Edinburgh 18 Flog It!

Recognised the world over as iconic symbols of Scotland,

the two bridges spanning the majestic Firth of Forth.

And in 2016, they'll be joined by a third bridge,

making this the only place in the world where you can see

three magnificent bridges at once, spanning three centuries.

And later on in the programme,

we'll be crossing over to the other side.

Welcome to Flog It!

In 1964, tens of thousands of people turned out to see the Queen

open the new Forth Road Bridge which,

at the time, was the longest suspension bridge in Europe.

But the Scottish weather paid no notice to the important occasion

and a thick mist hung over the bridge all day long.

Luckily, the fog has lifted today

and just a few miles away in the distance, you can

see our venue with its own tales of visiting royalty,

from King George IV to Prince Philip.

Welcome to the beautiful Hopetoun House

for a rather regal valuation day with just a spot of rain.

-Nice jugs.

-Thank you.

THEY LAUGH

I was hoping you would say that!

Well, the queues have definitely gathered here,

laden with antiques and collectables.

Hopefully, when they go to auction, we'll have a royal flush, as well.

-I think we're all blushing here, don't you?

-Yeah.

Giving their seal of approval to today's proceedings

are the king and queen of the auction room.

James Lewis...

I know that feeling. Oh, dear!

..and Caroline Hawley.

Isn't that nice? Just the thing for today(!)

A competent and professional team at all times.

-Head down!

-Aargh!

-Relax. Try and breathe.

-I'm fine. I can breathe.

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, dear!

So now it's time for our loyal subjects to get inside

and get out of the rain and let our experts start valuing, and

if you're happy with the valuation you get, what are you going to do?

ALL: Flog it!

Let's get them in.

On today's show, three items of commemoration.

A ceremonial tipstaff, dated 1836.

-This, if it were a car, would be a Rolls-Royce.

-Really?

And ever wondered what the cake is like at a Royal Wedding?

-Well, Caroline finds out.

-Have you never been tempted to eat these?

-I ate Princess Anne's.

-You ate Princess Anne's?

And an unusual set of medals awarded to a nurse on the front line.

They are so much rarer than anything you can imagine awarded to a man.

But can you guess which celebratory item makes over £1,000 at auction?

Good luck, everybody, and enjoy the day.

It could be you or you going home with a lot of money.

As you can see, everybody's now safely seated,

but it's not just about the money.

It's about great British craftsmanship,

objects that show us a window into the past,

documents of social history, and we're here to find them,

and James Lewis has made a cracking start.

Let's hand the proceedings over to him. He's just over there.

Glynis, there are certain things that,

when you pick them up,

just send tingles down my spine.

And this sends tingles for me.

I absolutely love it.

It's an incredible document.

It says at the top, "The Oaths of Allegiance" and here we have,

down the right-hand column, a whole list of local people who have

signed up to say that they will support King George III in 1768.

Now, before we go into the historical importance of what

they're saying, how did you get that?

About 40 years ago, I was a student in Edinburgh,

and weekend entertainment, we would go and look at historical buildings

and places of interest, and a friend and myself went to Culross,

which is a historical village just across the water from here,

and a local caretaker allowed us into a building that he was helping

clear and restore.

As a memento of the day, when we were leaving,

he put his hand in one of the boxes and said,

"Glynis, here's a memento"

and I took it and I didn't know what it was till I got it home.

OK, to understand what we're looking at, we need to go back to

when King George II is confronted with the uprising.

Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Jacobite rebellion, and they start to make

their way down into England and they are fighting for the British crown.

That's what he wants. He wants to become King of England.

They got as far as Derby.

He was defeated and he went back and fled back to France.

So that's 1745.

23 years later, George II's son, King George III, is thinking,

"Gosh, what happens if it happens again, if they return?"

So he gathers signatures

and oaths of allegiance from people all over Scotland.

Now, I read it through and made some notes earlier and it says here,

"I do sincerely and faithfully promise to maintain

"and defend His Majesty's government

"and I will do my utmost endeavours to disclose

"and make known to His Majesty all the reasons of conspiracies."

-So I reckon these guys are spies.

-Yeah.

I think they're important people and I think they are people that have

been commissioned by the King to find out what's

going on here in Scotland and report back.

-My goodness, I never knew.

-So, tingles, lovely.

What will it make? I don't know.

It's very much that.

They're not rare, these things.

-There are lots of papers relating to this sort of thing.

-Antiquity value.

-£100 maybe.

-It's not its real value.

-It's so much more than that.

-It's just so much more. I love it.

-Good.

-One of my favourite things for years.

-I'm delighted.

-Thank you.

You're very welcome.

How incredible that Linda rescued this special document 40 years ago

and has kept it safe.

Now this humble piece of paper transports us

back to a poignant moment in history.

Now that's antiques for you.

And Caroline's found another slice of social history.

-Hello, Robert.

-Hello.

Now, you have brought some fantastic things along

and they're wedding cakes from both the marriage of Charles and Diana

-and Andrew and Sarah.

-Yeah, that's right.

You tell me how you came to own these two pieces of wedding cake.

Well, on Charles and Diana's wedding,

I was coachman to Princess Margaret and Princess Anne.

-For the actual wedding day?

-Actual wedding day at St Paul's.

Oh, my goodness!

And then, on Andrew's wedding, I drew up Princess Diana and Charles.

I've never met a real life coachman in my life,

so how long did you work for the Royal Family?

-Between 25 to 30 years.

-What got you into that line of work?

I started off in the coal mines

and then I went into race horses for a little bit

and then I went into carriage driving.

Goodness me, you went right to the top in the carriage-driving stakes.

Yes, I started at the bottom and went up.

-And do you still have horses yourself?

-I'm lucky.

-When I left, I got two horses.

-You got two horses?

Two horses from Her Majesty.

-That beats a gold watch, doesn't it, any day?

-Yeah, it did to me.

Wow, Robert!

It must have been fabulous to be there.

I mean, we all remember the royal weddings,

-but you were given these wedding cakes?

-Yes.

-Fabulous.

Now, this one here from Charles and Diana's wedding, July 29th,

1981, because Charles was Commander in the naval forces,

this cake was made by the naval forces and it was in five tiers.

Yes.

So you can imagine, you'll have seen it, what a beautiful cake it was.

Now this one here from Sarah

and Andrew's wedding has the little card in it.

-Yes.

-And then if we open this one up...

..and have a look, oh, it smells a bit like it's gone off, doesn't it?

-Have you never been tempted to eat these?

-I ate Princess Anne's.

-You ate Princess Anne's!

-Yes, by mistake. I was hungry at the time.

-Oh, dear, Robert.

-It was nice.

-Was it?

-It was lovely.

-And you've not been tempted to eat these then?

-No, no.

It's very difficult to put a price on such history

and it's full of memories for you.

But put a price on I must, and I would say if we put

-an estimate for auction for £60-£80, would you be happy with that?

-Yeah.

They're fabulous pieces of royal memorabilia

and it's just a pleasure to talk to you.

Let's hope we can get them to the saleroom before any of us eat them!

Well, you do find all sorts at a "Flog It!" evaluation day.

Moira, we are, at the moment, about 100 years

since the outbreak of the First World War

and when we see two service medals awarded to a woman,

they are so much rarer than anything you can imagine awarded to a man.

Tell me, what's the history behind them? What do you know?

The only thing I know is they were given

to my husband by my sister-in-law.

And what relation...

If we turn this one over, it's named

"Miss JJ Roy - Civil Hospital Reserves."

-I really don't have that information.

-You don't know who she was?

-I don't know, no.

-What a shame. I bet she was a relation somewhere.

-Probably, yeah.

-So, let's start here.

We've got the most fancy-looking medal, that one.

-"RRC" - Royal Red Cross.

-Yes.

-And it says, "2nd".

That's second class and this is made in silver.

The first class were a gilt metal, gold-coloured.

It's not something that's awarded for bravery.

-It's something that's awarded for being a good nurse.

-Yes.

It was an interesting group, these reserves,

because they found themselves in 1914, only about 60 of them,

straight to the front into these mobile hospitals,

-almost on the front line.

-Yes.

And this also was unheard of for women to be there.

This is really quite a rare group of medals.

So we've got this one which is for being a nurse.

We've got this one, a 1914 star.

The 1914 is a rarer star than the 14-18 or 14-15 star

and this is the Victory Medal that was awarded to everybody who

served throughout the First World War, and here, this one,

if we turn it over, May 1935, almost all the nurses were given one of

those, reflecting the service they had given to the country, really.

But that's a commemoration medal for the Coronation.

So...value.

-Any ideas?

-No, I haven't any idea at all.

-OK.

-None whatsoever.

-That's worth about £40, something like that.

-Really?

-That's worth about £30.

-Right.

-But on top of that, we've got these two.

-Yes.

If they were awarded to a private, just a foot soldier,

-they would also be worth about £30.

-OK.

-But they're not.

-They're awarded to a nurse, a lady.

-Yes.

-And therefore they're worth £200.

-Oh, yeah.

-So it's a good group.

-So this little group together is worth £250 to £350.

-Right, OK, yeah.

-Would you like to put a reserve on them?

-I think so.

Where would you like it to be?

-250, 200.

-200?

-Yeah.

200, let's put 200 on them and that should be absolutely fine.

-Thank you very much.

-Well, thank you for bringing them.

-It's an absolutely pleasure.

-Thank you.

While the valuations are in full swing over

there in the ballroom, I thought I'd take the opportunity to have a

quick glance at this magnificent house and show you around.

Now, traditionally in the 18th century, you would arrive by horse

and carriage and be dropped off at the bottom of those steps there,

ascended right in to this grand entrance hall

and greeted by the footman and taken into the state apartments.

This state room traditionally would have been the dining room,

right next to the entrance hall, where the guests would have

been entertained by the owners of the house, who really wanted

to show off their wealth. It was all about trying to impress.

As you can see, over the years, things have evolved.

It's now a drawing room.

But this room was designed by the architect, William Adam.

Now, all of these state rooms, these apartments,

are interconnecting, as you can see.

They just join each other

with a great big corridor running through them.

The next room you'd come to would be the saloon or the drawing room,

so you can imagine this back in the day.

The sofas would be arranged to ignite intimate conversation

after lunch, a piano in the corner, maybe, card tables.

The ladies would do some sewing, write some poetry

and take in these wonderful views in the evening.

Now, how far you got in these state apartments depended on how

important you were, because the next room is a state bedroom,

and if you were lucky, you got invited to one of those.

Now, not for the reasons you're thinking of.

There are other reasons, you know, because, back in the 18th century,

some of the most important pieces of furniture were in the state

bedrooms and, of course, gentlemen wanted to show them off.

And right now,

we're going to show off the best antiques we've found here

so far today, as we make our first trip across to the auction room,

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

A document of huge historical significance,

but will anyone pay the £100 reserve

for this 18th-century oath of allegiance?

Don't call her a fruitcake -

Caroline picked these out as top royal memorabilia.

Will the bidders agree?

And the medal collectors will have a field day

tracing the provenance of this group.

Let's see how they do when they go under the hammer,

over the bridge in the city of Glasgow,

at the Great Western auction house,

owned and run by our very own Anita Manning.

It's always a pleasure coming here,

because I love your auction room.

It's a period building, it's got history itself -

it's an old chapel, isn't it?

But it lends itself well to an auction room.

Yeah. Well, built in about the 1860s, 1870s, it was a Baptist church.

And when I saw it for the first time, I fell in love with it.

And I like everything to look beautiful, as well.

-I think there's maybe a wee feminine touch in here.

-Do you?

-Oh, yes, don't you think so?

-Well, yes, I suppose so.

Now you've pointed it out. Yes, yes.

The girls who lay out the tables,

I like them to look at the shapes, the sizes, the texture.

The colours of everything.

And I'll occasionally go and say, "Move that one round a wee bit..."

Because you're playing Mum. Because you're too busy playing Mum!

And how many lots have you got in this sale?

We'll have over 1,000 in this sale.

This is one of our fortnightly antiques and collectable sales.

-So you do these every two weeks?

-Every two weeks.

-Good team?

-Good team.

-You're a good boss. Good luck on the rostrum.

-Thank you.

Our first lot to go under Anita's hammer is the oath of allegiance.

Going under the hammer right now,

two 18th-century handwritten documents

pledging allegiance to King George III and the constitution.

Bit of a hot potato back then, Glenys, what do you think?

Fingers crossed somebody will get it who will appreciate it.

Oh, I love this. I wish I was there bidding, not here.

I want maximum money for this,

because you won't find another two on the market.

It's going under the hammer right now and this is it, here we go.

Two documents of historical interest, and at that time...

-Should be serious money. Don't you?

-Well, they SHOULD be.

200. 150.

Will you start me at £100 for these rare documents?

-£100.

-Come on!

-100. 80, then. 90.

-100. 120.

-This is more like it. Come on.

-130.

140. £140.

150. £150. Any advance on 150?

Any advance on 150, all done at 150, 150?

Well, you were right at the valuation,

-spot on with the valuation.

-Absolutely.

Well done, James, don't be disappointed.

-But, I just...

-Oh, I know, I know.

You kind of... You think, hang on a minute,

these are handwritten by a quill. Back in the late 1700s.

-I've got

-goose bumps. Yes.

-It's not about the money, though,

it's about someone having them that really wanted them.

Will look after them.

I'm certain they've gone to a good home, Linda.

Now let's see if anyone wants to have some cake and keep it,

not eat it.

Robert. Royal carriage driver. And the pieces of wedding cake.

I'm surprised you kept them for such a long time and didn't eat them.

-I ate one, I ate Princess Anne's.

-Princess Anne's.

-Unfortunately.

-It was good.

-What a job, and what a career you've had.

-It was good cake, was it? Was it a fruitcake?

-It was a fruitcake.

-Like me!

-I tell you what.

You're an auctioneer,

-have you ever sold anything like that in your life?

-Never.

And I'm sure Anita hasn't, either. So it's a first for all of us.

So do enjoy this moment. This is it, here we go, good luck.

Two pieces of royal wedding cake.

Now, wonderful conversation pieces, ladies and gentlemen.

You could pretend to your friends

that you attended both of these weddings.

I have two bids on the books. I can start the bidding at £40.

40. 50.

60. 70.

80. 90.

It's with the lady at £90. 100.

Oh, she's going to go again, she's going again.

-She's got to go again.

-110, 120.

-Yes.

-130, 140.

-This is good, this is good.

-£140.

-140 over there now.

It's with you, sir, at 140. Any advance on 140?

150, fresh bidder.

150.

Any advance on £150, all done at 150? 150?

Great result, £150, that's brilliant, isn't it?

Well, thank you for bringing those in.

I tell you what, if you were a baker or a cake maker,

to own those and have them on display in your shop window,

would just attract all the people off the pavement.

-Thank you so much, because I've not seen anything like that before.

-No!

A distinctive item with provenance,

always a winner at auction.

Next up, Moira's medals.

So far, so good,

going under the hammer right now, World War I medals.

Nurses' medals, in fact, belonging to Moira.

-These have been in the family quite some time.

-They have, yes.

In the attic.

And we're looking for £250-£350, let's put the value to the test,

they're going under the hammer right now.

The group of four medals, to Sister JJ Roy,

and I can start the bidding at £150.

-For Sister Roy's medals.

-OK.

-150.

Any advance on 150, 160, 170, 180, 190.

200, 220.

240, 260.

280, 300.

On the books at 300. 320, I'm out.

It's with you, sir, at £320.

320. Any advance on 320, all done at 320?

-320.

-They've gone, Moira.

-Gone, yes.

-Oh, well, to a good home, hopefully.

-Yes, exactly.

And go to a good home they did, Moira -

to a father and daughter, in fact.

My name is Lucy Reilly and my dad bought some medals at auction.

The medals that I bought, it was really for my daughter.

She's been doing some history at school, on the First World War,

so I thought it would be nice if she could do a

-bit of history on those medals, as well.

-Well, there you go,

World War I medals enjoyed by the next generation.

That's our first visit to the auction complete.

We'll be back later on in the show.

On a clear day, from our

valuation-day location, Hopetoun House,

in the distance you can see two magnificent engineering

structures spanning the water.

They are of course the Forth Bridges,

taking hundreds of people each day - in fact, thousands of people -

backwards and forwards across the Firth of Forth.

Soon, that load will be shared by a third bridge,

the Queensferry Crossing,

so I donned a hard hat and work boots

to check out this engineering marvel.

It's a claim that's thought to be unique the world over.

Three bridges built in three centuries, spanning one river.

Striking engineering and cutting-edge construction.

The first rail bridge that you can see in the distance over there,

the red one, that was built in the 19th century.

The second road bridge, the one with the traffic running over it,

was built in the 20th century.

And the bridge you can see behind me here, look,

under construction now, again of epic proportions.

Take a look at that. That is colossal!

That will be completed in 2016.

"But why three bridges?" you're probably asking,

and what does each superstructure tell us

about the century it was built in?

The new bridge is the biggest engineering project

Scotland has seen for a generation.

The £1.45 billion project,

named by the public as the Queensferry Crossing,

will carry traffic from Edinburgh to Fife

on a road equal in size to a motorway.

Well, this is where it's all happening,

I'm surrounded by bridge and it's all going on right now.

There are five piers that form the supporting platform

for the bridge on the land, and out at sea there,

there are three huge, great big towers

and you can just see one there.

Now, they stand firmly like a rock in these turbulent waters,

and they go down to a depth of 28 metres, which is around 85 feet.

And the foundations are filled with 28,000 tonnes of concrete.

Nearly 1,000 people from all over the world are working on the site.

The road is being constructed and pushed out onto the viaduct,

and over the next two years,

the three towers will rise up 200 metres above sea level.

The Queensferry Crossing was commissioned

because the Forth Road Bridge is no longer up to the job.

Although only just over 50 years old,

it's showing signs of wear and tear,

and that's not surprising when it was designed to carry

a load of five million cars per year

and now it's ended up carrying 24 million.

Although it hasn't stood the test of time as well as initially hoped,

the Forth Road Bridge still represents a massive achievement.

It was opened in 1964 by Queen Elizabeth.

It was Europe's largest suspension bridge, spanning 1.5 miles,

using 30,000 miles of cable.

That's long enough to go all the way around the world.

It took 400 men six years to build.

It was hard and sometimes dangerous work.

And the conditions in the early '60s were rather different to today.

Alex Porteous worked on the bridge when he was just 18

and remembers the time fondly.

Alex, what section of the bridge did you work on?

I worked on two sections.

I worked on the south viaduct here,

with a company called Reed and Mallik, on the concrete squad.

And later on I got a job with the ACD Bridge Company.

Happy days, were they hard days?

Oh, it was one of the best jobs I ever had.

I look back now and I think, yeah,

it definitely was one of the best jobs I ever had.

-Was it dangerous at times?

-Depends how stupid you were!

-Really?

I went up one day and I was curious as to what was over the edge,

-just to have a look.

-To see how high it was?

-And I tripped.

I just fell from a vertical to horizontal, lying down,

-looking at the safety net below me.

-You were lucky.

-What did you trip on?

-Oh, there'd be electric cables up there.

-Just stuff lying around?

-Yeah.

-Which you won't get today?

-No.

It was a good job. You were well-paid, good team to work with.

-What about the weather?

-That was a killer. That stopped everything.

Shirley-Smith, who was the head of the resident engineers,

he'd built bridges all over the world and he said this was

the worst stretch of water that he's ever worked on.

But I mean, this is Scotland. You can get four seasons in one day.

You must be so proud of what you've helped achieve, really.

Well, you see it now, it's very unique.

You worked on one bridge as a young man,

and then as a 68-year-old man now, they're building another one.

So to see two bridges in your lifetime is very unique.

-Look at it now, it is fantastic, isn't it?

-It is.

The first bridge, opened for rail in 1890,

has one thing in common with the others - the use of steel.

It may be an everyday material now,

but at the time it was considered a wonder material

and was taking construction to new heights.

Properties of steel enabled engineers to build huge structures

like this that were strong, but not too heavy.

The Forth Bridge was one of the first bridges in the world

to be built using steel, and at the time, this was considered to be

a cornerstone in the history of modern civil engineering.

It was the world's longest cantilever bridge,

at 1.6 miles long.

And at its peak, 4,600 men were employed on the project.

Working conditions were treacherous,

and upwards of 60 men lost their lives, and thousands were injured.

And some of those men were painters who had the unenviable task

of painting this bridge that notorious red colour.

And it's said that it took such a long time to do,

by the time you started on the north side

and got all the way over to the south side and finished,

it was time to paint the north side again.

And start all over!

And that gave rise to the expression "Painting the Forth Bridge,"

used to describe a never-ending, monotonous job.

I tell you what, I wouldn't fancy doing that. I really wouldn't.

Truth be told, the painting was never continuous

and the metaphor can no longer be applied,

as a new type of long-lasting paint has been used

so the bridge won't need a fresh coat for another 25 years.

This really is, truly, an exceptional bridge.

It's one of my favourites in the world.

And it's 123 years old, believe it or not.

And trains still rattle across it every day - hundreds of them.

It caused some controversy in its day,

but its place as a Scottish icon is assured.

In 2016,

when these two bridges are joined by the Queensferry Crossing,

this stretch of water will be one of the most distinctive in the world.

Welcome back to Hopetoun House and, as you can see,

our valuation day is still in full swing.

Hundreds of people keep turning up throughout the day.

So let's now meet up with our experts again

and see what else we can find to take off to auction.

Caroline has snuck off to the peace and quiet of the red drawing room.

Lovely to see you both. And thank you for bringing this gorgeous object.

Now, are you going to tell me anything about it?

I don't know a great deal about it,

but I do know it comes from the branch of the family

personified to me through three maiden aunts.

And was their name, by any chance, Strachan?

I didn't mention the name because if there are any Strachans out there,

-they might be outraged by what I'm going to say.

-Right!

-Continue saying it.

-Now it's out in the open. So it's fine.

So, it was in their house and it came down to my dad,

but it brought back to me memories of being in the house with them.

And they were three Victorian aunts,

in this dark and gloomy Victorian house.

And after church every Sunday - and we're going back to the 1950s -

after church I'd be there in my kilt and we'd go in to visit the aunts.

And I wasn't allowed to speak unless spoken to.

And so, the goblet personifies these dark and disturbing memories.

-I can see why you want rid!

-It is a beautiful object.

-It is.

Well, I'll tell you what I know about it. I've had a good look.

It's solid hallmarked silver. The date of it is 1862.

It's made in London. And the inscription on the front is 1860.

Which... That might commemorate a birth or something.

The extraordinary thing is, this wasn't made until 1862.

So two years afterwards.

It's a lovely thing,

and not only does Lily of the Valley happen to have

a particular significance for me,

it's my favourite flower, I adore Lily of the Valley.

And it's beautifully embossed and etched here.

-Do you have any idea of value?

-About 100, 150?

-You're spot on.

You're spot on, John! I don't need to be here!

Well, I would absolutely agree with that.

I think between £100 and £150, but I would put a reserve on of 100.

-Yes.

-Would you like that a fixed reserve or a discretionary reserve?

-Oh, I think fixed. I'd rather take it home.

-Fixed, OK. We'll do that.

-That's made my day, I adore that.

-Oh, good!

Maybe with a little more digging into the family archive,

John will be able to find out where the Strachan connection comes from.

-I love you too!

-I love you back!

-THEY LAUGH

-I love you all!

Without you guys we would not have a show.

You know what, it's still raining outside.

-Ah, we're used to it.

-It's just Scottish weather!

Well, it's warm inside the ballroom

and every single person will be seen by one of our experts.

And James is one of the best.

Whatever the subject matter, there are always differences in quality

of whatever it might be - whether tea caddies,

or snuff boxes, cars.

-And this, if it was a car, would be a Rolls-Royce.

-Really?

It's a lovely example. Tell me what you know.

It was given to my father

by an old lady who lived with us for several years.

-And she died while I was still a little girl.

-OK.

-Been in the family since then, and you remember it as a child?

-Yes.

-1950s, yeah.

-Gosh. Well, do you know what a tipstaff is?

Well, I just thought it was a truncheon.

-Someone else put me right, told me it was a tipstaff.

-Yeah.

A tipstaff is something that was often to do with the police,

and I guess originally it would have been something that would have been

bashed over the head, used as a weapon.

But in latter years, it became a ceremonial staff of office in a way.

The shaft of this one is in mahogany,

and then we've got a solid silver end and terminal at the base.

Then we've got a Chester hallmark.

And also the date letter for 1836.

At the top here, we've got the N for the maker.

-And then the start of the L.

-Yes.

For Nicholson Lee, who were Liverpool makers,

who specialised in the making of tipstaffs.

OK. That matches.

So, that's your maker. Now, you've done some research, I understand.

-Yes, I tried to find out who they were.

-James Magnell Esq.

-He's the boroughreeve.

-Yeah. And William Haslam? And Robert Knowles?

-Two constables.

-Two constables?

-Yes, they're constables.

-I found out that they were in Salford in Manchester.

-Brilliant.

-It's a lovely thing.

-It is, yeah.

-Oh, it's a lovely one. 1836.

In good condition. Names that are traceable. Solid silver.

It's got everything,

everything that you want to see from a tipstaff is there.

I think it's worth about £1,000.

-That's very good.

-I think that's good money for it, at £1,000.

-But I'm hoping it'll do that and maybe a shade more.

-OK!

What a wonderful thing.

We're always on the lookout for quality

and Caroline's next item is no exception.

Sheena, these are lovely.

I'm very much a jewellery lady and these shout quality to me.

And they would be worn by a lady

that was lucky enough to grace a drawing room such as this.

Have you worn these, Sheena?

Yes, I've been lucky enough to wear them.

I've worn them to a ball,

and I wore them to a wedding in a chateau in France.

And how did it come to you?

A lady, a friend gave it to my grandmother, and she gave it to me

when I was a student, for the very first ball I went to.

-Oh, wow.

-And then she said, "You can keep it."

-Oh, how... And did your grandmother wear it?

-I don't think she did.

And you've decided now you don't want to keep them any longer?

You know, maybe you go to one big ball or one wedding,

and twice in a lifetime is not enough for a necklace like this.

No. Right.

Well, I can see why you say that, but to me, it's a beautiful object.

It's three strands of cultured pearls.

Do you know what a cultured pearl is?

-No.

-Right, well, a cultured pearl is a pearl that's made,

fabricated, so the oyster shell would be opened

and something would be put in, a chemical would be put in

to stimulate the growth of the pearl.

So it was cultured. And the clasp is what also screams quality to me.

That is a nine-carat gold clasp, set with garnets,

and seed pearls, surrounded with seed pearls.

So the clasp is an item of beauty in itself.

And if we turn it over, we can see, it's marked nine carat here.

And the clasp itself, you would open it like that and put it on.

It just, to me it screams glamour, all that is gorgeous.

It dates from the 1920s, '30s.

Now, to me, a valuation in today's market,

-I would put an auction estimate of between £300 and £400.

-Really?

That would be good.

-And I'm sure somebody would be very happy to pay that.

-Really?

-Yeah.

If we put a reserve, a fixed reserve of 200?

Just to stop them falling into the net.

And thank you so much for bringing them,

it's a pleasure to see them, I love them.

-Thank you very much.

-That's a pleasure, Sheena.

-Have you all enjoyed yourselves?

-Yes, thank you.

Good, that's what it's all about.

Thank you so much for turning up, because you've all made my day.

And I think it's fair to say we've found some wonderful treasures

here today at Hopetoun, worthy of our regal surroundings.

Right now, we're racing off to the auction room for the very last time,

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

John remembers the goblet from his childhood,

but has no idea where the name Strachan comes from.

Nevertheless, it's up for grabs with a reserve of £100.

And jewellery goes in and out of fashion,

so will anyone be willing to pay £200 for a pearl necklace?

And the Rolls-Royce of tipstaffs.

Will it make the weighty sum of £1,000-£2,000?

Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's Flog It!

First up, the goblet.

Hopefully, it's going to be cheers all round

when we get over the top end for the silver goblet

belonging to Claire and John,

who are with me and our expert, Caroline.

Now, I know this has been in the family some time.

The name Strachan, there's a family connection somewhere

but you couldn't establish that at the valuation day.

So we dug out a family tree and it turns out that

Alexander Strachan was married to one of John's great aunts.

-OK.

-There were three great aunts.

-Now, does that make you want to keep it and not sell it?

-Yes, it does.

That's just what I was going to say!

This is what we find, it's all about provenance and family connections.

It's too late because it's going under the hammer right now,

this is it.

This charming Victorian silver goblet.

Can we say... Oh, I have three bids on the books.

-Oooh!

-And I will start the bidding at...

-£180.

-Yes!

-Wow. Brilliant.

180, 190, 200, 210, 220.

220 on the book. 220 on the book. 230, fresh bidder.

230. With you, sir, at 230.

240 on the book. 250, 260.

It's on the book at £260.

-260.

-That's a good price, that.

-Commission bid. It's very good.

At 260. Any advance on 260? All done at 260, 260?

-The hammer's gone down! Sold.

-That's fantastic!

Over the top end. I half thought for a moment

you might put your own hand up and try and buy it back!

Honestly, honestly, I nearly did!

Well, that's a great result, and John and Claire found out

a little more about their family history.

Fingers crossed, Sheena. Good luck, Caroline.

Going under the hammer right now, we have that seed pearl necklace.

It is absolutely gorgeous. And you're selling this because...?

-I need a new car.

-You need a new car.

-No pressure, Paul!

-No.

Well, at least it adds towards the kitty, let's face it,

-if we can get that top end of £400?

-That would be fantastic.

-Will we?

-The reserve's two.

-I saw that!

-HE EXHALES HEAVILY

-We'll get two, surely, we'll get £200.

-Yes. Got to.

Well, it's going under the hammer right now, this is it.

Three-strand pearl necklace.

Three strands of superb cultured pearls.

Can we see £400?

400?

300?

Will you start me at £200? Start me at 200.

Start me at £100. THEY GROAN

-100 bid. 100 bid.

-We're in.

Any advance on £100? 110.

-There's a reserve at two, isn't there?

-Yeah.

-130.

140, 150. 160, 170.

180, 190. 200.

£200.

It's with the lady at 200.

Any advance on 200? All done at 200, 200?

-Just! Just!

-Are you pleased?

-Yes.

-We did it. We did it. We did it.

-Yes!

Gosh, that was close, wasn't it?

That's auctions for you, it really is quite tense, isn't it?

-Very!

-Yeah. You deserve a cup of tea now.

-Oh, no, I'll have a pint, thank you!

-A pint!

Yeah, and you'll get a few drinks for that money, Sheena!

And finally, the tiptop tipstaff.

Well, this will ARREST your attention.

Going under the hammer right now,

we have a policeman's ceremonial tipstaff and James,

you're nicked if it doesn't sell.

We've got a value of £1,000-£2,000. I like it a lot.

Now, I know since the valuation day,

you've done a bit more additional homework, haven't you?

And what have you come up with?

Well, I wanted to find out who the people were on the engraving,

so I did a lot of research online.

And in the end I found a newspaper in 1836 had

an announcement saying that that had been presented to them.

So there's a photocopy of that.

Really nice, so we've got a little bit of provenance to go with it.

It's going under the hammer right now, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Let's put it to the test, here we go.

Can we say 2,000?

1,500, 1,000?

Would you start me at 800?

800, 850.

850. Any advance on 850?

900, 950.

It's on the books at £950.

950, 1,000.

£1,000.

1,000.

-Any advance on 1,000?

-We've got to that magic number.

-1,100.

-£1,100.

-Any advance on the 1,100?

I'll take 50. 1,150. 1,200.

£1,200. Any advance on 1,200?

All done at 1,200? All done at 1,200?

1,200?

Hammer's gone down, £1,200. Brilliant, I'm happy.

-You're happy with that, aren't you?

-Yes.

-Fantastic, thank you for bringing that in.

-Thank you.

-Quality.

Quality, quality.

And as we always say, quality sells.

Well, there you are, it's all over for our owners

and what a fabulous day we've had here in Glasgow.

All credit to our experts, they were right on the money today.

And that's not easy.

All I can say is, I love Scotland

and I love the Scottish people, so thank you to everyone here.

Hope you've enjoyed the show, see you next time.