Francke Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Attic. We're on the trail of treasures

hidden around your home that we can help you sell at auction.

Today I'm in southwest London at a place best known,

I suppose, for tennis, but just a mile and a half

from those famous courts is another landmark.

It's this, it's Wimbledon Windmill Museum.

That's quite hard to say, actually!

It's a Grade II listed building.

It's been here on Wimbledon Common since 1817.

Wimbledon Windmill was built by a local carpenter to serve the surrounding villages.

The locals had no faith in factory flour and wanted to grind their own organically produced wheat.

During World War II the mill had to be camouflaged in green

because of its proximity to army camps set up on the Common

and 35 years ago it was restored and turned into a museum.

There are certainly plenty of antiques around here.

These gentlemen are showing us

how they built the windmill all those years ago.

Quite honestly, I could spend all day chatting with them,

but I guess I'd better set off to our next location

and find some antiques we can take to the auction.

Coming up on Cash In The Attic,

there are some unexpected valuations.

Oh, come on, Donald, I'm absolutely astonished! I'm amazed!

-And some seafaring re-enactments.

-Permission to go ashore, sir.

Steady as you go, number one!

So will our hard work pay off at auction?

-Your efforts weren't in vain, Jennie.

-They were not.

-No.

-No, no.

-I think it's a charming piece, actually.

-Yeah.

Find out when the final hammer falls.

I've come just down the road now to sunny Streatham.

I'm on my way to meet a couple who called in the Cash In The Attic team

to help with some musical restoration.

Margaret and Donald Francke are our hosts today.

They're actors in musical theatre and met over 50 years ago when

they were both studying at the Royal College Of Music.

They live for the chance to perform on stage

and their careers have taken in some major roles in hit West End shows.

They've been in this large South London home for the past 13 years.

Like a real-life theatre set, it's filled with all manner

of collectables that they've inherited over the years.

They hope some will be of interest to our expert valuer because they're

keen to benefit a cause that's very close to their hearts.

-Hi, John.

-Morning, Jennie.

-Lovely! I've just been at a windmill,

now it looks as if I'm in a cottage garden

-and I'm in the middle of London! That's something!

-Fantastic.

-Who are we meeting today?

-I know that they're both actors.

They've starred in the West End, musicals mostly. You in good voice?

I've been known to hit the high notes here and there!

Hopefully we'll find collectables from music and theatre today.

It's a big enough house, so we're in with a chance.

Why don't you start looking around and I'll go and meet them.

# ..And a grey dawn breaking. #

-Whoa! Hello.

-Oh, Jennie.

-That was so...

-Greetings.

-Brilliant.

-Hello, Donald and Margaret.

-Yes.

-How nice to meet you.

Hello, Jennie.

Do you know, I can feel this is going to be a brilliant day because

the bit I've seen of your house, it's absolutely full of stuff.

So why am I here? Who called us in, was it one of you?

It was our son, actually, Gerard.

-Yes.

-He felt we needed to get rid of some things.

-You have got a lot.

-We have.

-You can't take it with you.

Do you mean you've been pressured into bringing us in?

No, I think we've been made to see sense, in a manner of speaking.

And I want to raise some money for two organ stops

at the church which I attend.

-It doesn't sound very generous, but...

-Well, three for luck.

No, no, two, I think, must be the amount.

So our target is going to be £500.

-Yes, yes.

-All right, there is going to be so much to look at.

I can see we've got a big day ahead, so let's start rummaging.

Well, if we want to raise that £500 for Donald and Margaret

to renovate their church organ, we'd better get cracking.

The Franckes lived together in Donald's family home

for over 20 years before moving here,

and they inherited many of his parents' possessions.

Given their own keen interest in the arts, everything adds up to a house

packed with beautiful old things, a perfect scene for our search.

John has more than 20 years of experience to his credit

as a valuer and auctioneer and he's already at work in

the living room where he's found some intriguing little creatures.

-OK, our John.

-Good morning.

-Meet Donald.

-Hello, John.

-How are we?

-I'm fine.

-Good.

-He's already at work.

-He's a very good lad. He comes in, he looks around.

-Yes.

I haven't been monkeying around. Couple of interesting objects

here that I'm hoping, Donald, you can shed some light on.

-What do you know about them?

-Just they were in the family

when I came into the family and that's all I can tell.

They are little animal studies and they're made of porcelain,

stoneware, to be precise. We've got a couple of marks here.

-Yes.

-You see the first one? Those three wavy lines?

-Yes.

Well, that tells us it's from the Royal Copenhagen porcelain factory.

A famous factory, it's been around since the 1770s.

The other mark there on the bottom, that's a K on top of a K,

-can you see that?

-Yes.

That is the mark of quite an important sculptor

at Royal Copenhagen and I hope I pronounce his name correctly.

It's Knud Kyhn,

spelt K-N-U-D, Christian name, K-Y-H-N, surname.

Now, he enjoyed a long relationship with Copenhagen, very successful,

starting at around 1903, right up until the 1960s.

And his work is typified by his love of animals and his study of animals,

and he would repeat these studies in miniature, like we have here,

and experiment with their emotions.

So you would see friendly, angry, sad, happy and things like that.

-What do you think we might get for them?

-I would put them together

and I would put an estimate on them of about £150 to £200.

-For the two?

-Good gracious!

-For the two.

-Yes.

What do you think?

Well, that's... Yes.

A useful thing to have up one's sleeve.

Oh, come on, Donald!

I'm absolutely astonished.

I'm amazed, I am.

-I really am.

-A nice piece already.

-We're off to a good start.

-I would have thought so.

-We are, yes.

-We are.

That's almost enough for one organ stop

if we reach the top of that estimate. In an attic cupboard

I find something that the Franckes surely have no use for.

Their granddaughters are too big for this miniature high chair

which Donald picked up in an antiques shop.

With an estimate of £15 to £30,

it's definitely one for the auction.

Donald finds this Pelham puppet of a skeleton.

It was given to his sister in 1954,

so it's well over half a century old. John values it at £20 to £40.

-Margaret?

-Yes?

Now, I know you're passionate about restoring the church organ.

-Yes.

-So, how about considering these?

They would represent a decent chunk towards our target.

Yes, I'm sure. I know they're Wedgwood.

-You do?

-Yes.

-That's good. I'll pop one down there.

What else do you know about it? Where do they come from?

They came, as far as I know, from my parents-in-law,

as most things in this house did, and apart from that

I know nothing about them except they're really rather attractive.

I think your mother and father-in-law had good taste.

I'm a big fan of English ceramics and Wedgwood

and these particular lustre wares. Let's have a look at them.

Do you know how old they might be?

If we look on the bottom there is a bit of a clue to their age.

They have a printed Wedgwood mark. That's the Portland Vase Mark

which was introduced at the end of the 19th century,

but underneath you can just make out it says Made In England,

which was introduced to the mark about 1915, something like that,

so I would put these in the 1920s. They remind me of the work

of one of Wedgwood's most important designers, a lady by the name of

Daisy Makeig-Jones, whose fairyland lustres have been very popular,

which feature this typical lustre decoration and fairies

and kind of mystical scenes decorated around the body.

Because we've got a pair, they've got a good name,

they're in a decent style and the condition is good,

I would suggest an estimate of about £300 to £400.

-Oh.

-How would that sound?

-Very good. Excellent, yes.

-Be a nice chunk towards our target.

-It certainly would.

-Excellent.

Off to auction they go. We'd better make sure we wrap them up.

We don't want anything happening to them between now and then.

-No, that would be awful.

-Excellent.

-Shall we go and see what else we can find?

-Yes, indeed.

-Come on.

Daisy Makeig-Jones was credited with boosting profits for Wedgwood.

Let's hope her work does the same for us today.

And there are plenty more places for us to search in this home,

so John's having a field day and picks out this 1930s ginger jar,

which also came from Donald's parents, and is worth £10 to £20.

I'm itching to find out whether

music really is the food of love for this couple.

It's incredible, you guys, honestly. I have never, ever seen so much

in one house and I've been in a lot of houses, rummaging, I must say.

What's it like, Margaret, living with so many possessions?

Well, truthfully, apart from dusting it or trying to polish things,

I don't really think about them.

I just like to have them, of course.

Now, you two, you're both musicians, singers, actors.

How did it all start? I mean, how did you meet?

I'd been invited by a friend to go to a ceilidh

and it had also been suggested that I go to this choir practice

at this church and I can remember going as far as the churchyard

and thinking, hmm, should I go to the ceilidh, which was just down

the road anyway, and I paced up and down about two or three times.

I said, "No, I'm going into the church," and that was really

the shifting of the tributary, you know, a source of a river.

Just imagine if I had gone to the ceilidh

we might not be sitting here together.

-Donald, you were on the West End, weren't you?

-I was.

I started off... My first big break in the West End was to be in Cats.

-I was nine years, was it? Nine years?

-Nearly nine.

Nearly nine years in Cats, which was a wonderful period

with a wonderful producer, Trevor Nunn, and marvellous music.

A lovely company, and of all the things I've ever done,

and they have been basically Cats,

Joseph And His Multicoloured Dreamcoat

and then Phantom of the Opera, of all those three

I could go back into Cats tomorrow and really be happy.

Not so much the other two because they're more down to earth.

Clearly you've had a very exciting life, you two, you really have.

I hope we can continue that excitement today with our rummaging.

I wonder if... Do you think that can go to the auction? I don't know.

John hasn't been idle while we've been chatting.

He's turned up this 19th-century German beer krug.

It has a rather neat inscription,

"May the heart remain happy by drinking this",

or, in our case, by selling it for its top estimate of £50.

Margaret's digging out her collection of Goss ware.

It was inherited from her aunt in 1981 and is 50 pieces strong.

She's prepared to part with it for an estimated price of £60 to £90.

Now, could John have found something else that Donald's happy to sell?

-Ah!

-I think I've found a couple of maritime items

that we may be able to put into auction.

-That would be a good idea.

-Port and starboard lamps.

-Port and starboard.

-Where did they come from?

Well, I purchased them from a yacht chandlery in Helford Passage,

which is a little creek just near Frenchman's Creek in Cornwall

off the Helford River and it was quite a time ago now

when I purchased them and I've had them here ever since.

-Got a bit dusty.

-They're interesting items and being on the south coast

I tend to sell quite a bit of maritime art and collectables,

-such as these.

-Memorabilia, yes.

-Somebody once taught me a useful way

of remembering which is port and which is starboard.

Yes. Starboard, yes.

-That's it. Port is red.

-Yes.

There's also four letters in the word port and the word left.

-Yes.

-And right is starboard.

-Oh!

-Anyway, they're in nice condition.

I think they're probably early 20th century.

They're copper and they'll polish up beautifully

and the glass is perfect, no chips or damage there at all,

and I think they would make a great pair at auction. Value wise,

I would like to think they'll make something between £30 and £60.

-For the pair?

-For the pair.

-OK.

-Happy with that?

-I'm very happy.

-Excellent.

-So there we go.

All that leaves me to say is permission to go ashore, sir?

Steady as you go, Number One.

Let's hope we get a fair wind behind us on auction day.

We certainly are spoiled for choice here

and this kneehole desk is also on the list of items going to the sale.

Margaret bought it in 1960

with her mother and intended to use it as a dressing table.

It's a charming find worth at least £50 at auction,

even with a little damage.

Upstairs, Margaret's scouring the guest bedrooms where she

unearths a small collection of silver which could be of interest.

John, what do you think of these?

Oh! Pop them down here, Margaret.

Let's have a look. Well, it looks an interesting little collection.

Let's pop them out. What have we got there? Cigarette box, snuffbox,

matchbook holders. Interesting. And another little Vesta case.

If we have a look at them and the decoration

they tell us a bit about our social past.

Two Vesta cases with their typically Victorian decoration,

used for storing matches safely so they don't rub together

and ignite in one's pocket

The little loops enable you to suspend them from a watch chain.

Got the cigarette case and the other pieces

which display engine turning as decoration, typical of the 1920s,

so a little bit later in date. So we've got a cigarette box there,

a snuffbox for taking snuff,

a pinch of snuff or pulverised tobacco is it's... Is what it is.

There is a market for collecting things like this which people

keep in bijouterie tables these days, a nice glass-topped table,

keep them free of dust and people's fingerprints all over them,

so they still tend to be pretty popular at auction.

I mean, these tend to make, you know, between 30...

£20 and £30 each.

Probably about £40 for that. The same, maybe, for this.

So, I think collectively if we were to put that into auction we ought to

be expecting something like £200 to £250 for them, something like that.

-That surprises me, actually.

-Would you be happy with that?

-Oh, yes.

-Yeah?

-Yes, indeed.

That's an excellent little find, good one for auction,

very commercial, but it's nowhere near the target we want to hit yet.

-No!

-I think we ought to go and see what the others have found?

-Yes, please.

-We'll leave those there, then.

These cases were commonly used between the 1860s and the 1940s

until the pocket lighter started to replace them.

In the living room I've unearthed some really intriguing items.

Have they got a theatrical connection?

I've found all sorts of dusty old bits and pieces.

Ah! Well, now, we're looking at bits of the original Cats set

from the New London Theatre...

-Oh, really?

-Drury Lane.

-Good Lord!

And the whole idea was that the set was a mammoth great big junkyard

as seen from the eye level of a cat, so everything is one sixth larger.

-Oh, I see. How very clever!

-There were toothbrushes...

Actually, there were microphones around the stage

which were disguised as toothbrushes and I think they were probably

the only three-foot toothbrushes in the universe!

So these were actually on the set of Cats.

That was probably draping around the set and so after the last night,

when the set was dismantled, I got hold of this.

So tell me, what was it like being in Cats?

It was absolutely quite iconic.

Unusual. I don't think there has ever been any show like it.

I don't think there'll be a show like it again.

Was it very... Was it very, very hot in that costume?

Not really, because, if the truth be told,

it was rather like a sort of net with bits of fur...

Wool, sorry, crocheted in,

so the breeze blew through it quite a bit and so I wasn't ever...

I was never overheated, no.

I've noticed, actually, from hearing you sing earlier in the day that

age does not seem to have taken any toll on your strength of voice.

No, thank God.

I owe it to my dear grandmother, from whom I inherited the voice,

through my mother who had a very strong voice, which she could use!

And I also had very good teachers.

Would you do me the honour of giving me a few lines from Cats?

-OK.

-Ah! Thank you, thank you.

# The moments of happiness

# We had the experience

# But missed the meaning

# And approached to the meaning

# Restores the experience

# In a different form

# Beyond any meaning

# We can assign to happiness. #

Whoa! I love it, I love it! That's fantastic! I tell you what,

I think we should sing our way around the rest of the house.

-Come along.

-Let's do that. Upwards! Onwards and upwards! Here we go.

-You're amazing, you're amazing!

-Tra-la-la!

Donald's a real inspiration, with boundless energy.

It's just as well,

with so many treasures and trinkets for us to sort through.

Amongst all their collections I've managed to dig out something else

that could be added to our auction haul.

Look, guys, sorry to disturb you, but, there is so much in your house,

-Margaret, I don't know where to start.

-What have you got there?

I found this vanity case and I just wondered

whether it was worth anything and if you could part with it?

I can because we never use it. We put it under a chair and it gets dusty.

-I see you've got one there.

-Yeah.

-Anything valuable comes from his family, I had nothing.

-Aah!

-Just me!

-What a catch you are!

-Absolutely!

-What do you think of it, John?

It's quite nice, and it's nice to see that you've got all

the pieces there and they look like they're all matching, yes, they are.

They're all monogrammed and you've got the original fitted case,

which is lovely, and the decoration's very typical,

this engine turning on the back here, which was very popular right

-from about 1915 right throughout the 1920s.

-Engine turning?

It's produced by milling through a machine.

-They call it engine turning.

-I think that's very attractive.

-I like that.

-It is quite nice.

-Yeah.

-Like a pinstripe there.

-Yes.

Very nice indeed. You've got one, two, three, four, five, six pieces.

You've got the original box and it appears to be in lovely condition.

I think at auction you'd be looking at least between £50 and £100,

and if there was a lady there that really took a fancy to it,

a bit more, but I'd certainly see it making at least that sort of sum.

-Yes.

-What do you think of that?

Oh, it's OK. Yes, I've noticed that on these programmes that silver

doesn't go as much as one would think they should fetch, but...

So you were hoping for a bit more?

One always hopes for a bit more,

but the fact is that it's no point in keeping it.

We don't use it and it's just stacked away. What's the point of having it?

That would be just a little bit of a stop on an organ, wouldn't it?

-Yes.

-A quarter of a stop, maybe.

Yes, it might encourage the organist to put his fingers on the keyboard.

-Yeah. OK. We'll take it to the auction, shall we?

-Yes.

We'll see how we do.

With the initials JC on the back

it could have been made for our very own John Cameron.

At £50 it's another good addition to the fund.

We must be well on target but, before we finish,

Donald's found something rather appropriate to our musical cause.

-Yes. I love the colour.

-Look what I found.

What's he got now, then? What have you got there?

What's this? Goshua, Joshua!

-These look extremely ancient.

-Tell us about them, Donald.

Well, I think... When I was at university at Cambridge

I used to do my Saturday afternoon gardening, as I called it,

at David's Bookshop in the little square by the Arts Theatre

and sometimes I would pick something up.

Once I did run into quite a bargain,

15 shillings turned into £700, and I don't know what this might do.

What are we actually looking at? What have we got here?

We've got Handel's Joshua.

The first edition, I believe, was published by Walsh and here

we can see it says Harrison there, so I suspect this is a later work.

And if I just have a look inside another clue is the pages here.

On the first edition we have double pagination, which means basically

numbers top and bottom of the page, just got them at the top, there.

Nevertheless, I still think this is an 18th-century copy,

so it wouldn't have been long after the first edition.

It would have been very popular, as we said, he enjoyed immense

fame and wealth with works like Joshua and The Messiah.

Because it's not a first edition,

it's going to be worth, obviously, less.

Now I know that has sold for about £1,000 plus.

As a later addition, together with that,

if I had to come up with something today I would suggest something

more like about £600 to £800.

But what I would suggest is that I would seek a second opinion with

a specialist I know, because it is a very specialised subject.

-It is, and a very sensitive one.

-And often works, certainly things

like this which are a collective gathering of works,

are broken up and sold in sections where they will make more money.

I bow to your expertise, but I will also take your advice

and get a second opinion and I would inevitably sleep on it.

Rather hard pillows, but... Ha-ha!

Anyway, at the beginning of the day you were looking for £500

so you can get two stops for your church organ.

OK? Well, if we take John's lowest estimate,

which is what we always do on all the items, we reckon that

-if you take these to auction you will make £1,515.

-Oh, good!

-Bingo!

-Good, good, good.

-That's three times what you wanted.

Yes, absolutely, yes.

-That's an awful lot of stops.

-It is.

OK. Well, thanks ever so much for inviting us in.

All you've got to do now is pack everything up

and take them to the auction and that's where we'll see you.

-Jennie, au revoir.

-Au revoir.

Au revoir.

We've had a truly memorable day with the musically magnificent Franckes

exploring their beautiful home. And we have high hopes of making

our total at auction with a little help from the Royal Copenhagen

miniature animals belonging to Donald's family

and valued at £150 to £200,

the stunning 1920s Wedgwood vases decorated with chinoiserie,

valued at £300 to £400,

and those unique books with the music of George Frederick Handel.

They have a whopping £600 price tag,

but we'll have to wait to see if Donald brings them to the sale.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic, we face a tough crowd at auction.

It would appear nobody here recognised the quality of our figures.

Was all our rummaging in vain?

-I suffered for that. I crawled through that tiny hole.

-Yes!

Find out when the final hammer falls.

We had quite a day with Donald and Margaret

in their extraordinary home. We could have filled the whole of

these auction rooms in North London with their possessions,

but we've only brought along those selected on the day.

Remember, Donald and Margaret want to raise £500

so they can buy two new stops for the organ in their local church.

All we need now is for the bidders here to have money at the ready

when our items go under the hammer.

We're at North London Auctions in Finchley where the crowd

is gathering to look over the various items on sale today.

John Cameron is already running his expert eye

over Donald's ship's lamps.

The Franckes really do have some unusual stuff.

-Hi there, John.

-Hello, Jennie.

I was just saying that that house was such a treasure trove,

I reckon we could have brought everything here.

I could have rummaged for hours and hours and hours.

-In the end, I ran out of energy!

-I think we all did.

Do you think that Donald has brought along those manuscripts?

I don't know. I think they had quite high expectations of them,

although my estimate was mid to upper hundreds, £600 to £800,

I don't know. I wasn't hopeful.

-You don't sound as if you think they have.

-No, I don't think they have.

Let's go and find out, see if they've arrived.

In view of the specialist nature of several of our lots, a busy auction room is a welcome sight.

We'll need as much interest as possible if those items are to reach John's estimates.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-I thought I heard a hallelujah.

-I thought that will be Donald!

-Or a "hello-jah"!

-Oh, well done.

You've brought the books! I didn't think you would.

-There we are.

-Have you had a lot of discussion, Margaret, about it?

A fair amount, but it's just sitting under the sideboard at the moment,

and it's not doing anything, so it's better to get rid of it, I think.

We have some wonderful items.

We have the Wedgwood vases and those Copenhagen figures

that I love so much, so I think we'll do all right.

Let's go and find a spot

-because I think the auction's about to start.

-Oh, good.

-Right.

This auction house has been running for over 20 years and there's

a great variety of lots here which will hopefully bode well for us.

So with the auctioneer all set,

we'll just have to cross our fingers.

We're going to sell your huge collection

of crested ware and Goss ware.

-Collected, I assume, over years and years and years.

-By my aunt.

-And I collect some, as well.

-Oh! OK, well, we're hoping for £60.

Let's see how we go.

-Is that coming up now?

-Um hmm.

Let's go at 20. 20 I'm bid. 20. 22.

25. 28. 30. 32. 35. 38.

40. 45. 50. 55.

60. Down here at 60 now. 70?

70. 75? At 75. 75 I sell there. 80?

At 75. The bid's on the phone.

At £75. Sell then at 75. Nobody else?

-Well, that wasn't bad.

-Much more than I was expecting.

That's a good start to our day

with the crested ware hitting the middle of its estimate.

No time for celebrations, though, as the second lot is hot on its tail.

I'm intrigued if something I found right up in your attic

goes well or not, that doll's highchair.

-Yes.

-I suffered for that. I crawled through that tiny hole!

-Yes!

-A nice little thing if you've got a doll. Really rather nice, this.

Fiver to start. Five, I'm bid.

Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.

12? 12 here.

I sell at £12.

It's worth more, surely. At 12.

15. 18.

20, madam?

20. At 20 now. 22, sir.

22. Madame again, 25? At 22.

I'll sell here on the right with the gent at £22. Are you bidding? 25?

It goes then at £22. All done at £22.

GAVEL BANGS

-Very good.

-Your efforts weren't in vain, Jennie.

They were not, were they? No. I think it's a charming piece,

it needs a little bit of TLC.

Yes, yes. A little paint, yes.

That's a very respectable result for the highchair and well worth

crawling through that tiny door when I dragged it out of their attic.

If you have disused toys or any collectables you no longer treasure,

then an auction house could be a good place to sell them.

Remember, charges such as commission will be added to your bill,

so always check the details with your local auction house.

OK, next up are our little pair of Copenhagen figures by Knud Kyhn.

I'm quite fond of these. I'm hoping somebody else in the room

has been charmed by them. They catalogued them thoroughly

and we want £150 to £200 for them.

Straight in at 50. Take five now.

Done, then at £50. Is that it?

-All done at 50? Finished and done at £50?

-It's not enough.

No? No great interest in these, then?

At £50. Done and finished at 50.

-Is he going to sell them?

-No, he's not.

OK, we'll pass on those.

It appears nobody here recognised the quality of our figures.

So those are going back home, Donald, but I don't think

-you'll be disappointed.

-No, no. No, it'll be nice to see them back.

That's a great shame.

-I was optimistic they would make that money.

-Another day.

I'm glad the Franckes are undaunted,

but it seems odd that there was so little interest in that lot.

Perhaps the specialist collectors aren't here today,

in which case we could be in trouble.

Next up is our little boxed Pelham puppet of a skeleton.

I'm quite fond of these and when they were made, just after the war,

materials were still on ration so they made the clothes

for these out of silk parachutes. But our skeleton hasn't got any

clothes on, or any flesh, and we want £20 to £30 for him. Here we go.

The Pelham puppet there, a tenner for that?

Ten, I'm bid. ten. 12. 15. 18. 20.

At 20 now. Take two. Is that it?

At £20? Done then at 20? 22. 25.

At 25. All done at 25 and you're out in the room. Is that it?

Done, then, at 25. You're looking at me, are you bidding, madam? No?

At £25... She shakes her head. Done then at 25.

-And £25.

-Oh!

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes.

-Oh, I think so, yes. I mean...

-I'd never seen it before!

There really is a skeleton in the cupboard!

-No longer.

-No longer.

We've often found that Pelham puppets make healthy sales on

Cash In The Attic and I'm pleased to see that this is no exception.

£25, right in the middle of John's estimate,

equals one tenth of an organ stop -

another useful contribution to the fund,

but we still have a long way to go.

Ready for your ship's lamps to sail out of the auction room?

Steady as you go, Number One!

They are very decorative, these.

Put them in at, what? 30 quid? £30 to start?

30 I'm bid. At 30 now.

And I sell then on the maiden bid at 30. Take two anywhere?

At £30. Who else is bidding? 32.

35. You're out behind the cabinet. 38.

40.

And again, sir? 45. 50.

You're still out behind the cabinet?

Go 55. Go 55, sir. You know they're worth it.

I'll take your two, then. 52. 52.

Back with the cheapskate.

55, sir. 55. Go 58.

I know you want to. 58.

At 58. 60.

At £60 now. It's on my right at 60.

And another two.

Just another two, sir.

You'll be a hero!

60 I sell over here.

On my right, then, at £60.

Done at 60.

-Oh!

-That's not bad. 30 quid each, that's not bad.

-So does that mean I'll get my daily rum ration, Donald?

-I think so, yes.

Splice the mainbrace!

And thanks go to the auctioneer

for working so hard to get us that impressive result.

I'm sensing a tough crowd in the room today.

Let's hope one of them has a yen

for all things Germanic as our beer krug hits the room.

A fiver I'm bid. At five only.

Down at five. Take six now. Five.

Six. It needs to be more, doesn't it?

Seven at the back. Eight here. Nine.

Ten. Keep going. Yes? 12.

At 12 now. 15? Going 15? At 12.

At £12 and you're out down here in the room. Anybody else?

At £12 and we're out in the room.

Done, then, at £12?

12 there. At 12. 15 now. 18, sir.

At £15. We're not selling at 15.

Done then at 15.

18. He's back in at 18. At 20. You're out over here.

All done at £20. We buy in at 20.

-Not sold, taking that piece home.

-That's all right.

-That's all right.

-Hold memories for you?

-Fill it with beer.

-No, not me, him!

The auctioneer is using his discretion today and holding back

items rather than selling them for too low a price.

It's good he's not just giving them away, but halfway through our lots

we've only reached £182, well under half our target.

It's been tough so far.

The drop in demand for brown furniture has been very well

documented in recent years. Auctioneers are now turning away

pieces they previously had willingly invited into their salerooms.

The 19th-century mahogany Pembroke table is a case in point.

They were very popular during the Victorian period, named after the

Earl of Pembroke who was believed to have had a table of this sort.

They remained very popular throughout the 1980s and '90s,

but recently they have fallen from favour.

I was listening to a stockbroker the other day who had been asked

the secret to successful trading. His advice was quite simple,

buy when everyone else is selling, sell when everyone else is buying.

With that in mind I'm going to have a look at this table.

Ten years ago it would have been estimated at around £200 to £300.

The estimate today is £20 to £30.

I'm certainly going to keep my eye on that piece,

I may be taking it home in the car later.

Let's hope the table lives up to its promise when it hits

the saleroom in a few weeks' time. As we return to today's proceedings

we have one of our truly special items going under the hammer.

It's the lot we've all been waiting for, that I didn't think

you were even going to bring, it's our music score.

Two in a lot. We're looking for £600 for them.

-Hopeful?

-No.

-No?

-Margaret's been convinced from the start

-they're not going to sell, yes?

-No. I don't think so.

We need the power of positive thinking, Margaret.

Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, they're going to sell brilliantly!

Well, anyway, here they go.

Lot 170. Let's start at £400.

Straight in at 400. At £400, then.

At £400 now and I'll take 20.

At £400. 20 anywhere?

Is that the extent of the interest?

At £400. No interest, then, in the books?

At £400.

All done then at 400? We'll pass on the books at 400.

Finished at 400.

GAVEL BANGS

-Oh!

-I didn't think it would sell.

-You're not surprised, are you?

-It's a specialist thing.

-A highly specialised market.

Well, that's certainly not the outcome we were hoping for.

With just £182 in the kitty so far

we haven't raised enough for one organ stop, let alone two.

We'll try to stay positive, though, as there are five lots still to go,

but I wish the bidders would take more interest in them.

20 quid to start. 20 I'm bid. 20.

22. 25. At 25.

Done then at 25? Take eight anywhere.

28. 30. 32. At 32, now. 35. 38.

At 38. You in at 40? 40. 45.

50, now. 50.

You don't have any hair, sir.

At 50. I sell her at 50. Five again.

Goes then at 50. What are you going to use the comb for?

At 50. The bid's down here. Is that it? Done then at £50

to the one and only person in here that has no use for it.

All done at 50. I sell to the gent.

Bang on estimate, £50. Yeah.

-The lowest estimate, but that's good, that's fine. Yeah.

-Yes.

Well, the auctioneer's unique style of selling seems to have paid off.

Perhaps that means our luck is changing.

We've got a lot of big lots today and this is another of them.

It's your Vesta pillboxes and cigarette cases,

so we want quite a lot of money, £200.

Start me straight in at £100. 100 to start.

£100 for these. At 100 now.

At 100 only. Take ten if you will.

Is that it, then? At £100. 110.

120.

At 120. You're out there, madam? 130.

140.

At 140. At 140. 150, new money.

At 150. Have another go, madam. They're worth it, you know they are.

At 150. 160. You're out in the blue.

At £150. I sell against you. 160.

At £150. All done, then, at £150.

It's against you in the room at 150.

I'll take your five if you like? All done at 150.

GAVEL BANGS Not sold.

-Not sold.

-They're not hard to keep.

-That's true. That's a surprise

-because they should have made that sort of money.

-Yeah.

Now that really is a blow. I think we all had high hopes for that lot

and we've missed out on a much-needed addition to our target.

Maybe the crowd have been holding out for our next lot.

A lidded Oriental ginger jar,

very nice, you can put things in it. Five pounds for that.

A fiver. Five I'm bid. Five. Six. Seven.

Eight. Nine. Ten. Down here at £10. And I sell to the lady seated at ten.

Take two? All done at £10?

It goes at a tenner.

Phew! It may only be another £10 in the pot,

but at this stage in the game, every little helps.

The next item is the desk which

has seen better days. John's valued it at £50 and I know

Donald and Margaret don't want to be lugging this back home with them.

£20 to start. 20 I'm bid. 20. Two.

25. 28. 30. Two.

At 32, now. All done at 32? 35.

At 35. 38.

At £38 now. Done then at £38?

Finished and done at 38? Is that it?

You're out here in the room at 38?

Done with it at 38? Are you bidding?

40? 40.

At 40 now. I've got 40 this side and I sell at 40.

I'll take two off anybody else, but it goes at 40. At £40.

In the doorway at 40. I sell at 40.

-You won't have to take it home!

-No, good.

It's £10 less than John had hoped for but considering

the day we're having I think Donald and Margaret

are just happy with another contribution to the organ fund.

Selling our items really has been an uphill battle today

and with the bidders seemingly sitting on their hands it's not

a good sign for our last lot, which has quite a hefty estimate.

We've got an awful lot riding on these lustre ware vases.

£300 we want, which sounds a lot of money.

-They look as if they might be worth it.

-They're very nice, aren't they?

Indeed. Lovely examples.

We have a great designer and a great factory on them,

they're in super condition, so £300 minimum I think is about right.

I wouldn't want to let them go for much less than 250 myself.

I'll go with that.

Let's go straight in at a couple of hundred. At 200, now.

At £200 and I'll take ten. 200.

210. 220. 230.

At 230 now.

Is that it at 230? 240. 250.

260. 270.

300 I'm bid. 310? 310.

320 on the other phone.

320. 330?

-330.

-'It's exciting.'

340.

350. 360.

370.

-380.

-Whoa! Somebody likes these.

390.

400. 410?

-410.

-'Still going!'

-420.

-'This is it. Sky's the limit.'

-430?

430. 440?

At 430, I sell here. Is that it?

All done at 430. Anybody else?

Done with it at 430. I sell on the phone at 430.

GAVEL BANGS

That was good, 430. Good tea time!

Yes, tea time!

Thank heavens for the Wedgwood! The clash between the two phone bidders

kept us on tenterhooks, but it was just what we needed.

It was a huge relief for us all to sail past our top estimate.

It really has been a nail-biting auction today.

Well, Donald, Margaret, that is the end of your auction.

-Have you enjoyed it?

-Yes, very much.

-It's been a great experience.

-Yes.

Obviously the fact that the music scores didn't sell

-has hit us quite hard, but you've managed £712, is your total.

-Good!

-Seven, well, that rhymes with heaven.

-We can have a day out!

Just a few days after our turbulent auction, Margaret and Donald

pay a visit to St Peter's Church in Streatham

to break the good news about their donation and listen to the organ

that's being restored with their help.

We're currently trying to raise

£40,000 for the next stage of development of the organ.

St Peter's is an impressive church

and its choir has a reputation that stands high across the country.

Keeping this wonderful instrument in prime condition

is a top priority for organist Phillip Colin.

We have concerts here and little bits of money dribbling in, but it's these

big substantial donations that enable us to reach the target.

Margaret and Donald are passionate about their love of music

and thanks to their generous donation it looks as if they'll

be able to enjoy the sound of their favourite organ

for many years to come.

I'm so glad that we've been able to do a little something

towards restoring the organ to its full capacity.

ORGAN MUSIC

-Bravo!

-Bravo!

I'm sure that organ will sound magnificent now thanks to

Donald and Margaret's generosity. If you want to raise money

for something special and think you might have bits and pieces around

the home then why not apply to come on the show?

You can find the form on our website,

that's bbc.co.uk

Good luck and maybe see you next time on Cash In The Attic.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd