Hertfordshire 55 Flog It!

Today, we're in a place where the old meets the new and they sit together in perfect harmony.

The Ashridge Estate started out life as a medieval monastery and industrious monks built this barn

to teach scripture to passing pilgrims.

Today, 700 years later, it's still a place of learning and pilgrimage.

For one day only, it's home to Flog It.

Our valuation venue today is in Berkhamsted in West Hertfordshire,

nestled between the Dunstable Downs and the Chiltern Hills.

You could say it's the real Watford Gap.

Now, Ashridge House has played host to many distinguished guests over the years -

Oscar Wilde, the Shah of Persia, and in the 16th century, it even belonged to Queen Elizabeth I.

But for today, we're the ones with the keys to the door.

Judging by this massive queue, it looks like

we'll take over the whole house.

Hundreds of people have turned up, laden with antiques and collectables, all after a valuation

-and all eager to get inside. This is now the front of the queue. Ready to go in, everyone?

-Yes!

-Come on then.

And taking up residence at the tables today are our trusty experts, lord of the manor Thomas Plant...

Did you lift this in yourself?

-You've got big muscles.

-Not really.

-No?

-It's stupid.

-What do you mean?

-That's really chunky.

-It is.

-And the lady of the house, Claire Rawle.

-Some seaside postcards.

-Oh!

I don't think you should see these.

From the very small to art on an industrial scale, we've got something for everyone today.

But can you guess whether it's this Tilley lamp or this gold ring

that more than doubles its reserve price?

That is the end of the queue and it's a good job we made an early start today

because hundreds of people means hundreds of antiques to look at. Our experts do have their work cut out.

Let's catch up with them and see who's first at the tables.

Well, David, you have made my day today.

I just love this stuff.

Railway ephemera, some of it really quite early.

Lovely, lovely selection here.

-But this is the tip of the iceberg, I gather.

-It certainly is.

-Oh, wow! There's a whole load more to go with it.

-Oh, yes.

-Excellent.

So tell me a bit about it, how you came by it and your connections with the railway, actually.

I come from a long line of railway men going back to Great-grandfather.

And then both grandfathers worked on the railway,

both my parents, various uncles,

and it was a natural progression for me to become a train driver.

And I'm proud that I'm the first train driver in our family.

-So this is all stuff that's come down through the family?

-No, it's what I've collected over the years

because I've always been interested in railways

and various pieces I've picked up because they were of local interest.

And there was a slight connection because Dad's first job was a telegraph boy

on the London, Midland and Scottish.

-And I managed to pick up an old telegraph.

-Oh, yes.

-That was LMS.

-Then various places where I lived. This was the next station to where we lived.

-Right.

And this one dates from 1855 when the Liverpool and Manchester was only 25 years old.

-So it's about the earliest piece you've got, that one?

-It is, yes.

It's quite interesting because here we have history of railways and what happened

and we're sitting in a house that was built out of the fortune made through canals.

-What did railways do? Saw off the canals, really.

-They certainly did.

So, yeah, historically, a really interesting connection.

You've decided now that you'll part company with your collection?

-Yes...

-Right.

-..because I'm actually building a model railway.

-Oh, are you?

-Yes.

-Now, what gauge are we talking?

-N.

Oh, right, fiddly!

-It's tiny. Oh, right. It's not driven you mad yet then?

-No.

It's a very nice collection. I picked out a few things.

Great Western is my sort of area, God's wonderful railway, of course.

I had to show something from Taunton and Cullompton to Tiverton, all sort of areas I come from.

-That's the great thing because there were stations everywhere.

-There were.

Nearly everyone has a connection somehow with where there used to be a station.

Nearly every family had someone working on the railway at one time.

-It was a big employer and it opened out the countryside.

-Yes.

Then Mr Beeching came along and there we are. A lot of people will think it's just tatty bits of paper.

But you have tatty bits of paper that add up to quite a lot of money.

-I think you should put it in at £100 to £150, £100 reserve. Are you happy with that?

-I'm very happy.

I'm guessing the money is going to our N-gauge?

-It certainly is.

-And it'll go on to other enthusiastic collectors,

-so I shall see you in a few weeks' time. Thanks.

-Thank you very much.

From steam to smoke, Thomas has another classic collection outside.

So, Diana, this little collection here has quite a bit of family history.

Oh, yes, indeed. My dad was a managing director of Dunhill, so he kind of collected lighters.

And this was a presentation they gave to him in 1978 when he left the firm.

-Pipes?

-Yes, all with spots on.

-All with spots on. Absolutely. So was he a pipe smoker?

Yes, indeed. You know, about half of those are smoked.

Right, OK. And do you remember the smell?

Yes, because he used to bring tarred ones in and it used to smell of the tar from the outside of the tobacco.

To be quite honest, when they really got a fug up, no, thank you.

-The fog...

-I'm not a smoker.

-No. You've never smoked?

-No.

So we're looking at smoking memorabilia.

Smoking right now is probably not the most PC occupation

and I think this harks back to a stage where smoking was something which people felt was glamorous,

-felt was...

-Film stars.

-Film stars.

-And people didn't realise the health risks to it.

-Yeah.

However, in saying that,

smoking-related memorabilia, especially lighters,

-hold a value.

-Yeah.

They hold a value, certainly, if they're made by certain houses.

This house here, this tobacco house made fantastic lighters

which work and are super quality.

So the value, I have to say, lies in these.

Yeah. Not in the new pipes?

A little bit, but nowhere near as much as these.

-Yeah, OK.

-They very much like the ones with something else to it.

-Yeah.

-Like these here with the lapis on the top

-and the enamel down the side of this one.

-Uh-huh.

-It's quite pretty, the textured one.

-Yes, it's beautiful.

And you've got the enamel on the side here, but, of course, what's good about Dunhill

-is that everything was quality.

-Yeah.

-And still today does beautiful, beautiful things.

-Yeah.

I would say that each one of these

-is worth between £50 and £80.

-Very good.

-And the cabinet as well.

So I would suggest that if we were to offer this up at auction,

saying that these were worth £50 to £80 each, the lot should be sold at between £400 and £600.

-Jolly good.

-As an auction estimate.

-Will you come to the auction?

-That'd be lovely. I'll enjoy that.

-I look forward to seeing you there.

-Thank you.

Now, our valuation day venue has some fascinating collections of its own

and Toby Roe from Ashridge House wants to show me one of their most precious items -

an original lease signed by a very prestigious landlady.

It's a fascinating document. Does it belong to the history of the house, Toby?

Indeed. It's always been a part of the estate property

and it's the lease to Richard Coombs, who was a gentleman farmer in Hemel Hempstead, by Elizabeth.

It was two years before she became Queen that she leased Ashridge to Richard Coombs.

-This is early 1550s?

-Yeah, we believe 1556 which was two years before Elizabeth became Queen.

-I believe it's signed by Elizabeth herself?

-We believe so and that's the really exciting part.

Ashridge has got a fascinating history with many royal connections

and Elizabeth I is the most famous royal connection we've got, so to have her signature is amazing.

I did look at it for about ten minutes. It is a hard read.

It is indeed. It's written in a very old style of English,

but when we have visitors to Ashridge, they are fascinated about it

-because it is such an amazing link to the past.

-It gives you a real sense of connection.

I have seen documents signed by Elizabeth before at auction

and they can vary from £10,000 to £20,000, depending on the subject matter, but this is priceless

-and you would not want to part with that.

-We certainly wouldn't.

Now back to the valuations.

Let's see what other historic treasures Claire has found.

We're surrounded by classical art in here, a wonderful ceiling, wonderful paintings behind us,

but Marian, we have a slightly different art here, much more cutting-edge and modern.

-Tell me a bit about it.

-It was done in the early 1960s.

And my father, who is the artist here,

worked for Bryant's, the builders.

He was asked to design and paint these murals

-in the first tower blocks that were built in the city of Birmingham in the '60s.

-Oh, right.

I believe the Queen opened it. It was quite a special occasion

because at that time there were no tower blocks.

Exactly. It was cutting-edge for architecture as well.

They believed that these high-rise blocks were the new way to live -

take people off the street, put them in the blocks and all the art that went with it...

-Your father was Arthur Phillips.

-That's right.

These watercolours were the finished item, but then they would have been scaled up,

-so the photographs are the finished...

-The finished murals in the tower block building.

Yes, for that one. That's the finished product, almost a building, an industry.

This one, I have the photograph here.

Yes, his brief was to represent the buildings that had been there

-and with the changes and the new structures, the new tower blocks that took their place.

-Yeah.

They're wonderful. He was a gifted artist.

He was a prolific artist.

Watercolour was his passion.

Have you got quite a lot of his art?

I have a vast collection of his art.

The walls of my house are absolutely lined with paintings.

Presumably, you've decided to start thinning out the collection?

Well, these were in a drawer and although I look at them occasionally, they're in a drawer.

The thing with this is it's an unknown... Well, your father's an unknown quantity,

so you're marketing the style as much as anything else.

My feeling is that I love them

because they're quite fashionable today.

Obviously, in the 1960s, this was the sort of art that was about,

-then it was all looked a bit down upon, but it's come back.

-Yes.

It would be nice perhaps to sell a little group and also to incorporate a bit of history about him.

The nice thing is that's a photograph of him, isn't it?

I believe that was taken on the day that the tower blocks were opened by the Queen. I think that's right.

Sometimes when you're trying to build a market for a new artist,

it's nice to have a bit of history, nice photographs, make a bit of a thing about it, then market them,

-so I would suggest trying them at 100 to 150.

-Mm-hm.

Reserve, perhaps £100, £90 maybe, just pitch it under the lower estimate?

Yes. I'm not actually bothered by a reserve as such.

If you're relaxed about it, let's put a reserve of 70 on them.

It gives them a very good chance. I wouldn't like to see them sell for less. I'm sure they'll do fine.

I look forward to seeing you at the auction. Who knows what'll happen?

-Thank you for coming in with them.

-Thank you for looking at them.

It's certainly been a busy and industrious morning for our experts,

but they have now made their first choices of items to take off to auction.

We're going to put those values to the test. It's all down to the bidders now.

What do they think? We're about to find out. Here's a recap of all the items going under the hammer.

Train driver David is hoping his wonderful memorabilia will be just the ticket for one lucky buyer.

Aiming to spark a bit of interest from the collectors, it's Diana's cabinet

of late 20th century, Dunhill pipes and lighters.

And Marian's father painted these detailed tower block designs in the 1960s,

but can we find them a contemporary home?

We're leaving Ashridge now, but staying in Hertfordshire

and heading eight miles west to the ancient market town of Tring

to put our items under the hammer.

Trade in Tring dates back to the medieval times and the town still holds a thriving Sunday market,

as well as today's fine art auction.

It's auction preview day before the big sale. This is the best time

-to look around the saleroom and also chat to the auctioneer. Hello, Stephen.

-Hello, Paul.

How many fine art sales do you have a year and how long does it take to put together?

There are six of these a year and it normally takes two months to put it together.

-OK. So you have general sales throughout the year. One or two a month?

-Two every month.

-You really have your work cut out.

-That's right.

Although there's over 300 lots here,

we've needed over 15,000 lots to come through this saleroom to get this 300.

Just to select this. How many staff have you helping you?

-Well, we've got ten permanent.

-Right.

Everyone's involved in virtually the whole of the activities that take place here.

-Are they all aspiring to be on the rostrum later on?

-People do move on, yes.

-Do you give a few lessons on the rostrum, let them have a go?

-No, I don't believe in that.

An auctioneer is a person who learns his own trade. It's a gift that you pick up. Practice makes perfect.

But you need to be given the chance to get on there.

-It does happen.

-Good.

-It does happen.

-Hopefully, it'll never stop.

-Thanks.

'The auction house is packed and ready to go,

'but will these bidders give top marks to our Ashridge antiques?

'Let's get moving and find out.'

I've been joined by David, the owner of these wonderful early papers and railway tickets. Who's this?

-My lovely wife Penny.

-Lovely to meet you.

I've been told that David was going to put the money towards a model railway, but plans have changed.

-They certainly have. It's the MOT.

-We've all got bills and MOTs. We need to be kept on the road.

-But I have high hopes for this.

-They're nice collections.

-Some unusual things in there.

-Here we go. This is it.

There we go. How about those?

The hand-written railway tickets and other ephemera related to it.

100 for those? Or 50 for those?

60. 70. 80. Sir? 90.

Would probably still take them. 100. And 10?

No. £100 then.

Is that it? It's going to be.

I shall sell them then for £100. Sir, thank you very much.

That was quick, that was quick.

-Never mind. They've gone.

-It's gone.

-That'll help with the MOT.

-It certainly will.

-Yes.

'That was the express service, rather than the slow train.

'Next, original art from Marian's dad.'

I've just been joined by Marian in the nick of time because your lot is about to go under the hammer

and we're talking about the 1960s watercolours, the murals for the proposed development in Birmingham.

And I must say, an interesting piece of history.

Absolutely. I believe they were the first tower blocks built in the city.

I wonder if they'll find their way back home?

I would like to think so because the city museum and art gallery

already has some of my father's watercolour paintings.

Let's find out what the bidders think. It's going under the hammer right now. Good luck.

These architectural art paintings, there you are, centred on Birmingham.

What about 150 for them?

Shall we say £100 then?

-You never know, do you?

-70.

-I thought we might...

-There they are, showing there.

-Are you 90?

Yes. 100. And 10.

20. 30. 40.

140. 50.

Come along. You can take them home. 160. I thought we would...

160 then... 70 I'm bid for them now.

170.

It's only 70 miles up the road.

No more then? At 170 then. I shall sell them at £170...

-Good result. They've gone for £170.

-I'm very pleased with that.

-Good.

I can see those being put on the wall somewhere.

-Hopefully, in Birmingham. You never know.

-No.

-I know the buyer is in the room, so maybe you could catch up with him later on.

-I'd like to.

-Thank you for bringing those in.

-Thank you.

'Job done. Marian is happy and the buyer has got a bargain

'with that unique collection of artwork.'

Going under the hammer right now, we have a Dunhill smoker's cabinet

which is virtually complete with pipes and half a dozen lighters. A looker!

Why are you selling this?

Just simply because it's my dad's and I haven't got room to put it in my house any longer, really.

-Happy with the valuation?

-Yes, thank you.

-400 to 600?

-Yeah.

There's loads of smoking ephemera with this.

-There's a lot.

-There's lots of these very fine Dunhill lighters.

-If somebody who's a dealer could buy all those lighters...

-I think this lot will be split up.

-Yeah.

There's a lot of value there. It's going under the hammer right now.

Dunhill cabinet

with all the pipes and all the Dunhill lighters in it.

What about that one? Will we get 500 for it?

500? 400? We're going to get 400. Thank you, sir. 400. And 20...

The lighters.

500. And 20. And 50.

580. 600.

And 20. And 50. And 80.

-700.

-I was about to say it'd be nice to see £700. There's a lot there.

780? Yes. 780. 800?

800 I'm bid.

-Definitely a lot that's going to be split up.

-Yeah.

-880.

-That's good.

-900.

-This is very good.

You're out. At £900, you lose it.

I sell away from you at £900...

-That's more like it.

-Brilliant.

-The hammer's gone down. Bash!

-Wow!

-£900, yes.

-Great.

We doubled that little value, didn't we?

-Well done, Thomas.

-Yes, very good.

Yeah, there was a lot there, a lot there.

'Another great result, showing that good brands are always popular.'

Great works of art, whether it's paintings, poetry or novels,

draw inspiration from all kinds of things in life,

so I was rather intrigued to find out

that George Orwell had based not only one of his best-selling novels on a location here in Hertfordshire,

but also some of the characters in the book, so I had to investigate what inspired him so much.

The tiny, but picturesque village of Wallington in north-east Hertfordshire, 40 miles from London,

and with its idyllic hill-top scenes,

seemingly a million miles away from the dystopian backdrops of George Orwell's political writing.

And yet it's that farm in this peaceful village with this stunning view

that George Orwell had in his mind's eye for the setting for the first of his iconic novels -

the allegorical critique of Stalinism, Animal Farm.

Orwell wrote Animal Farm in 1944 amid the threat of invasion from Nazi Germany

and the deteriorating state of political affairs in Soviet Russia.

Set at Manor Farm in the fictional village of Willingdon,

the novel charts the uprising of a group of animals against their belligerent owner, Farmer Jones.

Eric Blair, George Orwell's real name, first cast his eyes

on this picturesque setting for his best-selling novel in 1936.

By this point in life, Orwell had already travelled the world

and he knew he wanted to make political writing his focus,

but he just needed somewhere to put pen to paper.

So, armed with a £500 advance from the publishing company,

he leased a cottage in the quiet village of Wallington without even seeing it and this is it.

This picturesque little cottage is where he wrote The Road To Wigan Pier and two other novels.

Having moved in, Eric Blair and his wife-to-be Eileen chose the little parish church

as the venue for their wedding in the June of 1936.

From the extensive diaries that he kept,

we know that life here in Wallington was, for the best part,

some of the happiest and most industrious years of both George and Eileen's life.

They even reopened the village stores from their very own house,

in fact, from this window, serving the schoolkids half-penny sweets

and letting them use the phone box which would have been inside the house as well

whilst attending their own brood of chickens and ducks and goats.

Dan Pinnock's grandparents lived in the village at the time

and owned the local store before Orwell took over.

This end here is the stores.

The room is 11 by 11 square.

The ceiling height is six foot three.

George Orwell was six foot four and the front door was three foot nine,

so we're not really midgets in Wallington, but it helps.

I think it suited him that Eileen managed the shop

while he was busy writing.

I wouldn't say that was why he married her, but it certainly helped his cause

because he could devote his days to writing.

But their simple life was about to change

when political tensions in Spain reached boiling point.

Impassioned by his socialist principles, Orwell felt compelled to go and join the revolution.

It was a harrowing time for Orwell.

He narrowly survived a bullet to the neck and he was forced to flee for his life.

Within days of returning to Wallington, he started writing his next book, Homage To Catalonia,

despite fierce opposition and a great deal of local suspicion.

Certainly, as the war approached, they thought he was a spy

because he was quite oblivious to any blackout when the war started,

so the air warden would have to come up and knock on his door

and he'd say, "Oh, not again," and draw his curtains.

When war broke out in Europe the following year in 1939,

Eileen took a job in London, working in the Censorship Department and only travelling home on the weekend.

Despite all of these pressures, the couple managed to spend a few precious moments together,

enjoying the garden and escaping the troubles of war.

But Orwell, too, eventually made the move to London in 1940,

leasing their cottage to friends and joining the Home Guard.

There, he wrote political articles and produced BBC broadcasts

to counter Nazi German propaganda.

After all he'd seen, done and heard during the war and the Spanish revolution,

the time had now come to write his critique of communism.

In the autumn of 1943, George resigned from the BBC

on the grounds of ill health and set about writing Animal Farm.

Eileen would help him develop his ideas

and it was her suggestion that he gave all the animals in the story names.

This is Manor Farm. George Orwell could just about see this place from the driveway of his cottage

and in his mind's eye, this is where the characters such as Old Major, Snowball and Napoleon would meet

and plan their revolt in the great barn, and over there in the old yard, there was the dovecote.

Architecturally, it was similar to a small windmill and maybe that was the seed of the idea

for a windmill in the novel that the animals work so tirelessly to build.

And while he changed the name of the village from Wallington to Willingdon in the book,

villagers were left with no doubt that their home was his inspiration

and some suspect he based his characters on some of the locals.

Boxer was one of the main characters in Animal Farm,

an easy-going, old carthorse

that would do anything for anyone, really, if the cause was right and just,

and we think the character is based on Mr H

who was George Orwell's right-hand man, really.

He lived about two doors away from him, dug his garden for him

and also got his hay in and all that sort of thing.

He'd dig all day for a pint of beer.

"A little way down the pasture, there was a knoll that commanded a view of most of the farm.

"The animals rushed to the top of it and gazed around them in the clear morning light.

"Yes, it was theirs. Everything they could see was theirs."

And I'd imagine that is the view George Orwell was talking about.

The year of Animal Farm's publication was a bittersweet time for Orwell.

His beloved Eileen, who had helped him so much with writing the novel, died suddenly

and successive publishers had rejected his book

which had been a hot potato in a country still reeling from war,

but within several years of its publication, Animal Farm gained worldwide acclaim.

It went on to become a multi-million best-seller

and one of the most important novels of the 20th century.

Orwell's last visit here was in April 1946 when he came to pick up a few of Eileen's belongings

and say goodbye to a few familiar faces and no doubt have a final pint or two in the village pub

before setting off to a remote part of Scotland to write his second iconic novel, 1984.

Staying in Wallington without the love of his life Eileen proved a little too painful for him,

but by then, he had already immortalised this idyllic backdrop for generations to come.

Welcome back to Ashridge House where the crowd are enjoying the magnificent gardens

and Thomas is also feeling inspired by his surroundings.

-Amazing, isn't it?

-It's lovely.

-Beautiful carving on the front.

Very ecclesiastical with those arches.

But here we've got some very intricate carvings.

These are ivory and these are Japanese.

-We have to be very careful with ivory. Do you know when these were bought?

-I don't.

-Who did they belong to?

-They used to belong to my mother.

-Your mother's had them for some time?

-The '70s.

-'70s, she acquired them.

The thing about ivory is it has to be older than 1947.

These were carved in the late 19th century, very early 20th century.

Obviously, we don't want to encourage the trade in modern carved ivory.

So the CITES Agreement is there. That's where we establish ourselves with these. These are Japanese.

They're carved in the Meiji period in Japan.

Do you have any idea of what they are?

-I understand that's probably a netsuke.

-Yeah. Because you've seen these two holes?

-Yes.

-The two holes here...

-Worn on a belt?

-Absolutely.

The netsuke was to go over the belt which is attached to your three-division purse called an inro.

The cord would come in here, the two strands would go through the inro,

meet at the ojime, which is the little bead which keeps the whole thing together,

and this would go over your belt and it wouldn't sort of fall off.

But this has never been on a Japanese man's belt. Made for our market, but beautifully carved.

-So, value for that, have you any idea?

-None at all, I'm afraid.

-This piece I would value at between £150 and £250.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Would you be happy to sell that one?

-Sure.

-That one would go to auction at 150, 200.

-This piece here...

-I know it's been damaged.

-It has.

This is what we call an okimono and that's a free-standing figure carved purely as decoration,

again carved in 1900 for our market in the west.

-Right.

-And this is depicting these mortals climbing up the ladder

to have a look at the rest of the world,

but as you so rightly say, the ladder has been damaged and it has had a bit of glue on it,

-so I would suggest that this one here is only worth between £60 and £80.

-Right.

Now, my favourite... I love these. I think these are amazing.

-So this is a clam. It's a carved clam in ivory.

-Yeah.

Again about the 1900s, but look at the intricate design.

You just wonder how anybody could carve that and get inside to do it.

You've got a little house in the background, a sort of prunus tree, a tree here,

a couple of farm workers working in the foreground and a textured landscape.

-It's just beautiful, isn't it?

-Worth a bit more?

-Well, £150, £250 as well.

-Yeah.

Maybe a little bit more, but let's be conservative.

That's more than I thought.

-Really?

-Absolutely, yeah.

-What were you thinking?

-50, 50, 50?

-I knew that would be less because it's damaged.

But it wouldn't have surprised me if you'd said 50 for these.

-Oh, no, I think you'll be all right. They're rather good. Thank you very much. See you at the auction.

-Yeah.

'Now I've got my hands on something that is on a much larger scale, but just as clever in its design.'

This is fabulous. I virtually jumped on you, Roo, when I saw you walking in with this.

How did you come by this?

It belonged to my grandparents. They passed away quite a while ago.

My mother and I were clearing out their house and their garage and this was tucked away in a corner.

-Can I have a look?

-Certainly.

-I can smell paraffin.

-Yeah. That's the reservoir...

-Just there.

Yeah, it's a Tilley lamp,

a traditional railway platform Tilley lamp from the 1930s right up to the '40s.

-The fuel, as we know, paraffin - I can smell that.

-Yeah.

But it is known affectionately as the "doughnut" Tilley lamp because of the reservoir chamber there.

-Isn't that such good design?

-It is lovely.

-It's cracking, absolutely beautiful.

So many people buy these now because they convert them to electricity.

If you had a study... If I had a study at home,

I would have this hanging from the ceiling, even on a low ceiling.

If you hang it so it's just short of the table, so you're using it as a task lamp,

so when you stand, that's at eye height, then it becomes a good architectural detail.

It's made in Hendon in London. There, look, you can see.

-It's enamelled in black. The black is chipped.

-Yeah.

It is starting to scuff up. You can see it's been knocked around in the garage, can't you?

But otherwise, look, the condition is very, very good.

Everything here is complete. The original reflector, look, the white enamel.

-Do you think it would work as paraffin still?

-Yes, I do.

-But it would be rather smelly and a little bit dangerous.

-Yeah, health and safety.

Outdoors on a railway platform, yes, it's OK, but not inside.

Whoever buys this would like to buy it and convert it to an electric lamp.

-I think if we put this into auction with a value of around £120 to £220...

-Yeah.

-Put a reserve on it of £100?

-Yeah.

-That's definitely going to sell.

-Whether it goes at the lower end or the top end, I'm not sure.

-Hopefully, the top end.

I think that's one of the nicest things I've seen in a long time.

So, Mairi, you've brought along this ring.

-I have indeed.

-Where did you get it from?

-I got it at a car boot.

-Run through the scenario.

-What happened?

-It was a long time ago.

I think... I think I bought a pair of earrings with little stones in that I thought, "Ooh..."

I think that was in the box as well

and I picked them both up and I probably paid £1, £1.50.

-No?

-For the two.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Was this very early in the morning?

-Not that early, no.

Are you an early riser?

Well, quite, but you see, with car boots, they charge to go in

and I'm a bit on the tight side, so after nine o'clock, it's half price, so we normally go after nine.

Listen, it's an extra bit in the pocket.

-An extra bit in the pocket which you sort of then spent...

-Absolutely.

-..on this fine ring. Can I look at it?

-Yes.

-What attracted you to it?

-Do you know, I just picked it up.

-You didn't even give it a moment's thought.

-I didn't, I have to say.

-And have you worn it?

-Twice.

-Many comments?

-No, not really.

-No.

-No, not really.

-Well, I can inform you that it is an 18-carat gold ring.

-Right.

It's 18-carat gold. White gold with little, yellow gold batons on there.

It's marked "750" with the British hallmarks on.

Then the stones here. You've got two, four, six, eight diamonds.

They're probably 0.05 of a carat, so they're like "half a point", we call them.

-So this was under a pound, you reckon, with the earrings?

-I think, yes, yeah.

-You've done rather well, haven't you?

-Am I going to fall over?

Are you going to fall over?

I mean, your investment of a pound to get in,

maybe a pound to buy it...

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-So £2 in total.

We're definitely going to get you between £120 and £180.

-Fine.

-Fine? Is that all you're going to say?

-That's very good.

What's the rate? That's quite a good... Yeah.

It's quite a good ratio. It's like 1,000%, isn't it, from £1?

Thank you.

Now, 120 to 180. A reserve? Let's not give it away.

-No, OK then.

-£100.

-Right.

-£100, bottom line.

-OK, fine.

-Yeah?

-Absolutely, yes.

-We'll do that.

-OK. See you at the auction.

-Mm-hm.

-Lovely.

That's it. Our experts have now made their final choice of items to go off to auction,

so, sadly, it's time to say goodbye to our magnificent host location, Ashridge House.

It has certainly inspired all of us.

We've had a fun-packed day and it'll be sad to leave,

but now we have to put those valuations to the test.

Here's a quick recap, just to jog your memory, of all the items that are going under the hammer.

Stuart's Japanese ivories may be miniature, but he's hoping to make a giant profit.

I just adored Roo's Tilley lamp. Let's hope the buyers are switched on too.

And finally, will the gold ring be the jewel in the crown for Mairi, our car boot queen?

We're back at the Tring Market Auction Rooms where the sale is still in full swing

and the buyers are picking up some quality fine art.

If you're buying or selling in auction, there's commission to pay.

Here it's 15% on the hammer price plus VAT, so factor that into your costs.

It's my turn to be the expert now. Watch out.

Connie, pleased to meet you. I met Roo at the valuation day with the Tilley lamp.

-He told me it was yours, it was his parents'.

-My dad's, yes.

-It's been in the family a long time.

Yes, and he used it.

I'm not expecting too much, so whatever comes...

We've got a reserve of £100, so, hopefully, we'll get that and a bit more.

-It'll be your money, won't it?

-No, it'll be the taxi driver's money.

-That's what it cost to get here, did it?

-Yes.

OK, let's hope we can pay that fare and give him a tip. It's going under the hammer now.

This is interesting, isn't it?

This old, tiny railway station lamp.

There you go. 150 for it? 100 for it? 80 for it?

-Come on, come on.

-Come on. 70, yes.

70, we've got it. 80 now.

90. 100. And 10. And 20. And 30.

-Is that it? Oh, dear.

-130. Well, we've sold it, haven't we?

It's going down. I sell for £130...

-It's gone.

-Lovely.

-I'm pleased with that. That's a good result.

-It means the taxi driver gets paid.

-And you've got a wonderful day out on Flog It.

-Oh, and I met you!

Good start. Now let's see how the miniatures do.

Three items going under the hammer right now, all belonging to Stuart,

late 19th century, Japanese Meiji period, it's carved ivory.

Some of these things fly through the roof if you can identify the carver and the right period.

-This is a bit later. This is 19th century...

-Yeah.

-..which is reflected in the value,

which you've split into three lots.

We'll hand it over to the bidders and, hopefully, we'll get a sale in the room.

Perhaps we'll start at £50 for it?

-50 I'm bid, thank you.

-We're hoping for around 80.

60 and 70 and...

-Surely not? No? At £70...

-That's a good start.

-That's a good start.

-£70...

-Brilliant.

-I think that one's got a little bit of damage.

That was damaged. Here's the second.

This is a rather interesting one, the one with the eight immortals.

There we go. A couple of hundred pounds for this one? 150? Yes.

-200.

-Straight in, that's great.

At £200, we're bid for it. At 200. And 10.

That's the chap right next to us.

And 80. 300, sir? 300 bid.

320, I have it.

This is more like it.

It's going down then. I shall sell for 320...

350? No more?

At 320 then... 350.

-Yes, on the phone.

-At 350.

350 on the phone. Back in the room at 360.

380 now? Yes, you've got it. It's surprising what you can do with 10.

-It's going at 360 then.

-The hammer's gone down.

That's two. One more to go.

I believe we ought to be looking at £100 for this one.

£50 I'm bid for that one. 60. 70. 80. 90.

100. And 10. And 20.

And 30. And 40. And 50.

And 60. And 70. And 80.

No. £180 then.

I'm selling to "sir" for £180.

£180. Three out of three.

-Wow!

-That was a pleasant surprise. That was great.

-Good result.

Quality, quality, quality. That's what it's all about.

Going under the hammer right now, an 18-carat white gold, diamond ring.

It's absolute class. It belongs to Mairi who's right next to me.

Can't miss you in that. That is really stunning.

But I tell you what, you bought this in a car boot for how much?

It was either £1 or £1.50.

Why doesn't that happen to you and I?

I don't know, but I'm going to find out all the tips, so you and I can do this.

So what are the tips? Come on.

Go to a... As I said, a good car boot.

-A posh car boot.

-You get a better class of tut where we go.

Some you go past and you think, "No, I'm not going there."

Let's put it to the test. Let's put it under the hammer. Here we go.

Diamond-set and gold ring.

What about that one? £250 for it? 200? 150 for it?

60. 70. 80. 90.

200 I'm bid. At 200, I'm bid.

210 now. 210.

220? 220. And 30. And 40.

250. 260 now.

260 I have. 270? No.

Sold then. It's going to be sold then at £260.

-Well done.

-£260!

-That's very good.

You have just turned £1.50 into £260. It can be done.

I could start a little business, couldn't I?

That's it. It's all over for our owners. Time has just flown by here in Tring.

We've thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I hope you've enjoyed today's show.

Join us next time for many more surprises, but for now, it's goodbye.

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