Carol Harrison Cash in the Celebrity Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Celebrity Attic.

This is the show that searches round the homes of the very well-known and

finds all their hidden treasures, some of which we'll take to auction to raise money for good causes.

Well, today I'm meeting a lady who's been a regular on our television screens for more than 30 years.

She's been in Minder, The Bill, London's Burning, and Casualty.

In fact, there's not very many successful British television shows that she's not been in.

She was once married to the son of a notorious London gangster,

whose associates terrorised the streets she used to call home.

And it's from these East End streets, or should I say, East End Square, that this lady really

made her name, playing the part of the mother of Martine McCutcheon's Tiffany character in EastEnders.

And, boy, did she have some explosive storylines. Have you worked out who it is yet?

Today I'm in Brighton and I'm on my way to meet the actress Carol Harrison.

Carol is best known for her role as Louise Raymond, the wilful mother of Tiffany in EastEnders.

She hails from the East End herself

and a single parent family. She was once married to the actor Jamie Foreman and they have a son, Alfie.

Then, in 2005, Carol married Ian, and the couple now live in East Sussex.

She currently teaches drama at the local college, and she's

writing her own play based on the 60s band, The Small Faces.

Coming up, as we look through her collectables, I take a risk with

the other question you should never ask a lady.

-So, how much did you pay for this, then?

-Oh, far too much.

Don't ask her. This is a charity auction.

And there's intrigue over something Carol is a little embarrassed to own. What could it be?

The fact that it's wrapped up in newspaper, Carol, suggests to me that you don't use this.

-Is that right?

-Open it up and you'll see why.

But how will Carol cope selling her cherished collectables at auction?

I love having icons around my house.

-And now you've got John.

-And now I've got John.

Poor substitute, I know, I know.

Find out with the final fall of the gavel.

Joining me is John Cameron, who's well used to making home visits for valuations.

While he gets the hunt for collectables under way, I go in search of our host.

-Morning, ladies.

-Hello.

-Lovely to meet you.

-And you.

-Fantastic house.

-I love this sort of Regency period. It's fantastic.

-Thank you. It's quite cute.

-So, you've called in Cash In The Attic.

-Absolutely. To help with Nina's charity.

This is my friend Nina.

And it's her son who's inspired the charity Whoopsadaisy.

Right, and what does Whoopsadaisy do?

Well, we help children with physical disabilities.

We use a method of Conductive Education.

So, we're helping local children.

John Cameron's having a look around so hopefully he'll have found something for us.

So, should we go and find the man?

-Great. Fantastic.

-We'll start out here.

John Cameron. Where are you?

Carol lives in an Edwardian terraced house on a vibrant street.

Inside, things are immaculate.

There's a strong French provincial influence here.

Carol must be very house-proud.

Let's just hope she's willing to part with enough items

to raise the £400 - £500 that she's hoping to make for her charity.

Now, I have it on good authority that our host has a lifelong love of music.

Especially bands from the 60s and 70s.

But that's not to say everything in her house has a musical theme.

-Ah, John, you've found something already.

-I have.

This rather eye-catching aeroplane.

-Yeah, my lovely plane.

-Where did you get this from, then?

Well, I actually got that in Camden Market.

And when I bought it, I think he said it was American, so, yes.

Well, it's a copy of a lamp that was first produced in around 1939.

Very art-deco looking. And it was exhibited at the 1939 trade fair.

-The model itself is actually based on the DC3.

-Yes.

And what I love about this is the use of the materials.

They were both in vogue at the time and a real reflection of the age.

This is chromium plated.

And the press moulded glass, both things that really do typify the machine age.

And a lot of designers and artists at the time

embracing those materials and really trying to sort of make good designs that were available to the masses.

I thought it looked very much like Howard Hughes' plane -

it's a very chunky thing, isn't it?

You're right. I was thinking, this is the sort of thing you might have found on Howard Hughes' desk.

-You're spot-on.

-Maybe it was there.

-Maybe it was.

Not this one.

Well, a bit of poetic licence, there.

Can you remember what you paid for it?

It was about £20-£25.

-How long ago was that?

-Late 80s.

Right, OK. And what sort of value do you think it might have, then?

Well, I think we could probably do a little bit better than that.

I mean, it's missing its electrical element, though.

I think it's a good thing because otherwise you'd have to have it electrically tested.

So, that's fine. Whoever buys it, they can choose to either revert it back to a nice

-lamp, which would look fantastic glowing.

-It looks lovely when it's lit up.

-I'm sure it does.

Or they just can leave it as a nice desk ornament which I think again looks quite striking.

I think today, sensible estimate

-on that would be about £30-£50.

-Oh, brilliant.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes. That would be fantastic.

I bet Howard Hughes' plane cost more than that.

I bet. You never know, two people want it in the room - it may well take off.

Well, let's go and put that away somewhere safe before you come up with any more puns.

-Let's see what else we can find. Come on.

-OK.

In order to explore Carol's home in detail, we decide it's best to split up.

Nina takes a careful look at some crystal ornaments in the dining room.

But, unfortunately, they're too sentimental for Carol to part with.

We won't be seeing these particular items in the sale room.

Then I come across a miner's lamp from Eccles and there's a lot of

these on the market, so we decide not to take this one to auction either. But there is some good news.

In the hallway, John notices that Carol has a signed, framed picture

of Ray Davies, lead singer of that 60s band, The Kinks.

Their song, You Really Got Me, reached number one in 1964, and Carol's happy for this to be sold.

Which is great news. Let's hope there are

plenty of dedicated followers of their music at the sale,

so we might exceed John's £40-£80 estimate.

Spurred on by his find,

our expert heads straight for more of our hosts musical mementos.

Whenever I get to go through someone's record collection,

I think it's a real reflection of the person. So, we've got an interesting selection here.

-It's eclectic.

-It's eclectic. From Buddy Holly and Mick Jagger, to The Who, a favourite of mine.

Elvis Presley and Pink Floyd.

So, come on, explain this rather interesting collection of records that we've got here.

Well, I do have eclectic taste in music.

I love The Who, I love all the Mod stuff. Mick Jagger.

Greatest rock'n'roll band. I like a bit of reggae.

And, obviously, Elvis is king of rock and roll. And a bit of Pink Floyd.

I'm also a bit of a closet country queen as well.

Because I love a bit of country.

So, you know, I mean, I went through this phase of buying rare records, really.

There's quite a few fairs. There's one down here in Brighton.

And you know, when I've been on tour and stuff, and picked up different things.

Well, these are picture discs. These are some of them. We've got an Elvis one here.

Look at that beautiful pink marbling on there.

-Puce marbling.

-Puce marbling.

This one is a similar thing. I think these were issued as a series.

And this one in yellow.

Again, great. But I love the Pink Floyd album here. That's just great.

I mean, these are interesting.

And my son only recently paid £50 for a red vinyl Sergeant Pepper.

So, these are kind of slightly better than the norm.

They would have been released later but they would have been in limited editions.

It's an interesting little collection.

-I think the value really lies in these here and this one.

-Oh, right.

What I do also know is that dealers don't tend to want to pay a lot for them at auction, being realistic.

I know they retail them for good sums because somebody keeps coming to me for pocket money.

But I know also, dealing with a lot of probate sales, what they're willing to pay at auction.

So I put these in together at auction

with an estimate of about £70-£100.

But the great thing is we've got the internet on our side today, so people looking for something

a bit rare, a bit out of the norm, chances are they'll see it, and who knows where we'll go from there?

Yes. Well, they might want a particular one they haven't got in their collection, or something.

Well, that would be good.

We've got some good names here, so, hopefully, we'll do all right with them.

But will Carol's vinyl collection rock the sale room when it heads to auction?

£50 please.

£50, 55, 60. Five, 70, five, 80, five.

With a bit of luck, they'll reach a price that flies off the scale.

All that excitement is still to come. But as we continue our search in East Sussex,

I find myself blown away by Carol's lovely flower arrangement.

Nina's in the kitchen checking out something that certainly had appeal back in the 70s.

But, alas, soda siphons have little value at auction these days.

In the bedroom, I've spotted a small chain-mail handbag.

Carol bought this from a boutique on London's fashionable Portobello Road, about 30 years ago.

It's electroplated silver and has an Albion stamp on it.

This is the hallmark of the Sheffield company, Lee & Wigfull.

They normally made cutlery so this is a bit unusual for them.

It's a rare but not that valuable find, which is why the estimate is just £20-£30.

Born and bred in West Ham, Carol's a real life East Ender, just like her mum.

So her part in the soap was a perfect fit.

It's 11 years since she played Louise Raymond in EastEnders.

So, is she still remembered as Tiffany's mum?

-Did you realise when you got the part and took it on how big a role that was going to become?

-No.

When you do a soap, it is different.

You are in people's front rooms three times a week.

I didn't... Wasn't quite prepared for how big it was going to be.

-Or how enormous the role was going to be, in the sense of what I had to go through.

-Yes.

In the end, I needed counselling I think for my character, I went through so many things.

And you spend much more time being that person than you are at home.

-Of course.

-That was the extraordinary thing about it as well.

Were you quite shocked when you read some of the storylines?

Back in the days, you were having an affair with your daughter's husband.

-I did.

-Who, accidentally, was Grant Mitchell.

-It was a bit radical, wasn't it, really?

-It was.

I mean, when I went in, I didn't know what the storyline was going to be,

but they just said that they wanted someone that was young enough for it to be...

that he could fancy, sort of thing, they could fancy each other. Um...

And... So, it was quite shocking.

Another shocking thing was, because people would say to me,

"Oh, you'll get people hating you in the street", and stuff.

And, in actual fact, I didn't. I think people were so intrigued by it.

I mean, and Tiffany was like the Princess Diana of the Square at the time. Er...

But they were really intrigued by it, I think. I didn't really get all of that nastiness.

So, how did you get into acting?

Oh, well, that was a long time ago.

It was a decision I made when I was six years old.

That was it, I was just going to be an actress.

And I'd made my mind up.

I lived in this complete fantasy world where my fantasy world was much better than my reality.

So that's where I lived. So I'd go to school, and they'd say, "Where have you been, because it's 11 o'clock?"

And I'd go, "Well, I've been coming to school".

I'd been dawdling, in my own fantasy world.

So, yeah, that's what I decided to do.

At 11, I went to youth theatre.

At 17, I was offered a place at drama school. But I went straight into the business.

And started touring all over the country, then went to the

-National Theatre, and just went on from there, really.

-So how did you get that break into television?

Oh, I just auditioned for Softly Softly, it was called.

-I remember.

-Of a gangster's moll.

And I was obviously perfect for the part. And...

So that was my first television.

That was... oh, a long, long time ago.

But it's...fantastic. I loved it.

I loved my character, I loved her complexity, and I loved to be in there. So, it's a good thing to do.

-So, what are you up to at the moment?

-Well I am still acting.

Erm... But also I've got an MA in Screenwriting that I did when I come out of EastEnders.

So I lecture in screenwriting and acting.

And, also, I've written a feature, but at the moment I'm writing a musical.

A Mod musical.

And, hopefully, some more telly. That would be good.

Well, let's make sure today doesn't turn into too much of a soap opera of our own making, shall we?

-And see whether John's found anything else we can add to the fund. Come on.

-Thank you.

It looks like he's found her stash of costume jewellery.

It's a nice collection. But she doesn't want to part with it.

Around the fireplace, Nina's spotted

some items of copperware which our host is more happy to sell.

She discovered them in her garage many years ago.

There's about five pieces, and John thinks they could fetch £20-£30 on sale day.

What about Carol's soap award, do you think this would do well at auction?

-I think it would do fantastic, yes.

-Carol, can we put your soap award into auction?

Absolutely not. Put it back, I might not get another one.

-With the look you gave me there, I thought you were going to hit me with it.

-Never!

-What have you got here?

-Right. A 70s classic, I think.

-This is not records, is it?

-No, no, no more records, no. This is china.

-China?

-Bit of china.

OK. Let's have a look.

Well, the fact that it's wrapped up in newspaper, Carol, suggests that to me that you don't use this.

-Is that right?

-Open it up and you'll see why.

We've got a good name to start with. It's Doulton.

That's a good name, isn't it?

It is a good name. One of the best and it's Morning Star is the pattern.

So why don't you use this?

-Well, it's very 70s, isn't it?

-I think it's great.

It's great, it actually belonged to my husband. His grandma gave it to him when he got his first flat.

Ok. I think we've got two potential buyers for this sort of thing.

One are a number of firms that have set up,

specialising in discontinued patterns and this Morning Star

is a discontinued pattern and it's Doulton, it's easy to track back.

How they make their money is they buy these up and then when somebody breaks a plate and

can't replace it any more, they go to these companies and they get one.

They have to pay handsomely for it and they get a lot of work out of insurance companies.

But they are looking for condition all the time.

Luckily on here we've got no gilding to start with and that's one of the

things on porcelain that gets rubbed and worn very quickly. So, no gilding on here.

We do have these overglaze enamelled decorations which all looks good. The other

potential user of all this I think are people that love retro.

I think this is a great pattern.

Morning Star, which is the name given to Venus

when she rises in the east in the mornings.

-I think this is a nice pattern, I like it.

-Yes.

How many pieces do you have here?

I think it's, sort of eight places and it's all there and there's some vegetable tureens and stuff as well.

-If you've got eight pieces, what have you got? Cups, saucers, side plates, dinner plates?

-Yes.

-There's 32 pieces and some tureens - probably about 35 to 40 pieces?

-Yes. Something like that.

To put it into auction today, not huge sums but I'd certainly think

£30 to £50. What do you think?

-Yes. I think that's good.

-I think there's a lot of pieces for that.

You get a lot for your money but then more people should

go to auction, because with things like

this you can furnish your home for not a king's ransom. Look.

You've got a great retro design and it's Doulton.

Especially if you furnish it all in 70s furniture.

-Brilliant.

-Yes.

Going by John's lowest estimate so far, we stand to make £210 when we take everything we found to auction.

So we're around the halfway mark.

With the fate of the Royal Doulton sealed,

Carol remembers she has another set of crockery in the kitchen.

This one is bone china made in the first half of the 20th century

by Paragon, of Stoke-on-Trent.

Carol was given this as a gift back in the 90s,

but is happy to sell it to benefit the charity.

It's not quite as collectable as Royal Doulton,

but it's still worth roughly the same price.

It could bring in another £20 to £40 on sale day.

In the study, John's taking a close look at this old box of snooker balls.

They were made by the prestigious London company,

Burroughes & Watts, one of the

oldest makers of snooker tables and accessories still in existence.

The balls are made of crystallite.

Top-of-the-range in its day but the manufacturing process has

moved on since these were produced.

On closer inspection, it looks like they've been well used.

John still thinks they could be of interest to collectors

of sporting memorabilia and may bring in as much as £30 to £50.

Then I find something which never seems to date.

Carol, John, are you there?

Look, I have to say I have just literally lifted this off the wall.

-So I don't know whether it's for sale of not?

-Yes, of course.

-Yes, I'd love to put it in.

-There you go then.

-There's a valuation to be done.

-So you're obviously a fan, Carol?

I'm a fan of the King, yes.

He was the King of Rock and Roll and that is a fact because Elvis is

the highest selling recording artist of all time,

followed by the Beatles and there is a big gap between them

which shows you just how popular he was.

The great thing about Elvis is that he has remained as popular today as

he's ever been and has sold more records posthumously then he did when he was alive.

-So where did it come from?

-Well, I bought it at a charity auction, but

I did this wonderful trip that when I came out of EastEnders,

a magazine asked me what I wanted to do

and I said I wanted to take my sister to Gracelands because she loved him and she'd just lost her husband.

So we did this fantastic trip from New Orleans to Nashville

and Memphis and to Tupelo

and it just reminded me of that and I was at this charity auction,

it was a good cause, so I bought it there.

These particular stamps here, they are a commemorative thing.

We can see they've both been issued on August 16th, 2002.

This one is Sierra Leone.

This one here, a fantastic shot of Elvis on stage there,

probably in his Vegas days.

That's a significant date, August 16th,

it was the day he died and this was the 25th anniversary of that date.

Yes, I was in Egypt at the time, it was weird. They said, "Elvis is dead"

and we heard it on the street and I said "No, it can't be possible.

"What were they saying?" Because it was an Egyptian sort of accent.

-I thought, they can't say Elvis is dead.

-There we are.

For me, the value in these doesn't actually lie in those stamps.

They would have been produced in huge, huge numbers.

Because as we said he's still very, very popular,

so they would have sold untold amounts of these.

But the value in this lies in the display. It's a nice thing.

It's attractive, it's been framed sympathetically and I think will

make a great gift for the numerous Elvis fans that still remain today.

In my opinion that's where the money now lies - as a display.

So at auction today, I'd probably put it in

at about £50 to £100, something like that.

How does that compare to what you paid for it?

I paid a bit more than that! At a charity auction, I think I paid a couple of hundred pounds for it.

But it was for a good cause. I don't mind,

-that's fine because then it's done its job twice, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

That's a nice way to look at it, isn't it?

-OK. Well shall we put Elvis Presley down and see what else we can find?

-OK.

-Yes.

-Come on then.

Well, let's hope those stamps aren't "returned to sender".

We need them to do well on the day.

Carol moved down to Brighton five years ago and loves living by the sea.

It was here that she met her good friend, Nina.

How did you choose out of all the charities to get involved with, this particular one?

Well, I met Nina socially and she told me about her son

and then I met Christopher who inspired the charity.

She asked me to become a patron and I saw the great work that they had done

with children with cerebral palsy.

So it's quite miraculous us when you see that, when you see the difference that it makes.

You know how important it is then.

What is this treatment then?

It's called Conductive Education.

It was formulated in Hungary. They use singing and games for similar,

like physiotherapy, but we do it in group sessions for the children.

So they don't actually compete with one another, but they learn off one another.

-You just celebrated Christopher's 18th birthday.

-Yeah.

And it was fantastic to see other kids he's with in the centre, and staff as well.

Do you think our children take for granted what they have compared to children like Christopher?

I expect they do.

But I think we should really take it for granted, it's just unfortunate

that there are children out there that don't have that.

The two of you met in Brighton. What made you move to Brighton?

I actually moved down here, my husband's parents live here.

I'm two minutes from the sea, which is lovely.

It's a very nice place to live and I kind of made my mark down here

a little bit because I teach at the local college and film school.

I've made some friends, some nice friends now down here.

So, yeah, life is nice here but I still pine for London.

I think you can take the girl out of the East End but you can't take the East End out of the girl.

We need to find John Cameron.

-To make sure he's working.

-Yes, well that will be a first.

No, he does work very hard does our John.

I'm delighted to see that he's been a busy bee.

It looks like he could be on to something valuable.

Nina's also busying herself around one of Carol's trinket boxes.

But I'm sticking with our host and helping her sort through some ornaments.

Now if we're to achieve the £400 to £500 target, we still need a big find and we could be struggling.

Girls... Look what I've found.

Oh, Frankie!

An interesting golf putter with a signed picture of Frankie Vaughan in there.

-I'm wondering if there's a story behind this?

-Got to be.

Yeah, there is a story behind this.

Frankie Vaughan, this was my mum's idol, my mum's pin-up.

And I bought this at an auction and it's his actual putter supplied by his wife, Stella.

I couldn't resist it because my mum loved him so much and all the things that I'd done, she never knew.

She died before I was at the National, working with Arthur Miller

or in EastEnders or any of the TV stuff.

So when the auction came up, I had to buy

something and it was a golf putter but it's crazy but I just went for it because it reminds me of my mum.

-How much did you pay for this then?

-Far too much!

-Don't answer that!

-But I'm getting on to my next question, OK, over to you, what's it worth?

Interesting that Frankie Vaughan was a golfing man and a sportsman because did you know he was a boxer?

-Yes, I did.

-Grew up in Liverpool, he was born in Liverpool,

boxed as a kid and boxed in the army before becoming Mr Moonlight.

Do you also know what his name was and how he got his name?

-No, I don't know that.

-It's an interesting story, I don't know how true it is.

But he was actually born Frankie Abelson, of Russian-Jewish parentage.

And his grandmother, who was a Russian-Jewish lady, she used to always say,

"Frankie you're my number von grandson".

Number von!

That's where he changed his name to Frankie Vaughan.

What sort of value are we talking about then, John?

Well, it's an interesting thing, it's got actual provenance and you've got

a signed photograph which I think makes it more interesting and I think this will be

the perfect gift for a golfing fan if you have a golfing fan that's also a fan of Frankie Vaughan.

There's lots of Frankie Vaughan fans, like my mum.

If we had to put an estimate on it, I think £80 to £120 is certainly

reasonable and I'd have thought would the bidding started.

-Happy with that?

-Yeah, absolutely.

OK. Well I think it should help our total.

-Nina, are you there?

-Yes.

Come in because we've got the total now.

We've run out of time for rummaging but thanks to Frankie Vaughan,

do you think we've done very well today?

I hope so, yes. I think it's been OK, yes.

-What about you, Nina?

-Very pleased.

The value of everything that's going to auction comes to a total of £390.

-Oh, wow.

-So that's good, isn't it?

So hopefully we can do that and perhaps a bit better?

That would be even nicer, wouldn't it?

-Every penny counts, so the next we see you will be at the auction house.

-OK. Lovely.

Don't get too excited and no buying!

No. I'll have to strap my hand down.

So we're not far off the £400 target

and of course the closer she gets to £500, the happier Carol will be.

We've found some really fascinating items today and heading off to the auction, we have...

Carol's much-loved collection of rare vinyl records.

Including Elvis, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.

All very collectable and we hope they'll rock us with £70 to £100.

There's the Art Deco-style aeroplane lamp that Carol bought on a market stall.

The design is similar to the Douglas DC 3, the American transport aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s.

Could it bring in another £30 to £50?

And the Elvis Presley stamps from Graceland.

This set is nicely presented and we're hoping it'll perform brilliantly.

If there are plenty of Elvis fans there on the day.

All being well, the stamps should be upwards of their £50 to £100 estimate.

Still to come on Cash In The Celebrity Attic ...

We try to spot who could bid on some of our musical memorabilia.

It is a real niche collecting area.

-Do we think we've got them in today?

-We'll soon find out.

Carol can't contain her excitement with some unexpected results.

Yes! Rock and roll!

That's great, isn't it?

But will our luck hold out? Find out at the final fall of the gavel.

Now it's been a good few weeks since we visited Carol at her lovely cottage down in Brighton.

And we found plenty of really eclectic items to bring here

to Chiswick auction rooms in west London.

Now Carol is hoping to raise £400 to £500 for her charity but the more we make, the better.

Her items have been on display in the saleroom for a good few days

leading up to the sale to give them the best possible chance.

They should have received plenty of interest from prospective buyers.

John spotted the Elvis stamps.

Is he still confident they'll achieve his estimate?

What do you expect these to go for?

I've got £50 to £100 for it and I think it's a nice thing, it's ready

-to go, a good present for somebody.

-She's got quite a lot of musical related items.

Yes, she's a bit of a rock chick.

She's got nice picture disks and some coloured vinyl as well.

I like the really sophisticated Art Deco style lamp.

-I thought that was gorgeous.

-Yes, that was quite nice. Eye-catching.

We can't afford for anything not to sell very well today.

So it's quite a pressurised environment so do we want to put Elvis down?

And don't leave the building, stay with us, all right?

The room is filling up nicely as we approach the start of the auction.

Hopefully these dealers have come laden with money to spend.

Carol's looking forward to the sale and Nina's here too, lending some moral support.

The first of Carol's lots to go under the hammer

is the collection of copper, including of course an old bed pan.

John valued this lot at £20 to £30.

But seeing they cost Carol nothing, whatever they make is a bonus.

£20? £10?

£10, give me £10 for it? £10.

£10. 12 at £10.

12 at £10? We're now at £10.

£12. 15. 18? 18. 20. £18.

£18 are we done? At £18.

£18, finished at £18? That's it.

-508, £18.

-Oh, not too good.

We've only just started. It was as flat as a bedpan.

It was really, yes, yes.

OK, so not exactly a bidding frenzy.

Still, we do have our first contribution to the charity pot.

Let's hope the next lot gains a little more interest.

It's Carol's Morning Star dinner service. Royal Doulton, no less.

-Where was this from?

-That was my husband's grandmother, her set.

And then she gave it all to him when he got his first flat.

Oh, bless. That's the way things used to work, wasn't it? Yes, yes.

That's why you very rarely get an entire service together, cos it's all been split up.

-I think that's more or less all there.

-Is it?

-Yes.

-OK, so 30 to £50? Doesn't seem a lot for a dinner service.

You're right, Lorne, it doesn't. It's all there, it's in good condition,

it's Doulton and I think it's a nice retro pattern.

And 30 to £50 does sound cheap but they don't make great sums these days.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope it makes a lot more.

-OK, well, let's see what we get.

-£30 for it, £20 for it.

Come on.

28, 30, 32, 32.

-It's going up.

-That's good.

40, 42, 45, 48, 50, 55, 60.

Good, good, good.

-70.

-Yes!

-Hello!

72? 72, 75, 78.

-Oh, fantastic.

-80.

Saying no. £78, its £78.

That's good.

That's going to go at £78.

-£78!

-Fantastic.

-That's really good.

Did you see how nobody seemed to want to bid at the start?

-It nearly opened at £20.

-It's unfashionable now.

-Yeah.

-Are you pleased with that?

-Yes.

-Good, good, good. Now that's a result.

Soaring well over John's top estimate.

Considering the times I've seen dinner services go unsold or practically given away

it goes to show that stylish examples in good condition still find enthusiastic buyers.

Well, we've determined that there are porcelain buyers in the room,

but will they like our Paragon bone china service as much as they like the Doulton?

-Tea tastes better out of a cup.

-It does!

-Bit of bone china.

-Definitely.

-Forget those mugs.

-Well, you've sold it to us, we've just got to sell it to the room now.

-£10 for it.

Right at the back, I'm bid at 10.

12? 12, 15, 18.

Come on.

At £15, £15.

Going to sell at £15. That's the money.

At 15 and going, all done. At £15 then.

-Well...

-£15, a little bit disappointed with that?

-Yeah, a little bit.

-Not a lot of money for such a charming set.

Could it have been too traditional for today's crowd?

Well, if they're after style, then our next lot should be right up their runway.

It's the Art Deco style lamp, which could have come straight

off the desk of The Aviator, alias Hollywood movie mogul Howard Hughes.

OK, now our next lot - I absolutely love this - is the Art Deco style plane.

-And you were in two minds about maybe whether to keep it, weren't you?

-Yeah.

-Well, you've decided to let it go.

-Yeah, definitely.

It is Art Deco style. Is it genuine, as in of the period, John?

No, it's an Art Deco style piece, reproduction, but it's an iconic piece.

£20 for it?

-Oh, come on.

-Give me 22, at £20,

22, 25, 28, 30, 32, 35, 38.

-Yes!

-40, 42. The bid's there at £40.

You saying no? At £40, will you give me one more?

At £40, will you give me 42? And £40? Sold at £40 this time.

-£40?

-Middle of our estimate.

That's fine, isn't it really?

The bidders are taking their time showing their hands today, which is playing havoc with all our nerves.

I'd hate to think how Carol's feeling.

Fortunately, the plane lamp gives us another sale within estimate.

And our charity fund gets another boost.

Carol bought this chain mail hand bag at a fashionable west London

boutique in the 1970s. For a time, she wouldn't go anywhere without it.

I just hope she won't be taking it home with her today.

It would be terrific if it made 20 to £30.

£10 for it?

Impress your girlfriend. £10 for it? I'm bid at 10. Give me 12? And £10?

12, at 12, thank you. 15?

-Thank you.

-15, 18, 18, 20.

-At the table just here, £18. Give me 20?

-Come on, come on.

28, 30. At £28, do you want 30?

At £28 all-out and going. For £28 and gone, at £28 then, thank you.

£28. £28, that's enough, isn't it?

Thank you!

Well, Carol's happy with that result and rightly so.

Sold to the gentleman for just £2 shy of John's top estimate.

We've had a reasonable run of sales but as Carol is looking

to raise 400-£500, I wonder how much we've managed to raise so far.

So far, we've actually made £179. Are you happy with that?

-I'm happy.

-Good, good, good.

We've got a bit of time, I'd like you to is see if

-there's anything here that takes your fancy.

-Oh no.

-Have a look and just see.

-That's dangerous!

If Carol has inspired you to try buying or selling at auction, remember that charges

such as commission will be added to your bill.

It's always worth checking these fees in advance as no one likes

to be caught out with unexpected charges.

Now, is there anything here that's caught Carol's eye?

I'm liking the sofa because it matches my dress!

And I think it's fab, actually.

Its dralon gone mad really. But I'm not sure it's to everybody's taste.

And it wouldn't go and my house at all.

It would work if it was a sort of penthouse apartment

or a loft overlooking the river, but not really in my Regency house.

But that's why I was drawn to it, I think.

Some of the bidders liked that sofa too, but only for sitting on, because it remained unsold.

Today's auction is moving along at quite a pace, and we don't have long

to wait before Carol's next lot goes before the room.

It's the box of early 20th century crystallite snooker balls.

They are in their original box, which I think's a very sweet touch.

And they are Burroughes & Watts, which in the snooker world is a very good old maker.

And a lot of the collectors of snooker memorabilia,

-snooker equipment, they'll pay literally a king's ransom for a good Burroughes & Watts scoreboard.

-OK.

Sadly, you haven't got one of those. You have the balls, but it's a good maker, good pedigree.

£30 for the lot? £30?

£20? I'm bid at £20.

Give me 22? And £20? At £20?

-Are we done at £20?

-£20.

-Oh, come on.

-No...

All finished at £20? 22. Do you want 25?

25, 28, 28, 30.

At £28, do you want 30? At £28.

At £28. Your last shot at £28. 28 and going. Your bid, sir.

Well, almost got there.

-£28.

-Not too bad.

-No, I suppose not, John.

I thought we were going to get a king's ransom!

-Yeah, I know, that's what you said.

-I did have a look and there were a few cracks.

Oh, now you tell us.

They were a collector's lot.

If you can afford a snooker table, you'd get yourself a nice shiny set of balls.

-These would be on display.

-Anyway, moving swiftly on.

We get where you're coming from, John.

All we ask is that you don't keep getting our hopes up like that.

The snooker fans may not be out in their droves, but we're really

hoping that the music lovers are tuning in.

Because there is a strong and jaunty theme linking each of our remaining lots.

We kick off with a signed picture of the Kinks frontman Ray Davies.

John valued it at 40 to £80.

At £20? One bid at 20. Give me 22?

-Come on. Oh, come on.

-22, 25, 28, 28, 30. 32.

32? 35, 38, 40, 42. Bid at the table at £40. At £40.

Are we done at £40?

Last chance, going at £40. At £40? Sold at £40 and gone.

£40. Well, that's on the money, isn't it?

Right at the bottom end there.

-Maybe we should have put a reserve on that one.

-Do you think?

Sad to see it go for that.

Oh dear. Carol's really disappointed with that, despite the poster achieving John's lower estimate.

But we've worked out where all the music collectors are hiding, which is good news.

Could they have been saving their hard-earned cash for the Elvis stamps, I wonder?

Just remind me where you got these from.

I bought them at a charity auction.

My sister's a big Elvis fan and she took me to Graceland.

We'd just come back from there, so it was to remind us of the trip, really.

I love Elvis, I love having icons around my house.

-Yes, and now you've got John.

-And now I've got John.

A poor substitute, I know!

Start me at £50 please.

Yes! Good man.

At 55, 60, 5, 70, 5.

He came up and had a chat earlier about the background to it.

-He's a fan.

-At £80, 85. Are you saying no?

At £80. Your bid, sir, £80.

At £80? Last chance, going at £80.

Oh, our bottom estimate.

-£80, are you happy with that?

-Yeah. As long as he's a fan, I don't mind.

That's more like it. A happy buyer, a happy seller and, as it sold mid-estimate, a happy expert.

Pink Floyd, Mick Jagger and The Who are among

the starry names in Carol's record collection, under the hammer next.

I expect our very own rocker John Cameron wouldn't mind

getting his hands on them, but that's against the rules.

Collectors are looking for early pressings, they are looking for the big names.

And they don't get much bigger than Pink Floyd and Mick Jagger and Buddy Holly.

I don't think 70 to £100 is a lot of money when you look at what's there, but you just don't know.

You need to have the right buyer. It is a real niche collecting area.

-Do you think we've got them in today?

-We'll soon find out.

£50 please. Bid at £50.

At £50, say 55?

55, 60, 5, 70, 5, 80, 5.

-90, 5?

-Yes, yes!

-To 100!

-Going at £90? Are you out?

Are we done this time at £90?

-100!

-£90 and going, all done.

At £90, your bid, sir.

Yeah!

-Well done.

-Rock'n'roll!

-£90, are you happy with that? That's great, isn't it?

Wow, what a great result, and Carol's delighted with that.

Just £10 shy of the top estimate, proof that vinyl collecting is still alive and well.

And long may that continue.

We have just one lot left to sell today, and it's a unique item with great provenance.

For Carol, it's a lot that has sentimental value too, as it reminds her of her old mum.

It's the golf putter which belonged to Mr Moonlight himself, the legendary Frankie Vaughan.

I think we should leave it to Carol to let the bidders know the inside track.

Now our last lot is the Frankie Vaughan golf club.

How do you feel about selling this?

Oh, it's going for a good cause, it's for Nina's charity.

I didn't mean selling it, I meant how do you feel about

selling it and going up on the podium and selling it?

Tom'll stay up there with you.

-You don't have to.

-I'm much better at bidding for things than doing it.

-We all are, darling!

-You've been to enough charity auctions, you know how it's done.

-I'll give it a go.

-Good. All right then.

Well, we'll be standing here cheering on the crowds, OK, so go up and talk. Tom will help you out.

-OK.

-Go on then.

Now I can say that it definitely belonged to Frankie Vaughan.

I met Frankie Vaughan and why I bought this was because he was my mum's favourite.

He was my mum's pin-up, she absolutely adored him. £50, please.

Any more? 60, 55.

I can't see a thing. Anywhere else?

-60 there.

-60, thank you.

-65. Five over there. 70 there.

70.

-75.

-75.

-80.

-80.

-85.

-85.

-90.

-90.

-95.

-95.

We're doing really well! 100.

Yeah, keep going. Where's the cheering?!

£100. We've got £100 here.

I want 110. Come on, it's only 10 more.

£110 anywhere?

No. OK, I think my lovely man over here has got it for £100.

-Thank you very much.

-Excellent, well done. Thank you.

-Thank you.

That's good news, isn't it?

Well done, Carol. £100 is bang in the middle of John's estimate.

And it's the perfect way to finish off what's been a thrilling sale.

She wanted 400 to £500, so I think she'll enjoy hearing my news.

-How about if we said £517? There we are!

-Wow.

-Are you happy with that?

-Oh, that's fantastic.

-I'm really, really pleased. It's a really good result.

-Thank you so much.

It's been fantastic. It's been a rock and roll experience.

The money Carol has raised will go to a charity which helps children

with physical disabilities develop skills for independent living.

Carol's friend Nina set it up after her son, Christopher, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 18 months.

Now 18 years old, he's looking forward to a career in the music business.

I would like to be a songwriter when I grow up.

Lots of education has made me as independent as possible,

and I hope it helps other children with physical disabilities.

I'm really happy that we've made as much money as we did

cos this is going to go a long way to help with the Whoopsadaisy charity.

It's something very close to my heart so I'm thrilled.

Well, how fantastic for Carol and her chosen charity.

Great to see all that money being made at auction.

Now, if you've got a good cause you'd like to raise some funds for, or a project that you have in mind

and you want to sell your antiques and collectables at auction, why not get in touch with Cash In The Attic?

You'll find more details and an application form at our website:

And I'll see you again next time.

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