do you think for the collection?

As a little group, we could sell these quite happily and we would

-get £50 to £80 for them at auction, so it would make a difference if she did want to sell them.

-Right.

I think it's really important,

obviously, we need to check and make sure she's happy to sell them, or not as the case may be.

-Yeah.

-OK, well we can't count on this little lot, then.

-No.

-So let's crack on and see what else we can find.

We'll put them back in the cabinet as delicately as we possibly can. Let me put that back there.

With the Beswick animals so strongly connected to Amanda's grandfather,

I don't think any of us will be surprised if Jean decides not to part with them,

but we'll have to wait until auction day to find out.

Jonty decides it's time to tackle the attic and in amongst all the old boxes and newspapers,

he discovers a collection of Poole Pottery

which he hopes will make us £20 to £30.

While our trusty expert carries on searching, we take an opportunity

for a quick break and I'm keen to find out more about Amanda and Gary.

So how long have you two been together?

Well, we've been together nearly four years now and we met in my local petrol station!

Yes, where I work, or worked!

Amanda was a customer who came in

and sort of stopped to have a little chat and it sort of went from there.

We became close friends and it turned into a relationship and then a year later, we got married.

So tell me a little bit about the children?

Our first son, Tom, is 20 months old, arrived a month before our first wedding anniversary.

He was a surprise because we weren't supposed to be able to have children, so it was lovely.

He came along and then three months later, we discovered that our second son, Ben, was on his way as well.

Right, and do they get on?

-Yes, at the moment, they do, yes.

-OK, all right.

-Constantly sharing things.

-Are you planning to add to the family?

-Number three is on the way,

cooking now, so yes, we should have our hands full next year,

and we'll have three children under two and a half!

-Are you mad?

-Yes.

-Clearly!

-She's going to work.

I see. I'm like your rationing here.

-You're going to work?

-Yes. And he's...

-And you're going to be at home?

Is he very good with the children?

He's fabulous, he's brilliant with our children so yes, he's pretty good. I'm pretty lucky!

It has been very nice for us to have a break, but I want to make sure that Jonty isn't.

Hopefully he's got something else to sell, so shall we go and find him? Come on, then.

I'm full of admiration for Amanda and Gary managing two,

soon to be three, such young children with such great ease.

It's back to the search now and in the dining room, Jonty is keen

to talk to Amanda about an item that's apparently a definite for auction.

Amanda?

Am I right in thinking that this is the table that's got to go, ultimately?

-Yes, it's absolutely got to go because this is the room we're converting.

-So where is it from?

My grandparents bought it from John Lewis in the 1970s.

-So they bought it new?

-Brand new, yes.

It's interesting, looking at the shape of it, it certainly has that 1970s feel to it.

We've got these two stand-alone supports to this dining table

and then you've got this rather stylish set of I suppose, what, six chairs in all?

Yes, six chairs.

On a similar matching-looking base with these sort of flat feet,

but there is a bit of a problem to it that the chrome itself is perishing

and I don't know if you can see that it's pitting, almost like it's rust coming through.

-Yes, you can see it through the table.

-Can you see that?

Now, that's restorable, but it's going to cost a bit of money

and the other thing, look at this massive piece of glass.

It's just one solid piece of glass.

The problem with glass that's been used for over 30 years is, look, we get scratch marks on it

but I believe that this could be brought back into its original state,

and when I say original state, the state that it was when it came out of the shop in the 1970s.

Do you know what they paid for the table?

Yeah, I believe they paid about £300 for it.

-£300?

-Which was quite a lot for them back in the early 1970s.

Now, when it comes to price, if this is a "must-go" item

into the auction sale, then it has to be sold at a "must-go" price

so we're not looking at hundreds of pounds,

we're really looking at sort of £50 to £80, that sort of ball park.

That's reasonable for the amount of work to be done.

So, Amanda, if this is going to the auction sale, it really does mean

-we've got to raise some of that cash, OK.

-Yes, we'll need a new table!

So you and I go and find some more stuff, eh?

Well, it doesn't sound much for a classic piece of 1970s furniture.

Let's hope Jonty's modest estimate gets the bidders fighting over it on auction day.

Amanda also decides to send this pretty oak occasional table to auction.

It was bought by her grandmother

about 20 years ago and Jonty reckons

it could make us around £20 to £30.

With the rummage nearly over, we could do with one last

substantial find to make sure we reach our £400 target.

Now, Gary, I can't help but notice this whole collection here.

Amanda's grandfather, Sam built it for this.

-The whole display cabinet was built for this collection?

-For this collection, yes.

-Of china here?

-Yup.

-Wow!

Now, it begs the question, before I even pick it up,

is the sort of thing Jean might be now interested in selling?

Yes, I believe so now she's got the point where she's thinking

of redoing the kitchen so therefore, it can more than happily leave.

Let's see what we've got.

So if I take this jug for instance

and turn it upside down and here we see "Mason's Patent Ironstone"

and believe it or not, Mason's Ironstone was patented in 1813...

in fact, July 31st 1813

so if we have a look and look more closely at the pattern that is used,

it has an oriental feel, even though these flower-heads look quite European, but these flower-heads

have more of a sort of Japanesey feel to them

and everything is touched by the gilding, so can you see

we've got gilding round the rim here and even it's highlighting the stems and the flowers themselves as well.

Now, where does it all come from?

We're not too sure. It's one of these things

that Sam used to pick up on his travels or while he was down in London at auctions and stuff.

Well, what is very clear, he had a very good eye because we've got real genuine quality here.

I think Jean was very fortunate that he brought bits and pieces home on a regular basis.

If we put this whole collection into the auction sale

including even this amazing plate at the top,

then the whole collection has got to be worth between £100 and £150.

Did I hear more money being mentioned?

You did, Lorne, and we've got this amazing collection of Ironstone,

Mason's Ironstone, between £100 and £150.

Well, that will help our total very nicely.

Now, how have you found today?

-It's been really good fun.

-Yeah.

-Good, OK.

We wanted to raise £400 so we can convert all that space into an artist's studio.

Do you think we're nearly at that figure, Amanda?

I'm not sure. Do you think we might?

Come on, you're "Mr Guesstimate."

-Probably, yeah.

-I think we're about there.

-You do?

-Yeah.

The value of everything going to auction actually comes to £440.

-That's really good!

-That's all right. That's not too bad.

Of course, if you decide to bring the Beswick in the end, that will add more and take the total to £490.

-That would be really good. Get more bits for that.

-Wonderful, yeah.

-That would be fantastic.

-That decision is down to your grandma.

The next time I see you guys will be at the auction house.

Amanda's grandmother's house has provided us with a real variety of treasures to take to auction

and it's clear her late grandfather, Sam had a fantastic eye for antiques and collectables.

Our items for auction include...

the silver-plated cutlery set by Roberts & Belk,

bought from the London Silver Vaults, it could bring in anywhere between £100 and £150.

The 1970s glass-top dining table. It's a little worn, but a snip for anyone after something funky

and retro, valued at £50 to £80, and of course the fabulous collection of Beswick animals.

They clearly have strong sentimental value to Amanda's grandmother

and may not make it to auction, but if Jean decides to part with them,

we're hoping they'll fetch £50 to £80.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic, some results leave our expert far from pleased...

-£32.

-That's not good enough.

But our rollercoaster ride isn't all bad news.

I said to you, you get ups and downs.

Fortunately, we've finally had an up!

So, will we have reached our target when the final hammer falls?

It's been a few weeks since we visited Amanda and Gary

and found plenty of nice items to bring here

to Sworders Olivers Auction House in Sudbury, Suffolk.

Now, remember, they're looking to raise around £400 to turn that dining room into an artist's studio

for Amanda's grandmother, so let's just hope the bidders are feeling very artistic and give us a bit

of poetic licence when it comes to money they're prepared to pay when our items go under the hammer.

There's a good variety of lots on sale here today and it's good

to see the saleroom filling up with potential bidders already.

I'm keeping everything crossed that our family's lots find new homes, but is our expert feeling hopeful?

-Hi, Jonty.

-Lorne, how are you doing?

-I really like these and I've not seen this shape before.

The thing about scent bottles, and the reason people collect them,

is because they did come in all shapes and sizes

and as a collection, they all look so different.

One thing we don't know is whether Grandma is going to come or not.

Yes. I wasn't sure whether they could get the table and chairs

to the auction sale and have they brought the Beswick?

Let's go and find out.

We want to make our family as much money as possible today

so fingers crossed all their items make it to auction.

Before the sale gets going, we catch up with Amanda and Gary saying goodbye to their lots.

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-How are you, guys, are you all right?

-Yes, thank you.

And what have you brought? Did you bring the Beswick in the end?

-She thought long and hard over it, but yes, the Beswick is here.

-That's good news.

-The dining room table and chairs?

-They're here as well.

-The whole lot?

-Yes.

-Is there anything left at the house?

-No, it's completely empty!

-Fantastic! That's what we wanted.

-So are you looking forward to today?

-Yes, definitely.

-Yes... Have you been to an auction before?

-Never!

-Really?

-Never been to one.

Both of you? We'll look after you, I promise!

-Yes, yes, don't worry... Even if you sneeze, they don't take a bid that way!

-That's all right then!

-It's just a myth, that! If you do put your hand up, they usually do take a bid.

-Oh, yes.

So as long as we remember those rules, we'll be all right.

-It's filling up now, which is good news, so shall we go and get in position?

-Yes.

-Come on, then.

'It's great news that all the items made it to the saleroom today, so roll on some top dollar results.

'We find a spot in the corner and soon our first lot

'comes up for sale - the large collection of Poole Pottery.'

Quite a mixture here, but some nice pieces, and Poole, a very good name.

Yes, and I've put a very low price on it at £20 to £30 in order to entice those buyers.

-And what do you think it will go for, Gary?

-I was going between £40 and £50, something like that.

-OK, all right.

-I can but hope!

-OK.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 12.

£12 nearest to the portrait, 12, at £12. 15.

There's a fresh face at 15, in the doorway at 15.

All finished and done with that at 15.

'Not the best start to our day in the saleroom

'but at least it's the first few pounds

'towards the new art studio.

'We've still got a mountain to climb to reach our £400 target,

'but plenty more lots to sell. Maybe our second lot will be more to the bidders' taste.'

Now, our next lot is the dining room table and chairs.

Now, proper 1970s this, right time to sell,

-very popular, that minimalist look, isn't it?

-Absolutely!

Was it a bit of a difficulty getting it out of the house and home?

-Very heavy!

-Yes!

-Very heavy!

-Really?

-Very, very heavy.

But that's also a sign of quality, you know. They don't make them like they used to!

-So you don't want this going back home?

-No, no, it's never going in that studio again.

-Going to the highest bidder.

-No reserve. What do we estimate it at?

-Well, l was hoping to get around the £50 for it, but just let the market decide.

-OK.

It's the 1970s smoky-lass dining table and chromium frame together with the dining chairs.

All this lot and 20, £20 somewhere?

Eek!

£20...or £10 to start me.

10 I'm bid, at 10, at £10.

At £10. At £10. At £10.

Are you all finished and done with it, then?

It's a maiden bid of £10. We're going to sell it at £10.

-Disappointing!

-Oh, that is... I'm really, really disappointed. £10!

-Yes, I know!

-Oh, dear!

-It's gone.

-You're stunned into silence, Amanda.

That just seems, well... Let's move on swiftly from that and hope you make some more money.

'That's a disastrous result!

After all the effort of getting the table to the auction in the first place,

'our couple didn't want to take it home, but we'd all hoped it would make more than that.

'The bidders haven't been generous so far today

'and it seems there aren't any art lovers in the room either,

'as the set of prints suffer a similar fate...'

At £9, selling, then, at nine.

'..selling for less than a third of Jonty's estimate!

'What's going on here today?

'Surely the Beswick animals will make us some money at last,

'especially as they were tugging at Amanda's heartstrings to let them go.'

Our next lot is the little collection of Beswick animals and we've got a lion, a cocker spaniel

and a Hereford cow, calf and a hound.

-Yes.

-I'm not sure how they'd all mix in together.

-You didn't want to part with these.

-No, I'll tell you how they're mixed together.

The lion symbolised my grandfather's birth date, which was Leo, and the cow was because he was a butcher.

The dogs, he just simply liked dogs, but no, I was a bit sad for them to go

but my gran said, "They're definitely going."

-No reserve on these. What's the estimate?

-Well, I've put around £50 to £80 on it.

And 30 to start me.

£30.

£20, then. £20, I'm bid at 20.

At £20. 22. 25. 25, there, at 25.

28. 30. 32.

At £32.

Are you all finished and done with that at £32?

-£32...

-That's not good enough.

'I wholeheartedly agree, Jonty,

'and Amanda understandably looks disappointed.

'Auctions are so unpredictable at the best of times, but things really aren't going our way today.

'We've barely scratched the surface of our £400 target,

'but will the little occasional table have more luck?

'Jonty valued it at a very affordable £20 to £30.'

Ten? I'm bid at ten.

At £10. At £10.

Are you all finished and done with that? It's a maiden bid of £10.

I'm selling at £10.

What's the matter? Nobody's bidding on anything!

-They've got their hands in their pockets!

-Bizarre!

-Too cold, that's why!

'Well, at least Gary is still smiling,

'but with another sale well under estimate, things aren't improving.

'We're nearly halfway through the sale already and it's a pricey lot up next, so everything crossed!'

Now, pottery comes and goes in terms of fashion.

I'll tell you what, Mason always seems to remain popular, doesn't it, Jonty?

Well, it's been popular ever since it was invented, really -

the beginning of the 19th century so we've had 200 years of popularity here.

It looked fantastic in your grandmother's cabinets,

really fantastic, but when you have to come to value these items,

you value them being seen in a setting like this which is not as grand as your grandmother's kitchen,

and that's the reason why I've put £100 to £150 on the whole collection, all right?

Let's see if we can get there.

I'm starting this at 60.

-Ooh, that's better!

-< £60 I'm bid, at 60, at £60.

-There we go!

-At £60.

65. 70.

75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100...

and 10. I'm out. 110.

At £110.

All finished and done with at 110?

-£110, well, what a relief!

-There you go!

-Well done!

You've got a smile on your face now!

I said to you, you get ups and downs. Fortunately we're finally heading up!

'Phew! At last something has sold for over its estimate.

'£110 is a great price and not before time!

'After that roller-coaster first half, let's see how we've done so far.'

Now, you wanted to raise £400 and I'm afraid so far we've done abysmally.

We've only made £186.

-Not very good.

-No.

-No, I know. I don't know what's going on, do you?

-That's bad news!

-Everyone has got their hands in their pockets.

-That's for sure!

Our consolation is that the second half has got your better lots,

so I'm hopeful we'll get the money for those.

In the meantime, I think we all need a nice hot drink,

and I think we need to distribute a few hot toddies around the auction house

and get them bidding again, don't you? Come on!

'It may not be as much as we'd hoped, but it's nearly half our target in the bank

'so it's not all bad news.

'Whilst Amanda and Gary have a well-earned break,

'our Mr Hearnden has spotted a rather intriguing lot.'

-What do you think?

-I think they're beautiful.

-They're unusual.

-I think the colours are amazing as well.

Now, they are different sizes but I believe these pictures always to have been a pair.

What's so amazing is that these are needlework and stunt work pictures

but they are in their original frames and I believe them to be around the 1855 mark,

and I'll tell you for why.

If you look at this gentleman here, he looks like he's returning home, first of all.

He looks like an officer and the reason why I've dated it around 1855

is because I believe him to be from the Crimean War

and officers and NCOs were allowed at that point to grow beards, and can you see there he's growing...

He's obviously got growth on his chin there

and if you look at the dress of the ladies, again, that's very sort of 1850/1855 in time,

but they are all hand-stitched and really very beautiful indeed.

-Now, what do you think these will go for, then?

-Well, it's very difficult to tell.

Because these are unique images, I think my hunch is that they should do incredibly well.

I think in the catalogue it's like £200 to £300

but I wouldn't be surprised if they really race through that.

'Jonty has a knack for spotting saleable lots

'and I'm interested to see how they fare on what can only

'be described as an unusually slow day in the saleroom.

'If you're planning on buying or selling at auction, then do remember that charges

'such as commission will be added to your bill, so always check the details with your local saleroom.

'We're back for the second half and after the day we've had so far,

'surely things can only get better!'

I have high hopes for these. They're lovely - the perfume bottles.

Very unusual shape. Where are they from?

They were my great-great-grandmother's.

They were sort of handed down but Gran doesn't want to hand them on any further, so off they go!

£40...

well, £20 then, surely.

£20, I'm bid at £20. Two.

Five. 25 at the back, and 25, 28.

30.

£30, 32, 35,

38, 40, 42, 45,

48, 50,

five, 60.

60, in front of me at 60. At £60.

Are you all finished and done with, then, at £60?

-That's not too bad.

-£60, it was a struggle getting there, though, wasn't it? Crikey!

But that was good. I put £40 to £60 on them, so I'm pleased.

-Yes.

-Look at that! Got a smile on her face!

'That's more like it! The auctioneer worked hard for us

'and the second half of our sale is off to a strong start.

'Maybe the bidders have enjoyed a half-time hot toddy

'as the auction room really does seem to have warmed up.

'The pictures Jonty showed me fly past their £200 to £300 estimate,

'making a massive £640!

'It's back to our couple's items now, and hopefully the pounds

'will continue to roll in as the serving trays take centre-stage.'

Selling then at £22.

'£2 over Jonty's lower estimate and another step towards our £400 target.

'That's what we like to see!

'Maybe the luck will rub off on our next silver lot -

'the set of napkin rings which Jonty valued at £10 to £20.'

£10.

£10. Well, five, then, surely!

Five I'm bid right at the back at five, at £5. Are you all finished and done with, then?

Six, seven. All finished at £7.

'Oh, dear! That's £3 under estimate and it doesn't seem very much for the napkin rings.

'We're leaving the silver behind now, and we're going to try our luck with some porcelain.'

Our next lot is a collection of plates. Where were these?

These were in my gran's shed at the bottom of the garden.

They used to be up on the walls where we used to live on those horrible display plate thingies,

but there's no room for them in the new place so, yes, they're to go.

And ten.

£5, then.

Come on, more than a fiver!

< £5.

Well, £2, then, for the plates.

Two I'm bid at the back, at £2.

At £2. At £2.

Are you all finished and done with, then, at £2.

-Oh!

-Well, I did say they were horrible!

Well, yes, but...£2!

Let's not talk about it!

'Amanda doesn't seem too surprised and although it was a tiny amount,

'I think she's just glad to see them sold.

'We're a long way off from our £400 target

'for Amanda's grandmother's new art studio and we've got just two lots left to sell today,

'so there's a lot riding on these results.

'Hopefully this china will prove more popular than the display plates.'

Right, now, our next lot is the Royal Albert Old Country Roses.

Goodness, this pattern has been going a while, I can tell you!

It's a big dinner service here. What estimate have you put on this, Jonty?

I put £40 to £60 on it.

-And what about you, Gary?

-I went with about £40 yeah, hopefully!

-OK, let's see.

And I'm starting this at 55.

-60, five, 70, five, 80, five, 90, five...

-Here we go!

100, five.

105 with me, at £105.

Ten, 15, 20, five. 130, five, 140.

I'm out. 140 towards the back.

At £140.

Are you all finished and done with at £140? 181.

That's really good!

-£140, I'm so pleased.

-I was one off.

-You're useless!

-You're both useless!

-I just dropped the "one", that's all!

-I'm really pleased with that one.

-That's brilliant!

-Good.

'That extra "one" makes all the difference, though, Gary,

'as your estimate was £100 short! It's the first of our lots

'to sell so well today and I'm really relieved for our couple.

'With one more lot to go under the hammer, can we end our day on a high?'

OK, now, our next lot is that really extensive collection of cutlery.

Most of it comes in its own little rolls. A lovely, lovely set.

Now, you've put a reserve on that?

Yes, I've put a very small reserve on it of £50 simply because I just think it deserves it.

If Gran doesn't want it back, it will come into ours, so I just think a small reserve is better than nothing.

At £100.

At £100. 110 at the back.

At £110. 120. 130. 140.

150. 160. 170.

170, straight in front of me at 170.

At £170.

Are you all finished and done with, then, at £170.

GAVEL BANGS

Well, let me just say, you were wrong on your reserve and you were both wrong on your estimate...

but in a positive way, thank goodness! £170!

-Thank goodness I was wrong!

-I'm so... That's good money for that.

I'm really pleased with that. Really very pleased.

'Amanda can't stop smiling and with a massive addition to the art studio fund, I can see why!

'We've certainly had a bumpy ride at times today

'but with those final two results, perhaps our target is safe, after all!'

Now, you wanted £400 and I'm not quite sure how we've managed this...

-we've actually got £587!

-Wow!

-That's good!

-Really good!

-That's fantastic! That's more than I was expecting!

-Yeah, a lot more!

-So was it worth the emotional turmoil?

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

It was a tough day at auction but we got there in the end

and Amanda and Gary can finally set to work converting the dining room into an art studio for grandma Jean.

We had a great time at the auction.

We've made more than we had hoped for so Gary is painting the room and the room is clear now,

so we're going off to the art shop to see what we can find to go in my gran's new studio.

The family head off to buy supplies, and this time the guest of honour is here herself!

There's all sorts of paints and materials on display, but first stop is a vital piece of equipment.

It's got a handle, so you can carry it. If you do want to go outside and paint, you can.

I'm getting really excited about sitting down in my newly-refurbished dining room-cum-studio

to paint some beautiful pictures.