Buckland Flog It!

Sandwiched between the tranquil Tavy Valley and Dartmoor National Park

is this magnificent building, dating back to the 13th century.

Welcome to Buckland Abbey, welcome to 'Flog It!'

Founded by the Cistercian order of monks,

the monastery was disbanded by Henry VIII in the English Reformation.

The mid-16th century

saw the Abbey converted into a comfortable house and,

for nearly 400 years, it passed through the centuries as a private residence.

In the 1940s,

the National Trust and Plymouth City Council took over the running

of Buckland Abbey and opened it up to the public.

I'm rather pleased to say, for one day only,

it's our nerve centre.

We've got a magnificent queue here, it snakes all around the Abbey.

The sun is shining, everybody is in a great mood. Somebody is going home with a lot of money

and it could be you.

Could be your mum, fingers crossed, high five.

Our experts today are the lovable,

and maybe just a little eccentric, David Barby.

-Does it feel funny someone writing on your back?

-It's very nice, actually.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

And the utterly outraged Catherine Southon.

Why on earth did your mother put him in the dishwasher?

Because she's a clean freak.

-So tell the camera, go on.

-I just love his suit.

Among the heirlooms is a classic car boot find

and at auction it makes 20,000 percent profit for its lucky owners.

But which one is it?

This quirky necklace?

This Grecian cameo brooch?

Or this pair of English Delft plates?

The crowds have descended on our little corner of Dartmoor,

so, without further ado, let's herald the beginning of this beautiful day

and get the show on the road.

PLAYS BUGLE

That's it.

David likes his bling and he's found a classic piece.

I simply adore cameos and, June, you've brought a lovely example.

-Is this a family heirloom?

-Yes, it is.

Why are you contemplating selling?

-It's a little heavy to wear.

-Really?

-Really.

-Have you tried pinning it on your lapel?

-Yes.

-It just droops forward?

It does, yes.

-It is rather a large one, isn't it?

-It's a big piece.

Now, most cameos you find have a portrait head.

So it's unusual when you get a scene like this

and do you know what the scene is?

I have tried to find out but perhaps you can tell me.

Well, I think you've got Mars and Venus,

and I think the offspring was Cupid?

So here we have Cupid and he's being handed some arrows,

which are being sharpened by this blacksmith in the background.

It's a very nice classical scene.

If there's any fault with the brooch,

it's the fact that the detail on the carving has been worn.

So it's what we would term as a little tired.

A lot of the facial features are lost.

The date of this probably is of the mid-to-late Victorian period

and it's mounted in nine carat gold.

It was considered of such value, that somebody put a little safety chain on the side there

so it wouldn't fall off, even if it drooped forward.

Yes. Certainly my great-grandmother is photographed wearing it there.

Oh, right, on those high necked...

On a very high necked, frilled blouse.

Yes, rather like, was it not Queen Alexandra that set the fashion for that?

-Yes.

-Yes. So this is a handsome piece.

-I would think the value is probably round about £100-£150.

-That's nice.

And I think we've got to play a little bit of a canny game

and tuck the reserve under the £100.

So I am saying we should put a £90 reserve on it.

-Super.

-June, I shall be at the auction, I shall be standing next to you.

-I hope it sells for a darn sight more than I suggested.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, indeed.

And so do we. Hail the drama of the saleroom, I love it.

Now, Catherine has got a double act on her hands.

Lovely to see you both, thank you for coming along to 'Flog It!' today

and bringing along something I feel very passionate about,

even though I'm not quite ready to use them, walking sticks.

Where did you get these from?

My mother gave them to me about 20 years ago.

She said one day, "I've got a couple of walking sticks,

"are you interested?

"Would you like them?" and I said, "Yes, please."

I really don't know where she got them from

or how long she'd had them.

Never seen them as a child or anything like that?

Not that I'm aware of.

You've brought your friend along, Trevor. Nice to meet you, Trevor.

-Hello.

-Hi, there. Are you interested in walking sticks?

Not really, shall I tell the truth?

Tell the truth, do you like them?

No, it's not my sort of cup of tea, I might need one shortly, you never know.

Well, I hope not. Let's just have a look at them, individually.

I like this because it's got this nice little carved figure of a man.

He is, may I say, quite crudely carved,

and I wouldn't say of the finest quality.

Nevertheless, a nice novel figure

and something that's a little bit quirky and a little bit unusual

but, for me, this is the number one.

-It is superb quality.

-It is.

You probably know that the handle is ivory.

Sometimes these are bone,

and the way to tell if it's bone or ivory,

the bone would often have the little flecks in it, to show that that is bone.

This has just got this wonderful patina,

this is something, you just can't fake that.

-Yes.

-I mean, it is absolutely beautiful.

It's got a lovely feel to it and it really does tell me

this is probably late 19th century.

Pre-1947, and therefore it is something we are able to sell.

And, to top it all, it has been inlaid all around with what looks like, to me,

little lignum vitae, which is a type of hardwood, flowers.

Right.

Sadly, it has got a bit of a crack going round it

but, just lifting it up, you can tell that that is a lovely quality piece.

The thing is, where do you display them in your house?

This is it, they are in a cupboard, I'm afraid.

Never had them out so, you know,

at least if somebody buys it, who's a collector,

at least they'll appreciate it and it will be added to their collection.

This is by far my favourite,

and I think this is really where the money is,

but I would certainly sell them together

because I think they belong together.

Right.

I'm going to suggest that we put an estimate on of £150-£200

with a reserve of £100.

-How does that sound to you?

-That sounds fine.

-Are you happy with that?

-I am, yes.

-Now, are you going to be coming along to the auction?

-No, unfortunately I am on holiday that week.

-Oh, right, OK.

I hope they do very well at auction and I hope, for both of you,

that you'll be able to have some money and perhaps go out

and have a good celebratory drink together.

-Thank you.

-How does that sound?

-That sounds good.

-That's good.

Sounds good.

I'm sure they'll do well enough for Pete and Trev to enjoy a night out.

-Possibly.

-If the price is right.

-That's right.

Everyone wants to know, in this queue, what's it worth

and that's what it's all about really, isn't it?

Meanwhile, David's deep in conversation with Martin and Vicky.

Have you come far, do you live locally?

Fairly locally, from Torpoint.

Torpoint. It's very much in a sort of naval area, isn't it?

Yes.

-Are you involved in the Navy, or what?

-I'm in the Navy, yes.

Yes, I thought you were, actually, you looked far too fit.

-Thank you.

-It's all that good eating.

-Do you collect teapots?

-No.

My mother went to Australia to live, for a short period of time,

and there wasn't enough room, basically, to take it with what she was taking,

so she left a few items behind with myself.

I think this is very nice, I love the period, which is the late Georgian period,

and, in particular, you mentioned your mother

and she had an idea that it was, what, a...?

A Nelson teapot.

-Why did she say Nelson?

-I don't know.

You obviously haven't looked at this teapot in great detail, have you?

-No.

-No.

-You obviously haven't.

Because, right on the front panel there,

there's a little banner that says Trafalgar.

-So you can date that, to what date?

-The Battle of Trafalgar?

-Yes, what date?

-I don't know, to be honest.

Martin, you're in the Navy.

Oh, no, cut that one out. Don't even go there.

Don't embarrass me like that.

1805, yes. So all this is very much in the style prevalent at that period, which was neoclassicism.

What I like are these panels

and the sort of irregular shape of the object itself.

Where it was made? Castleford, Yorkshire.

They specialised in this sort of stoneware teapot.

You also get black versions which we call black basalt.

This is in a white with this wonderful blue enamel.

It's absolutely a superb example.

We've got a little bit of damage.

There's nibbling on the spout there

but I think we can forget about that because of the Trafalgar banner.

Anything to do with Nelson is very, very desirable.

So, allowing for the nibble,

I'm going to put this teapot at about £80-£120.

It could do more but it's a nice collector's item, I like it.

I would covet it, if it was mine.

This is part of your naval history going, Martin, Battle of Trafalgar.

-You're getting rid of it, it's your heritage.

-But I wasn't there.

I can let it go.

OK, so three items found

and ready to go off to auction for our lucky owners.

This is where the journey starts, this is where it gets exciting.

Stay tuned, we're off to auction.

And here's a quick recap of what we're taking.

June's cameo, with its classic Grecian scene, charmed David.

Peter's walking sticks are on the move

and should hopefully give the two friends a night on the town.

Ahoy there, all tea drinking naval memorabilia collectors out there.

This Trafalgar teapot is sure to tempt you.

It's time to put those valuations to the test

and this is where we're doing it,

just on the outskirts of Plymouth at Eldreds Auction Rooms.

Let's go inside and catch up with our owners

because I know they're really nervous.

Fingers crossed we're going to have some good results.

The auctioneer today is Anthony Eldred.

First up, it's June's cameo brooch which would complement any outfit.

-June, good luck.

-Thank you.

Let's hope the bidders shell out on this cameo brooch.

-It's the neoclassical style, I like it.

-So do I.

Let's find out what they think, shall we? Here we go.

It's a large shell cameo brooch, classical scene.

There it is, a lot of bids for it.

I'm bid £180 for it.

£180.

190, 200, £200, against you all.

210, 220, 230, 240.

£240, still against you all in the room.

At £240, bidding's on the book. Are you all done then? At £240.

-That's lovely.

-That was great.

-Fabulous quality, though.

-Thank you.

I thought, because it was so rubbed, there wouldn't be the interest, but obviously there was.

-Mmm, very nice.

-It's amazing.

What a fantastic result for our first item.

Now, it's up to Catherine and I to urge Peter's walking sticks along

while Peter is on his holidays.

-There's two of them, I really like the colonial one.

-Oh, it's beautiful.

That should, hopefully, be worth around £100 just on its own.

I hope so. I just love all the inlay, all the way down, it's very pretty,

very nicely made and because it's got the ivory on the top and the bottom,

I just thought, that's beautiful quality.

It's a winner. Will it walk out the saleroom? We're just about find out.

They're going under the hammer now. Here we go.

It's an Indian or colonial hardwood walking stick

-and there's another stick with it.

-Buy one, get one free.

£110 bid, at 110.

120, 130, 140,

150, 160, at 160 now.

170, 180, 190, 200.

-That's good.

-And ten, 220, 230.

-We haven't stopped, yet.

-240, 250,

260, 270, 280,

at 280, in the doorway.

Last chance then, at £280.

-£280.

-Excellent.

-Bang.

That's a sold sound.

They really liked that.

He had no idea, he thought they were only worth a few pounds,

-so that's brilliant.

-That's a nice surprise.

Hopefully, someone can get in touch with him whilst he is on holiday and give him the good news.

I think Peter will be pleasantly surprised with that result.

Now, all hands on deck. OK, it's now time for tea.

Don't disappear to the kitchen and put the kettle on.

We're about to sell our Trafalgar teapot, belonging to Vicky and Martin.

Unfortunately, Vicky cannot be with us today but we do have Martin

and our expert David Barby.

-I know she's at work, isn't she?

-She is, yes.

-What does she do for a living?

-She's a teaching assistant.

Great job, great job. OK, at least you're here.

You can say goodbye to the teapot. We are looking at around £80-£120.

-Here we are.

-Here we go.

Mid-19th century Trafalgar teapot

and I'm bid £85 for it, against you all at 85.

Straight in there, first bid.

90, 95, 100, and five, 110,

15, 120, five, 130,

at 130, five, 140.

They do like this, you see.

160, 170.

They've picked up on it all day.

Thank you, Paul, for the encouragement.

200, 210, 220,

£230 here, on the right.

At £230, finished at 230.

What a great result. £230.

That was good.

You've got to be happy, you're smiling?

I am happy, yes, I was worried that it wouldn't make...

The reserve.

Yeah. Well, it certainly exceeded that, didn't it?

You see, anything can happen in a saleroom.

It certainly can, you've proved that.

That concludes the first visit to our auction today.

We are coming back here later on in the show,

so don't go away, there could be one or two surprises.

Now, whilst we're here in Devon, I took the opportunity to get out on to the rugged moors

because there's a rather unusual hobby that's been played out since Victorian times.

And I got to have a go. Take a look at this.

More than two centuries ago,

the wild lands of Dartmoor were seen by outsiders as mysterious and impenetrable.

No thanks to its changeable microclimate

that would bring the mists and fog across the moors.

Stagecoaches kept their curtains closed during the journey

through the mists.

The eerie atmosphere was increased by the construction of a prison

in 1806, at nearby Princetown.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was so inspired, or spooked, by the wilderness

that this was the setting for The Hounds Of The Baskervilles.

By the late 18th century, attitudes began to change

and that's thanks to the popularity of the romantic poets,

who eulogised and waxed lyrical over the beauty of this untamed landscape.

That, coupled together with the advent of the railways

and turnpike roads opening up the region,

it made the moor accessible to visitors from nearby towns.

It made the place a destination rather than a place to avoid.

But I'm here today, to try out something a little bit different,

something I've not really come across before,

and that's the unusual hobby of letterboxing.

Letterboxing was developed for the very first tourists on Dartmoor

and it's basically a giant treasure hunt.

You follow the clues to find the hidden letterboxes

and it takes in all the 1,000 square kilometres of The National Park.

I'm here on an orienteering-style treasure hunt which is, basically, a hunt all over Dartmoor,

as far as you can see here,

using map references and clues looking for hidden boxes.

Now, traditionally, once you'd found one of these boxes

you would leave your calling card with your details on it.

So the next person to find that box would see your card

and send it to you in the post.

He would leave his card and the next person would find that

and it goes on and on and on.

Some traditional aspects of letterboxing have been kept alive

but it's not necessary to leave your personal details today.

What you have now is an individual stamp which you find in each box,

you collect the stamps and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

It all started here in 1854, with James Perrott,

a local guide from Chagford, who took early tourists deep into the moor.

He built a small cairn of rocks at Cranmere Pool,

a popular walking destination,

where he placed a stone jar which has been recognised as the very first letterbox.

150 years later it's still going strong and Roger Paul,

co-chair of the prestigious Dartmoor 100 Club,

is going to initiate me into the secrets of this historic pastime.

I've been given all I need in my rucksack,

so where do we go first, what do we do?

-Well, we need some clues and a map.

-Right.

Fortunately, I've got the clue book, I've also got the map of the area.

And, where are we? What are we looking at?

-We're at Shilstone Tor, in grid 65.

-OK.

We look in the book and it gives us a clue for the tor.

So the tor's 172 degrees and the white chimney is 86.

-Is that that white chimney over there?

-So that's the white chimney

that you can see in the trees.

-Yeah.

-So if you look through the compass.

That's dead on, oh, it's just under 80 degrees.

Right, now take a bearing on the tor.

-That's the tor, there?

-That's the tor which we're working on.

That says 150 degrees.

So we've got to move over that way at least 25 degrees, haven't we?

-I see how this works now.

-So if we walk towards the chimney.

-Yeah.

-Now.

If we head up towards that way.

By keeping two landmarks in constant view,

we can calculate our route to the letterbox.

-There's our chimney again.

-Is that about right?

-It's about 83, I think we needed...

-86.

And we need 172 on the tor.

Virtually 172, 173.

-So we're spot on.

-So we're spot on.

So if we keep tracking this way. OK?

Continually adjusting our route, we can hone in on our target.

-That's about right still, isn't it?

-We're OK.

Just double check that for me. COWS MOO

Oh, the cows know.

Do you know what? That is spot on, I'm not going to argue with that.

-So it's got be just about here.

-It's got to be around here somewhere.

Right, now the rest of the clue says the box is under a boulder,

a backward L-shaped.

That's a boulder.

That's a boulder but what is it? To me that's a triangle.

Yeah, it is a triangle. So that's not the boulder.

-That's not the boulder.

-There's one there, look.

Actually, look, the ground's been well trodden around here.

-That's L-shaped.

-That's a backward L.

-There you go.

-Do you want to have a look underneath?

-Yeah.

-I can't see a box.

-Hands and knees.

-Where's the gloves?

-Hands and knees.

You're like a schoolboy running around a playground, aren't you?

-How big is this box, Roger?

-It's a little white pill pot.

-Ah, right, OK, I was expecting Tupperware.

-No.

There it is. I didn't know what I was looking for.

If you had told me it was going to be a little box, I'd have found it.

Right, come on then.

See if it's the right one.

There's the stamp.

So, what you need to do is get your stamping gear out,

which is probably hidden away.

-I've got a special rubber stamp that we've had made.

-Well done.

A bit of blue 'Flog It!' ink.

You want to put your 'Flog It!' stamp on here.

-There we go.

-Yeah, that's very good.

-Brilliant.

So we leave and take a stamp. Mission accomplished.

How did you get involved in this and when did you start?

Well, we started over 25 years ago now, with a school walk,

with our children.

We found a couple of letterboxes, thought, "This is good."

It kept the children active,

they didn't get bored and we just went on from there.

What advice can you give anybody that wants to take up letterboxing,

if they want to come to Dartmoor

and they want to find boxes like we found today?

The thing to do is to buy a charity walk.

These are accessible in shops around the area, are they?

Charity walks are generally sold through the 100 Club,

or through a website or through the charity's own website, which you can buy for £2 or £3.

You've got to get one of those.

Get one of those and it will give you a trail of say ten or 12 letterboxes,

over about two or three miles, which will take you

anywhere between two and six hours to do.

And because you are searching all the time for a letterbox you invariably come across some more.

So you might have clues for 12

but you might go home with 16, 18, or 22 letterboxes.

-Wow, a lot of ground to cover.

-That's right.

-It's going to keep you fit, isn't it?

-Put these away now.

-99 to go and I get one of these?

-That's right.

Not before, and you can have a badge.

And now it's time for 'Flog It!' to add to the 150-year tradition.

This is where we can place our 'Flog It!' letterbox, isn't it?

What do you want me to do, Roger?

If you give me the letterbox,

check that everything's in it.

-You've got it in a nice watertight container.

-Yes.

-Perfect container for this.

-Right.

-That's for you.

-So you're going to go off now.

-I shall go away and site it.

And site it and then, I guess, log co-ordinates and the bearings.

-That's correct.

-There you go. OK.

Then, I'll put that on our website.

-Right and we'll put it on the 'Flog It!' website.

-Great.

-That's it.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, what a wonderful day out.

-Away we go, bye. I'll see you again.

And even I don't know where he's going to hide that.

I've got to look up all the bearings as well, just like you have.

That's the way it works.

Well, this is certainly no outdated tradition, I can tell you.

It started as one Victorian man's initiative to get people out and about,

to explore the moors, get them out in the fresh air,

and 150 years later it's still fulfilling its aim.

I bet James Perrott never expected the popularity to grow

to the extent where there are now some 3,000 letterboxes dotted all around these moors.

Wherever you look you're going to find one,

if you've got the coordinates, and today I got my first stamp so it's a start.

Are you tempted?

The crowds are out in force at our glorious venue Buckland Abbey.

Let's see what David's found, or has he?

Diane, I'm sitting in front of an empty table, now what's the reason.

Well, David, I was wearing it.

This is what caught your eye in the queue.

-That is absolutely fantastic and you want to sell that, don't you?

-Yes, I do.

I'm going to have great pleasure in submitting that to auction for you.

Let's have a look at it in detail.

-There you are.

-Oh, dear, that is an absolute knockout.

To get the full insect,

the original cord, with all these beads as well, is remarkable.

Where's it been?

It's been probably in my grandmother's jewellery box for years.

She died about 15 years ago and left it to me,

and it's been in mine since then

because it's so fragile I've been worried about wearing it.

-So you've worn this specially for today?

-Yes I have, I was showing off.

Well, I think it's fantastic.

Now, what date do you think it comes from?

Well, I always think of the flapper girls,

the 1920s, myself but I don't really know.

Go back a little bit earlier.

Go back to the Grande Epoch, right,

the sort of late 19th coming into the early 20th century, France.

-Think in terms of the actress Sarah Bernhardt.

-Yes.

-Think in terms of the posters of Alphonse Mucha.

-Yes.

Wayward girls with hair all over the place.

This is very much part and parcel of that period.

So it's carved horn for the main structure of the beastie here

and the actual framework is also horn.

We have two horn beads, as well,

and these are glass beads that looked like jade.

So all the elements there are for lesser value components,

people looked at it from the artistic point of view.

This is so lovely.

To survive in its original form, with the original cord and beads here,

makes it a rare item.

They may pay up to £400 or £500 for this at auction

-but I would want to protect it with a reserve roundabout £350.

-Marvellous.

Now, Diane, it's a lot of money,

what are you going to do with it, what are you going to buy?

I shall probably buy myself a gold necklace

and, if it runs enough money, some earrings as well.

You never know the auction we are going to,

in the jewellery section they might have a gold necklace and earrings.

Yes, that's true.

If you buy at auction you'll buy at the wholesaler.

I'll keep my eyes open on the day, David.

OK, I wish you the best of luck on two counts, first of all,

we sell this for a good price and you get what you wanted.

Thank you very much.

Top tip, David,

and here's another unique item that will be going under the hammer later.

Sue, thank you very much for bringing this today.

As soon as I see this lovely green velvet

I know that we are going to have something of quality.

So shall we take a look inside?

Straight away we see a little set of shamrock buttons.

Now, we're an extremely long way away from Ireland here,

where did you get these from?

My mother originated from Ireland

and they were given to her as a present by her boyfriend in

what I believe is the 1930s.

So your mother lived in Ireland?

My mother was born in Ireland,

spent the first 18 years of her life in Ireland, and then came to London to work.

So a boyfriend gave them to her as a present or something?

So I'm told, yes. The boyfriend disappeared and she met my father.

-Oh, right.

-That was history, so they say.

Did your father know about them, did he have an interest in them,

or were they always...

No, they were always in the drawer, they didn't get paraded, I don't think.

I would like to have a look at these, individually,

because I am guessing, yes, that they are probably silver and indeed they are.

-Can you see there, the marks?

-Yes.

Now, we've got the anchor that tells me they've been assayed in Birmingham.

Then, we have got the date letter C,

which tells us they were made, or assayed, around 1902.

For me, what is just the icing on the cake is this lovely little shamrock pattern

and it's actually Connemara marble,

which is a type of marble which comes from Ireland.

I think they are so pretty and so delightful.

I can't believe that you don't want to keep them any more.

-I can see you like green.

-I do like green.

From your lovely outfit and your earrings.

It's just that they have no use.

I can't imagine me ever sewing them on anything and wearing them

and they are just sat in the drawer.

Well, I hope that, if we take them to auction,

people will love them just as much as I have because they certainly caught my eye today.

-I hope so too.

-Very, very pretty.

I must admit they are rather tricky to put a price on

but I would imagine in the region of about £80-£120.

How does that sound to you?

-That sounds fine to me.

-Does that sound OK?

-That sounds fine.

-Would you be happy?

-The reserve.

-The reserve, now.

I would quite like to put £60 on.

-I was hoping it might be a little higher.

-What were you hoping for?

-I was hoping £80 as a minimum.

-£80, erm...

do you definitely want £80, because I'd rather put it at £60 just to give them that little...

I would like the £80.

Well, if you would like the £80, I'm very happy to do that.

Shall we say £80-£120 and £80

and let's hope everyone gets just as excited as we have today.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you for coming along to beautiful Buckland Abbey.

Catherine is queen of the barterers but June stood firm.

Everyone's having so much fun I think it's time I had a go.

I'm rather fascinated by this.

-I recognise the profile of the Duke of Wellington.

-Yes.

Look at that, there he is.

Now, this commemorates all the campaigns that he fought in,

from 1808 right up to 1815, the Battle of Waterloo.

Which I, when I was a little lad, used to paint up the lead soldiers

-and used to do military modelling campaigns and wargaming.

-Did you?

Yes, with all the old chaps that were in Kingston-on-Thames,

in the Military Modelling Society.

We actually re-enacted the whole of the Battle of Waterloo.

This is wonderful, you know this is bronze, don't you?

-No, I didn't know what it was.

-With brass around the edges.

If I open this up, inside, hopefully, is it complete, do you know?

-As far as I know it's complete.

-All of his British victories.

Look at this, Victoria June 21, 1813.

You know what I'm looking for, straightaway.

-For Waterloo, I expect.

-For Waterloo, yes.

-It's there.

How did you come by this, how did your husband come by it?

-He didn't come by it, it's my uncle.

-Oh, it's your uncle's, is it?

-Yes.

There we are, look, Waterloo June 18, 1815. Isn't that special?

There's a bit of history here and it's very, very collectable.

Well, for people who are interested in battles and things

but I'm afraid that's not my liking.

It's a bit of the boys thing, isn't it really?

-It is.

-Any idea of value?

-No, none at all.

I was told that if I contacted some museum or other,

that was interested in that way, the Duke of Wellington's things...

The Duke of Wellington does have a museum.

They said they would probably be interested in it but I didn't do anything about it.

It's Apsley House, and it's called Number One, London, the most beautiful mansion house.

It's full of memorabilia from the Duke of Wellington.

I think, if we put this into auction,

it will realise somewhere in the region of £50-£100.

-Fine.

-I think that's a sensible price.

The condition is superb on this, it's museum quality.

Of course, if you hung onto it for another three or four years,

we've got the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo coming up in 2015.

-I probably won't be around them.

-Oh, don't say that, of course you will.

I can make more use of the money now.

I can give it to the grandchildren now.

-0K, let's put it in auction, shall we? At £50-£100.

-OK.

-All right.

Thank you, Doris, you have made my day.

And that brings us to our final valuation.

Of all the objects that have come along today,

I think these will be my favourite.

-Really?

-Are these some very precious family heirlooms?

Not really, no.

They came from a car boot sale.

From a car boot sale, how recent?

Two to three years.

Two to three years.

-How much did you pay for them?

-20p each.

20p each?

Yes, I'm afraid so.

I can't believe that.

Rather expensive, don't you think?

Where was I? I never get these bargains.

These are English Delft and we call them English Delft

because they are tin-glazed enamel

based on the process developed at Delft, in Holland.

First of all, they made their appearance in England

way back in the 17th century.

Then, they were taken over by English potters

who learned how to produce these tin-glazed wares.

These are interesting because they have a sort of Chinese element.

Yes.

Now, if you think in terms of the early part of the 18th century, when these were made,

the influence came from Chinese porcelains

which were brought into Europe by the East India Company.

So a lot of potters realised that the very expensive porcelains

were fetching vast amounts of money in London.

So they tried to emulate those Oriental porcelains

by decorating these pots in a Chinese style.

So from a distance they would look like very expensive Oriental porcelain

but these are quite simple pieces of pottery.

Now, often people are put off because of the damage to the edge,

which often is referred to as...

-Nibbling.

-Nibbling.

This is only natural because the glaze,

which is very brittle on the edge, would be knocked.

So it just splintered off.

I think they're lovely

and at 20p each I will give you a profit now at 40 pence each.

Oh. I don't think so.

Shall I had two more noughts on

and I think they ought to be around about £40 each.

-Right.

-Right.

-That sort of price range.

So, if they go up for sale, we'll put, I think,

a reserve of £60 on them, let's not be greedy.

-No. We don't want to be greedy.

-And hope we get up to about £80, if not more.

What a good eye you've got. What a good eye.

Oh, good.

Well, that's our final four items

and here's a quick reminder of what we're taking to auction.

That's unlike any hornet I have ever seen but Diane's bug necklace

certainly caught David's eye.

Fashionistas, stand out from the crowd and accessorise your outfit

with these beautiful shamrock buttons.

Doris's memorabilia of the Duke of Wellington brought the memories flooding back to me

and I'm sure they'll do well.

20 pence each, that's alarming.

Well over 200 years old,

this pair of Delft plates are an important relic of England's ceramic history.

Back at the saleroom in Plymouth, let's see if auctioneer Anthony Eldred

is as entranced as David by Diane's necklace.

-We've got £400-£500 on this.

-Mmm.

Is it a hornet, because I think it looks more like a fly?

-Well, we think it looks more like a fly.

-Do you?

-Yes.

-Have you catalogued it is a fly?

-We have.

But then having a fly around your neck as a necklace.

I don't think you would want hornet around your neck either.

-Would a fly sell well?

-I think it will be fine.

It's not the fact it's a fly, I think.

-Estimate is probably all of the money I think.

-OK.

-About right.

It's horn and glass, so it's basically...

I think what'll sell it is possibly if somebody takes the view it is by George Pierre,

-who we think it might be by, certainly his style.

-OK.

I think it's the right money, I don't think it's worth a lot more.

-No.

-Hope I'm wrong.

-OK.

Let's see if there's a sting in the tail, or it might just fly away.

-Oh, dear, now that was dreadful, wasn't it?

-Terrible.

Right, now it's the car boot find of the century.

This is a cracking lot, Julie and Phil, I must say.

A proper, proper antique.

A dealer's lot, in fact, a pair of 18th-century Delft plates.

Chinese ceramics have gone through the roof, you can't afford to invest in them now,

especially if you want to start a collection.

-Oh.

-Definitely this kind of thing you can.

A pair of little Delft plates

and I'm bid £65,

against you all in the room at £65.

70, five, 80, five. At £85, then.

At £85, against you all. Done at £85.

You see, it is the right time to buy.

Very affordable.

Someone did get a bargain there because they're 18th century and they're a pair

but, I tell you what, that is the thing to look out for in future.

-Yes, but you got a better bargain, didn't you?

-Yeah, absolutely.

Believe it or not, that's a 20,000 percent profit.

Absolutely extraordinary.

Now, it's Susan's shamrock buttons.

Classic auction lot, six shamrock buttons, beautiful,

hallmarked Birmingham 1902.

Quality, quality, quality.

Why are you selling them, you should be wearing them.

Well, no, my mother was given them by a boyfriend before she met my father.

-They were always in the drawer.

-They are stunning.

-They're too good to be hidden away.

-Yes.

They should be on a jacket somewhere, you know, three a side.

-Nice green jacket.

-Exactly.

Well, let's find out what the bidders think, shall we? Here we go.

A set of six silver buttons,

inlaid with green hard stone, shamrock motifs.

There they are.

I'm bid £60 for them,

against you all at 60, five, 70, five,

80, five, 90, five, at £95,

100, and five, 110, 15, at £115, 120 now.

Fresh bidding. At £120, at 120,

have you all finished then? At £120.

-£120. Well done.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, thank you for bringing those in.

I hope they go to a good home and, do you know what?

I hope they get sewn onto something.

And then your antiques can go wherever you go.

It is my turn now with Doris's military memorabilia.

Going under the hammer, we've the 19th-century printed paper tokens

commemorating Wellington's victories.

-It's a lovely little lot and I think we should do £100, Doris, I hope so.

-Do you?

Yeah, it's great to see you again, look we are all in purple or mauve today, it's quite nice, isn't it?

Right, let's find out what this lot here in the auction room

think of our Wellington memorabilia.

Here we go.

A little set of 12 19th-century Napoleonic printed paper tokens.

They all seem to be there. There it is, and several bids for it.

I'm bit £80 to start, at 80, five, 90, five.

-Straight in.

-That's good.

-100.

At £100 then still against you all 105, 110, 15, 120, five, 130,

five, 140, and five, at 145 here.

That's a lot more.

Finished then, 145.

£145.

-The old Iron Duke will be happy with that one.

-He will.

Isn't that good?

Yeah, well done and thank you for bringing that in

because that brought lots of memories for me.

I can crow to my husband because he said it was not worth bringing it in.

Not worth bringing in, he said, well, there you go.

If you've got anything like that, any old curio, we want to see it.

-You just don't know what things are worth.

-Can be surprising.

Don't throw them out, bring them to 'Flog It!'

Just like Diane did with her granny's necklace

which is about to go under the hammer, now.

-Diane, good luck.

-Thank you very much, Paul.

This is a stunning necklace.

I had a chat to the auctioneer earlier, at the preview day

when it was nice and quiet.

He couldn't make his mind up if it was a hornet or a fly.

I kind of looked at it and thought it could be a fly,

but we don't know, there could be a sting in the tail,

but he's catalogued it as a fly. Did you know that?

Yes, I did know that, he actually sent us a catalogue.

-Will that put people off, do you think?

-I'm not sure. Hopefully not.

-Hopefully not, fingers crossed.

-Fingers crossed.

You've got another nice necklace on, haven't you?

Yes, I don't think it's very special.

Why are you selling this one, this one's so unique?

Well, I've had it in the drawer, it was my grandmother's, for 15 years,

never wore it until the day of 'Flog It!', showing off, wearing it,

and David spied it.

So there.

-Well, we are going to find out if this lot get carried away right now. Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

Nouveau circular pendant,

in the style of George Pierre, several bids for it.

I'm bid £390, against you at £390.

400, 10, 420, 430, at 430 then.

440, 450, 460, 470, at 470,

480, bid 500, 10,

at 510 there.

£510, any more at 510?

Quite sure?

£510 the hammer's gone down.

Well done, you, thank you for bringing quality along.

-Thank you so much.

-That was good, wasn't it?

Good job you spied it, David.

Well, that's it, it's all over for our owners.

As you can see,

the auction is still going on but it's thinning out as I speak.

In fact, that's coming to an end. What a day we have had.

Lots of surprises there. I hope you've enjoyed the show.

If you've got anything you want to sell we would love to see you,

bring it along to one of our valuation days.

Who knows, it could be you in an auction room the next time.

But until then, from Plymouth, it's goodbye.

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