Powderham Castle 46 Flog It!

I'm on top of a long-standing Devon landmark

dating back to the 14th century.

This stronghold was built in a strategic position right

opposite the River Exe. It's got the most stunning views.

Despite it being exposed to the elements for some 600 years,

it's weathered the strongest storms and battles.

Today, though, it is facing an onslaught of a different kind.

I met up here with Alan there - ha, ha -

and we're hoisting the flag for "Flog It!"

Welcome to Powderham Castle. Let it go up, Alan!

The name Powderham is believed to be from the Saxon Polderham,

which means hamlet on a tidal marsh.

And much of this land has been reclaimed.

The estate covers 3,500 acres and rolls down to the River Exe.

A railway line built by the famous engineer

Isambard Kingdom Brunel passes through,

giving passengers glorious views over the deer park and castle.

And it's time to head there now as a large crowd has gathered

on the terraces beneath the turrets for our valuation day.

What a fantastic queue

we have here today.

Hundreds of people have turned up

laden with antiques and collectibles.

Any one of them could be going home with big smiles on their faces

and earn a small fortune in auction.

They're keen to see our experts,

to get inside this historic surrounding.

And if you're happy with the valuations,

what are you going to do?

-ALL:

-"Flog It!"

And the people in the crowd are a creative bunch,

as expert Mark Stacey is discovering.

I hope it's not for me.

It would need to be a little bit bigger.

Yeah, thanks for that(!)

Mark's topped in the glamour stakes by West Country auctioneer

Claire Rawle.

-Oh!

-Is this me?

-It's so you.

-You are such a sophisticated lady.

-Oh, yes. Oh, thank you.

And there's no time to waste -

the queue's moved inside to settle down and unpack.

Each of the stunning rooms are filling up,

but before we explore the castle,

let's have a look at what's coming up later on in the programme.

Claire's enthused by childhood memories of the golden age of steam.

Started off as a schoolboy down at Newton Abbot station.

Always on a Saturday, a group of us would meet.

Every time a steam engine came in,

all the group of us used to jump up and down, "Hooray, steam!" You know.

And there's a real surprise at the auction.

Bidding's in the front.

Surely it can't go on.

And I'll be discovering how weather forecasting has changed over

the centuries from literally this, a message in a bottle, to this,

the latest hi-tech satellite technology.

Everyone is settled in, and Claire's first off the mark.

And she's uncovered some little beauties.

-Hello, Ross, it's good to meet you.

-Hello, Claire.

And you brought some very pretty items in here.

Now, tell me, were they things that you bought for yourself

or you've collected, or...?

Well, they are something I bought for myself, and a long time ago now.

I think probably in the late '70s, early '80s,

when I used to live near Portobello Road.

And I bought them with the intention of making a jacket.

-OK.

-And they've sat in a drawer ever since.

Right, so the jacket never got made.

-The jacket never got made, no.

-Oh, that's a shame!

It seems a shame to keep them in a drawer.

-Yes.

-So hopefully, somebody else may wear them.

-Yes, indeed.

Or even just put them out in a cabinet to look at.

-Yes.

-So, do you know what they are?

-Well, I believe they're micromosaic.

-Yes, indeed.

-But I don't know where they're from.

-Right.

-Well, they're Italian.

-Right.

And indeed they are known as micromosaic.

So very, very tiny little pieces of glass

and coloured stones in this wonderful design.

If you actually look closely at the medallions,

they are like little tiny flower heads, aren't they?

They are so pretty.

And then mounted on just a gilt metal.

They are not on a precious metal.

I'd have guessed there'd have been six buttons originally.

-I'm just thinking...

-I think there would have been a set of six,

but there's only ever been five.

Yes, which is fine.

It doesn't really make a lot of difference to the value.

So these were made in Italy through the sort of 19th century,

into the early 20th century.

I'm not sure they are not actually still being made today,

but they are much cruder.

-The later ones are much cruder.

-OK.

-The thing with this, it's a lovely, tight decoration.

-Yes.

So I think they probably date from the latter part of the 19th century.

And also, in very good order.

They appear to be, yes.

I can imagine that style of belt buckle worn in that period as well.

Yes. Yes, very much so.

So there is this lovely shaped buckle, beautiful decoration in it.

Again, clusters of flower heads. Look like forget-me-nots, actually.

And then lovely palmettes radiating away. Beautiful panels of colour.

Lovely, lovely item.

It does appeal to today's market.

So obviously, you've made up your mind that, you know,

you're not going to make the jacket any longer.

-No.

-So it's time to sell them.

-Yes.

It is time to sell them, yes.

-Have you had them valued at all in the past?

-No.

Can you remember what you paid for them?

-Well, I probably paid under £10.

-OK. Yes, yeah.

-So a sensible price.

-A little while ago.

Yeah, well, I think they'll make a bit more than that now.

My feeling is... Again, it is the auctioneer's favourite.

-It's 80 to 120.

-OK.

I think we are looking at a sensible estimate. I'd put the reserve at 70.

-OK, that sounds very good.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah.

-Mainly for this.

-Yes.

I think the buckle will carry most of the value and the buttons will...

They just add to it.

They're lovely, cos they are very much made as a set.

-So we shall head off to the auction.

-Good.

-High hopes...

-Yes.

-..in buying you something else.

-Yes.

-Not to put in a drawer.

-No.

-Great, Ross. We'll see you there.

-OK, thank you very much.

Now, this is a second library,

with stunning views over the deer park.

But not all is what it seems here. Look at this bookcase.

There are plenty of bookcases all over the house. But if I do this...

It's a secret passage.

There are six of them in the castle,

which really does add to its intrigue.

In there, the little people.

Mark Stacey is making discoveries of his own. Let's take a closer look.

And he's met a lady who helped people evacuate

from their homes after Devon was

so battered by storms that the train line collapsed.

Now, tell us why you were involved in that.

Well, when they were evacuating

people from behind the train track...

-This is in Dawlish?

-This is Dawlish.

And the line was left as you have seen it.

But the people had to get out.

They had to go to the leisure centre.

And I was called about 11.55 at night.

And I went and stayed all night, and then I went home

for a couple of hours, and then went back again

until they all disappeared and they'd gone.

It was quite a frightening time, wasn't it?

-It was, yes.

-But the combination of the rain and the sea levels

-and the winds, it really caused a lot of damage, didn't it?

-Yes, yes.

And from that, I got awarded to go to Downing Street to a reception and

-to a Buckingham Palace garden party in June, last year.

-Gosh.

-And was the weather kind to you?

-The weather was beautiful.

-It was really...

-You didn't have to try to rescue anybody on that day?

-It's nice to come and see you, though.

-Oh!

What can I say? Well, well done for all your hard work.

You've brought in two of my favourite things -

-novelty silver.

-Yes.

-Now, where did you get them from?

They were given to me by a friend.

-And where have they lived in your home?

-In a cupboard in my kitchen.

Now, you know what this is, don't you?

I think it's what they used to use for cleaning quills and things.

-Yes, and pens.

-And pens.

I mean, you could call it, really, a pork scratching, couldn't you?

You could! Definitely.

-And it is. It is a charming little pig pen wipe.

-Yes.

You get these novelty pig items in pincushions

-and all sorts of vesta cases.

-I've seen them.

And they are rather charming, actually.

And it is hallmarked for 1905.

The fish is really intriguing.

-I think it's a parasol handle or a walking stick handle.

-Yeah.

Again, it's silver. It's filled inside.

That one is hallmarked, actually, from a bit earlier. That's 1890s.

-Oh, right.

-It has a little Victorian registration lozenge on it as well.

-Yeah.

-And I like the sort of little green glass eyes.

-There are a few condition issues.

-Yes.

-The little pig has lost its curly tail, I'm afraid.

-Yes, cleaning.

This one, we've got a few dents.

And there's a little bit of a scratch to the body there,

underneath the word Auntie.

So somebody had obviously bought this as a gift for their auntie,

-which is rather charming.

-Yes.

-They should appeal to the market.

We're going to a good saleroom.

Taking account of the damage and the little bit of wear on them,

I think we should put them in as a little group lot

-and put an estimate of sort of £120 to £180...

-Yes.

..with a reserve of 100.

Would you be happy with that, Sheila?

Yes, I would like it if they'd make some more, but...

-Well, like Oliver, we all want a little bit more, don't we?

-Yes.

But they are collectible,

and I think the internet buyers will come in as well.

-So fingers crossed, it won't end up being a pig in a poke.

-No.

Quite.

I should hope not, Mark.

Now, let's catch up with Claire,

who's found herself an elegant spot in the grand staircase.

Hello, Bob. It's lovely to meet you.

And you're a railway enthusiast and far more knowledgeable than I am.

But I was standing outside a bit earlier and I noticed there is

a railway line that obviously runs between the castle and the estuary,

which I guess is related to the items that you've actually got here.

Everything on here today would have had to go on that railway line,

cos it is the main line from Paddington right down to Penzance.

-Yeah, of course.

-Which, of course, has caused problems at Dawlish,

-as we all know.

-Indeed, indeed.

Now, you've got a wonderful collection here of railway ephemera.

So tell me a bit. What started you off on this?

I started off as a schoolboy down at Newton Abbot station.

Always on a Saturday, a group of us would meet

and always check the engine numbers. And on a Saturday, Mother would say,

"Here's a shilling, or one and threepence,

"go get yourself some fish and chips for your lunch."

And we'd all go down and have a big feast of fish and chips

and watch the trains. It was lovely.

But like with everything, it didn't last that long

because they were shutting things down.

They were doing away with steam.

And on the Saturday afternoons, every time a steam engine came in,

all the group of us used to jump up and down, "Hooray, steam!"

You know. Then the chap would come along on his diesel,

cos they were coming in, we'd all be booing at him.

He'd get out and look along the engine and wonder

-what he'd done wrong.

-HE LAUGHS

Oh, brilliant. Yeah, so that's really great.

-You saw the transformation from steam to diesel.

-Oh, yes.

It's a really interesting time.

So, I mean, you've got tickets, luggage labels, memos,

wonderful bits of paper.

It's the sort of thing that everybody would have thrown away.

So it really is a lovely collection. Is this all of your collection?

-No. This is only part of my collection.

-OK.

-At home, I've got other bigger, bulkier items.

-Right.

So you've made up your mind you can bear to part with this

-collection now, can you?

-I can part with this collection.

I put it together with good intentions and thinking,

"Well, I've had my share, I've enjoyed it. If someone else

"would like to take it on and add to it, they'd be very welcome."

So, I think for the collection, Bob,

you're looking at between £30 and £50.

-I would say that's very fair, Claire.

-Yeah.

-That's very fair indeed.

-Yeah, it should sell.

I'd like to put a reserve, really, of about £30 on it.

But maybe, if you want to pitch it at 25,

it makes it even more desirable.

But I still think you ought to estimate it at 30 to 50,

if you're happy with that.

-I'm well happy with that if you are, Claire.

-Yeah.

We'll see what it does on the day.

-That's very nice of you, Claire. Nice to have met you.

-And you.

Thanks very much for coming in. It's been fascinating.

Very interesting. Thank you, Bob.

Now, our experts have been hard at it and we're

ready to see what the bidders at the auction house think. But before

we head off, here's a quick recap of what's going under the hammer.

The colourful buttons and buckle may attract the fashionistas.

Railway enthusiasts could get very steamed up about Bob's collection.

And will Sheila's silver duo, including the little porker,

make enough for more than scratchings?

We're heading southwest to the coastal city of Plymouth.

Hardy souls brave the open waters each year as part of the historic

Devonian challenge to swim from the Breakwater

out in Plymouth Sound to the Hoe,

a distance of 2.2 miles.

I won't be doing that today

because I've got an appointment with the saleroom.

Wielding the gavel for us is auctioneer Anthony Eldred.

The commission rate here is 15% plus VAT.

And there are plenty of people in, so fingers crossed

their sights are on our treasures.

Perhaps the colourful buckle

and buttons may finally get to see the light of day.

Ross, I like this next lot, I really do.

The Italian micromosaic work, sort of mid-19th century.

Why did you buy this? Come on, tell me why you bought it.

Well, I bought it on Portobello Road about 30-odd years ago.

-It's a long time.

-It is a long time.

And I was planning to make a nice blue velvet jacket.

-Did you know this story?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, it's good, isn't it?

-I had it in my mind, what I was going to do.

-I can see it. I can see it. You never got round to doing it?

-No.

You know, you don't have to put it on a belt or anything.

It would look lovely in a cabinet, wouldn't it? Set off.

-Yeah, really nice.

-Fingers crossed we get the top end for this.

-Yeah, I hope so.

-Or somebody else might be creative and re-use it

in a new way. You never know, do you?

It's going under the hammer now. Let's find out what it makes.

It's an Italian micromosaic buckle.

And some buttons to go with it. Several bids. I'm bid, £100 exactly.

Yeah, straight in, well above the top end.

-Excellent.

-Worth every penny.

And ten. 120.

At £120. On my book.

125. 130. I'm bid, 140.

At £140. Against the net. 150 now.

At £150. Online at £150.

At £150 then. All finished at 150...

-Sold, 150. Ross, that's a good result.

-I'm very pleased with that.

I think that's a cracking thing.

And it's been saved.

-And somebody is going to put it to use and show it off.

-Let's hope so.

Yeah.

What a great start. And here's hoping we stay on track.

Well, we're chugging along nicely, which brings us

to Bob's lot, which is the Great Western Railway memorabilia.

I love the tickets, I love the luggage labels.

I think it is a fascinating collection.

Firstly, I want to know why you're selling.

Why? Because I am thinning out my collection.

Everybody seems to think I've got too many.

And as Newton Abbot was my hometown, I thought

perhaps Newton Abbot can give way to a few other people.

It's taking over the house, is it, really?

-It seems that way.

-Do you know, it's big business, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Railway-ania, as they say, is big business

and people pay a lot of money for certain tickets.

And I've learnt that on this show.

OK, it's going under the hammer right now.

Let's see what level it makes. This is it.

Collection of GWR tickets, all sorts of ephemera.

I'm bid, £30. Two bidders at 30.

Two if you want them. At £30. Two. Five.

Eight. In front at £38.

At 38. Against the net. £40 now online.

42. At £42. 45. 48.

50. At £50, standing here.

Against the net. At £50 then. 55 now.

At £55. Bidding is online. All done at 55?

-That's top end, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That's good.

Well done, Claire. 55. You're happy with that, aren't you?

-Excellent.

-I bow to Claire's greater knowledge on the day,

when she said 30 to 50.

-Lovely. Thank you.

-Yeah, that's good.

Thank you so much.

TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS We're steaming along.

Time for our little piggy and its fishy friend to test the market now.

Two silver novelties going under the hammer right now,

belonging to Sheila.

I saw these at the valuation date, didn't I?

-And I said everyone is going to love that little piggy.

-Yes.

-And he did.

I did. And the fish. The fish is interesting.

Yeah, the fish is gorgeous as well.

I haven't seen a fish before. I've seen loads of pigs.

Yes, but not a fish.

And they are so collectible, and that's what it's all about.

-Originally, Mark put a fixed reserve of £100 on these.

-I did.

Now, you've had a chat to the auction room.

-Did they call you or did you call them?

-I called them.

-Right.

And you said, "Now, I'm not really happy with £100 fixed reserve."

Cos I shall lose out.

-You'll lose out.

-And it'll go down to about 70-something.

So basically you said the auctioneer you want to come away with £100,

which means you needed to up the reserve now to £120.

-Yeah.

-What can I say?

Well, I don't think that's going to affect the sale.

I mean, novelty silver is always very popular.

There should be online bidding on this and in the room,

-so fingers crossed.

-Yep. Well, it's going under the hammer now.

Let's find out what the bidders think.

Silver novelty nib brush. It's in the form of a pig.

There it is. And £100 for it.

At 100.

At 105. 110. 15. 120.

And five. 130. And five.

140. In the room then at £140.

Are you finished in the room at 140? Lots of bidding online.

-I'm bid, £155.

-155!

-160 online.

At 165 now. On my screen. Bidding 170.

At 170. Against the net now.

At £170.

Bidding is in the room. 175.

180.

-At £180.

-I won't be taking them home.

At £190.

Against the net.

195. 200.

-200?!

-At £200, here seated.

-Wow!

At £200 then. The bidding's in the room and I will sell it at £200.

Well, that's a good result, isn't it? £100 each, that's a good result.

-You know, they're good pieces.

-Yeah.

You with your 120 reserve!

-Two, darling, I'm Continental.

-PAUL LAUGHS

One for each item.

So there you are, three lots under the hammer, done and dusted.

So far, so good. We're coming back here later on.

You could say that's a sunny start in the saleroom.

Well, "What's the weather like outside?" you might ask.

Well, here in Britain, we are obsessed with the weather.

In the West Country, they do more than just talk about it.

Just outside of Exeter is the epicentre

of our meteorological output, and they do it on a grand scale.

Why is it that it can be pouring with rain in North Devon

while Dartmoor is cloaked in mist

and it's ice cream time at Paignton on the south coast?

Three different types of weather in a space of 100 miles.

It feels the weather is nothing but unpredictable, but in fact,

it can be scientifically predicted to within four days of accuracy.

And this is where it all happens,

the Met Office headquarters just outside of Exeter, which houses

the latest hi-tech equipment and highly trained experts.

The meteorologists don't just tell us

if we need an umbrella one day or a bikini on another,

they give us small warnings on perilous conditions

such as UV levels, floods, drought and storms -

information which could be life-saving.

Now, if you are a weather fanatic, I'm going to whet your appetite.

This is the operation centre, and it's buzzing with information

and output.

All of these screens are providing weather-related data, which is

fed into TV and radio feeds

and also acts on your mobile phones, so you can get the very latest,

up-to-the-last-minute information on the weather.

But you cannot appreciate the vast significance of all this

modern technology unless you turn back the clock

and go back to the primitive origins of weather forecasting.

Catherine Ross

from the National Meteorological Library and Archive

is here to give me a potted history.

How did weather forecasting start and when?

Well, in 1854,

that's the first...that is the origin of the Met Office, and

it was founded with the intention of protecting life and property at sea.

At the time, there was no intention to forecast the weather.

-They actually didn't believe it was possible.

-Right.

So the plan was simply to collect observations, particularly wind.

And there's not much point in knowing the prevailing wind

if you don't know the direction and current,

so they were collecting both of those sets of data at sea.

And we actually used the scientific version of a message

in a bottle in order to do that.

We do have some examples here.

They were placed in a small glass bottle, which was corked,

thrown overboard.

And you had notes on which the captain would write his latitude,

his longitude and the direction in which he was travelling.

So it provides in sort of six languages essentially,

"If found, please return to the Admiralty in London."

And from those, they were able to track the currents and understand

the speed and, you know, the direction of the world currents.

This was dropped from the ship Evangeline,

which was sailing from Liverpool to Calcutta.

And the captain left a rather interesting note on the back.

He says, "I'm blessed with the crew of the most infernally

"ordinary old shells that ever trod a plank."

THEY LAUGH

I don't think he was too keen on his crew.

Beautifully put. THEY LAUGH

-Was this to help navigators, really?

-To help everybody.

Yes, navigators, captains. The science of forecasting was founded

by Admiral Robert FitzRoy, who was the founder of the Met Office.

And he developed this as a science based on those observations.

And then in 1859, there was

a very major storm, which is called the Royal Charter Storm,

and that resulted in the loss of 133 ships around the British Isles,

and in particular, the Royal Charter herself

went down off of Anglesey, with the loss of 450 lives.

And there was a great outcry resulting from that, that surely,

you know, at this point,

we should have been able to predict that storm.

Something should have been done.

So Robert FitzRoy said, "Yes, we could have done that."

And he wrote a report which he presented to the Board of Trade.

And this is one of the original charts from that.

-OK.

-And he used it to prove that they could have predicted the

course of that storm and understood the weather going on around it.

So that they could therefore have actually provided a warning service.

And from that, he persuaded the government to allow him

to start the first warning service, a gale warning service,

which still continues. It is now known as the shipping forecast.

Hm.

'West veering northwest later.

'Six to gale eight.

'Occasionally, severe gale nine.

'Rain then squally, thundery showers, moderate or poor,

'becoming mainly good.'

The Met Office was originally funded by the Board of Trade.

But by the Second World War, it was part of the Air Ministry.

And it played a vital role in the war effort.

This D-Day chart shows the importance of weather forecasts

when planning one of the most significant Allied operations

against the German forces.

Meteorologists consulted about the best time to carry out this

massive seaborne invasion of Normandy.

It needed fair weather and calm seas

so the landing craft wouldn't capsize.

On the advice of the Met Office, the planned operation was delayed

by one day because conditions wouldn't have been suitable.

It was a very small window of opportunity.

But with that accurate information,

it helped change the course of our history.

During the 20th century, developments in technology

have been key in gathering weather information and passing it on.

The invention of the telegraph made observing and forecasting

more immediate.

In 1959, the first computer capable of doing 30,000 calculations

a second was introduced. This was a major step forward,

making numerical-based predictions possible for the first time.

In the 1970s, the satellite revolution proved a quantum

leap in the accuracy of weather data by providing a birds'-eye

view of how the atmosphere moves.

But that was nothing compared to what the Met Office have today.

This supercomputer, one of the fastest in the world,

can do more than 23,000 trillion calculations per second.

And all of that information,

from observations around the world, is sent into here,

the operations centre.

Meteorologist Helen Roberts is going to explain how this busy room works.

We have lots of different types of forecasting.

So everybody is aware that we do media forecasting,

but there's lots of other things going on.

We have our aviation section.

That is probably the biggest section we have, actually.

And we have one of only two world area forecast centres

in the world.

And they're forecasting upper air charts,

so high-level aviation charts.

Then we've got our marine forecaster who, among other things,

is producing the shipping forecast,

which still goes out regularly on Radio Four.

And them behind me here, we've got

one of our newest sections, which is space weather,

as well as our hazard centre, which is looking at

things like land slips, which can be as a result of the weather.

Yes, yes.

And also, volcanic ash, if something like that should occur.

And with all the new computers, has it become more accurate,

let's say, in the last 30 years, weather forecasting?

Yes. So just as an example, our four-day forecast now

is as accurate as our one-day forecast was 30 years ago.

So a huge improvement over the last few decades.

-That's massive, isn't it?

-It's massive.

-Yeah.

And our three hourly forecasts are over 90% accurate,

so, yeah, we're doing pretty well.

Does anything still surprise you with the weather?

Do you get it wrong now and then?

It's rare that we get a big surprise.

We've got so much observational information - satellite,

radar observations - it's unusual.

It's incredible to think we've come this far

in just over 150 years, from a message in a bottle to

a handful of people given sporadic information which was

often off the mark to this operation.

It runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

And it has an impact on all of our lives.

The Met Office HQ here at Exeter never sleeps, nor does the weather.

Welcome back to Powderham Castle, where the forecast is looking good

for our valuations, and our experts

are working extremely hard giving their predictions.

And Mark's hoping he'll be spot on with his next valuation.

-Brian, Sue.

-Hello, Mark.

-Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having us.

You've brought two very interesting items here.

-Do you know anything at all about them?

-Very, very little.

-Family pieces, are they?

-Yes, yes. Left to us quite recently.

Sadly, my cousin died quite early.

-And you've inherited them?

-Yes.

They are very interesting items. What do you think of them, Sue?

I think they're very intriguing. I'd like to know more about that one.

-Well, they are both very similar things, actually.

-Are they?

They are 19th century and they're both snuff boxes.

-Ah!

-Oh, right.

-Now, did you know that?

-No.

I was wondering. That's a lot of snuff would go in that one.

Well, you're absolutely right.

Cos they're normally this sort of size or smaller.

You can get big table ones that would have been passed

round at a table. The gentlemen would have gone off into

another room after dinner.

So what would happen is you would open the case

and you'd take a little pinch of snuff and then go...

HE INHALES

-And that might be more appropriate for that.

-Sharing around.

-Sharing around.

-Yes.

-I like this one particularly, actually.

The shape of it is very nice.

And the fact that it is bur wood and its ebonised inlay.

What's also quite nice is if you see the little cartouche

in the front, that's what we call vacant -

it hasn't got any marks on it.

It hasn't got initials or a family crest.

This one is almost certainly silver.

-This, I think, would date to around about 1840.

-Right.

This one might be a tad earlier, sort of 1820, 1830,

but it has had a hard life.

-Yes.

-This one has been dropped and well loved and well used.

They're not something you'd be interested in collecting yourself?

Um, not really.

We'd like to sell it to go towards the charity,

-the cancer charity, research so...

-Oh, that's...

-You know...

-Oh, wonderful.

-Which would... Full circle with my cousin passing away.

-Of course.

-Well, it's very appropriate, isn't it?

-Yes.

You've got to be realistic, though, in the estimate.

Because the worst thing to do at an auction

is to overestimate something.

If I suggest an estimate of 100 to 150, with a £100 reserve,

that will do two things - that will

show the market that it is privately entered

and there to be sold and it will encourage those collectors to think,

"Oh, that sounds a bit cheap, I'll have a go at those."

And of course, before they know where they are,

they've paid 200 for them. They are a good entry-level collectible.

And I love the honest antique.

-And thank you very much for bringing them in.

-Thank you, Mark.

-It's been our pleasure. Thank you.

-Fingers crossed.

We enjoyed the snuff lesson, Mark.

Now Claire is relishing the grandeur of the staircase hall.

And she's found something that can capture it in all its glory.

Found this wonderful, wonderful hall

and these lovely oil-painted portraits of people

coming down the stairs.

And I wonder whether your lovely little camera

-has ever taken portraits.

-Oh, it must've done. Must have.

-Yeah.

-Well, of course, it would have been the modern way...

-Yes!

-..of taking portraits.

-Yes.

So tell me a bit about its history,

because I gather... It was given to your late husband, wasn't it?

It was, yes.

It belonged to my late husband, Brian, who was a pharmacist

in a little market town called Ledbury.

And this camera was given to him

by one of his customers

because they knew he was very interested in photography.

So I think my husband was obviously very lucky to receive it.

-But sadly, I didn't ever see him using it.

-No.

Well, he probably was using something with proper film

-in it as opposed...

-Well, exactly, exactly.

-Yes, yes.

-Because this is actually a plate camera.

-Exactly.

-A quarter plate.

-Quarter plate, yeah.

-To do with the size of it.

-Yep.

And of course, you had all the sort of fiddling about with the glass

plates and getting all the stuff on it.

-By which time the sun's gone out.

-Yes, yes.

-And it's made by Sanderson.

-Yep.

-Who are very, very good make of camera.

They were very durable, they were beautifully made.

They were one of the top makers, the Rolls-Royce end of...

-Made with quality materials in those days.

-Absolutely.

Cos you had the teakwood, which doesn't alter

-in different atmospheric conditions.

-Beautiful.

-Very, very hard.

And lovely brass work as well,

all lacquered brass so it doesn't tarnish.

And then usually, some fairly sort of decent lenses

in the front of them as well.

And the other thing that attracts me with this is it's got

its original red leather bellows, which are in beautiful condition.

They are in good condition.

-It hasn't seen daylight for about 30 years.

-Yeah.

Now, this one probably dates from the early

part of the 20th century rather than the 19th.

-Right.

-So I think it will sell well.

Now, the thing is, they don't make a huge amount of money.

They are not early enough to make the big money for the cameras.

They're sometimes quite difficult to judge.

-My feeling is probably between £60 and £100.

-Oh, wow.

-And I'd certainly put... I'd put £60 on it.

-Right.

-As a reserve price?

-I think so. As a reserve price.

-Right, OK.

A firm reserve price because it is with its leather box

and it's got its plate holders as well.

And had you got any idea what you're going to put the money towards?

Well, I'll probably divide it by four for my four grandchildren.

-Oh, well done.

-They can buy something with it.

-Yeah, treat themselves.

-Yes.

-Oh, that's a good idea.

Well, that's excellent. I really hope it will do well on the day.

I'm sure it will. I think it just looks lovely.

Right now, I could do with a camera.

I can't leave Powderham Castle without taking a look outside,

so I'm joining Simon Fishwick, the estate director,

who has the huge task of overseeing the 3,500 acres.

So what do you have to do?

Well, I look after the attraction,

cos obviously Powderham Castle is an attraction.

I also look after the farm. We have an 1,100 acre arable farm.

The woods and the deer park is obviously part of the attraction

and a major part of the estate.

And you are alongside an estuary,

so how affected are you by the weather here?

Over the last sort of three to four years,

we've seen some quite extreme weather patterns coming through.

In fact, 18 months ago,

we were flooded here for about five weeks solidly.

And if you look around, you can actually see the tide line.

-Oh, this dirty mark here?

-The dirty mark.

-Gosh!

And it went all the way around out to the deer park.

In the 18th century, the water actually came up to this level,

so this was a huge, great sort of bay, and big ships actually came

up to the front of Powderham Castle and could moor up outside.

It's a beautiful estate. I envy you.

You've got a great job, you know that. This is your office.

-It is.

-And every day is different, isn't it?

And you see so much of nature.

I step out of my house and I am in the office. Can't be better.

Time to head back inside now to the valuation tables

to check the temperature.

And Mark's sharing some sultry Spanish secrets.

-Maria. That's right, isn't it?

-Si.

-Now, where are you from, Maria?

-I'm from the Basque Country in Spain.

-Are you really? Whereabouts?

Near San Sebastian.

-Oh! I love San Sebastian.

-It's a lovely city, yes.

-My partner is also Basque.

-Oh, wow.

-Comes from Pamplona.

-Oh, my mother was from Pamplona.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Where they run the bulls every year.

-Yes.

But we're here to discuss, more importantly,

this absolutely exquisite, or muy bonito,

if that's right, very pretty, bracelet you have brought in.

-Yes.

-Now, where does this come from?

This is from my mother. My father gave it to her.

And she had it for years, you know.

-She's had it for probably 50 years.

-Gosh.

So you think she might have got it in the '50s?

Probably, yes.

-Cos I think it dates a little bit earlier than that.

-Right.

I mean, I think if we look at the styling...

And actually, I think this is Continental.

-This is probably Spanish.

-Right.

But we've got a series of sort of brilliant cut diamonds

and then these rather nice square-shaped,

or calibre-cut, sapphires.

Which is very Art Deco.

And the nice thing is...

And you can see it is illustrated beautifully here.

When you are mounting diamonds, it is better to mount them

-in a white metal.

-Right.

-Because they reflect the light better.

-Right.

-And what the designer here, or the jeweller,

has done is just mount either silver or platinum all the way down

the bracelet so it matches in.

And when we look at the side, you can see this beautiful decoration

has been put on there as well.

But it's very much of that sort of period, I think.

And a very delicate piece. Do you wear it?

The three sisters have worn it on our weddings.

-On our wedding days.

-Oh, wonderful.

-Yes.

Apart from that, my mother wore it quite a lot. Yes.

And now it is time to consider selling it, maybe?

Yes. Well, my mother has passed on, so, yes.

The three sisters, we love it, but we're not going to wear it.

I think it's charming. And it's got...

I think it is quite a commercial piece.

I think it's relatively nice and simple.

I think it is the sort of thing that people could wear today.

It's in good condition, it's very well made.

But I think, sensibly, if we are looking at putting

it into auction, we ought to be looking at an estimate

of around about £250 to £300...

-OK.

-..with a 250 reserve, fixed.

-Yeah.

-To protect it.

-Yeah.

-Would you be happy with that?

-Yeah, yeah, that's fine.

-Fantastic.

Well, I'm sure the auctioneer will illustrate it online and, hopefully,

illustrate some of that delicate patterning on there as well.

And let's hope, when we meet again, it sparkles at the saleroom.

-Lovely. Thank you very much.

-You're very welcome.

-Thank you.

SPANISH INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYS

This is where it gets exciting. This is where we're upping the tempo.

Anything can happen in the saleroom.

Let's have that big one we promised.

Here's a quick recap of all the items that are going under

the hammer.

There is the immaculate camera in amazing condition for its age.

The pretty snuff boxes.

And the stunning Art Deco bracelet with a real romance behind it.

We are back at the auction rooms on the outskirts of Plymouth,

and we've got high hopes for the pristine old camera.

So far, so good.

In the frame right now, we have Valerie and Claire, expert,

with that quarter-plate bellows camera. I like this.

This is really quality.

I love the mahogany on it. I love the engineering.

It is a proper scientific instrument.

-Now, it wasn't your late husband.

-Yes.

-Did he...?

-I never saw him use it.

-You never saw him use it.

-No.

I rate this. I really rate this. And it's not a lot of money. It's £60+.

-Not really, no.

-Fingers crossed.

-Fingers crossed. I'd like it to go.

-Let's hope the auction room has given this one full exposure.

-Yes!

-As it goes under the hammer right now.

-Let's hope, let's hope.

Next lot is the quarter-plate camera.

There it is. Several bids for it.

And I'm bid, £70 for it.

-Great.

-70.

-Already!

-In.

At £80. Against you all in the room then at 80.

85. 90.

It's real quality, this, come on. It's worth a lot.

In the middle there, at the back.

At £95. Last chance at 95.

Well, I'll settle for 95.

-It's a lot better than 70 or 80.

-Well, that's not bad.

-It's not bad, is it?

-No.

-No.

-I thought I might be taking it home.

-No. No, no, no.

-No, that's good.

-Yeah, it was really good.

-Great.

-I'd be pleased with that.

-Yes.

-I'm thrilled with that.

-Good.

So the camera has a proud new owner, but what about the snuff boxes?

Right, our next lot should be a real pinch at £100 to £150.

It's two snuff boxes belonging to Brian and Sue.

It's great to see you again. It really is.

We like snuff boxes on the show.

Well, these are two nice ones. A nice silver one, Georgian.

And I love the little wooden one.

-I like that as well. I like that one.

-And they are good antiques.

As you say, Paul, extremely collectible,

so I've got no worries about these.

Yeah. So, fingers crossed with these, OK? Let's get top dollar.

-Ready for this?

-Yep.

-I think it's time to wave them goodbye.

They're going under the hammer now.

This is a silver snuff box. And it has another one with it.

And I'm bid, £110.

-Well, we sold it.

-It's gone straightaway, first bid, yeah.

-130.

Five. 140. Five.

150. Five.

160. 170.

180. 190.

At £190. 200 online. And ten.

-At 210.

-Good result.

-Bid's mine.

Against the internet. At £210.

All finished at 210.

-Well contested. Good result as well.

-Excellent.

-Great.

Yeah, really happy with that.

-Yeah, I'm pleased.

-That is good.

-That was good.

Now time for the sparkler.

Good luck, both of you.

Going under the hammer right now, some real quality.

An Art Deco-cut diamond sapphire bracelet. It is gorgeous.

-Belonging to Maria, who wore it on her wedding day.

-I did.

-And your sisters also wore it.

-As well.

-Gosh! It has had a lot of good luck.

-It has.

-Why are you selling it now?

Surely someone else in the family one day will get

married and the tradition could carry on?

Yes, but my children don't want it.

My sister's children don't want it either.

None of them are thinking about getting married, so...

-Well, it's had a useful life, hasn't it?

-It has.

Let's face it, you've all enjoyed it.

-And it is beautiful.

-It's very pretty, Paul.

And the nice thing about it is it is a very simple design.

Yes, the weight is there, the quality is there,

it's got everything going for it.

So fingers crossed we've got the bidders in the room right now.

-Let's find out. It's going under the hammer. Good luck.

-Thank you.

It's a Deco diamond sapphire and bracelet at 200 for it.

At £200. Ten. 220. 30. 240.

-250.

-Yes, look, it's climbing up there.

-Yes.

-Good, we've got it.

At 250 then in the room.

260. 270.

280.

290 now. 300.

-We've done it. We've done 300.

-It's still in the room.

At £300, against the net. 310. 320.

330. 340.

-Bidding is in front of me now, 350.

-We got the top estimate.

-360.

-Wow.

380. 390 now.

410. 420.

430. 440.

450. 460.

At 460. 490.

-500.

-500!

-Wow!

And 20. 540. 560.

-580. 600.

-600 online!

-640. 660.

-They're not stopping. There's two people fighting.

700. At £700.

-And 20.

-Surely it can't go on! MARK GASPS

£720.

Bidding's online then at 720. Last chance, everyone.

Maria, you are in the money. Kaching!

-Well...

-What a result.

-I don't know what to say about that.

Well done, you. Thank you for bringing it in.

And what a way to end today's show. Sadly, we have run out of time here.

I promised you a surprise, but I didn't think

-it would be that one, and nor did Mark. Did you?

-No, I did not.

Phew! Who would want to be an expert?

But I tell you what, we've had great fun. Haven't we?

And hopefully, you've had fun watching this. Join us again soon

for many more surprises in another saleroom somewhere else.

But right now, from Plymouth, it's goodbye.