Somerset 29 Flog It!

Today, for the first time ever,

"Flog It!" comes to you from a working military base.

Below me right now is Somerset and HMS Heron, Britain's largest naval

aviation base and the Fleet Air Arm Museum, home to our valuation day.

Welcome to "Flog It!"

HMS Heron's origins date back to 1939 when the base was built.

At this time, it would have been home

to aeroplanes like the Swordfish,

which thanks to the historic flight team, is still operational.

Today, you are more likely to find Royal Navy Lynx helicopters

and Sea Kings on the runway.

Throughout the day,

there will be aircraft taking off and landing just behind us.

Today's valuations will be taking place inside the Fleet Air Arm

Museum, which is situated on the base here at Yeovilton.

The "Flog It!" radar has reached far and wide

and people are arriving in their droves, to get their antiques

and collectables valued by our "Flog It!" experts,

captains of the antiques world,

Thomas Plant...

I love these souvenirs of Lourdes.

..and Charlie Ross.

-And the shape is lovely, isn't it?

-Nice, isn't it?

-Romantic.

Which item will make a small fortune in today's show?

The relic of an old love affair?

It's been quite nice to discuss the nuances and fun of one's first kiss.

A car-boot sale find?

People look at us and think, "No, you are too young to like that."

I say, "No, it's for everyone."

Or just a load of old coins?

Well, we are certainly surrounded by interesting aircraft from the past.

This museum really does sum up the history of aviation.

Later in the show, I will be getting a glimpse of some modern aircraft

that are still in use today when I visit air-traffic control,

here on the base. But right now, let's touch down with our experts

as we get on with our first valuation.

Which is taking place beneath the wings of Concorde.

Pat, tell me about this delightful box.

Well, it was given to me 55 years ago...by my very first boyfriend.

Very first boyfriend, 55 years?

55 years. Don't try and find out how old I am!

I'm not doing that in my head, I promise.

So, was this a gift? Did it last?

Yes, it's lasted quite a while

but he went off to uni to become an architect

and I was left at home and that was the end of that.

-This was a memento?

-This was just an "I love you, have this."

First love.

-First love, it was first love.

-Lovely, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

-It is lovely.

-It is.

-All those things.

-All those things.

-All those wonderful things.

-Special things and then heartbreak.

-Yes, but that's...

-That part of it, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is all part of it but it is so special, that time.

-Oh, yes.

-It's beautiful. Silver-gilt inside so mercury gilded...

-Yes.

..inside, with this guilloche enamel.

It is marked 925 on the back.

-Most probably it's going to be continental.

-Yes.

And this guilloche enamel, which is translucent,

with the engine turning on the top, has this wonderful opalescence to it.

-Yes, yes.

-Like a piece of Lalique.

-Yes.

This is what you see, this pretty opalescence.

-It's dead, dead pretty.

-Mm, mm.

-How old would it be?

-Yes, good question. How old would it be?

I would have thought between 1920 and the Second World War.

-I think it's sort of that sort of period, Art Deco.

-Deco.

The Deco period. A little pillbox.

Where has it been?

In my jewellery box, in the cupboard.

-So, in your jewellery box in the cupboard. You haven't seen it...

-No.

-Probably the last time you saw it was over a year ago.

-At least.

-At least.

So, you should sell it

-because somebody will put it in their bijouterie cabinet...

-Yes.

..a cabinet and they will put it in there and it will be on show.

-Yes, yes, which is better.

-Which is much better.

Now, OK, it's not going to be worth a king's ransom.

No. Oh, what a shame!

No. It's a £60 to £80 little box but it's sweet.

-I would suggest 60-80 with a discretionary 60.

-That's fine.

Was that all right?

-Thank you for bringing it in.

-My pleasure.

It's been quite nice to sort of discuss the...

nuances and the fun of one's first kiss.

MUSIC: Love Is In The Air by John Paul Young

Always the romantic, Thomas.

Let's hope Charlie Ross can bring us

back down to earth with his next find.

Diane and Chris, I have to thank you very much indeed for bringing

something tall to "Flog It!"

cos I spend my life sitting on a chair at "Flog It!"

and by the end of the day I can hardly move,

so it's very nice to stand up and admire your wonderful object...

Which is an oil lamp.

They have gone out of fashion a bit,

-so I hope we're not looking for the moon here.

-No, no, no.

Tell me about it. Where did you buy it?

We bought in it...an antique shop in Wells about 10-15 years ago.

Ooh, no. No pressure. Can you remember how much you paid for it?

It was about £200.

Did you buy it...simply to look at or did you buy it as an emergency,

-in case there was a power cut or whatever?

-No.

It was to go on a deep stone window ledge in an old cottage

and it looked beautiful.

It's brass, as you know. It's Victorian.

All we were told was he thought it was German.

-I think it's English.

-Oh, right.

-I don't see any...

-There's no markings on it, so...

I don't see any reason why it should be German,

unless there's any writing on it. But is there no writing?

-We haven't... We've never found any.

-Ah...

Oh, no, hang on. Oh, yes.

Ah, well, we're both right, you see because it says,

"Manufactured in Germany for SP Catterson, London South East."

-So can we have half each?

-Yeah, that's fine.

THEY LAUGH

It's got great decoration on it.

It has mask heads, it has...paw feet, which I like.

It's got a lot of floral decoration.

It's got acanthus leaf decoration, which I like.

For me, the best decoration are these gothic straps...

real gothic taste to them and I like that. Erm...

A perfectly good shade, whether it's original or not is anybody's guess,

but an etched glass shade always helps to lift it up.

And...

I think it's a great thing. Now I know...

that you said it cost about a couple of hundred pounds.

I think it would have to be an exceptional day to

get your money back.

That's fine.

I'm thinking £100-£150.

Yeah, that's absolutely fine, isn't it?

-Yes, that's fine.

-It's an imposing object.

I think a reserve at £100 with a little bit of auctioneer's

discretion and it would be wonderful if we got our money back,

-wouldn't it?

-Well, that would be...

-That would be a jackpot.

Anyway, thank you very much for bringing it along.

Thank you very much.

Well, well, well, so many people, it looks like all of Somerset

has turned up and the surrounding counties.

And talking about busy, I took the opportunity earlier to go

and take a look at Air Traffic Control,

who manage some of the busiest airspace in the country.

Take a look at this.

# Ground control to Major Tom

# Commencing countdown, engines on... #

Dan, you are head of Air Traffic Control,

so I'd imagine this is your office space, pretty much most of the day,

-is it?

-Yeah, absolutely.

I spend my time between here, in the visual control room,

and downstairs in the radar room.

The amount of staff that you've got up here at the moment,

is this in shift work, so it's around the clock?

It's all manned by shift work and we also have duty

personnel on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I would imagine it looks a lot different at night-time.

You really can't see what's going on out there and that's when the stress really kicks in.

It certainly can do at night.

Very different, very black and, for the controllers,

all they can see is lights flying around in the sky.

How many aircraft do you think are coming in and out?

We average about 50 aircraft a day.

That is a lot. That really is a lot actually,

-isn't it?

-It is. It's an awful lot of flying.

So where do most of the aircraft go to or come from?

The vast majority are engaged in exercises

around the local area and nationally.

They're going out to the sea areas and doing maritime training.

They're also deploying from here,

so they're going out to ships at sea to go and tour

all around the world for their various operations and exercises.

I would imagine it's quite exciting.

It's... It's a thoroughly exciting job.

I've been doing it for about 22 years now...

and every day is different,

and I think that's what makes it so very exciting and challenging.

# This is Major Tom to ground control

# I'm stepping... #

Well, it's time to leave the heady heights of the control tower now,

as we join up with our experts,

who have got their feet firmly planted on the ground.

Let's see what Thomas has found.

Margaret, you call this a funny name, don't you?

I do. We just call it the "Blue Thing".

The Blue Thing. And the Blue Thing's been in your life for how long?

-I should think about 35 years.

-35 years?

Well, it's quite a special piece of glass.

It's a piece of art glass from about the 1900s, the 1920s.

Art Deco glass...made by Almeric Walter of Nancy in France.

It's....

made out of a technique called pate de verre,

which is granules of glass...

crashed together, heated up and moulded.

So it's not a hand-blown piece of glass, it's a

moulded piece of glass.

But this is what's created these textures with colours

and design to it.

It's a bit like a sort of...

a splosh in a pond, isn't it?

Where did it come from?

It was an auntie of my husband's, she gave it to him and...

She had quite a lot of antique things,

but we didn't think it was worth anything.

-And this was... This was your first husband.

-Yes.

What did he use it for?

The ashtray.

-LAUGHING:

-The ashtray! I can't believe that! It's a lovely thing.

Well, it's quite good as an ashtray as well!

OK, so it comes to value.

-Have you got any idea?

-No.

-No idea at all?

-No.

So £100 would be good?

I would think it would perhaps be worth a little bit more than that.

Yeah, it is worth a little bit more.

I would suggest an estimate of £300-£500,

with a discretionary reserve at £300. Does that suit?

-Yes, that'll be fine, thank you.

-What will you do with that money?

I think I better give it to my grandchildren.

Well, they're very lucky, aren't they?

I keep spending their inheritance, so I better give them something.

It is lovely. £300-£500.

-I look forward to seeing you at the auction.

-It'll be very nice.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

So right now we're heading due northwest,

as they say in air traffic control,

15 nautical miles to the auction room.

Here's a quick recap of what's coming with us.

Will Pat's Art Deco pill box, a gift from her first love,

find the perfect partner?

For those who like to burn the midnight oil,

this Victorian brass lamp should ignite the bids.

And Margaret's Pate de Verre blue dish

is sure to bring in the glass collectors.

Today, our saleroom is in the quiet Somerset town of Bridgewater

situated on the edge of the Somerset Levels,

south of the Mendip Hills and east of the Quantocks.

It's auction time, and on the rostrum for us today

is a familiar face to "Flog It!" fans -

antique expert Claire Rawle.

Do remember if you're buying or selling at auction,

there is commission to pay.

Here, it's 15% plus VAT on the hammer price

if you're selling something, if you're buying,

it's 18% plus the VAT, so add that on to the hammer prices.

Well, let's meet up with our first owner today.

Going under the hammer right now

we have the enamelled silver pill box belonging to Pat.

This was given to you by your first love 55 years ago.

-Yes, it was.

-A long time ago.

-Yes, it was.

-You've managed to hang on to it, though.

I'm hoping this will sell, cos my daughter who delivered me

-today works for Mind. She teaches horticultural.

-OK.

She's a therapist with the Mind organisation,

so if I get some nice money for this, then that's going to go...

-Good cause.

-..to my daughter's charity.

Great. She's here today.

Let's hope there's no missing bids right now,

cos our lot is just about to go under the hammer. This is it.

Nice item, this.

The little enamelled, silver triangular pill box.

This one, I'm straight in at 65, £70. At 70. 5. 80.

85.

90. 95.

100. 110.

Right. It's gone.

140, bid's here. At 140. Now 150 anywhere? At £140.

150. Telephone bidder.

At 150. On the telephone this time at 150. At 150.

Are you all done now? It's going to sell at 150... 160. He's back again.

160. Do you want to go 170?

170 on the telephone. Are you sure?

-There are a lot of collectors for this.

-Yeah, there is.

GAVEL DROPS

-£170, hammer's gone down. That's a sold sound.

-Very good.

-We're happy with that.

-I'm very happy with that.

-All the money's going to the Mind charity.

-Yes.

-Brilliant cause.

Really happy, thank you.

The enduring power of first love.

Our next item has been burning a flame since Victorian times.

Well, unfortunately our owners Chris and Diane

cannot be with us right now, but we do have their item.

Yes, it's that German Victorian brass oil lamp.

We have their next-door neighbour. Angie, good to see you.

So, have you seen this oil lamp in their house on many occasions?

No, the problem was they lived in a cottage before where it looked OK.

In the new house, it just doesn't fit.

-Right, that's why they're selling it.

-Yes.

OK, let's put it to the test. It's going under the hammer right now.

172, very decorative one this time.

Show it to you there - nice brass base.

This one I have to start away at 65. 65. Do I see 70 anywhere? £65.

At 65, now 70. 70 I have on the net. 75 with me.

At 75, now 80. 80, I have. 85.

It's a slow climb.

95 here. At 95.

Slowly.

At £100, it's a net bid, now. £100. Do I see 110 anywhere?

At £100 it's going to be, then. Are you all done?

-It's going to sell at £100.

-Just.

That's a sign of the time, isn't it? Just not in vogue right now.

-What do you do with them?

-I don't know.

They've halved their money.

I mean a set dressing for Victorian set dressing

in the right display area, they look great.

-Yeah.

-But that's about it, really.

-Well, they'll be glad that it's gone. I'll let them know.

-Good.

The saleroom is a real barometer of what's in and what's not.

But something tells me our next piece has a timeless appeal.

Well, if you love your art glass from France, you will love this -

a bit of Walter Nancy, belonging to Margaret.

Do you know what? I like this. I like this.

I like the fact that it's all moulded and crushed together.

It's the same technique, really, as the late Whitefriars.

-The Geoffrey Baxter kind of thing.

-Absolutely.

-But a lot earlier.

-We call it the old blue thing, don't we?

We do, yes.

Right, it's going under the hammer, this is it. Good luck, Margaret.

The Walter Pate de Verre, little shallow dish. 282.

Nice, decorative item.

This I have to start at £220. At 220. Do I see 250 anywhere?

Bid's here at 220. At 220, now 250. At 220, now 250. At 250.

280 with me.

-300. 300, I have in the room. At £300.

-It's gone.

£300, yes.

320, thank you. 350 in the room at £350 in the room.

At 350, now 380. 380, I have. Are you sure?

At £380 on the internet now.

At £380. Are you sure in the room? Don't miss it.

-At 380, the bid's on the net.

-£380.

-At £400. At £400. 420 on the net.

-Good name, that's why.

Yeah.

On the internet, then at £420.

all done in the room, it's going to sell at £420.

-GAVEL DROPS

-£420.

-That's very good, isn't it?

-Yes.

-For an ashtray.

Yes. Good investment piece.

Well, in spite of its years as an ashtray,

Walter Nancy's Art Deco dish made its money today.

Well, that's the end of our first visit to the saleroom.

As you've just seen,

we're surrounded by devoted collectors here.

They're all over the place.

But while we're here in the West Country,

I went off to meet an equally devoted bunch west of the county.

Take a look at this.

The Roper family have lived at Forde Abbey for over 100 years now.

Today, the 2,000-acre estate is opened to the public,

but the family are primarily farmers.

By working closely to the land,

they've managed to be self-sufficient.

It is a tradition they have inherited

from the founders of Forde Abbey, the 12th century Cistercian monks,

a French Catholic order who came to Britain

from the Burgundy region of France.

A breakaway group from the Benedictines,

the Cistercians strove for a more austere way of life,

believing a simple life lived in poverty

was a way of getting closer to God.

SINGING

Working the land and being agriculturally self-sufficient

was key to the Cistercian way of life.

Alice Roper is the younger generation of the family who

have inherited the monks' incredible history.

This, presumably, is the same vegetable garden the monks used.

This has been a vegetable garden as far back as history tells us.

We imagine the monks would have had grown all their vegetables here.

-Obviously the kitchen is just round the corner.

-Close proximity.

Absolutely. We still grow all the veg for the tearoom and everything now.

-Which is lovely, isn't it?

-It's lovely, yes.

Carrying on in their footprint.

Alice's mother Lisa has her own herd of Red Ruby Devon cattle,

which provides meat for the estate.

The family also produce goats' milk and work the surrounding farmland,

as the monks did before them.

In 1148, just seven years after construction started,

the first 12 monks were ready to move in,

and the Cistercian community stayed for the next 400 years.

You can understand why when you step inside this building.

It really does embrace you. There's the most wonderful feel to it.

This is the great hall,

where the monks would have greeted their guests

and addressed each other en masse

and, of course, dined here when the abbot was present.

Mind you, when the monks lived here for those 400 years,

there was absolutely no heating.

It would have been really, really cold, exceptionally damp

and quite austere.

But nevertheless...

..I still think it would have been a fantastic place to live.

For me, the cloisters are probably the most beautiful

part of what remains of the original abbey.

This is where the monks would have walked for exercise and meditation.

Every day began with a prayer at two o'clock in the morning,

and most days were spent in silence.

Although the Cistercian philosophy was to lead a simple life in

a state of poverty, the reality was the order became incredibly wealthy.

Many local landowners bequeathed their estate

to the monks upon their death.

In exchange, it was requested that the monks prayed

for their deceased souls.

Incredibly, there still exists a log book recording these donations,

and Mark Roper, Alice's father,

has grown up with this ancient religious document.

You have the monastic cartulary...

which is which is created by the monks. It's all written by them.

Apparently, it is really title deeds of lands that they were

given in exchange for a life after death.

Right, OK. Obviously this is how they accumulated their wealth.

I think they did.

I think that's exactly how they did, because the monks, apparently,

their writ ran at about 30,000 acres.

How did you come by this?

Was this part of the treasures of the abbey or...?

Oh, God knows what happened to it,

but it turned up again in a collection

of people called Phelips.

My grandmother bought in the early 20th century.

-So now it's in its rightful place.

-I think it is, yes.

as well as being hugely successful landowners,

the monks were scholars and devoted many hours

to their philosophical writings in the cartulary, the scholar's room.

Alice has really embraced their history.

I gather this is where all the intellectual work was done

while the others were toiling hard in the field.

Yes, this is where the official monks would do

all their writings, which they used to do.

They used to do elaborate etchings down the side

of their books and things.

All the wonderful illuminated manuscripts and things like that.

That's it. And the third abbot was deemed to have a huge library.

It consisted of 12 books, but in those days,

if you imagine, they're all done by hand, they were probably big volumes.

But 12 books back in 1140 was deemed to be a very large library,

which is a bit funny nowadays.

ALICE LAUGHS

So having seen this, would you like to see where they used to sleep?

-Sure, yes, please. Is it close by?

-Yes.

OK, this is the monks' dormitory, which is where the

monks would have slept.

If you can imagine, it wouldn't have been exactly like this.

Not in this length, it would have been divided up?

Yes, it would have been.

Each one of these windows would have been a cubical for a single monk.

-There to there, that's your space.

-That is your space.

-What was in that space?

-In that space, you had a bed.

They'd have had a candle and they'd have had a desk that they

would pray at, and obviously their Bible and their...

A hook where they would have had two different cassocks -

one for the winter and one for the summer.

-They changed twice a year and that was it.

-No layers then.

-No layers.

-Not in the freezing cold?

-No, they would have frozen in here.

We've always said that they acted as the olden day social services.

Poor people and destitute people would come to the monasteries

and the monks would look after them.

They would feed them in return for the paupers

working on the land and helping out.

-That's a fair exchange.

-It is a fair exchange.

They used to look after the sick as well,

-and act as the local hospital and poor house.

-Yeah.

I'd imagine many people had arrived knocking at the door, poor people.

Once they had a meal and a bed for the night,

they probably stayed for many years.

Although the monks left over 400 years ago,

their presence can still be felt at Forde Abbey, and the Roper

family pay daily homage to them in the way they run the estate.

Welcome back to Yeovilton, the site of our valuation days.

The museum is right down there, so let's now catch up

with our experts and see what else they've spotted.

Charlie and Sue are talking vintage toys.

This dates to 1954, almost the last

of proper metal, steel-made toys,

before everything was plastic.

This one is one that belongs to my husband, Tim.

-These were gifts to him when he was a child.

-Yes.

And obviously he did play with them quite a bit.

However, his father was very particular about putting

the toys away.

For ages, Tim thought that they'd probably got lost or been sold

ages ago and then when his father died last year

when we cleared out the house we found all these boxes.

The boxes were all beautifully kept,

so it was a wonderful surprise for Tim.

They are high-quality toys, you know,

there's no plastic in there at all.

This is all metal, Dinky toys,

Foden is the make of the lorry - which was a real lorry

made for by Meccano.

-This dates to 1954...

-Oh, right, yes, he would have been four then.

Yeah. The thing that intrigues me about this, actually,

is the condition because the Mobil Gas here

is a transfer print

and as you can see it is worn

but only slightly worn.

The other thing to check is that the tyres are on,

and all the tyres are all right.

The paintwork is good and, of course,

the box is in super condition as well.

Did he know that you were bringing it along today

-or have you smuggled it in?

-I did ask him.

I did say, "I'm going to go to "Flog It!"

"So, shall I take one of your toys with me?"

-Have you any idea what this is worth?

-No.

I haven't actually done any research yet.

I'll shock you, I think,

if this were absolutely mint and there was

no rubbing at all on it,

I think it would be worth as much as £400.

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

-Gosh!

I know...frightening really.

So, we're looking at a question of gauging how much that

damage is going to affect a collector.

If we estimated it at £150-£200...

Gosh, yes.

-..and put a reserve of 125 on it.

-125.

-Happy?

-Yes, very happy.

-Is that more than you thought it was worth?

-It is, thank you.

-Might we tempt him along to the auction?

I'm sure he'll come along to the auction, yes.

-Well, now he knows what it's worth.

-Yes, it'll be a great day!

And he could bring the other ones if he wanted to

and the auctioneers would have a look at them for him.

-Oh, that's a good idea.

-Thank you very much indeed.

A classic little vehicle dating back to the 1950s, fast forward another

decade and it was the beginning of the golden age of Concorde.

I'm sitting I'm in the cockpit of the first

British-built Concorde, which was first test flown in 1969,

by the pilot Brian Trubshaw.

The plane took off from Filton in Bristol on a test flight that

took it all over the world.

Brian was also the last person to fly this incredible aeroplane.

I caught up with museum director Graham Mottram to find out

how Concorde ended up in Yeovilton.

Graham, you are the perfect man to answer my question,

you're the museum director.

What is the Concorde prototype doing here in a naval aviation museum?

So, it was built up the road in Bristol.

By preserving it down here,

it's accessible to the families of the people who made it, built it.

She's here, she's staying here

and in a sense, over my dead body does it go out.

Always a crowd pleaser, I've noticed the hundreds of people here today,

they all talk about it, they've all wandered up here.

There's such a diversity of items!

Take a look at this piece.

-George, Kirsty, hello.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

Now, erm, first of all, I want to compliment you on your look.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-You're referring to the tattoos.

-And are you interested in antiques?

We are very much!

It is a daily occurrence that sit down, cup of tea,

antique programmes...

Go to car boots, go to any antique fairs we can.

We really are a little bit too enthusiastic about it!

It's good...people look at us and think,

"No, you're too young to like that!"

-We say, "No, it's for everyone!"

-So, tell me about the plaque.

What happened and what went through your mind

and was this a purchase or was it an inheritance?

-This was a purchase from a boot sale.

-Yeah, local to here.

Local to here and we walked around and I wanted to buy something.

I couldn't...looked around, didn't find anything and then spotted that.

Instantly fell in love with it but walked off.

He wasn't sure wasn't sure if he wanted it,

I had to keep prodding him. If you want it, go and get it!!

So, tell me, what attracted you to it?

I think it's the filigree and the flower frame

and then, like, the Virgin Mary.

It just sort of caught my eye and I was just like,

"I really, really like it."

-You've not been to Lourdes?

-No.

It's in southern France, in the Pyrenees,

erm...this is Bernadette, she apparently saw

the Virgin Mary at least 18 times while gathering wood.

Right, OK.

And the basilica or the cathedral is built on top of the cave where

she saw the Virgin Mary, hence the scene you have here.

-It all fits in, doesn't it?

-It all makes sense, yeah.

It all works and within this very Gothic arch,

with this oriole window here, it dates, I would say 1920s.

A souvenir one would have bought if you were a tourist.

Now, the added bonus to all of this is the musical box.

Did you know there was a musical box?

I did, when the lady sold it to me

but she didn't have the key and I don't have a key that fits it.

-Have you wound it up?

-No.

I haven't, I don't even know what it plays.

We don't know if it works or anything.

It's one of those mysteries.

Well, it's quite nice, it's a bit like adding value.

The person who buys this is going to add value by finding a key.

-So, how much did you pay for this?

-I paid £10.

-£10!

Well, come on, let's see if we can double your money

and if not make a bit more.

-I mean, I'm going to put £30 on it.

-Wow!

-That's more than what I thought.

-It's more than what we thought,

-to be honest.

-Put £30 and let's reserve it...I don't know, 15.

I think that would be fair and give you a bit of profit.

So, do you want to have a little antiques shop one day or...?

-I'd love to.

-It would be nice.

I think I'd be a rubbish antiques dealer,

cos I wouldn't want to sell anything,

I'd want to keep it all and look at it!

Well, you never know, with the profit you make on this,

you'll be able to buy something at the auction.

-That would be good!

-I'll look forward to seeing you there.

-We'll look forward to seeing you too.

-Thank you very much.

-Been a pleasure.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

Let's hope our budding antique collectors make their money back.

Our next two sellers are also hoping to make a mint.

You've come identically dressed. Are you twins?

No, we're from the National Animal Welfare Trust.

What brought you along today?

Well, we had a gentleman donate these boxes to us.

He didn't have any family members to pass them down to

and he's supported the trust for a long time.

So, he's given you these and you've brought them

along to be valued and hopefully sold and make some money?

How do you use the money?

It goes towards all the animals at the trust.

-What a wonderful story, what a lovely man!

-Yes.

So, we've got here a lot of half crowns, which is

two shillings and six pence.

Florins, which are two-shilling pieces.

Here we've crowns, which are five shillings.

You have these coins here, the one shilling, the florin,

the rare 1849 florin.

In here, any number of coins, erm, for example just to pull

out of a little box like that and look at all that lot.

-So, it does need a good sift through...

-Yeah.

..if we're going to have a pleasant surprise.

Have you got any idea of the value of all this lot?

-We have no idea.

-We've had a look

through and I think conservatively there's certainly £400-£600 worth.

More than you'd hoped?

Yeah, yeah, definitely!

We'll put a reserve of 400 and perhaps a little bit of discretion.

Subject to the auctioneers having a really thorough look through,

that might need, erm, increasing a little bit in terms of estimate.

But I think you can certainly work in 400 as a bottom line

and hopefully there's some way to go beyond that.

-Excellent!

-Sounds good!

-By the way, you've found these in there as well.

-Yeah.

Now, that is a gold wedding band.

And this is a three-stone diamond ring.

It looks like there are quite big diamonds in there but if you look

very carefully they're quite small diamonds that have been

illusion cut with the precious metal surround.

So, I think they should be taken out,

they can still go to auction but I think they should be separately

auctioned and there's over £100-worth there.

-Happy with that?

-Very happy!

-Been a worthwhile day, hasn't it?

-Yes.

-It has.

-Glad you came?

-Yes.

-Good. Very nice to meet you.

-And you.

Well, that's it, you have just seen it -

our experts have now found the last item to take off to auction,

which means it's time to say farewell

to our magnificent host location, the Fleet Air Arm Museum,

so entrenched in history.

It's been wonderful being here.

Everybody's thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but right now,

it's over to the saleroom, let's put those valuations to the test

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

This 1954 tanker is one of the rarer Dinky toys around

and might be the piece

a collector is searching for.

This Lourdes souvenir is sure to find a devoted buyer.

Will Emma and Samantha's extensive coin collection

go to a collector or for scrap?

And for anyone wanting to pop the question,

this ring duo could be just the answer they're looking for.

'We're back in Bridgwater,

'but before the auction, I took the opportunity to ask

'auctioneer Claire Rawle about the new estimate

'on Emma and Samantha's ring and coin collections.'

What sort of value have you put on those two rings?

-Right, it's not huge, 40 to 80.

-OK, that's almost scrap.

It is really. That's what it's based on, yes.

OK, OK, right, let's get onto that big collection.

There is a lot of Victorian ones there -

florins, shillings, sixpences.

I think there's some quality amongst that lot,

but these won't go to melt, will they, or will they?

I mean, that's quite sad.

I know, a lot of them do and it really, really worries me

because I love coins. I've always been interested in them

and there are some very collectable coins here.

The danger is that people send their silver or half-silver coins

for smelting and you can find rare editions amongst them.

-Sure, so a lot of our history is getting lost by going to melt.

-Yes.

These precious metal prices are so...

What sort of value are you going to put on these?

We had £400-£600,

we should be still looking at about 520 quid for this lot.

Yes, I think I've pitched the estimate slightly lower than that

because, at the end of the day, there's no point overcooking it,

because you'll frighten everyone off,

so we're looking around the 400. They should do it easily.

What we're looking at,

really, is a bit of treasure where you're hoping the coin dealers

-and collectors will come in and buy them as a job lot...

-Yeah.

It's up to them to split them up, make a bit of money on them.

-Yes, yes, definitely.

-Well, good luck, Claire,

these should do well now you given us the heads up.

'Right, it's time to get on with the auction

'and to meet the owner of the oil tanker.'

This one was brought along by Sue. It's not yours, Sue, is it?

-No, it belongs to Tim.

-It's great to see you, Tim.

-Thank you.

-I know you've been collecting these for a long time.

-Yep.

This was a present and it's in its box, so, er...

big surprise about the valuation or have you been monitoring the sales?

-I was very pleased with the valuation.

-Sad to see it go?

-You never saw it. Sue didn't bring it back home, then?

-No.

It's like it's gone, it's gone.

They're very, very collectable, were introduced by Meccano in 1931.

We've seen then, well, £700, £1,000.

You've really got to know your onions,

Charlie, on this one, haven't you?

Oh, which is the oil company?

And I see that the auctioneers have catalogued the cab as the type II.

I didn't know the difference between type I and type II.

Well, it means a lot to the collectors, it really does.

-Fingers crossed we're going to find them...

-Yes.

-..and get the top end.

-Hope so.

-OK, going under the hammer now.

Lot 162, the Foden Mobilgas tanker.

Lot 162 and so I start away at £95. 95, do I see 100 anywhere?

100, 110, 120. At 120, at the back of the room.

At 120, do I see 130 now anywhere? At £120.

-120, now 130, at £120...

-Are they selling it?

Yes, £120, Charlie.

130, now 140, no, 130, back corner at 130. At 130 it is then.

You all done? It's going to sell this time at £130.

-Just. Well done. £130. We did it.

-Oh, dear!

-It's there.

That was a bit tight, wasn't it?

'Well done, Charlie, that was a tough one to value and at the end

'of the day, it's only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

'And our next sellers bought their item in a car boot sale

'for a rock bottom price.'

Your Lourdes plaque is just about to go under the hammer.

-You paid about £10, did you?

-Yeah.

We got a fixed reserve put on by Thomas of 15, so we don't

want to make just a fiver profit, we want to double this.

We want to send you out so you can keep car booting.

-I must say, look at these shoes.

-I wore my best shoes today.

-They're fantastic! Do you go car booting together?

-Yes.

-Do you get competitive?

-Um, I...yes, yes.

-You do?

So why do you want to sell this one?

It's just one of the things that takes up a bit of room.

You'd rather get rid of it and buy something else, wouldn't you?

Well, hopefully, hopefully, it will find a new home here

and will double their money, because that's what it's all about really.

I hope so, I really do. It's an awkward subject, you know,

religion doesn't always sell as well,

but it's just a wacky thing with a musical box,

so somebody can have a bit of fun with it, making it work.

Let's put it through the test. It's going under the hammer right now.

Lot 132, so I have to start this at £12. At £12, looking for 15.

15 I have, thank you. At £15, do I see 18 anywhere?

Bid's at 15 in the room. At 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 28, 30...

-That's a lot more.

-..32, at my right at £32. At 32, now five anywhere?

At 32, are you all done? It's going to sell at £32.

Brilliant. £32. That's a great result.

That's definitely better than I thought it would be.

There is commission to pay, don't forget.

It's 15% plus VAT here, but it does vary from saleroom to saleroom,

-so well done with that.

-Yes, I'm happy with that.

-Yeah.

I think you're happy with that as well.

'It's great that Kirsty and George made a bit of a profit on

'their car boot sale purchase,

'so now they can invest in a new antique.'

I've just been joined by Emma and Samantha

in their wonderful blue tops.

All the money is going to the Animal Welfare Trust.

We've got a valuation put on by Charlie.

The lot has now been split up by Claire, the auctioneer.

We looked at that earlier on in the show.

They've separated the coins from the two rings.

OK, the coins are up first

and we're still looking at £400-£600 top end.

There's a lot of quality there, a lot of great coins,

so fingers crossed we'll get all the money

and, of course, the jewellery dealers won't want the coins,

so we've split the lot and hopefully we'll get £40-£80 for the two rings,

but every penny helps, really, doesn't it?

But it's certainly sparked a lot of interest.

It really has, and we've all got stuff like this at home

so make sure you find out what this goes for

because you could also have a small fortune sitting there.

Here we go. It's going under the hammer now.

Nice lot, this.

And I'm going to start straight in at £350.

-At 350, 380, 400, 420, 450, 480...

-It's a good start. They've gone.

-..550, 600, 650, 700...

-There's two bidders fighting it out in the room.

800, 850, 900, 950,

1,000, and 50... No, 1,050.

At 1,050, internet's lagging behind.

At 1,050, I've got 1,100 on the internet, at 1,100,

-I now need 1,200...

-Oh!

Is that 12? I can't see you, 1,200 I have in the room, at £1,200,

now 13 out there, at £1,200, the bid's in the room.

At £1,200, the bid's in the room,

1,300 on the internet, 1,400 in the room...

-Isn't that brilliant?

-£1,400 in the room, at 1,400.

Now 15 out there - I can see you're thinking about it.

At £1,400, the bid's in the room, do you want to come back with 15?

-At £1,400, then...

-£1,400?

-Selling for £1,400.

-Yes! £1,400.

Wow. Every penny helps, doesn't it? It can do an awful lot

with that, 1,400. Right, the rings, here we go.

Engagement ring, lot 113.

I have to start at 50 cos I've got two bidders there,

so £50 is where I go. At £50, looking for five.

At £50, 55 splits them, at 55, 60 on the net, at £60, five either of you?

65 in front, at 65, now 70, 70 I have here.

75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 95, lady's bid.

At £95, you're all out on the net.

At £95, are you all done? They're going to sell for £95.

£1,495, just short of £1,500.

-Yes, that's really good.

-Sum that up.

I mean, what can you do with that sort of money? Where will that go?

-It's so much.

-It can do a lot.

Improve the kennels, all sorts, really.

What a wonderful way to end today's show.

I hope you've enjoyed it. Join us again for many more surprises soon,

but until then it's goodbye from Bridgwater.