Sandon Hall 4 Flog It!

Today's valuation day is on the Sandon Hall estate in the centre of

Staffordshire. The landscape around here hasn't changed in

hundreds of years. It's quintessential English countryside.

Welcome to Flog It!

The present house was built in 1854 after a fire destroyed

the earlier 18th-century hall.

Fortunately, it was a slow burn and they were able to save

the family portraits and some of the original features,

like this stunning marble fireplace.

Sandon Hall has been given a face-lift today

with this bright, cheerful crowd.

Hundreds of people have turned up laden with antiques and

collectables on a quest to test our experts' knowledge. But, of course,

there is only one question on everybody's lips, which is...

ALL: What's it worth?

Stay tuned and you'll find out.

Our experts today are Charles Hanson...

You look a jazzy lady.

That's a jazzy lady.

..and David Fletcher.

I've got bits of the glass. His mouth goes back, pushes back,

and then smoke comes out of his ears. Used to. Used to.

Well, do you know, we'll have to take your word for that, won't we?

Do you know, you can tell a man's age by his Dinky toys?

Can you really? Yeah.

Why are you looking at me? THEY LAUGH

Later on in the show, Charles is stumped by this curious sculpture.

Wonderful, bronze, Art Deco archer.

But it's wooden. Yeah.

We find out what turns this ordinary, silver tea service

into a gold mine.

It took my breath away when I saw this just now.

And at the auction there are even more surprises.

That took us back a bit, didn't it?

I'm thrilled. I'm gobsmacked.

And I discover the double life of a famous photographer.

I felt that if I rang up an art director and said,

"I want to come and show my pictures to you," and he said, "Who are you?",

and I said, "Lord Lichfield," he'd say,

"Oh, well, here's just another rich, young man with a camera."

An amateur or something.

All that's coming up later on in the show.

Well, everyone's now safely seated inside this magnificent building.

We've literally taken over all of the ground floor.

Hundreds of people have turned up.

We need to find some treasures of our very own to take off to auction.

We're going to make a start right now with Charles Hanson.

Hani, thank you for coming.

You're looking radiant in pink.

You are. I'm being serious.

And you've brought in today a most magnificent jardiniere.

Isn't it wonderful? Is that what it is?

It is. It's essentially where you place your flowers in arrangement,

but I almost feel like, Hani, it's hobbled in on three legs.

Yes. Because, inside the jardiniere, we've got this foot.

Yes... I don't believe it.

No, I don't either. No.

What happened? I caught the bag on the step outside Sandon Hall.

But you're OK? Oh, yes.

You're OK? Your legs are OK?

Fine. Yes, yes, yes. I reckon that's my granny telling me not to sell it.

You think so? You think there's somebody up there...?

Yes, saying, "No, Hani, don't sell."

Really? Yes. Have you changed your mind now?

Are you OK? No, no. No, no. Right, it's got to go.

It's going, yeah. Granny won't knock me, will she, at all, no?

No, she'll haunt me, not you.

Crikey me. Don't say that, Hani. Crikey me.

I like it because, although it's very white, it's not porcelain.

No. Of course, it's what we call a crude,

tin-glazed earthenware and we can see on this foot how actually...

Yeah. ..it's this red earthenware body, so it's pottery.

Yes. It's quite coarse.

What these potters did was paint over that earthenware body with

a very rich tin glaze, which we call Delftware.

Oh, right. OK?

Right, yes, yes, yes. So we call it Delftware.

In France, it was called Faience Quimper, which is

Q-U-I-M-P-E-R.

It was a great centre, like Stoke is down the road... Yes.

..where many factories in the 18th and 19th centuries were making

this type of material, in that it's very distinctive, isn't it?

Oh, yeah. Look at the colour scheme.

Yeah. Do you like it?

Um. I'm not sure. I always used to grow hyacinths in it.

Oh, right, well, thanks for coming.

SHE LAUGHS

I always used to grow hyacinths in it.

Did you? Well, that's its story, you see.

Till my mother-in-law said,

"I don't really think you ought to grow hyacinths in that."

And your hyacinths have long since gone?

Yes. Yes. And maybe it's time to now Flog It!?

SHE LAUGHS I'm sure it is, yes.

As long as Grandma doesn't strike again.

It's had a good lifestyle.

Yeah. I think what we can do

is very much stick that, or the auctioneer can.

But it was a clean break.

It's a clean break. We can see, Hani,

there's no great concern there.

That foot sits on like there's no tomorrow.

Absolutely fine.

So I'm not too concerned by that.

Right. Will it affect the value?

Well, of course it will. Yeah.

But Quimper is very liable to chipping.

And the rim and the handles are in superb condition.

Yeah. It was probably worth in the region of between

?70 and ?100.

With that foot being off now, I think we need to be more realistic.

And I would say between ?40 and ?60.

Well, if it doesn't make 40, I'll take it back home.

I don't blame you.

David's next item has also arrived in two pieces.

Hello, Angela. Hello, David.

Thank you for bringing these rings in.

Now, are they family rings or did you buy them or...?

No, I bought them. Did you buy them with a view to selling them?

Not immediately, no.

Right. But they don't fit.

I thought they were a good buy anyway.

I bought them at auction. Right.

In the hope that you might make a bit of a profit if they didn't fit.

Yes. OK. Right.

The one on my right is 18-carat gold, I think.

It's that yellowy sort of, rather than orange, colour,

which suggests 18-carat. I will just check that.

Yes, I'm right.

It was assayed in Birmingham, and it is set on carved shoulders

with two rubies and three small diamonds.

This one is a single diamond.

And it's illusion-set.

It creates an illusion, by virtue of the fact that

it's sitting on carved shoulders, of being bigger than it actually is.

It's about 0.3 carats, about a third of a carat.

Also 18-carat gold on platinum shoulders.

Rings like this were produced in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter in

significant numbers, really, in the late 19th and 20th century.

There were an awful lot of these things in circulation.

They're very decorative.

They would grace any hand.

I mean, you know, you wouldn't be embarrassed or ashamed

to wear them anywhere, but they aren't rare.

So, we just have to be mindful of that.

So, I have to ask you what you paid for them.

140 for the two.

For the two. OK.

In an ideal world, I would like to have said an estimate of 100 to 150.

And a reserve of 100.

But, you know, let's have a bit of fun here and see if we can

get you out of trouble, as they say.

Reserve of ?150 and an estimate, this is for the two, of course...

Yes. ..of 150 to 180.

You don't look thrilled, but you're being

reasonably realistic about it, aren't you? Yes. Good.

Well, I look forward to seeing you at the sale, Angela.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Rings are always popular.

Fingers crossed they make some money for Angela.

Sandon Hall is full of interesting family artefacts,

but I've discovered one upstairs that poses a bit of a mystery.

This beautifully embroidered robe has stood undisturbed

in a glass case in this corridor for the past 50 years.

I've invited Helen Persson,

curator of Chinese textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum,

to have a look and see if she can shed some light on it.

Look at it. The colours.

The chromatic hue is quite intense.

It's still there. It's absolutely an amazing colour,

although that does also tell me about its date.

OK. Because it's synthetic dyes.

You can clearly see on the purple and the green.

Synthetic dyes came to China around mid-1870s so we know

it's definitely not before 1870s.

And also, this stripy bit at the bottom,

which was known as standing water, and then you have this swirly bit,

the swirly water, and this tells me it belongs to the Qing dynasty,

which was the last Empire of China, which ended in 1911.

It's garments you would wear for festive occasions.

OK. Banquets, birthdays, weddings.

Presumably, an important woman, then.

Someone elite, upper middle classes,

that could afford this kind of form of embroidery. Mm-hm.

Because the embroidery is beautifully made,

but it is silk.

And the silk embroidery is made by this really long thread.

It hasn't been twisted.

And to do that, you have to be quite a skilled embroideress.

Although, Paul, I am questioning if it is actually for a woman.

It is a bit too long.

And the back's not plain at all, is it?

If we can spin that round.

Just turn it your way, look.

There.

So you can even better see the impact of the embroidery.

It's definitely meant to show off.

It is meant to show off.

Definitely. And also you can see the fur which, I think, is an addition.

That is a later addition. A later addition.

Yes. For someone...

in the Western world.

Because it would have been much wider down here,

so it's been taken in. Can you tell that?

You can see at the side, it's been...

Oh, yes, you can see it's folded. It's not lined up.

No, it's not. And also, inside, you can see...

..the remains of the original lining.

Right. Yes, you can see that's been added to it, can't you?

Yes. But isn't that wonderful?

It is nice, actually. That's part of its journey, and its story, really.

And the fact that it's been added to and used probably means

it has survived... Yes. Exactly.

..and not been neglected. No.

If you would have worn this, here in England, for example,

you know, you definitely would be noticed.

From a coat of many colours to colours of a very different hue.

Objects often really speak to me a sentiment,

an emotion. On our stand today is a collection of medals which I'm

hoping you can perhaps give me who they belong to.

Right, well, they belong to my late wife's family.

Her father passed them down to her.

They were his father's, who served in the First World War.

I don't know that much more about them,

other than they've been sitting in the tin and they're not really

connected to my family any more, and I would appreciate maybe that

somebody else would appreciate them.

It's a remarkable collection, Graham.

Starting at the top, here. Queen Mary, Christmas 1914,

in this tin sent, all those wonderful servicemen chocolate,

tobacco, even a pencil in these tins.

Oh, right, that's what they were. Which came as a welcome,

patriotic love that back home we were thinking about our fathers,

our brothers. And a tin like this, which isn't complete...

..today is worth at auction about ?35.

Complete, with the content still, there's a huge passion now to find

these complete ones and they can make between ?150 and ?200.

Yeah, I appreciate that. Which is wonderful.

And then breaking up the whole collection, Graham,

on the left-hand side here, we have two medals, standard issue

war medal in silver here.

Victory medal as well, slightly tarnished.

The nice thing is, Graham, they've been within this tin.

Haven't seen any polishing.

Haven't been highly cleaned and still represent that condition

which collectors like. And very indistinctly,

we can read Private Gunner Marsh.

This little badge down here... Yeah.

..of course, it reads, "For King And Empire Services Rendered."

And many servicemen who were injured were given one of these.

So that little group there,

probably, in the saleroom is probably worth between ?30 and ?50.

OK. And then over here, I think the most interesting collection,

we've got, again, war medal and the Victory medal, but this time

it's to a man called, I think, Venny.

Venning. Now who was Venning?

That was my late wife's maiden name.

Bombardier Venning.

That would probably have been her grandfather.

And this medal down here, I believe,

is for a different man altogether, who was Private Edmonds.

I don't know that name. Who was he?

I couldn't tell you that one, sorry. No, no. I think 20 years ago,

you could have bought a standard defence and Victory medal for ?25,

but as time has moved on and we have thought more

about what these medals represent in society generally,

they become more cherished,

not amongst families but also within collectors' circles,

and values have risen. And I would hope, Graham, the lot would make

80 to 120... Yeah.

..and we'll put a reserve at 70. Yeah. Guide between 80 and 120,

and hopefully, when we're at the auction,

we can learn a bit more about these individuals. Yeah.

Thanks a lot, Graham. Thank you very much.

Wonderful. Appreciate that.

David delves into some more recent history.

Hi, Audrey. How do you do, sir?

Wolves autographs 1946-1947. Yes.

They belonged to by late husband, who was a football -

Wolves football... Fanatic? Yes, he was, yes.

Right. How old would your husband have been then?

Born in 1931. 1931. In which case, he'd have been 15... Right.

..when he went to collect those autographs. Yes. Remarkable, really.

A 15-year-old lad. Yeah. Him and his brother used to cycle to Wolves

more or less every Saturday.

Well, good for him. And are they all football autographs? No.

There's some film stars, some radio stars.

Well, I see you've tagged some. Shall we make our way through them?

The first one is football, as it happens.

Stoke City. Stanley Matthews.

The great Stanley Matthews. The great Sir Stanley Matthews,

a Staffordshire legend. Played for Blackpool as well, of course.

And who is this? That looks like Deborah Kerr, is it? OK.

Famous for that speech scene with Burt Lancaster. Correct.

What was the film called? From Here to Eternity? That's right.

Great, that film. That was very naughty, wasn't it?

Well, it was a naughty film in them days.

So we've already got a mixture, haven't we? We've got film stars

and footballers.

And you've tagged this one here,

which is...

Leonard Cheshire. Correct.

Gosh, so that's a military one,

I suppose we could call it. Royal Air Force, of course,

and founder of the Leonard Cheshire homes.

So we've got a really good little collection here

from a wide range of backgrounds.

Now, I don't think any of them are big, big stars,

but your husband, bless his cotton socks, collected all of these?

Correct, yes. He must have worked jolly hard to get them.

I think this is a great little collection. Now...

You're obviously happy to sell it? Yes.

Otherwise, you wouldn't have agreed to that.

Do you have any hopes or expectations? None whatsoever.

Let's go with an estimate, an auction estimate, of ?50-80.

Right. And I think we should put a covering reserve of, say, ?30.

Right. OK? Yes, that'll do. Jolly good.

Well, I look forward to seeing these sold.

They are... Many of them are of local interest,

which is great.

And I'm sure we'll do well for you.

All right, then. See you at the sale. Bye.

Before we head off to auction,

there is something I would like to show you.

This small and rather unremarkable watercolour portrait is of

Dudley Ryder, the first Earl of Harrowby

and the owner of Sandon Hall back at the turn of the 19th century.

It was painted in the early-1800s,

when Ryder was in his 40s

and at the very peak of an extraordinary political career.

Born in 1762, Dudley Ryder, the first Earl,

lived through one of the more turbulent times in British history.

The rise of Napoleon after the French Revolution resulted in a war

with Britain that would last for nearly 20 years,

putting enormous pressure on the government,

particularly the first Earl, who was the foreign secretary at the time.

So what do we know of Dudley Ryder's life during this period?

There are clues scattered throughout the house.

Firstly, there's this portrait of William Pitt the Younger,

so-called because he was England's youngest ever prime minister,

taking office at the tender age of 24.

Secondly, there's this letter from Dudley Ryder.

And this pair of duelling pistols.

Now, individually they don't mean much,

but put them all together and they tell an extraordinary story

which puts Ryder at the very centre of English politics.

But to understand how all of these items are related,

we need to go back in time to 1798.

Britain's long war with revolutionary France

was an expensive drain on the government's resources.

So when the prime minister, William Pitt, agreed to more funds,

the leader of the opposition, George Tierney,

accused him of being reckless with the country's finances.

A heated debate followed, leading to the very unusual situation

of the prime minister having to defend his honour in a duel.

It was then that Pitt wrote the letter to Dudley Ryder,

his friend and member of his cabinet.

"Dear Ryder.

"If you find five minutes, I should be much obliged to you

"if you would come here if possible before dinner -

"if not, as soon after as is possible -

"on a matter on which I knew I may trust your friendship

"and which does not admit of delay."

When they met, Pitt asked Dudley Ryder to be his second in the duel,

a request usually reserved for the duellist's best friend.

One of the roles of the second was to provide the pistols,

and these are the very pistols that Dudley Ryder took

to Putney Common in South London at dawn the next morning.

Many people said the duel was slightly unequal

because Pitt was very thin and Tierny was very fat,

thus making him a larger target.

It's reported Pitt fired twice - once at his opponent,

and his second shot in to the air.

Fortunately, neither man was injured,

and they retired with their honour intact.

Alone, these three items are interesting. But put them together

and they are exceptional. Their provenance

which relates their story together imbues each item

with much greater meaning.

'Sandon Hall is still home to the first Earl's descendants.

'I met up with Conway Ryder, the eighth Earl,

'to hear more about his ancestor's eventful life.'

That time, the 1st Earl was foreign secretary

and after the end of the battle, the Duke of Wellington

wrote his dispatch to the government.

One of his staffers set off to London...

..with the standards which had been captured from the French.

They arrived at about ten o'clock in the evening.

He went to Downing Street to deliver the message,

was told that there was nobody there,

that they'd all gone to dinner

with Lord Harrowby, who was the foreign secretary, as I mentioned,

in his house in 44 Grosvenor Square.

And so, off he went with a growing crowd...

Swelling the streets. Yes, you can imagine the excitement.

I mean, this is the end of a very long war.

So this great throng went off to Grosvenor Square,

and there they found the cabinet,

and he was able to rush in to the house shouting, "Victory."

Now, there's a rather lovely story

because my late grandfather remembered as a very young boy

an extremely elderly aunt who was a child in that house on the night

when the announcement was made, because it was a family home.

And she was woken up by a great rumpus downstairs,

and rushed out from the nursery bedroom

right up at the top of the house, and looked down through the stairwell

and saw all these old men dancing around the house,

shouting, "Victory! Victory!" and celebrating. Wow.

And it's just rather a lovely... What an image.

..memory two links back to the battle. Sure.

He lived an incredibly long life, into his 80s, didn't he?

Yes, indeed, and in fact, it was rather a sad end.

I mean, he could have lived much longer,

but in December 1847,

Lord Harrowby's favourite granddaughter,

Charlotte Mary, was standing too close to an open fire.

Her dress went up in a sheet of flames, she was very badly burned.

He tried to help put the fire out and got quite badly burned himself.

She sadly died a few days later.

He was inconsolable, he loved this girl.

Maybe the shock from that, who knows?

But he contracted pneumonia and died on Boxing Day a few days later.

Dudley Ryder, first Earl of Harrowby, died as he lived - dramatically.

What an extraordinary life.

It doesn't get much better than this for a valuation day venue.

Every room is a real feast for the eyes.

Take this, for instance.

Look. Hand-painted Chinese wallpaper,

a touch of the Orient comes to Stafford, but right now we need to

go over to the auction. Our experts have found their items, so will

they be full of Eastern promise? We're just about to find out.

Here's a quick recap of what's going under the hammer.

This pretty plant pot lost its foot when Hani lost her footing,

but it's still got a lot of charm.

Angela's rings are perfect in every way.

They just don't fit Angela.

And this selection of medals holds many stories, a very poignant lot.

Marjorie's autographs are a who's who of sportsmen

and entertainers from the '40s and '50s.

We've crossed counties to Shropshire for today's auction,

which is Halls saleroom just outside Shrewsbury.

The auction is just about to start.

Jeremy Lamond is now on the rostrum.

I'm going to catch up with our owners.

I know they're feeling really nervous.

Whatever you do, don't go away.

We could have that big surprise.

Don't forget, if you are buying or selling in an auction room,

there is commission to pay.

Here, if you're selling something, the commission is 19% plus VAT.

First up, it's Angela's rings.

?70 and ?75. I think that's what you said you paid for them in auction,

something like that. Each. Each, yeah.

And you love the atmosphere.

Well, we've got a cracking atmosphere here today.

Fingers crossed we can get you your money back.

Yes. That's what we hope, don't we?

Here we go, they're going under the hammer.

Solitaire diamond ring with facet-cut shoulders,

18-carat gold shank, and an 18-carat gold diamond and ruby ring,

hallmarked Birmingham, 1906.

The bid is here at 140, 150, 160, ?160 now, 160,

at ?160.

At 160. Go on, 160.

170, where?

At ?160.

I am selling this lot at ?160.

At 160, 170, at ?170 now.

180, where? At ?170, it's with you.

Have you all finished, then? At 170.

Well done. ?170.

That's great. It's always nice to sell something

in the middle of the estimate. Yes, yes.

Will you buy any more jewellery?

Yes, I'll make sure it fits.

Next up it's Hani with her legless jardiniere.

I heard it, you know, and everyone went, "Ooh!," like that,

it was like panto. Yeah, yeah, it was.

A lovely jardiniere, though.

Yes, it is. Well, I really felt I should not sell it.

Why is that? Well, you said all these wonderful things about it.

Well, look, let's find out what the bidders think.

It's going under the hammer right now. This is it.

Late 19th-century French faience jardiniere at ?25.

At 25, 25, 30, 35, at ?35, at ?35, any more?

35, at ?35.

Are we all finished, then? At ?35.

35.

Not today, I'm afraid, for this one.

It didn't sell. No.

No. Gosh, you weren't far off, Charles.

It was five pounds out. No. That's absolutely nothing, is it?

But I'm quite relieved that I might not be cursed or haunted now.

No. I feel somewhat relieved, Hani. So am I.

Well, look, do you know something? Do you know, I am too.

That's a good result for us because...

Truly, that was a wonderful result.

You didn't want to sell it, did you? You didn't really.

No, no, no, no. And now it's going home.

I'm so pleased.

Break out the hyacinths, Hani,

and make Granny happy.

And finally, it's Graham's medals.

If I was in the trenches in the First World War

and I had a Christmas tin, I would open it up and I would have

the chocolate and the tobacco. I wouldn't save it, would you?

No, keep going. It's desperate times.

Tempting. No, no. I would've taken what I'd got.

But, look, anyway, it's a wonderful thing, OK?

And not many have survived.

Well, we're looking around ?35 for the tin, aren't we? Yes, we are.

But it's the medals. Hopefully, we can have a surprise.

A collection of First World War medals.

Service medals Grenadier H Venning RFA.

HT Marsh RA, 1914-15 star, awarded to Private C Edmonds

and a George VI Service Rendered cap badge,

all to a Christmas 1914 pressed brass tobacco tin.

Commissions here at ?70, at 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120,

130, 140, commissions out.

?140.

At ?140. 140.

Yes, ?140.

Well done. Pleased with that. Yeah, so am I.

So the charity will be as well.

Oh, bless you. Got me going now.

So, zooming back to the auction house in Shrewsbury

where our next item is about to go under the hammer.

Marjorie. Hello. Your autograph albums.

Do you have a favourite signature in there?

Stanley Matthews, I bet.

No, the Wolves. Oh, the Wolves? Yes, yes. I don't know any famous...

Derek Dougan, he was a Wolves player. Billy Wright.

But that was a bit earlier, wasn't it, Billy? Was he in there?

I don't think he's in there, no. No, he's not in the book...

Your husband was a Wolves fan, wasn't he? Yes, yes, he was.

Well, let's hope there's some football fans here today.

There's other autographs, it's not all footballers.

Yes, there's some film stars and radio stars and everything.

Great, so it's a mixed lot,

and they're going under the hammer right now.

Lot 190 - four autograph books from the 1940s. 40, 50, ?60.

At 60, I've got 5, 70. Flying away.

?80 here. At ?80. That's brilliant. 90. Commissions out. ?90.

On the internet at ?90. At ?90.

All done at ?90?

Oh, what a good result. That's great.

Yeah, we had a fixed reserve at ?30 so we had to make that

and we busted through it.

We did. 90 quid! Fantastic.

You probably noticed a lot of online bidding.

That's because technology is all around us and it's moving

at a rapid pace. Even in the saleroom.

No longer do we have a porter,

it's all shown on the screen and it's all internet buying.

Photography has changed immensely in the last few years.

No longer do we have a darkroom.

Film is almost a thing of the past.

One of the most famous photographers from that golden age of film grew up

at nearby Shugborough Hall.

Considering his choice of career and his surroundings,

it was a match made in heaven.

Stately homes make fabulous backdrops for photo shoots.

So, what better career for the owner of one of these historic houses

to choose than photography?

And that's exactly what the owner of Shugborough did.

We know him as Patrick Lichfield, second cousin to the Queen

and jet-setting photographer to the stars, but his real name

was Thomas Patrick John Anson, the fifth Earl of Lichfield,

and Shugborough Hall was his family home.

He inherited it at the tender age of 21.

But crippling death duties and high maintenance costs forced him

to hand it over to the National Trust.

Patrick's privileged upbringing meant he had to work twice as hard

to prove his success was down to his own merits, and he soon gained

a reputation as a serious, hard-working photographer.

I never used it at all to begin with,

because I felt that if I rang up an art director and said,

"I want to come and show my pictures to you," and he said,

"Who are you?", and I said, "Lord Lichfield," he'd say,

"Oh, well, here's just another rich young man with a camera."

An amateur or something.

It was the early '60s,

an exciting time to be a fashionable young man with a camera in his hand.

After a short apprenticeship at a commercial studio in London,

Patrick struck out on his own,

setting up Lichfield Studios in Notting Hill.

In 1966, Patrick got his big break.

A contract with American Vogue.

This saw him taking photographs of beautiful people and luxury goods

in exotic locations all around the world.

Back in London, though, he wasn't the only photographer in town.

Others like David Bailey and Terence Donovan were all becoming

hot property at the time. One of this set was John Swanell,

who remembers those heady days.

It was pretty wild, I mean, it was, you know,

you'd finish work and whoever you were shooting would hang around

the studio till nine, ten o'clock and then you'd go out for dinner,

wouldn't get in till four or five in the morning, and then get up at

seven or eight o'clock and shoot the next day.

The reason it was so interesting was because of the people that came in and

out of the studio. All the people that you admired in your life.

Michael Caine, Terence Stamp and Mick Jagger walked through there

and The Beatles turned up. John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and they were magical days.

He never played the lord, you know, he never played, you know,

the grandee or anything.

He was just one of the boys.

Bailey was from the East End.

He never let Patrick get off the hook ever, you know,

he'd go to an exhibition of his and, I remember, it was 100 Most Beautiful Women In The World

and Patrick had all these pictures on the wall and they produced a book,

and Bailey came in, and there's a few people standing around and Patrick said,

"What do you think, Bailey?"

He said, "Yeah, Patrick, I was thinking of doing something like this myself."

You know, doing the 100 Most Beautiful Women.

He said, "Now, looking at your pictures, I still can." You know.

And everybody started laughing and Patrick laughed the loudest.

He had a good time, Patrick.

I mean, he liked a good time.

You know, he drank the best wines and went out with beautiful women

and flew all over the world for ten years with these girls

and it probably doesn't get much better than that.

Ironically, Patrick was becoming a celebrity himself.

With his jet-set lifestyle and string of beautiful girlfriends,

the paparazzi were never far away.

To escape the attention,

Patrick began to spend more time at Shugborough.

The agreement with the National Trust

let him have a suite of private rooms.

And Shugborough's photographic potential hadn't escaped his attention either.

He began to hold shooting weekends here, where he could combine

business with pleasure.

Shooting at home allowed him to capture intimate pictures

of some of the stars of the day...

..but, equally, take beautiful,

formal shots against the lavish backdrops inside.

I was very envious, you know, how the backdrop was perfect.

Couldn't have been better. Wherever you went,

you'd just wander around and there was a backdrop for the pictures.

It was just made-to-measure.

Alongside his commercial photography, Patrick was also

gaining a reputation within his extended family

through a series of informal photographs of the Royals.

This led to the biggest coup of his career, when he was appointed

the official photographer to the royal wedding of Prince Charles

and Lady Diana Spencer.

His images went around the world.

I think the pictures were wonderful.

I think they were great, and especially the pictures

where it's a bit less formal.

Whereas any other photographer, you couldn't take, you know,

be that forward and grab a picture

of the Queen doing something over here

or the kids running around or Princess Diana talking to her maids.

Whereas Patrick could because they'd look over their shoulder and,

"Oh, it's only Patrick," because he's one of them.

You know, he belongs to the firm,

they know him and feel comfortable with him,

he's been to their barbecues in Balmoral, and so he's one of the family.

In the coming decades, Patrick embraced the possibilities

of the digital revolution in photography,

and continued working right up until he died suddenly of a stroke,

in November 2005. We couldn't believe it,

you know, when somebody dies too quickly,

because he was really healthy.

Patrick Lichfield's photographic legacy is his unique record

of a golden age of glamour.

Welcome back to our magnificent valuation day venue location,

Sandon Hall.

As you can see, there are still hundreds of people here.

We need to find some more antiques to take off to auction.

And David's found just the thing.

According to me, it's wrong. Yeah.

Just a bit. Did it ever go?

It did.

Yes, it did. Years ago, it went, but Grandad was very good

at overwinding watches. He got a bit of a thing that he felt

they needed winding up all the time. So it belonged to your grandad?

It did.

I can't read the maker's mark, but there's a little anchor there,

which tells us it was assayed in Birmingham... Right.

..and a date letter of 1910.

Gosh. So I think that's probably before your grandfather's time.

Yeah. That's even a little bit before my grandfather's time.

We have a silver case.

The watch inside...

..sadly, is not silver cased.

These are called jumbo watches, for obvious reasons,

and of course it doubles up, if you put it in a case like this,

into a perfectly useful

bedside clock with a little rest at the back.

It's never sat beside your bed?

No. No.

OK. Well, that's what used to fascinate me as a child,

because it was such a chunky watch.

Yeah. This, we can tell, I think, quite obviously, really,

is gold, but again we just need to check.

And when I say it's gold,

I'm not referring to the face, but to the case.

The glass has become detached, but that can be put back easily enough.

And if we lift the face out,

we should be able to see the inside of the back of the case.

There it is, and it is hallmarked.

Now, I'd expected this to be continental, this case.

But as large as life, I can see a crown for Sheffield... Oh.

..and 18, which tells us it's 18-carat gold.

They weren't great timekeepers.

Never really were. And of course it's damaged.

Yeah. So I think the chance of it being got to work again

are pretty slight. And I also suspect it would cost more

to get this roadworthy than you'd add to the value.

Yes. Beautifully chased, I mean, the decoration on the dial is amazing.

I must say that these things are not really worth as much as people

sometimes hope that they are.

And I might have to let you down gently here.

Now, I think we ought to be thinking in terms of an estimate

of around about 80 to 120 for these.

I think we might just push it up a little bit,

so can we go for 100 to 150?

Yeah, I'd definitely...

100, I wouldn't want to go any lower than that. Yeah. OK.

Well, I look forward to seeing you at the sale,

and we'll hope for the best.

Thank you. OK. Thank you very much, David. And keep smiling.

It appears Charles needs his eyes testing when it comes to

Blake and Leslie's statuette.

I saw you in the queue and I thought, goodness me,

we have got sitting in this bag what appeared to me to be a wonderful,

bronze, Art Deco archer.

But it's wooden. Yeah!

I'm so wrong. I'm so wrong.

Where's it come from? I inherited it from my uncle who, between the wars,

was in the cavalry, the Lancers in India.

Was he really? Now, whether it came from there I've no idea.

How interesting. But I've had it about 30 years.

That's really interesting. Leslie, do you like it?

It's grown on me over the years.

I like it, and it's so nice to try and locate its source because

this object, I suppose, really was made for a highbrow souvenir market

and it's in that great Deco style. It's pulling that angular pose.

Yes, it's got strength in it.

I suppose you'd call it tactile, wouldn't you?

Absolutely. You've taken the words out of my mouth.

And it looks, in its patinated sheen, like a bronze. Yeah.

In fact, it is just a wonderfully patinated hardwood, which is teak.

Very intricately done at the back.

If we just turn it round,

what I love is the magnificent drapery just...

..languishing over this oval base.

The intricacy of this ornamental attire.

And I think it's probably from Bali. Balinese school,

probably from Bali... Yes.

..and what's so remarkable about it is the fact it's in good condition,

because if it was dropped or knocked... Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

..this whole bow and arrow would have been lost.

Yes. And it hasn't, and the only real issue we've got is this

broken left arm here. Yes, we've tried to repair it as best we could.

Would it have been carved out of a solid piece of wood?

Yes, it would. Carved out of a solid piece. I think it's great.

Today it's one of those objects which on a really good day

could make ?60.

On a flattish day, it could make 20 or 25... Yes.

..because of the condition, but it's tactile, and it just has that

great Art Deco look, and that's what I thrive on.

Are you a jazzy lady? Oh, yes.

I thought you were.

I feel its auction market value would be between ?30 and ?50.

And I propose we put a reserve at ?20, just as a safety net,

but I would hope it will make between 30, 40.

On a good day, maybe ?50.

So, with your blessing, we'll pull back, let the auctioneer release,

and hopefully we'll give the archer a great send-off.

Yes, that would be great. OK. Lovely. Yes, thank you.

Thank you very much. Sell away? Yes, I need to "Flog It!".

Thanks very much. That's a line.

Tracey's brought in a silver tea set and David's wasting no time

in weighing up its melt value.

That weighs 25 ounces,

and I suspect therefore that the four-piece tea set has

a melt value in the region of about ?450.

Or would have...

..if it wasn't for this inscription.

Now, normally an inscription is a kiss of death, or can be on

a piece of silver, but this particular inscription -

it took my breath away when I saw this just now.

Made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end.

Presented by Stoke City Football Club to their player S Matthews,

the great Stanley Matthews, "in recognition of his creating a record

"of 44 appearances for England,

"which established when playing against Belgium.

"January 19th 1946."

I mean, I'm sure you know about Stanley Matthews.

He was the oldest person to be capped for England.

He received a knighthood whilst he was still playing for England.

He appeared, of course, in that famous cup final in 1953

at the Matthews Final for Blackpool against Bolton.

I was three at the time but I sort of remember it.

I think everybody who was around at that time knew about

Stanley Matthews, and knew about that football match.

If you're interested in football, or know anything about football,

this is just a must-have thing.

If you've got the money to buy it.

Now, how come you own it?

Add how come you're selling it?

We went to a local auction in Stoke-on-Trent and this popped up

obviously in the brochure, and my husband thought, "Oh, that's cheap."

Yeah. And he stuck his hand up. Yeah.

And numerous others were bidding but my husband's quite stubborn, so...

HE LAUGHS OK. So he kept going.

Right. Good for him. That's what auctioneers like.

Stubborn punters who keep going. Mm, yeah.

And, I mean, I've got to ask you what you paid for it.

1,200. ?1,200.

OK. So...

..you're selling it.

Your husband's happy with that?

Does he know you're selling it?

He does. He's outside with our puppy.

Your puppy. Hence the reason why it's going.

She's a Saint Bernard.

In the house there's a lot of items, but this one she keeps going for

in the glass cabinet. She's got very good taste. And you're frightened

that she'll knock it off. Or smash the glass.

Or smash the glass, yup.

So, I take it you're not going to want to give this away if you paid

1,250 for it. No. No.

But you're reasonably realistic, are you?

Oh, yeah. I live in the real world.

Good for you. OK. So, let's put the estimate

just a little bit above what you want for it.

Say 1,500 to 1,800. OK. And a reserve of 1,250.

And I think we'll do jolly well and your Saint Bernard, whose name is...?

Darcy. Darcy.

Right, OK. Will have the run of the house.

Here's Darcy waiting outside.

Now I can see why the antiques might be at risk.

And that brings us to our final item,

and a rather starstruck Charles.

Mr Moorcroft, good to see you.

You have an air of authority about you.

You're no relation, are you, to the great name

of Moorcroft of the potteries going back to the great man William?

I am, I'm his son.

You're not. I am, yes. You're William Moorcroft's son?

Goodness me.

So that whole history which I thrive on, that's your father.

Yes. I can't believe it.

He started it and got it going and made his name at it,

and then, when he died, my half-brother Walter took over.

I can't believe it.

And I joined him in '62 until I retired in 2003.

Wonderful. Amazing.

But, of course, away from Moorcroft -

which we ought to be talking about,

and I could talk all day to you, John -

of course, the next best thing, I think, for two men

are boys' toys.

Yes. Yes.

And you've brought in...

And again, I'm trying to put the toys into context in terms of date,

looking at you and, perhaps, Father, who, of course, I think,

is a bit too old for these to have been the great man William's,

I'm guessing they were yours?

These were mine, bought by me from new from Bassett-Lowke,

who had a shop in Holborn in London at the time.

In the early '50s. Quite right.

And just, John, talk me through -

because what I love about these toys

is they are in remarkably good condition.

You were clearly a very careful child.

I looked after them.

I inherited certain of my trains from friends and older people

and they were fairly battered when I got them.

But having bought these new, you tend to look after them,

keep them oiled and keep them in good condition, even with the boxes.

Yeah. What have we got here, John - tell me?

The engine is a 4-4-6

in the early British Railways colours.

Prince Charles is the name of the engine.

And the two coaches, - the one on the box here

is the First Class coach,

and the other one is Third Class

with the guard's van portion underneath.

Yes, and, of course, when we look back historically at the golden age

of tin-plate toys, of early Hornby, of early Bassett-Lowke...

Bassett-Lowke, they began in Northamptonshire in 1948,

so these were fairly new to the market,

maybe five or six years later when you were a young boy?

I would've been about 14, 15, yes.

A teenager, yes. All right, fine. Well, you're doing very well, sir.

A wonderful collection. And we've got the boxes.

The condition is particularly good,

and this market - as ever, ever so buoyant.

In the auction, I would like to put them to a sale

with a guide price of between ?200-?300.

That would be fine.

And I propose, to keep them safe and well,

we perhaps put a reserve at ?200 with 10% discretion.

Yes. Does that meet your approval? That would be fine.

May we flog it, Mr Moorcroft? You may.

May I shake your hand, sir, and say going, going, gone? Thanks so much.

Thank you. Pleasure.

Sadly, we have to say goodbye.

We've got some unfinished business to do in the auction room.

So, as I walk down this grand staircase one more time today,

I'm going to leave you with a quick reminder

of all the items that are coming with us.

First up, it's little and large, inherited by Karen from her grandad.

This beautiful carved archer from the East

is an exceptional piece of craftsmanship.

This silver tea service,

with its link to the great Stanley Matthews,

might just be David's favourite ever "Flog It!" find.

And their link with a British pottery dynasty

added to Charles' excitement about these beautiful Bassett-Lowke trains.

?40.

Let's rejoin auctioneer Jeremy Lamond for Karen's two tickers.

You've got lots of memories of the jumbo watch?

Yeah. I used to love that.

As a child it fascinated me because it comes out of the case.

I think these jumbo watches were dual purpose.

You could carry them in your pocket,

but they were big enough to be put on a bedside table as well.

Yeah, yeah. Let's see what we can do for you.

Fingers crossed we get the top end of David's estimate.

And it's going under the hammer, both of them, right now - joint lot.

A ladies' 18-carat gold open-face pocket watch, 1910,

and an Edwardian white-metal case travel watch as well.

What about that, sell me ?100 for them?

?100, 100 bid on the internet, at ?100.

110 in the room, at 110, 120, 120, at ?120.

It's on the internet. 130, ?130 now, at 130, 140,

140 on the internet, at ?140.

At ?140, anybody else?

At 140. 150.

At 150. 160. At ?160 now.

?160.

It's over the estimate. At 160, it's an internet bid, then, at 160.

Yeah, it's going online. Selling it at ?160.

Yes, ?160.

Thank goodness for online bidding.

It does help. Yeah, it does, doesn't it?

Cos you never know how many people are bidding for these things.

No. And all of a sudden, the phone lines are out

but the internet comes in. Yeah, I was hoping the internet...

Well done, Karen. Thank you.

Thank you for bringing that in. Lots of memories there.

Oh, yes, yeah. Brought a bit of a tear to the eyeball. Aw.

Next, it's the wooden carving.

Sadly, Blake and Leslie cannot be with us,

but we do have our expert, Charles. I like this.

It's not a lot of money but it's good craftsmanship,

and if you asked somebody to do that today,

they couldn't do it for ?30 or ?50, could they?

No, you're right. It's Burmese.

It's Oriental, but, important,

it's got that European Deco look of the archer.

Yes. Yes. And it's very lively. That was the Usain Bolt pose, wasn't it?

Let's hope this goes really fast, shall we?

Let's hope the bidders like it.

It's going under the hammer right now.

The South East Asian carving of an archer.

Balinese or Indonesian.

Aiming for the skies.

Who's going to start me at, what, ?30?

?30, 30 for the archer, ?30 bid on the net...

It's a very decorative item.

At ?30, 30, at 30 it is.

At 30, 35, ?35, ?40 now on the internet, at ?40,

at 40 all done, then?

At ?40 for the archer, anybody else for the archer at ?40?

The sky's the limit. Selling at 40.

?40. Mid-estimate. You were spot-on. Good. Mid-estimate.

I think they'll be pleased with that, won't they? I hope so.

Well done, Charles. Thank you very much.

Next up, it's John Moorcroft's boyhood train collection.

He's brought along his wife, Jill, who's even more excited than we are.

I've been urging him to sell these for 54 years.

Did you send him out the door, then, with these? Yes. I did.

"Get to that Flog It! valuation - go and see Charles."

Hey-ho, here we are.

OK, where have they been all this time?

They've been in the garage for the last 20 years.

Do you know what, you must have a dry garage,

because the condition's very good and the boxes are good as well,

they're not damp and rusty.

Well looked after. Well looked after and how they should be.

We need to get these off to a collector.

OK, ready? We're going to put them to the test. Here we go.

The Bassett-Lowke scale-model O-gauge train, 4-4-0

Locomotive Prince Charles.

Number 62078 with dark-blue BR livery.

What about those at 120?

130, ?130 now.,

At ?130, Bassett-Lowke. At 130.

140, 150.

150. At 160. 170. At ?170 now.

?180. ?190.

At ?190. ?200. ?210.

Just. We're in. We're choo-chooing.

?220. ?230. ?230 now.

At 240. 250? 250.

260. 270.

At ?270 now in the room.

?280, 290.

?290. ?300. 320.

320, the bid is in the room.

340 internet. 360.

?360 now. At 360.

At 360.

380. On the net, 400.

The bid is in the room at ?400.

That's brilliant. Good. At ?400 - are we all finished then?

At 400?

Yes, the hammer's gone down.

Very good. We're chuffed.

And he'll take them home!

And we got the top end. We did.

I'm so pleased you pushed him out the door!

And finally, it's that special silver tea service that made David's day.

So you're going to spend all the money on dog food?

On a rainy day, pop in a treat for her.

Aw. We're looking for ?1,500 minimum, aren't we?

Well, it's got to make a bit less than that. 1,250 will do it.

Oh, right. OK. You paid 1,200 for this, didn't you?

You've been very philosophical about that.

I think what's so amazing about this is Stanley Matthews,

at the age of 31, was presented with this tea set.

Can you imagine a footballer today at the age of 31

being grateful with a tea set?

Wonderful footballer. He had such a long career. Legend.

Well, let's find out if there's any silver lovers or footie lovers here right now in the room.

It's going under the hammer.

Four-piece silver tea set, football importance. Stanley Matthews.

At ?900.

At ?900, 950, where?

At 950, 1,000, 1,050, 1,100, at ?1,100 now.

1,150, ?1,200, it's on the internet.

At ?1,200, and 1,220, 1,250,

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

Good, the bids are coming in now.

?1,450.

Selling it. 1,500. 1,550.

At ?1,550.

It's all the Stoke football fans are bidding right now.

It's Peter Crouch. ?1,650 now.

1,750.

At 1,750, 1,800. Anyone want to go in the room?

1,900, 1,950, at 1,950 on the net,

at 1,950, ?2,000, 2,100,

2,100 now, at ?2,100,

2,200, 2,300, 2,300,

at 2,300.

At ?2,300. Tough competition for this.

He's still a big name, isn't he?

Oh, yes. Any more?

2,400, 2,500,

2,500, at ?2,500.

Are we all finished, then? Listen.

At ?2,500.

Internet, be quick. 2,600.

2,700. 2,700.

At ?2,700.

At 2,700, one more?

Yes or no? At ?2,700, 2,800,

2,900, 2,900.

?2,900.

Tracey, ?2,900.

Who hasn't had a go yet?

At ?2,900, it's on the internet.

Calling it once at ?2,900.

At ?2,900 twice, internet.

Last chance. ?3,000, 3,200.

3,000! 3,200. At ?3,200.

All done, then, at 3... 3,400. They think it's all over.

3,600. 3,600.

At 3,800, 4,000,

at ?4,000 on the net, 4,200, 4,400,

?4,400.

Do you need a seat? ?4,400.

?4,400.

I can wait. 4,400.

4,600. Worth the wait.

4,800.

?4,800, at ?4,800.

?4,800 it is on the net.

Anybody want to go in the room at ?4,800?

?4,800.

It's astonishing. All finished, then, at 4,800,

calling once, twice...

What a surprise! Selling it at 4,800.

4,800.

That took us by surprise, didn't it? I'm thrilled.

I'm delighted. I'm gobsmacked.

Thank you. Well, thank you for bringing that in

and it gave us all a surprise, and what a way to end the show.

What do you think you're going to spend all that money on?

Darcy. Darcy, the dog. Woof. Woof. Woof.

I hope you enjoyed that surprise.

Sadly, we've run out of time here from Halls salesroom.

Join us again soon for many more, but until then, it's goodbye.

# Hard times

# Gonna make you wonder why you even try

# Hard times

# Gonna take you down and laugh when you cry

# Hit the ground

# When I hit the ground

# Hard times

# Gonna make you wonder why you even try... #