Cheshire Flog It!

There aren't many places that speak louder

about our maritime heritage than Liverpool.

Later on, we'll put our antiques and collectables under the hammer

here at our dockside auction house.

But first, we have to find those treasures.

So polish off your silver, my hearties. Welcome to "Flog It!"

Liverpool's docks are now home to cafes, museums and shops.

But the buildings and streets still reflect the time

this was a thriving industrial shipping hub.

More about the historic significance of the docks later.

But first, we're setting our compass due east and heading inland

to our fabulous valuation-day venue.

Tatton Park in Cheshire may be 20 miles from the coast,

but its former owners were renowned seafarers

who travelled the globe bringing back a host of exotic treasures

which are still housed inside and outside the mansion today.

Someone in this queue has something

worth a great deal of money. They don't know it yet.

It's our experts' job to find it and put a price on it.

If they're happy with the valuation, what are you going to do?

ALL: Flog it!

And at the helm today are captain Mark Stacey

and his swashbuckling first mate Anita Manning.

And also shipshape and ready to go, Mr Fletcher. David Fletcher.

What a stunning place for our valuation day.

You can see it's going to be quite a busy day.

Let's hope we find antiques worthy of such a marvellous location.

I think it's about time we put our experts to work, don't you?

Let's see who's first up at the tables.

And as everyone starts to take their seats,

Anita Manning takes the lead with 1,000 years of history in her hands.

-Malcolm, welcome to "Flog It!" It's lovely to have you along.

-Thank you.

And I have to say to you

that I have never seen a collection like this before

of these silver ingots. Can you tell me where you got them?

They were my mother's.

She collected them about 40 years ago.

And when she passed away, they came to me.

Were you aware that they were there?

I knew she collected them, but I was very young and I wasn't interested.

When you were a wee boy at school,

and you were getting your history lessons,

did you ever refer back to these things?

Because what we have here is 1,000 years of British monarchy.

I was quite interested in history at school

and William the Conqueror

was one of the first kings I learnt about at school.

So I did read the book and read about the other kings

and queens of the time and found it quite interesting.

It's interesting.

These are made of a precious metal.

They are made of silver.

And every one of these little ingots is individually hallmarked.

Let me take one out and look at it.

And it's our present queen, Queen Elizabeth II.

If we look at the ingot here, we see the hallmarks.

I think these were made in 1973.

-Right.

-And they weigh about two ounce.

So what we have in 50 of them...

is 100 ounces.

I did notice that Edward is missing here.

I've still got him. He's at home.

I took him out to show somebody and I forgot to put him back in the box.

It's quite important to have him

because I'm sure this will be an item

that will be well fancied in today's market.

If it was coming to auction, I would put a valuation

of £1,000-£1,500 on this item.

Would you be happy to sell it at that?

I would. I didn't expect it to be as much as that.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes. More than happy.

It's a reasonable amount of money.

We'll put it in at £1,000-£1,500 with a reserve

of perhaps in the region of £900 with a little bit of discretion.

-Do you feel OK with that?

-That's fine.

Well, I hope it sells well for you.

But it's a good amount of dosh, Malcolm.

What are you going to do with the dosh?

I know your wife's there, so you'd better be careful with what you say.

I've not really thought.

I didn't expect it to be that much. I'll have to give it some thinking.

Careful thought. That's what I like.

A man who thinks carefully about money.

Over to another savvy gentleman. David Fletcher is out in the garden

and has found some footballing royalty.

-Lou Macari.

-Mm-hm.

-Matt Busby.

-Correct.

-Alex Stepney.

-Yeah.

-Manchester United and Manchester City.

-Correct.

Did you play for Manchester United?

-No.

-Manchester City?

-I would liked to have played for Manchester City.

-But not Manchester United.

-No.

-So, how did you come by this?

Well, it's my daughter's, really.

And when she was eight, she won it in a raffle.

-Right.

-Lucky devil. And it's been in the loft ever since.

I think this is fantastic.

I love the way it represents its age, too.

It's leather, you know. Hand sewn.

Can you imagine when this was blown up, heading this football?

-Especially in the mud.

-In the mud, exactly. Not like they are today.

-I don't suppose it's ever been played with.

-No.

There are many plus factors which we need to consider.

The first is that, these days, there's so much money in football

that footballing items have become valuable.

When I started in this business,

people collected anything to do with cricket or rugby.

There tended to be more money associated with those sports, although they were largely amateur.

But today, there is so much money in football

that people are now collecting football memorabilia.

And I think this would go very well. It's not going to make a fortune,

but it's something I think we could do quite well for you.

Especially in this part of the world, of course.

We're 15 minutes from Manchester.

What I really hope is that we get Manchester City fans

competing with Manchester United fans to own this.

There's another element to the market then.

You've got both teams involved.

I reckon this is going to make between £60 and £100.

I suggest we put a covering reserve on it of £50

just to make sure it doesn't get given away.

I think it's a wonderful thing.

It reminds me of what, to our generation, was a golden age of football.

Let's hope there are enough people who think like me

-for it to go and make a bit more than that. OK?

-Fine.

-I'll see you at the sale.

-Good.

# It's coming home, it's coming home It's coming

# Football's coming home It's coming home. #

Tatton Park has witnessed many events and occasions over the years,

but possibly the most important one

took place in these fields in July 1940.

France and the Channel Islands were already occupied by Nazi Germany.

British airborne troops had to carry out experimental parachute drops.

And they did it right here, leaving from RAF Ringway,

which is just up the road in Manchester.

So that was a first for Tatton.

Now back to the valuations. Let's see what's landed on Mark's table.

-Ann and Andrew, hello.

-BOTH: Hello.

-You've brought a wonderful thing in to show me, haven't you?

-We hope so.

-Where did you get it from?

-It was my late husband's.

-Was it?

-He was an antique dealer.

-Ah!

And I just got it when he died.

I just think it's wonderful. Don't you like it?

Um...it's OK.

-That's a no, then.

-THEY LAUGH

-What about you, Andrew?

-We look at it occasionally,

but most of the time, it's just sat in a display cabinet...

-Oh, no, no.

-..and it's just wasted, really.

Absolutely. That's not fair to it. I love the Art-Deco period.

And I love bronze and ivory figures.

It's a little female Pierrot.

When you look at her costume, she's got these big arms,

sort of big trousers with little buttons on

and she's got this little bobble cap on, almost.

And the face is very delicately carved in ivory.

Sometimes on the better ones, the hands

are carved in ivory, as well.

And then the body is set in bronze

on this sort of coloured alabaster base, I suppose.

The bronze is in good condition, but there is a small crack,

which I think will affect the value.

People do sometimes accept with these

that it's a natural substance, ivory,

so you do sometimes get these age cracks with them.

I don't suppose you've really thought about the value.

-No.

-No.

-I think, bearing in mind that we haven't found the maker,

so it's not a particularly highbrow maker,

I would still like to put it in at £400-£600

with maybe a £400 discretion reserve. Does that please you?

-Yes.

-If we get a good price for it,

is there something special you've earmarked the money for?

We have animals.

We've got some alpacas and we've got hens and chickens

and we'd like to buy some land.

We rent at the moment. We're also after some pigs.

We were supposed to go today to look at two pigs,

but we heard "Flog It!" was in town, so we came here instead.

I don't think Anita and I have ever won over two pigs before.

THEY LAUGH

So I hope it plays the right note on the day

and we get you a big way towards that new field.

There you are. You've just seen our experts' first choices of items

to take off to auction for the first time.

I've got my favourites, you've properly got yours.

Let's put them to the test. Here's a quick reminder of what we're taking.

Malcolm's silver ingots commemorate 1,000 years of British monarchy.

But will they reign supreme at auction?

Will Gerry's Manchester football strike it lucky?

And can Andrew and Ann's bronze and ivory Pierrot

also hit the right note?

So we're leaving Cheshire and heading

back to the coast to see how well our items fare.

And for today's auction, we're here at Partridge & Bray

in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle.

A century ago, this whole area was full of warehouses

that stored tons of shipping cargo

when 40% of the world's trade passed through Liverpool.

Today, it's just the bidders passing through

in the hope of a good catch here at auction.

So let's get on with the show.

Kicking off proceedings is auctioneer Adam Partridge.

Let's hope our first lot strikes gold.

We're talking about Gerry's football.

Gerry, I must say, you are a Man City fan. I'm pleased to meet you.

-You're either one or the other up here in Manchester, aren't you?

-Yes.

There's a family divide between you and your daughter.

-My wife's a United supporter.

-Your wife and daughter are United supporters.

-Yes.

-All the girls.

-All the girls.

-But all the boys are City fans.

This is a piece of footballing history.

There's some cracking names on there from two top teams of the region.

I know we're in Liverpool and it could be a little bit dicey,

but in Manchester, this will be a trophy for any football fan to have.

We're going to put this to the test. We've got to hit the back of the net.

Come on, guys, let's root for this. Here we go. This is it.

Lot 124 is the leather football

signed by most of Manchester City

and Manchester United footballers in the 1970s. Lou Macari, etc.

Loads of names on this Manchester United and Man City football.

A good place to sell this, in Liverpool, I'd imagine(!)

LAUGHTER

£50, then. The football, £50.

Let's see a £50 bid. 30?

30 bid. Five. 35. At 35, the bid.

35. Is there 40 now? At £35 only.

£35. Let's see a bid online.

It's 35, 40.

£40. 40 here.

Five. 45 in the room. Thank you.

At £45. At £45.

Any more now? £45. Any more at 45?

I'll take the 50.

There. 50 in the middle.

-Just.

-At £50, we're in the room here. At £50.

Are you all done at 50? We're selling it at £50.

He's put the hammer down on 50. We've done it. We've sold it.

But only just.

That's in off the rebound, as far as I'm concerned.

-We're in Liverpool.

-Yeah. Do you know something?

I think that was an organised, "Let's not bid on that."

Wow!

That's auctions for you. You win some, you lose some.

But in this case, we got it away on the reserve.

-It's better than going back up in the loft.

-Exactly.

It's been there for 30-odd years, 40 years.

-All said and done, I'm disappointed, but I valued it about right.

-Yes.

Up next, the bronze and ivory Pierrot.

And because it was made before 1947,

it can be sold as antique ivory.

But will it make its £400 reserve?

Andrew and Ann, it's great to see you again after so many weeks.

-How have you been?

-Good, thank you.

-Looking forward to this?

-Yes.

It was a good day at Tatton. Loved it to bits.

Got to go back there and visit again.

-You look lovely in your summer dress.

-Thank you.

You brought your little bronze figure to the right expert.

-Definitely.

-He loves his Deco.

I love it, I love it.

We haven't been able to find the maker for it.

It's a lovely bronze Pierrot with a little ivory head.

Wonderful! Wonderful quality!

May I ask why you're selling it?

-We went and bought some pigs.

-What?

Two Tamworth pigs the day after we were at Tatton Park.

And we want some more land for those and the alpacas.

-Where are they at the moment?

-Back at home.

-In the back garden?

No, no.

-They've got some alpacas, as well.

-Alpacas, as well.

We rent some fields, but we'd like to own our own.

That's what the money is for. Let's see what we can do.

There we are, a chryselephantine figure.

A combination of bronze and ivory.

There we are, lot 652.

Lovely little Deco figure. Start me at £400. 400.

300, then. 260, I'm bid. At 260.

70 next. At 260.

At £260. 70.

280. 280 still here.

-290.

-It's struggling a bit.

-300.

At 300 I'm bid. 300. I'll take 20.

At £300. Any advance on 300?

-Not quite there.

-Oh, dear.

Look, it got 300 in the room.

-Yeah.

-Sorry about that.

I thought it might make 400. I think it's absolutely stunning.

You've got a couple of options.

Another saleroom on another day.

Have a word with the auctioneer, see if they can find that bidder at £300,

see if, maybe after the sale, you could come to some agreement, I don't know.

-That's an option, isn't it?

-That is an option.

-£300 might be better than nothing.

-Yeah.

Or hang on to it, put it back into another sale in a few months' time.

Ann has since told us that she's pleased she's kept the Pierrot

and it now sits happily on her fireplace.

We're going under the hammer now.

We've got 1,000 years of the British monarchy's history.

It's right here, right now and it belongs to Malcolm

in the form of 50 beautiful silver coins collected over the years by family.

-Yes, it is.

-And what a collection!

We've got a lot of ingots there. We've got 50 of them.

-We did have 49, but you managed to find the 50th.

-Which is fabulous!

-These have been collected over the years.

-They were, by my mother.

Why do you want to sell them now?

I don't put them on show or anything.

They're just hidden away.

So you could use the money. We're looking at £1,000 plus.

-We'll see.

-Fingers crossed. Let's put this one to the test. This is it.

Next lot is 460.

It's this lovely set of 50 sterling-silver ingots

commemorating 1,000 years of British monarchy.

Start me at £1,000.

£800 I have. 20.

840, 860, 880, 900. 920, 940, 960,

980, 1,000...

-Yes!

-..1,050, 1,100, 1,150, 1,200, 1,250,

1,300, 1,350, 1,400, 1,450.

-You've got a smile on your face.

-At £1,400. Any advance? 50.

-50. 1,450 is on the phone now.

-This is good.

At 1,450. Are you all done at £1,450?

The bid's on the phone and we sell these at 1,450.

Fantastic! That was a good result. That was a very good result.

-What a result!

-After deductions, it's still a lot of money.

-It is.

-Have you thought about what you're going to put that towards?

I suppose, with the children at university,

that will help get them through that.

Yeah. That's expensive stuff, isn't it?

-Treat yourself to something.

-Maybe a holiday. I might not tell them.

-How many kids have you got?

-Two.

-What are their names?

-Daniel and Richard.

-Bless them, as well.

Dad's going to look after you. There you go.

The auction room we're filming in today

is literally built on Liverpool's maritime history.

This whole area was full of warehouses

full to the brim of cargo and machinery

when the port was at its height over a century ago.

The role of Liverpool's docks became even more important during WWII

when they became the lifeline for the UK's import

and the focus of the Battle of the Atlantic.

When the outbreak of WWII was heralded across the nation

on the 3rd of September 1939,

few could imagine that the war would go on for so long,

take so many casualties and become such a nationwide effort.

And, for the citizens of Liverpool, few would have known they themselves

would become a key target of the German Luftwaffe,

or that the Allied operations that were plotted here

would be crucial in playing their part in winning WWII.

Liverpool was a stronghold on the UK's Atlantic coast

that the invading forces were desperate to break.

And the Battle of the Atlantic began moments after war was declared,

with the Nazi Luftwaffe targeting the docks

and merchant shipping convoys incessantly.

And during the May Blitz of 1941,

not only were the docks pummelled, but enormous damage was caused

to the city and residential areas on both sides of the Mersey.

The results were devastating. 4,000 people were killed,

4,000 seriously injured and around 10,000 homes were destroyed.

And it was from here on the banks of the Mersey that the fight back really began.

Three miles across the water in Birkenhead, over 100 war ships

were built from scratch and sent out to do battle in the Atlantic.

From submarines to battleships,

Cammell Laird shipbuilders, on average, turned out one ship every 20 days.

Famous vessels like HMS Prince of Wales

and the huge aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal were launched from here.

But for Liverpool's merchant shippers,

the biggest challenges were still to come.

By 1940, the Nazi occupation had spread across Europe

and the German Kriegsmarine were able to mobilise the stealth-like U-boats,

known as wolf packs, against Allied shipping convoys.

Jack Brotheridge was a 20-year-old carpenter

on board the cargo ship Otaio

when he set sail from Liverpool into waters

haunted by deadly German U-boats.

You left the Mersey, you'd meet ships coming from the Clyde

and altogether, before you entered the Atlantic properly,

there could be 30, 40, 50 ships.

Now, the Royal Navy would have perhaps three escorts, that's all.

But once you got into the Atlantic, you were 100 miles from Ireland.

The ships were going to different paths, so they all broke up.

And that was when the U-boats used to try and get you, like.

With the Merchant Navy suffering such heavy losses,

Liverpool was really feeling the full weight of the war.

The defeat of the U-boat threat to the Allied supplies

was now critical in preventing a German invasion of the UK.

The military commanders needed a base

close to where the battle was being fought.

It was here in the early part of 1941 that the headquarters

of Britain's Western Approaches Command was established

to effectively plan and put into operation what Churchill coined,

"The Battle of the Atlantic."

The location of the HQ was top secret

and even the WAFS and the WRENS who worked here had to use separate entrances

and were only allowed in specific quarters, just in case

they were ever captured by the enemy

and forced to tell them what they knew.

This building was known as the Fortress to the people who worked here,

due to its extensive reinforced concrete in the basement.

The walls are three feet thick. It's bomb proof and gas proof

and it covers an area of 50,000 square feet.

There are approximately 100 rooms down here,

and this being the most important - the Map Room.

You can just imagine the atmosphere.

Men and women working tirelessly around the clock,

plotting every move here in the map room.

Now, each one of those little pieces of wood down there on that map board

represents around 20 vessels and hundreds of men,

many of them merchant seamen from Liverpool.

And, by 1943, the U-boats were on the back foot.

And that is thanks, largely, due to the heroic work

of the special support groups,

the frigates and the destroyers

that escorted these convoys backwards and forwards.

And all of their routes were meticulously plotted

down there on that board.

One of the most successful of the convoy support groups

was based at Liverpool's Gladstone Dock,

under the command of legendary Captain Frederick Johnny Walker,

known as the U-boat Killer

for his many victorious anti-submarine missions.

He is credited with sinking the most U-boats during the campaign

and using innovative methods

that tipped the Battle of the Atlantic over to Allied victory.

While the Battle of the Atlantic may have been a resounding success,

the casualties were devastatingly heavy.

30,000 merchant seamen lost their lives.

The battle may have been played out hundreds of miles at sea,

but the seeds of victory were sown right here.

The people of Liverpool should feel justly proud of the part

they played in preventing a German invasion at great personal cost.

Well, there you are, that's it, it's all over.

Time has literally sailed by here at our maritime location.

If you've got any antiques and collectibles you'd love to sell, we would love to see you.

Bring them along to one of our valuation days

You can pick up the up and coming dates and details on our website.

Just log on to...

Follow all the links, the information will be there.

We would love to see you. But for now, from Liverpool, it's cheerio.