Blackpool 1 Flog It!

Today's show comes from the Northwest coast line.

I'm 500 feet up in the air. Can you guess where I am?

Yes, you've got it. Blackpool. Welcome to "Flog It!"

The town of Blackpool hit the big-time

when visiting the seaside became affordable for the masses

with attractions including a theme park,

three piers, and, of course, the world-renowned Tower Ballroom

where many a Strictly celeb has samba-ed the night away.

The most famous attraction, of course, has to be the tower

itself providing thousands of tourists with spectacular

views along the coastline alongside the ornate

luxury of the ballroom and the excitement of the Tower Circus

drawing in thousands of people over the years.

There's a great queue here today.

This lot are here laden with antiques

and collectables all hoping they're going to make a small

fortune in auction later on in the programme.

And there's one question on everybody's lips which is...

-ALL: WHAT'S IT WORTH?!

-They're going to find out.

Ready and waiting to entertain the crowds today is our main man

-James Lewis.

-Is it full?

And warming up for her first performance at the circus is

leading lady Anita Manning.

I think it would be nice to do a wee piece on that

because we are in Blackpool, the home of the naughty postcard.

So, without further ado, let's open the doors and start the valuations.

Today, we will find out which of these is worth the most.

Some Chinese terracotta animals that could be over 1,000 years old

or this concertina that could hit the right note at auction.

Find out which fares best later on in the show.

And what better place to perform our valuations than Blackpool's

very own Tower Circus.

This place has been entertaining people for well over 100 years

and even during both world wars it never missed a performance

and adding to that list of achievements for one day only

it's home to "Flog It!" And once everybody is safely seated

we will be getting on with our first valuation.

And kicking off the proceedings, Anita is taking a closer

look at those postcards that she spotted in the queue.

Richard, Sonia, father and daughter. Welcome to "Flog It!".

It's lovely to have you along in this fabulous venue.

You've brought me along an album of postcards.

Richard, tell me, where did you get them?

Many years ago my great aunt, who was a spinster lady,

liked to frequent all of the hotels and places

and she would have Blackpool and Morecambe

and all the other areas around

so everybody, we got this huge build up of cards.

Let's have a look.

This is your original album here and it's nice to have kept them

in the album because it's kept them in good condition

and condition is important.

If we look at these ones, we can see at the beginning some early

Donald McGill postcards and we see

a little reference to a soldier here.

"The voice that breathed o'er Eden fall in the draft!"

And we've got two...

Not the most glamorous girls and again they are discussing

the Army and here we've got a reference to old Churchill.

You've got early Donald McGills and that is good.

They're smashing. Do we know how many we have, Richard?

-164.

-You've counted?

Yes.

Tell me why are you selling them, Richard?

Now that the family is spread about,

I wouldn't know who to give it to, I wouldn't know where to leave it

and I have visions of it being dropped into a skip.

Sonia, you've obviously enjoyed looking through these.

Do you have any sentimental attachment to them?

I do for the joy they've brought looking at them but I agree with my dad,

if we could sell them to someone who would appreciate them

as much as we have then I would rather they go to

someone like that than, like my dad said, they could get lost.

Postcards are good in today's market.

You've got 160-odd there, some are worth more than others.

I would like to put between one and £200.

Would you be happy to sell them at that?

-Yes.

-I was thinking a reserve of £100.

-Would you feel happy?

-Yeah.

And a low and wide estimate will encourage the bidding.

So, I am hoping that does very, very well indeed.

A real collection of family memories and James has found another.

I think every child grows up being told by their parents don't

get a motorbike, it's too dangerous but there's something almost

very basic in the human instinct that wants to

go as fast as possible

and that danger to give you the rush of adrenaline and there's nothing

more dangerous than in the 1920s and 30s than these guys were doing.

Speedway.

My word, these are all speedway riders from that period?

They are, they were my mother's collection from her

days from mainly Bellevue, Manchester.

Belle Vue and White City, the two big speedway tracks.

-That's right.

-So, was your mother a massive speedway fan?

I think she was.

I had three uncles who were obviously her brothers

and they were all into bikes. She was the younger of them.

I suppose she's grown up with the brothers with motorbikes around

so they went to Belle Vue and she went with them, as far as I know.

I think even took me in my younger days when I was a young child.

-So young, I couldn't remember it.

-Are you a biker?

-No, can't ride a push-bike!

-Come on. Everyone can ride push-bike.

-I can drive a car but not a push-bike. No, I can't.

-How funny!

OK. So, how old was your mother when she was going to the races, 8, 10?

Probably she started from that young age and into her teens.

I suppose it's what you could call the pop of her day.

On a Saturday night at Belle Vue was the speedway racing

and you got to meet them afterwards.

Here we have proof of the fact she met them.

Max Grossenburg who was an Australian speedway

and one of the most famous of his day

and there he is standing looking dashing in his long leather coat.

-I think he must have been known for that.

-I'm sure.

We have some of the guys up here. Look at what they're wearing.

It's padded but it wouldn't give anywhere near the protection

of the guys that they have today.

It's a really interesting collection but it is quite a varied mix.

We've got the scraps that are put together for personal interest,

the cigarette cards appeal to one market, autographs that appeal

to a separate market and photographs that are a different market again.

The one thing that links them all is the biking interest.

I think the thing of most value is the photograph.

I think that's probably worth 30, £35 but by the time we add it

all together we've got a lot of worth probably 50 to 80.

-Is that all right for you for a starting bid?

-Fine.

The right thing to do is to find a home,

somebody who has a passion for it and let these things live on.

Let's see who turns up at the sale.

Yes, OK. Fine.

A great collection found by James

and there are lots more items still waiting to be valued.

A teddy bear! Aw, has he got a name? Aw!

-How long have you had Ted?

-As long as I can remember and I'm 25!

Yes.

My childhood memories just came flooding back there!

Now, which of you remembers Anita's next find?

Alana, welcome to "Flog It!"

It's wonderful of you to come along and be in this fabulous circus ring.

-So good.

-Have you ever been here before?

-The circus, yes.

Um, well, I essentially grew up here my family have been involved since...

-Decades ago, since the first tower ballet.

-That's my fantasy.

I want to be the woman who stands at the back of the big white

horse trotting around the ring.

-What was your favourite act?

-I loved the elephant.

I used to love when we took him for walks on the beach and stuff.

You took an elephant for a walk on the beach? Ha, ha! For a paddle.

Well, it was more of a dunk rather than a paddle, really.

They were a bit heavy. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

-It's things I'll always remember.

-It's wonderful.

Tell me, what have you brought me along today?

Well, I've got some retro games, Mouse Trap and Risk!

-Some pretty awesome games.

-Where did you get these?

I found these in a charity, spotted them

and you know when you get that nostalgia of like days gone by.

-Did you play board games as a kid?

-A lot, yeah.

Who did you play with?

I played with my grandma loads in between toast time

and snuggles there was always a board game.

Always.

So, this has taken you back to lovely times with your granny.

-Definitely, yeah.

-Well, I think this is great fun.

You're the expert on this, what sort of dates would this be, maybe 1960s?

These are the first edition ones.

As far as I am aware from what I've seen on the internet and things.

How much did it cost you?

I haggled a little bit and got them down to both of them

for 40 which I thought was pretty good because they are quite old

and I have looked online

and they are selling online but incomplete.

This type of thing was mass produced but it is reflecting the time

and because it was a toy many of them were discarded or broken

and what you're telling me is this is a first edition one

and it has everything there.

-Yeah.

-You paid retail for them, auction is slightly different.

I would like to put them in estimated say 20 to 30.

Would you be content with that?

-Yeah.

-If we say £20 reserve with a little bit of discretion.

If they don't get that, you will get them back again.

Yeah, that's fine.

Obviously I've bought it for a bit more

but that's the risk you take, isn't it?

Who knows, but let's hope they do well in auction

and it's been great fun looking at them.

Thank you for bringing them along.

That's all right. No problem.

And you can see if those games win or lose at the auction later on.

We've made a cracking start here in Blackpool and it's nearly time to

put our first items under the hammer but before we do, let's have a quick

recap of all the items we think will be entertaining the bidders.

Wish you were here,

it's the collection of postcards brought along by Richard and Sonia.

There's that collection of speedway memorabilia.

And Alana is willing to take a risk on these board games.

Let's hope she traps the big money.

For today's auction, we've travelled nine miles south to Lytham St Annes

also a mecca of entertainment but this time of a sporting nature.

It is famous for its internationally renowned golf course

but let's hope today's lots are not under par.

The man in charge today is auctioneer Jonathan Cook

and the room is full of potential bidders.

Our first lot is the collection of postcards.

So, this was a family tradition collected by your great aunt

and it stopped around the '60s and that's

when I started to collect saucy postcards

going on holiday in the '60s and '70s and this is your great aunt.

-Yeah.

-Can we show the camera?

-She was born in 1898.

Doesn't she look happy?

-This is a sad moment selling this, really.

-Not really, no.

-I would rather they went to someone who would appreciate it.

-OK.

Good luck, everybody. It's time to put those values to the test.

Let's hope they find a new home and get looked after

and are kept together.

This is it.

Early 20th-century album. Comical postcards.

We can start them off at £80. 85. 90. Five. At £95. Any advance on 95?

100. At £100 on the net. Any advance on £100?

At £100 on the internet. Are we all sure? 110. And 20. And 30.

And 40. And 50. And 60. 170. 180.

-At £180.

-We are nearly at the top end of the estimate.

-At £180 then.

All on the net at 180. Any further interest in the room? At 190.

On the net at 190. Any advance in the room? At 190, all sure.

All finished. At 190.

That's good, isn't it? Everyone is happy. It was worth doing.

Definitely worth doing. Well done. A good result there.

Now, it's time to roll the dice for our next lot.

Alana, fingers crossed

and I know you are crazy about board games, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-Not a lot of money involved. £20, hopefully £40.

I just wanted to meet you guys! That's all it was.

-I've got to get on.

-Good luck.

Let's put it to the test

and find out what this lot think it is now down to the bidders.

Lot 220. 1960s. Ideal mouse game. Risk! by Waddington. 1960s.

On the internet at £20. 22. 24.

At £24 on the net.

-Any advance in the room? At 24 on the net. Are we all sure?

-At £24.

Selling.

-We can all live without it.

-£24.

It has gone within estimate.

-What did you pay for those two games?

-I did pay a bit more.

I was hoping there might have been some big kids in the room. But no!

But somebody else will have a lot of fun playing with them.

-Definitely.

-Whoever bought that got a real bargain and hours of fun.

Time to bring down the chequered flag on our first visit to the

auction room. Vroom, vroom! We are revving up now.

Things are going well and you know what I'm talking about right now.

Yes, the speedway memorabilia. It is a hard thing to put a value on.

You have 50, £60.

Yeah. It was a very difficult one to estimate

because there's not a massive collectors field for them.

If it had been in Grand Prix or motor racing it would have been

really sought-after.

-Anyway, good luck.

-This was the old days.

Lot 435. Speedway interest.

Bids of £34 on the net. £36. 38. 40.

44. 46. 48. 50. Five. 60. Five. 70.

Better than I thought.

-Five.

-90. We're getting to £100. 100. At £100 on the internet.

Any advance in the room? 110. New bid in the room at 110.

-Any advance on 110?

-This is brilliant!

140. 150. 160. 170. 180.

190. 200. 220.

Must be something worthwhile in there to someone.

-It's rare, isn't it?

-Well, it is.

All finished at 240. 250 if it helps. 250.

-Good auctioneering.

-Fantastic, Jonathan. Well done.

-At £260 then.

All finished at 260. No further interest at £260.

-Gosh, I didn't expect that.

-Nor did we. £260.

It's only bits of paper, after all.

Yeah, but it's speedway memorabilia. A lesson to us all.

Don't chuck things away.

Show them to experts first, bring them along to a sale room

and find out what they're worth before you chuck things.

There's plenty more of my mother's I could bring again.

Let's get round there! Come on.

Well, that's our first lots under the hammer.

We're coming back to the sale room later on in the programme

but right now I'm taking a short trip up the road to Morecambe

to witness the spectacular dedication of a group of volunteers

working hard to preserve a special part of their local heritage.

Just up the coast from Blackpool is another seaside resort.

I am here at the Winter Gardens in Morecambe once home to

some of the biggest names in show business

and arguably one of the grandest theatres in Lancashire.

But the heyday has long gone and the glamour has faded

but thankfully all is not lost.

The theatre was built in 1897 and formed part of an entertainment

complex that included a ballroom and seawater baths.

Most of those features have long since been demolished

but the theatre still remains

although it has been closed for more than 40 years.

And it's here in the main auditorium that generations

of theatre-goers flocked to see some of their favourite performers.

This stage has seen the likes of Laurel and Hardy,

Laurence Olivier, and not forgetting the comic genius

Eric Morecambe and his stage partner Ernie Wise.

It must have been terrifying walking on stage to a packed house

because that is a big space.

All those eyes looking down on you, what an atmosphere!

And the acoustics are superb in here with the barrelled ceiling.

Hello, Morecambe!

When it was full, over 2,150 pairs of eyes would have been on the stage.

If you bought the cheapest tickets available,

it got you a seat in this area.

While it may be a long way from the stage, it is close to that.

This is the original ceiling that was put in in 1897.

It would have been cast out of plaster in smaller

sections at ground level and then raised into position and decorated.

If you look through that hole up there,

it gives you a marvellous view of the ceiling detail

but also how this incredible plasterwork is held up.

There's a great deal of weight up there, it is

secured into place by ties,

lots of strands of wire which have been tightened up,

looped over this rolled steel joist so it takes the complete weight.

The ties, the wire, is then covered over with more plaster of Paris

and decorated into the ornate work so it is completely hidden.

But it's not just the ceiling that is full of detail here.

The whole place is full of architectural delights.

In its prime, the theatre would have been a grand

and ornate place to visit and also, in the days before TV, it would

have been a centre of entertainment for the local

community as well as for visiting holiday-makers.

Going to the theatre was thirsty work back in the day.

There would have been five bars here serving drinks to the audience

and in this one bar there's a team of dedicated volunteers working

hard to restore it back to its former glory.

Evelyn, you've been involved with this restoration

-project from day one. What year was that?

-1986.

So, have you got fond memories as a theatre-goer, a young girl,

coming to watch performances here?

Yes, the first time I ever came into the Winter Gardens my mum

brought me and my sister to see Cinderella, the pantomime.

-I was seven years old.

-Gosh!

We went right to the top of the building.

There were no seats there, just benches

and I thought it was absolutely wonderful.

The theatre was all lit up.

So, that memory has stayed with me all my life.

When was the last performance?

It was the RAF band in September 1977.

So, you and a group of friends got together to form an action team

-to get this restoration project under way.

-We did.

We got the opportunity in 2006 to purchase the building which

we did and we've been slowly trying to do work to reopen it again.

And when do you see this project coming to an end,

-another 20 years maybe?

-Yeah. Perhaps not in my lifetime.

You never know.

But it's just good to see it and the volunteers are doing exceptional

work and without the volunteers we wouldn't be doing anything.

Is there anything I can get involved with?

-I am sure, Paul, we can get something for you to do.

-Come on then!

Along with Morecambe's Winter Gardens,

it's estimated that around 50 theatres in the UK

are at risk of being lost forever.

It makes the work of the volunteers even more important.

I'm going to give a helping hand to local artist Shane Johnstone,

who's restoring some of the original mosaic in the entrance hall.

He, like the rest of the team, offer their skills

to bring the theatre back to life one tile at a time.

So, you've got a bit of damage here.

What's the first thing you're going to do?

First we'll take a tracing of the damaged hole.

Do you want to have a go?

Yes, I can rub that around the edge...

All you do is rub round the edge,

gently look for the edge of the hole, and the damage.

-How's that?

-Excellent.

And it's also good just to get a little bit of a tracing

of the grain of the mosaics around the edge as well.

I see, so you know where to follow the lines through.

We can get the flow through, yeah.

So, what happens next?

What we need to do now is to find a piece that's undamaged,

and take a tracing from that.

-Like that section over there.

-That looks good to me.

-OK.

I can see what you're doing now.

You know, it is so simple when you really think about it.

OK, lots of buckets of mosaic tiles here.

Yeah, these are all the salvaged tiles.

So what we need to do now is recreate the pattern

-by sticking the tiles on here.

-OK.

So, we need to identify the colours that we need to use,

and so the way I've identified them is I've named them after biscuits.

-Go on, then.

-So, we've got dark Bourbon.

-Right.

We've got chocolate biscuits there.

-We've got rich teas and we've got...digestives.

-OK!

-You're a man who likes his biscuits, I can see that.

-Yeah.

So, we grab the Bourbon. I'll put some glue on.

This is quite time-consuming. You can't rush this, can you?

No, you can't rush it. You've got to do it carefully and thoroughly.

Get a sense of achievement quite quickly, really, don't you?

Once you get two colours down, working together.

You make progress, and you see the artwork develop in front of you,

and it's very satisfying work.

Look at that! There, two rows completed.

Well done, Paul.

Well, we've cut it out, now. We've got rid of the excess brown paper.

One more dab of glue - I've got the last mosaic to put on.

-In we go.

-There we are.

I'll leave that up to you to carry over there

and put into place.

There's a sense of achievement's gone on there.

-Do you want to put it in?

-No, go on, you do it.

I know, obviously, that's got to go down on adhesive,

-but we won't do that right now. Let's just see the process.

-Yes.

So, once that's adhesived in, we fold this over,

we flip it down, insert into the space...

Once that's set in adhesive and it's gone off,

you can get a sponge with some warm water on it

and just soak that brown paper off, and it'll just peel off, won't it?

It'll peel off and it'll reveal a lovely new restored mosaic.

Well done. What a lovely process.

You've got your work cut out here, haven't you?

Yeah. Well, thanks for your help.

That's all right. Thank you. Thank you for letting me do a little bit.

If you visit the theatre,

you can actually walk over our work now, can't you?!

-How about that?

-Thanks for your help.

-Well done.

Well, I've thoroughly enjoyed my visit here to the Winter Gardens,

and it's great to see the work of the volunteers

who are so clearly passionate about protect their local heritage.

And talking about mosaics,

there's a lovely example here.

This was first put down

in the late 1880s,

and as you can see,

"pavilion" was misspelt.

But I'm sure that's going to be left

for everybody else to look at and admire.

And I must say, if you are ever in the area,

do pay the theatre a visit, because it's well worth seeing.

We're back in Blackpool, where the Tower Circus

is still a fully-functioning entertainment venue

with performances taking place six days a week.

The resident clowns are Mr Boo and Mooky,

and they've turned up to entertain the "Flog It!" crowd.

And, obviously, don't try that at home.

Circus has been with us for centuries -

it's part of our culture, it's entertained all of us.

We all grew up going to the circus,

and circus memorabilia is highly sought-after,

because there's not a great deal of it about.

Now, this has a wonderful story attached to it.

It belonged to a clown named Grock, a Swiss-born clown.

Born in 1880, and by the early part of the 1900s

he was entertaining crowds all over the world.

He became the most popular circus entertainer in the world.

He was known as The King Of Clowns,

and he was one of the highest-paid entertainers back then.

And his act was playing musical instruments.

He was an accomplished musician.

He played 24 different instruments,

and his act was sort of a simpleton performing on all of these things,

with a little music stand with tiny little sheet music on it.

If you're into circus memorabilia,

you would have to pay somewhere in the region of a few thousand pounds

to own something like this.

So, let's go back to the valuation tables now, with James Lewis.

JAMES SNORTS

I have to say, Norman, it's while since I played farmyards.

-Yeah.

-But these, actually, they're not toys, are they?

They're something far more interesting.

Now, the fact that you've got two

makes me think that you actually probably know what they are.

-More or less, yeah.

-So, tell me, did they come from the same place?

No, the big pig came from York, bought that in an antique...

-In York, right.

-This one I actually got from a market in Shanghai.

-Oh, did you?

-Yeah.

-And how long ago did you buy that?

-About eight years ago.

-Right.

-I found out that I was born in the year of the pig,

so that led me to buying pigs.

-Oh, so you collect pigs?

-Yeah. I had over 2,000 at one stage.

Do you go to China a lot?

-I've been a couple of times, yeah.

-It's an amazing country, isn't it?

It's an amazing country, with an amazing culture,

and amazing skills.

One of their best skills is faking and copying other things,

whether it's English Royal Crown Derby or whatever,

they just copy everything, and they do it brilliantly.

These are meant to be Han dynasty/Tang dynasty tomb figures.

The idea was they would accompany the dead person to the afterlife

and be a source of food and something to trade in the new world.

Now, the way of telling would be to drill a section

and do what they call the Oxford test,

where they drill down into the leg - almost always into the leg -

and they take a carbon date of the clay

and they tell you whether it's old or a reproduction.

But the fakers have now discovered that this is what they're doing.

So, they get a genuine old piece, grind up the clay

and make the legs of the old piece.

So, it is very, very difficult to tell.

It would be nice to be able to do the Oxford test on it,

but it costs about £200 to do it.

-So, what did you pay for them?

-I paid £50 for the pig...

-OK.

..and £15, possibly, for that.

-Your Shanghai piece...

-Yeah?

-..I think is definitely a fake.

-Yeah, I can see that.

The pig is more interesting.

My gut reaction is it's got a bit of age,

but I don't think anything like 300-600AD.

We come to value, I guess,

and this is going to be one of the most difficult parts of it,

because without that Oxford test,

you can't say for sure that it's genuine.

What to do?

I think the best way of cataloguing this

is to say a Chinese "Han" - in inverted commas - dynasty

terracotta pig.

Give them a good description.

It will then be picked up online,

but we're not saying it's a genuine Han dynasty,

it's "Han" in inverted commas.

I think if we put an auction estimate of £60-100 for the two,

it's not going to show you a great return if it only makes that,

but it does give them a chance to fight for it

if they think it's right.

-Yep, OK.

-Happy with that?

-Fine, yeah.

Bit of a gamble, but you never know -

-you might end up taking home the bacon.

-Yeah.

A tricky one there for James.

We'll find out if the bidders at the auction

think they're real or fake a little bit later on.

Let's go back to Anita now and see what she's discovered.

Eric, Carol, what a wonderful thing you've brought in

for "Flog It!" today.

It's a concertina.

Can you tell me a bit about the background - where did you get it?

-Were you ever a busker yourself?

-No, no. I can't play it.

I acquired it somewhere down the line.

Whether it was in the loft of a house that I purchased

or whether I acquired in connection with a business I was running,

I haven't a clue.

I've had it that long, 25, 30 years, and it's always been there,

and I just couldn't get rid of it!

Well, let's hope we can pass it on to someone who will play it,

-or perhaps a collector of concertinas.

-Yes.

This one, I think, hasn't been pulled in and out too much,

so the condition...

SHE STRIKES A NOTE

..is good.

I'm tempted to give a wee tune here!

SHE PLAYS DISCORDANTLY

I'm afraid I'm making it sound like a squeaky cat!

But the bellows are good.

I think it maybe needs a wee bit of love and attention

with these little pegs here,

but, in the main, in good condition.

If we look at the front, here,

we can see we can see the little plate...

-Mm-hm.

-..which tells us that it is a Wheatstone,

and that's what we look for.

That was a 19th century instrument maker.

They made up to the 1930s, '40s - maybe even the '50s.

But it was the best of instruments.

I'd we look at the back of it, we can see this number here.

Now, each concertina has its own individual number,

and you can trace that back to when it was made.

-Yes.

-Did you know that, Eric?

Yes, I actually did it - went onto their web page,

and I traced it back, and it was made in 1913.

You can actually see the ledger that it was written out on.

-So, just at the very beginning of the war.

-Yeah.

Just at the beginning of the war.

-Valuation. Have you had it valued before, Eric?

-No.

-No.

I would put a value of £500-800 on it.

I can be a wee bit conservative at times,

so I'm sure that that type of estimate will attract the bidding.

-Yes.

-And it may fly, it may go above the top estimate.

-But would you be happy to sell it at that?

-Yes, yes.

-You're happy with that.

-No problem.

-Reserve £500.

-Yeah.

-Bottom estimate.

I'm sure it'll play a fine tune for us when it's sold.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

In the past, concertinas have had mixed fortunes on "Flog It!",

making anything from a couple of hundred pounds to over a thousand.

We'll see how that one does a little later on.

Now, if you're a fan of the show,

you're bound to recognise today's final item.

Joan, can you hear that?

No.

All those people shouting at home, "Clarice Cliff, Clarice Cliff!"?

-Clarice Cliff!

-Yes, because if you're a "Flog It!" viewer,

you know exactly what that is.

-Clarice Cliff.

-It's one of the "Flog It!" favourites.

It just wouldn't be a "Flog It!" without a bit of Clarice Cliff.

So, tell me, we know all the history of Clarice,

we've been over it so many times.

But what's the history of this one? Your personal history.

Just always having it in the family.

Just there, full of daffodils and tulips and that.

-And it belonged to your parents?

-Yeah.

And do you remember it as a little girl?

Yes, I remember me mother saying she paid half a crown for it.

Half a crown!

Do you remember where she got it from?

-Er, yes - a pot shop that used to do auctions.

-Really?

-Over in Yorkshire.

-Well, I think your mum did very well,

because she's obviously got a good eye.

Clarice Cliff being the archetypal leading designer

of the Art Deco period and the Art Deco movement.

This is known as Melon pattern, for obvious reasons -

we've got a very stylised green and pink melon on this side.

The bands are in blue, pink and green.

There was one with reds and oranges that was more common than this,

but also slightly more popular.

This would have been produced around 1935,

so it was in the height of Clarice Cliff's Bizarre, Fantasque period,

when everyone thinks Clarice Cliff was at her best.

After the war, she sold her name, so a lot of wares are produced

that have a bit of a weak design with a Clarice Cliff name to it.

Yeah.

But the reason why they're weak is that Clarice Cliff never saw them.

This is a piece that Clarice would have designed, would have executed

and would have been a key person in the production of this piece.

-Would she?

-So, she paid half a crown for it...

-Yeah.

-..in the 1930s.

Now, half a crown in today's money is what?

-Half a crown is...

-About two shillings, and 2½p is...

-Two shillings and...

-Six...

See, that - I'm no wiser with two shillings than

-I am with half a crown!

-No...

Two shillings and sixpence - sixpence is 2 and a half pence,

-a shilling is 5p, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-So - that's 12 and a half pence!

-Yeah.

That's not bad.

-Must be.

-12 and a half pence.

Well, your 12 and a half pence has changed into about £100-150.

-That's not bad for 12 and a half pence!

-That's not bad, no.

-Pleased with that?

-Yeah.

-Flog it!

-Flog it! Let's flog it, why not?!

Well, we certainly had a show-stopping day here

at the Blackpool tower,

with hundreds of people coming through the door

to have their antiques and collectibles valued.

It's now time to say goodbye to the Tower

as we head down the coastline south to Lytham Saint Annes,

to the auction room.

And here's a quick recap of what's sailing with us.

Norman's sending his little piggies off to market.

This concertina will try to squeeze out the big money.

And there's the "Flog It!" favourite - the Clarice Cliff jug.

Welcome back to the auction room in Lytham Saint Annes.

As you can see, it's a busy day here.

The room is still packed full of bidders,

and hopefully this lot will be eager to buy our next batch of lots.

Now let's catch up with our owners,

who are waiting nervously in the wings.

Let the action begin.

First up, it's those terracotta tomb figures,

and time to find out if the bidders think they're real.

Norman, you've been collecting terracotta pigs for about -

what, 20-odd years?

-20 years, yeah.

-Yes. You're fascinated by pigs.

I had up to 2,000 at one stage.

Why are you starting to sell off this particular pig?

-I'm going to move into a one-bedroom...

-Oh, you're downsizing.

-Into sheltered accommodation.

-There's no room for the pigs.

Right, James, you've seen a lot of this.

Yeah, I mean, very difficult to say whether they're right or wrong,

so all we can do is wait and see.

It's now down to the bidders. This is it.

Bids of £40 on these two, any advance on 40?

At £40, have we got...? 42, on the net at 42.

Any advance in the room?

At 42. 44, 46.

50, 55.

At £55, any advance on 55?

60.

£60, on the net at 60.

Any advance on £60?

On the net, then, at £60.

Are we all sure? All finished?

No further interest?

-You were spot on.

-Well...

-You were spot on.

-They're great value.

-Yes.

People often say, "It's gotta be worth more than that, it's old!"

-Yeah.

-But it just shows - it doesn't make any difference.

They're still only £60.

It is mad, isn't it?

I particularly like those, a lot. Very sculptural.

That's about what I paid for them both.

-You got your money back, did you?

-Yeah.

Good luck with the downsizing, good luck with the move, as well.

-And hang on to the rest of the pigs.

-I will do, yeah.

Well done!

So, just a small addition to Norman's piggy bank.

Time to see if the Clarice Cliff collectors

are willing to part with their cash.

We've come downstairs to the cafe area,

because Joan has a few mobility problems.

There's a lot of stairs to auction room, which is on the first floor,

so we've set up a laptop with a live feed to the sale room,

so we can hear and see all the action, Joan.

And that's where it's going on, look, upstairs.

-But we're now part of this.

-Right, lovely.

-So, how are you?

-Very well.

-Excited?

-Yes, very.

-Looking forward to this?

-I'll be glad when it's finished.

-I bet you will!

Nerve-racking, aren't they, auction rooms?

Why have you decided to sell your Clarice Cliff today?

Just cos it's Clarice Cliff, and I thought it was going well.

Well, we always seem to do well on "Flog It!" with our Clarice items,

and I don't think this one will be any exception, do you, James?

No, I mean, Clarice is one of those things that everybody knows.

Loads of collectors,

and especially when it's online across the whole world, like this.

-Yep.

-It's bound to sell. And it's a rare colour, as well, this one.

It broadens the market, doesn't it?

Well, fingers crossed, we're going to get that top end right now,

because this is it. Here we go!

Lot 259, Clarice Cliff hand-painted Melon pattern jug,

pastel shades, interest here, starting of at £90.

Interest, look, straight in at 90.

100.

At £100. 110 at the back, 120.

130 and I'm out.

Any advance on 130?

130, 140, 150 on the net.

At 160, 170, 180.

At 180 in the room, at 180.

It's in the room.

Any advance on 180?

190 on the phone. 200.

220.

240.

240!

260. 280.

300.

-£300.

-Lovely.

£300, then, are we all sure?

At £300, then. All finished at 300...

Joan, that was brilliant. That was a brilliant result,

and it was great to watch it live down here,

and thank you for being a part of that and bringing in your Clarice.

Ooh, I had to bring Clarice in, it's not "Flog It!" without Clarice.

It's not, is it? No! Job done.

A good result for Joan and her jug.

We're back upstairs now for today's final item -

Eric and Carol's concertina.

We've sold them on the show before, and they have made around £800,

so you're right on, there. £500-800. I wonder if we'll get it.

-Well, Wheatstone's really the Rolls-Royce...

-It is.

..of concertinas. And if you've got one, that's the make that you want.

Let's put this to the test, shall we?

And I'm sure this is going to fly away. Here we go.

-Good luck, everyone.

-Hopefully.

Lot 160, early 20th century concertina.

Bids of 300, 320, 340.

At 340, 60, 80, 400.

420, 440.

60, 80.

£500. In the room at 500.

550.

600 I've got on the net.

Any advance on 600?

Come on!

At £600. 650.

At £650 on the internet.

Come on, please, more. More. Come on, please.

700 on the phone.

-Yes!

-£700.

At £700 on the telephone. 750.

Yes!

800.

On the telephone at £800.

Any advance on 800?

850.

-900.

-Yes!

At £900 on the telephone. Any advance?

At £900, then, are we all sure at 900?

Any further interest?

£900, on the telephone at 900.

-Yes!

-Brilliant.

-Isn't that wonderful?

-Brilliant result.

-900!

-£900. Don't forget, though, there is commission to pay.

Everybody pays it.

It's 15% plus VAT,

but still a lot of money for something you found in the loft.

-That's right, yeah.

-If you've got something like that in the loft...

-Played a pretty tune!

-..we want to see it.

-Yeah, he pushed all the right buttons there, didn't he?

-He did.

-That's for sure.

-He certainly did, yes.

Thank you very much for bringing that in.

And you know what? That's just rounded off such a brilliant day

-here in Lytham Saint Annes.

-Absolutely.

I hope you've enjoyed the show - we've loved being here.

Join us again soon for many more surprises.

But until then, it's bye-bye.