Storer Cash in the Attic

Welcome to the show that searches out all the hidden treasure

around your home and then sells it at auction,

raising funds for the family to spend on a special treat or project.

You know what it's like, people always say they're looking to downsize and clear their clutter

but when it comes to the crunch, how much of it are they prepared to part with?

Find out on today's Cash in the Attic.

'Coming up on Cash in the Attic,

'a horsehair armchair has a very important owner.'

-Do you actually sit in it?

-No, Molly uses it, the dog.

Oh, right! OK!

'Come auction day, has our expert got the wrong end of the stick?'

I can do caning as well.

I can cane the bottoms of chairs.

Right. OK, what you do in your pastime is entirely up to you!

-Find out what happens later.

-Selling.

I've come to Beelsby, near Grimsby, to meet Jane.

She's called in the programme

to help her raise some funds for a special day out with her daughters.

Jane has asked her mother Janet to lend a helping hand today,

and I don't blame them for grabbing

a spot of fresh air before the hard day's rummage begins.

Jane lives in this four-bedroom house, only a few doors down from her parents.

She divorced two years ago, and her two daughters Emily, aged 19,

and Jessica, 17, still live with her.

Jane's in a choir and is extremely talented, being able to sing in five different languages.

Let's hope she'll be singing our praises when we discover lots

lots of antiques and collectables to take to auction.

Good morning, Lorne.

Bit blustery. So shall we get in?

Of course.

'With over 20 years of antiques and collectables knowledge firmly under his belt, Paul Hayes

'gets to work straightaway, while I go in search of our hosts.'

-Good morning, ladies.

-Good morning.

-Now, this is your home, isn't it?

-It is. Yes.

-Tell me a little bit about why you've called us in. What do you want to raise the money for?

I'd just like to raise some money to treat me and my daughters to do something together, like shopping.

Given the fact you've got two teenage girls...

..what sort of money are you looking to raise?

-Could do with at least £300.

-Yes, I should think you could.

Well, our expert today is Paul Hayes, otherwise known as our man from Morecambe of course.

I know he's already in the house having a good look round,

so shall we go and see if he's found anything to sell yet?

-Yes.

-Come on then.

'Jane and her mum are keen collectors, and as a result

'her house is stuffed full of items they've picked up over the years, so today's rummage should be a breeze.

'Or looking at Paul, perhaps I should say a snooze.'

Boo!

Hello. How are you?

-It's a long journey from Morecambe to Grimsby.

-It is.

-Sorry about that, just enjoying your chair here, it's very comfy.

-It is.

It looks lovely in the corner. Where did this come from?

My mum bought it as a wreck from a junk shop, and she had a little project, you know, doing it up.

-Do you know what your mum paid for it?

-Not a lot.

I think it would be about £10.

Do you use it, do you sit in it?

-Molly uses it, the dog.

-Right.

OK. How nice.

-It's Molly's chair.

-Lucky old Molly.

This is part of a salon suite. Have you heard of that before?

Yes, I think so.

The Victorian salon or parlour would have had all your comfortable chairs

so you would have two of these, you would have a nursing chair, some stools, a chaise longue.

It's part of the Victorian parlour, that was the idea.

Do you know why you had this gap here at the front where the bottom bit extends out?

Was it for the dresses?

It's for the ladies' bustle dresses.

When they were sat there they could place their dresses around them and produce a nice fan shape, so

they would look very elegant, even though they were being comfortable in this chair. Isn't that fantastic?

Value wise, a pair of these chairs would very good indeed.

If I said £50-£80, given a chance, how does that sound?

Not too bad.

-OK.

-Right. Let's go and find something else. This way.

-Great.

Jane was a little unimpressed by Paul's estimate, which is probably

because she knows how much time her mum spent upholstering the chair.

Our host gets busy in the kitchen and pulls out one of five Tuscan dessert plates.

Dating from the 1930s, they are Art Deco in style.

Jane bought them at a country house auction a few years ago.

Now they're going back into a sale room valued at £25-£30.

-Paul, I found this upstairs, I wonder if it's worth anything.

-That's really nice, isn't it?

Now then, look at this. Whose is this, do you know?

I don't know where that came from.

This is a butter dish or a small cheese, but more likely a butter dish.

Of course that would be hidden away under there and kept on the side. It's just a bit of fun.

It's called cottage ware and they made things from biscuit barrels,

to teapots, to serviette rings. This is a butter dish to go with the set.

The same thing done by Clarice Cliff or Susie Cooper, you'd be looking at an awful lot of money.

This is a firm called Grimwades.

They're part of the Royal Winton group, so they were based in Staffordshire.

We're looking 1920, 1930, that sort of time.

I think I might surprise you if I said £20-£25, how does that sound?

-Sounds very nice.

-Sounds all right to you?

-Yes, very nice.

-All we need is some nice butter

and hot toast. Show me where the kitchen is.

Sounds very tempting Paul, but we need more mouth-watering

pieces like this butter dish to guarantee a tasty target.

We've already got one dog with us today, Paul, I don't think we need another.

That's more like it. The 1860s mahogany stationery box

or writing slope was bought in a junk shop by Jane 30 years ago.

It should fetch £30-£50 at auction.

But when it comes to sale day, will the auction do better for the slope than the junk shop?

Lovely thing. £50, please.

£50. 30 then.

£30 surely. Come on, bid someone.

-Find out later if Jane manages to get her money back.

-Selling.

Jane has a love for singing which started when she was in the school choir.

Four years ago, she decided to take it up again and she joined

the Louth Choral group, performing four classical concerts a year.

There you are. Now I heard you were quite musical,

-is it the piano you play?

-I got that for my daughter,

-but no-one plays it at the moment.

-So your speciality is singing.

Yes, I started four years ago, I joined Louth Choral Society and I have private singing lessons as well.

So what music is it you love?

In my singing lessons I sing all languages, Italian, French, German.

I've even done Welsh and a bit of English.

But I love anything, really.

So how often do you perform in public?

Well, we're doing one on Sunday evening in Louth Church

-and it's Israel in Egypt by Handel.

-That's a big thing to take on.

It's a major work and we split into two choirs.

There's 100 of us and we'll have six soloists, and it'll be very good.

I don't know about Paul's voice. I don't think I would recommend that, but he's a dab hand on the piano.

-Shall we see what he's up to?

-OK.

Well, I can hear Paul.

Oh, dear, he's been distracted by the karaoke machine.

Blue 22.

Stick to the day job, Paul, and get back to work!

These two mahogany balloon-backed chairs were bought by Janet 25 years ago.

She upholstered these as well.

She's done a really great job.

They should hopefully fetch £40-£60.

Jane wants to raise £300 to treat her two daughters to a shopping spree,

and so far, taking Paul's lowest estimates, we stand to make £165,

so we're over halfway already.

And I've discovered a collection of silver that might bank us a fair price at auction.

Hey, guys, I found a little treasure trove here.

Looks like it's a treasure trove of silver. Some very nice pens.

-Let's have a look.

-There's loads of it here.

-Wow, look at that!

Have you collected all this yourself?

Yes. Over the years, yes. When I've been to antique fairs with my mum.

You to know what, these are some of my favourite items.

I love the little propelling pencils and pens, but this one is a double action.

It has the pen and the pencil there. Isn't that wonderful?

I tell you what we can do, I mean, I think your pencils - odd spoons tend to be not very much in demand,

because you can buy them everywhere, but these sell individually.

If you're an architect or somebody who enjoys writing, it's a very collectable area.

I think they are wonderful. This is high Victorian.

You've got this wonderful Corinthian column, all this scroll work, and they are beautiful works of art.

That's the idea of them. I think what we could do, these pencils, if we could get together

maybe £100 worth, so £60-£100, give them a chance.

-Yes.

-Put a few together and I think they'll do quite well.

-Good idea.

-Sound all right?

-Yes.

-You've still got plenty of room if we take those out, a bit of rejigging...

-To start again!

I'm not sure that's the point. But, anyway.

Let's keep looking then.

So the silver pencils will be going off to auction with a great price tag.

Now it's back to work, and Janet is searching every nook and cranny,

but it's these two letter clips that catch my eye.

Janet's had them for ten years.

They're metal and date from around 1890.

Paul thinks they should make £30-£50.

-Jane.

-Yes.

-Come and tell me, where did you find these, have these been in the family long?

-No, I've had a few of them since I was little, I think, and I just acquired the others.

-Right.

I remember these as a kid as well.

-These are Wade Whimsies. Have you heard of those?

-Yes.

By the 1970s, they started to put them free on comics.

They were very affordable.

When they first came out, they were inspired from the Disney film Lady And The Tramp.

And that's Lady from the film Lady And The Tramp,

but you have Si or Siam, and I can't remember this character.

-Thumper.

-But the original ones are still very much in demand.

They've gone up in value tremendously.

People can pay quite large amounts of money for certain characters,

but it helps to know your movies and Disney films.

Well, these characters you are maybe looking about £5 or £6 each,

so if I said £30-£50 for that lot, how does that sound?

-That sounds really good. Thank you.

-Let's keep looking.

With their rummage coming to an end, we searched for anything that will

guarantee a steady cash flow in the sale room.

This 18 carat gold necklace might help top up the kitty.

It was a gift from one of Janet's friends 25 years ago.

It's valued at £30-£50.

'But we haven't got this rummage sewn up quite yet. Or have we?'

I saw this earlier and thought what a lovely piece of furniture it is.

-Where did it come from?

-It came from an auction sale

quite a long time ago.

-So what sort of price did you pay for it?

-As much as £100.

As much as £100. My goodness.

Look at that, isn't that fantastic?

I think these are one of the most underrated items. I love them.

They are from the Victorian period. An octagonal sewing table.

What makes this so special is the chess board top. That's a real added bonus.

You can play a game of chess or you can use it for sewing.

It's called cane work, and the idea is it's made a bit like Blackpool rock.

Really? I wouldn't know.

The idea is you gather all these canes together to form this pattern.

When you cut through, the end of it is revealed like this.

So from one length of cane you could get all these squares.

Very clever how it's done.

These were commanding quite a lot of money, but they have to be in mint condition.

I've just noticed that the legs they don't seem to match the base.

Is it a marriage?

-It's a marriage.

-It should be a divorce!

-We know about that!

-Oh, dear, so at some point this has been on something else.

One theory is that the Victorians used to have

stone floors, and when you mopped round the base it would rot away, and legs often get replaced.

I think you will get a profit.

If I said £150, maybe £200, how does that sound?

That sounds better.

Now, you wanted to raise £300.

The value of everything going to auction comes to £465.

That's really great.

So hopefully there's a bit of money there for the shopping.

I'm hoping we make that target, as Jane will need as much cash

as possible if she's going to take two teenage girls shopping.

The most interesting items heading for auction are...

the Victorian horsehair parlour chair that Paul found extremely comfortable.

Let's hope it's a hit with the bidders at £50-£80.

And there's the selection of architects' pencils that Paul took a shine to.

Valued at £60-£100, we're banking on them measuring up in the sale room.

Best of all, that wonderful sewing table and chess board, valued at £150-£200.

We're all hoping it takes off on sale day.

Still to come on Cash in the Attic - Janet reveals a little secret.

I paid about £8 for it originally.

Keep your voice down!

And which of our lots gets this much interest?

We have got 14 bids on this.

14 bids.

Find out when the final hammer falls.

Now it's been a few weeks since we met Jane and Janet at their home in Lincolnshire.

We found lots of nice items that we've brought to Bamford's Auction House in Matlock.

Now remember Jane wanted to raise £300 so she could take her daughters

on a shopping spree. How fantastic is that?

Unfortunately, I can't be at the auction today, but they're in the capable hands of Paul Hayes.

Bamford's has auction houses in Derby and Matlock,

and specialises in the sale of fine art and antiques.

Paul's keen to find out whether the auctioneer, Steven Iredale,

shares his high opinion about the value of the sewing table.

-Do you like this one?

-Very pretty.

It's the classic type of Victorian sewing table made 1860, 1870.

How are you finding Victorian furniture?

Antique furniture is not as bad as a lot of people say.

I think what's caught people out is you have to try a lot harder now.

People are a lot more knowledgeable, a lot more selective.

-Quality always sells.

-Quality will always sell. Pretty small things will always sell.

Fantastic, Steven. I know you're a very busy man.

-I have to go and meet the family. See you on the rostrum.

-Thank you.

That could be good news for some of our items today, as quite a few of them are small, pretty

and Victorian and in fact, Jane and her mum Janet are looking at one of the most promising ones now.

Now then, you two, I see you have found some of your items already.

-Yes.

-Your pencils. Who collected all of these?

I did. Just one by one, from various antique fairs.

Over how many years was that?

Oh, about 15, 20 years perhaps.

-The auction's going to start any second now, so let's take our places.

-OK.

Jane and Janet seem relaxed about the whole thing. I think it's Paul

who's a bit nervous today. And the first lot to go under the hammer is

the Royal Winton cottage ware butter dish, which Paul valued at £20-£25.

25. 20 then. £20.

Come on, there must be somebody.

£20. 10 then.

10 bid. 12 do I see?

At 10 and 12 now.

£12. 15.

15. 18.

16 if it helps you. 16. 17.

-He's trying.

-All done and selling at £16.

-There you go.

-It could be worse.

So £16. Was that about what you would have paid for it?

-We've started.

-We've started. Would it have been more expensive than that?

-No, we never pay a lot.

Not a bad start, perhaps a little under estimate, but Jane and Janet seem happy with the amount.

The five Tuscan dessert plates are up next.

-They're 1930s Art Deco, and their price tag - £25-£30.

-A below estimate, £15.

-Oh, no.

Is anyone going to bid below the estimate? £15?

Not sold those. It's a little bit too far below estimate.

No luck with the plates. Let's hope this is just a blip

and not an indication of how the rest of the auction will go.

And as Jane and Janet's next item is the third lot of ceramics,

I'm a little concerned they may not reach their estimates either.

It's the Wade Whimsies, up for £30-£50.

I remember these being in your house.

Yes. There are some of the larger examples.

Yes, you told me to add some more and I did.

Well done. Are there any Disney characters? I can't remember.

Yes, there's the Lady and The Tramp. Thumper. And the Siamese cat.

They've been really well viewed. We've had lots of inquiries about them, been in and out of the cabinet

and I have got seven bids on commission.

Starts with me at £42. 5.

At £42 and 5 now. At 45. 48. 50.

At 48 and 50 now. At 48.

-That's great.

-Absolutely sure?

At 48. All done then. 50. 2. 5.

£52. It's still on commission.

At £52 and 5 now. All done at 52.

-Sure? £52.

-That's great. Fantastic. So there's been lots of interest in those.

I put them in a Cadbury box, so perhaps the box was worth more!

Just over Paul's upper estimate. What a great result.

It seems there are some keen bidders in the sale room, so there's everything to play for.

Their next lot is the mahogany writing slope, which Jane bought in a junk shop 30 years ago.

Will she get the £30-£50 Paul put on it?

Lovely thing. And £50, please.

£50. 30 then. £30 surely.

Come on, bid someone. £30.

-It's worth that. 25.

-Oh, no!

25 bid. 30 do I see? 30 and 5.

It's a good one. 35 and 40 and 5. At £40, it's the best one in the sale.

42. 45. 45. 48.

-Oh.

-At 45. Thank you, anyway.

At 45 and 8 do I see?

At 45 and selling.

That's more like it. I think the auctioneer certainly worked to get a good price for them.

Their next item is a piece of jewellery, an 18 carat gold necklace in fact, and it's up for £30-£50.

Now was this a present for yourself or something you bought?

No, Mum gave me it. But she never wore it.

Somebody bought it from Abu Dhabi or somewhere like that.

We have got 14 bids on this.

14 bids!

And it starts with me at £115.

-That's amazing.

-At 115, 120 do I see?

All done then on commission, at 115.

-How fantastic is that?

-That's amazing.

It just goes to show gold really is the thing to invest in at the moment.

What a fantastic result, more than double Paul's upper estimate.

That's a great addition to their fund.

Now if you've been inspired by Jane and Janet's progress

and are thinking of heading off to auction to raise some money,

do bear in mind that there are charges to be paid, such as commission.

These vary from one sale room to another, so it's always worth checking in advance.

The horsehair armchair that Janet reupholstered herself is up next.

OK, now I know this is something that means a lot to you, Janet.

There's blood, sweat and tears gone into recreating this chair.

-That's right.

-How long ago since you actually renewed this chair?

I think it must be about 25 years.

Well, you did a fantastic job. Who's been using it since then?

Latterly, it was the dog's chair.

-Oh, that's right.

-The dog really likes it.

So we've got a lovely Victorian horsehair chair, recovered, restuffed and we're looking for £50.

I can vouch for the fact it's incredibly comfortable.

LAUGHTER

And £80 for it. £80.

Awful lot of work gone into the restoration. £80?

£60 then.

£50 then. £50? Come on! £50.

Thank you, madame. 5, madame.

55. 5. 60. 5.

-£60 front row. 5 do I see?

-That's marvellous.

-65 in two places.

70? At £65. Horsehair as well.

At £65 then. Seated in the centre.

All done. £70, thank you, madame. 75.

Come on, you fought so hard.

75. 80.

At 75.

At £75. Centre of the room.

All done and selling at £75.

-Well done.

-It wants doing properly in proper fabric.

-No, I think you've done a great job.

-Dralon isn't right.

You've done a really nice job.

But it matched the decor at the time, you see.

-Are you pleased with that?

-Yes.

-Is that what you expected?

-Yes. That's good.

-I think I paid about £8 for it originally.

Keep your voice down!

Well, the auctioneer worked hard to get that price for them,

but the winning bidder seemed pleased with her purchase.

Jane and Janet's next lot for £30-£50 is the two Victorian letter clips.

And selling on commission at £28.

Just under Paul's lower estimate.

It seems the bidders are very interested in Jane and Janet's items now.

What will they make of the two mahogany balloon-backed chairs

which are in the catalogue for £40-£60?

-So these have been nicely covered as well.

-Yes. In my class.

OK. Was that the sort of thing you used to do, get odd chairs and renovate them?

Yes. I can do caning as well. I can cane the bottoms of chairs.

Right. What you do in your pastime is entirely up to you!

Two of them, and £40, please. £40.

£40. 30 then. £30. 20?

Nobody likes them.

Oh, dear.

20 for them?

I shan't sell those.

The auctioneer used his discretion.

£20 was not good enough to sell, so Jane and Janet will be taking them back home.

They do have some interesting items in their collection here.

The next lot is three silver pencils and a silver pencil case, all for £60-£100.

All done at £45.

A little bit less than they were expecting, but not too disappointing.

It's their final lot now,

that mahogany octagonal sewing box with the chess board top.

The price is £150-£200.

OK, now it's my favourite item out of all your bits and pieces,

that wonderful work table with a chess board top. I like these.

Have you ever used this at all?

Yes, just to put buttons and cottons in, that's all.

-You ever play chess on the top?

-No, I haven't, actually.

-Now there's a reserve on this, isn't there?

-Yes, I put £120.

£120, which is a bit lower than what my estimate was, so it should do OK.

-Hopefully.

-What a pretty lot.

The Victorian mahogany table.

I have got two bids on it.

Starts with me at £110. £120, do I see in the room?

At £110. £120 now. At 110. 120. 130.

140. 150. 150 here, 160 do I see?

That's what we wanted originally.

At £150, 5 do I see now?

At 150 absentee bid, selling 150.

There you go. Great, isn't it?

-That wasn't bad.

-You were right to put your reserve on it.

-Yes, I was.

-But 150, that's the lowest of my estimate.

-Yes.

What a fantastic end to the sale.

That's really boosted the total, so it's over to Paul to tell them the good news.

That's the end of the day, that's it, no more lots to go. So have you enjoyed yourself?

-Yes.

-It's been interesting.

How do you think we've done up to now?

-OK, I think.

-We've had a few disappointments early on.

-But then it rescued itself. Well, you wanted £300.

-Yes.

All right. I'm very pleased to tell you that

-you've managed to make here today £526.

-Fabulous. That's lovely.

-That's all right, isn't it?

-Wonderful.

-Have you enjoyed the whole thing?

-Yes, thank you.

-Great.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm going for a lie down.

Well, thanks to their success at auction, Jane and Janet have bought

Jane's two daughters out on a shopping spree, and the destination

they've chosen to splash the cash is the historic City of York,

dominated by the world famous Minster.

Going to treat the girls to some clothes and just have a nice lunch out, I think.

And I'm just going to tag along!

Trying to keep both her teenage daughters and her mother happy on a day out is no mean feat,

-but Jane seems to have got the balance just about right.

-We've done lots of shopping.

We had a break for coffee and we had some scones and tea cakes, and Mum wanted to go round the Cathedral.

They've had enough culture for one day,

and they're itching to get back shopping and to buy some more stuff.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd