Highcliffe 52 Flog It!

It's amazing to think that all of this castle is held together

with plenty of these,

special rods that architecturally tie it together.

And later on the programme

we'll be looking at the many ingenious ways

that Highcliffe Castle has been put back together

despite being on the brink of collapse some 45 years ago.

So, stay watching. And welcome to "Flog It!"

Our valuation day is at the 19th-century gothic pile

Highcliffe Castle,

set spectacularly on the Dorset coast,

but it hasn't always looked so impressive.

Fires in the 1960s reduced the roof to rubble

and the building languished for 20 years.

It took almost £6 million to come up with ingenious ways

to bring the building back to its former glory.

And what a wonderful job they've done and are still doing.

The work to conserve the castle's interior is ongoing,

as we'll be finding out later on in the programme.

But right now, this crowd are ready to get down to do some serious

business of showing our experts their antiques and collectables

that they've come across over the years.

And 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.

Well done! Right down the back there.

Our crowds are arriving in their hordes with their collectables

to show our experts and one person has beaten Adam Partridge

to the punch, for a change.

-Were you the first here this morning?

-Yes, 6.45.

-6.45?

-Yes!

-Wow, I was just getting up then.

While Philip Serrell is interested in something other than antiques...

What have we got in our bags, then, ladies and gentlemen?

-Sandwiches.

-Sandwiches?

Get your sandwiches out, I want to see your sandwiches now.

..until it comes to his favourite, Royal Worcester.

This is a lady who tells me she has a rare Worcester figure.

I haven't seen it yet so I thought I'd bring you over.

-Let's have a look.

-Something you know about.

It's a Pinder Davis, isn't it?

Yeah, clearly, yeah.

Well, you can't know everything, Adam.

Here's a great look at what's coming up later.

Philip is enjoying a trip down memory lane.

I have a 31-year-old daughter.

30 years ago, I bought her one of these. They're really cool things.

One of our items is causing quite a stir in the auction.

2,500. 2,600.

And later on in the programme I'm laying telephone cables in an

actual First World War practice trench

here at the Royal Corps of Signals training camp.

Now our valuations are under way and our experts are hard at work

I've decided to come up onto the roof of the castle to explore.

The original roof was of pitched construction, made of timber.

That went up in flames in the fire. It's been replaced with a flat roof,

made of timber, lead and steel, so it's quite safe now.

I can actually stand on it. But it does make a great viewing platform.

From up here you can see the sea, the Isle of Wight,

and our swelling crowds.

And somewhere down there there's one or two items that are worth

a small fortune.

And it's our experts' job to find them.

But I wasn't expecting this item that Adam has found.

-Dave and Sue.

-Yeah.

-Hello.

-Thank you very much for coming along,

and tell me where you got this wonderful Paolozzi elephant from.

Well, in the late '60s and early '70s I worked in an architect's office.

-Ah, right, that makes sense.

-And Armstrong had these produced...

-Is that Armstrong tiles?

-Floor tiles.

And they had these produced to house the flooring tiles.

So it's basically a sort of promotional gift thing, really.

But when the office shut down they threw it into a corner

and I said, "Can I have that?"

And they said, "Yeah, if you want to." And I took it home.

-So you were an architect as well?

-I was a draughtsman.

-Right.

-Was that local to here?

-Yes, in Bournemouth.

-I see.

Shall we see if we can get the lid off?

Do I just need to gently ease it off?

There we go. And keep that...

There we go. So this little insert here,

-that would have held your tiles.

-Floor tiles, yeah.

Designed by the very famous artist and sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi,

1924-2005, I think.

Born to Italian parents and, I suppose,

one of the most important designers of the 20th century, now considered.

These are made, I think, in quite a large quantity as a limited edition,

I think, of 3,000.

You've got 1,022 of 3,000 that were made,

so really this shouldn't have much value, should it?

Shouldn't have thought so.

It's plastic, 3,000 of them out there.

The reason why, of course, it's got a very strong name on it

and Paolozzi is one of those very, very strong names.

-Do you like it?

-Well, I did like it, yes,

and now we've got sort of more Victorian furniture.

Oh, good, some people are going Victorian.

When we first got married we had contemporary furniture,

multicoloured, and this went very well with it.

-Cos that was in the '70s as well.

-Yeah.

-So it's time for this to be sold?

-That's right.

Well, we've seen them before, we've even had them on the show,

various different types,

and prices have ranged from a couple of hundred to about £1,200.

The most recent ones in the last year or two

have been in the £300-£500 range.

-And that is where I would suggest we pitch our estimate...

-Right.

..in order to attract people to bid on it. How does that sound?

-Fair enough to me.

-And what do you think, Sue?

-Does sound very good.

Well, I'm very pleased to hear that.

Obviously we should put a reserve on it, cos I don't want it selling for

less than 300, I don't think, and you probably will agree with that.

-Yes.

-I'm looking forward to seeing what its current market value is,

so thank you very much for bringing it,

-a good piece of contemporary design.

-Thank you.

Incredible to think that this piece of marketing, designed by one of

the greatest modern sculptors of the 20th century,

has become such a collectable today.

It wasn't only the 1970s that created great design - here's

an interesting object from the turn of the 20th century found by Philip.

I love these and I love these for a specific reason.

I have a 31-year-old daughter and, I guess,

-30 years ago I bought her one of these.

-Oh, right.

Yeah, they're really cool things.

Has this been in your family a long time?

I used it. That's 75 years ago.

And before that it was my father's, and he was born in 1900.

That's lovely.

-Cos this is about...1895, 1905, something like that.

-Yes.

And it looks like what it is but it's a little bit more than that.

-Yes.

-Shall we see what else it does?

-Mm.

There's a little lever on your side - this one here -

which I'd like you to flick over.

-So that goes over there.

-Yes.

-And you've got a potty trainer, haven't you?

-That's right.

So that's the first thing we have.

-Split there, and probably would have had a small chamberpot in it.

-Yes.

Let's push that back over there.

-Now it's my side.

-Yes.

-This lifts up.

And it just drops down...

-like that, so you've got a little trolley.

-That's right.

-But that's not the end of it, is it?

-No.

-Cos we do it one more time.

That's it. There we are, isn't that sweet?

I spent many happy hours in that.

You've gone from something that's been in your family all of its life,

-I think...

-Yes.

..and hopefully someone else is going to buy it and it can go on.

-This is the ultimate green business.

-Yeah.

There's a couple of things that date it to 1900.

If you look at the turnings on these spindles, that's pure 1900, 1905.

-You see those lines there?

-Yes.

-In the trade they're called tramlines.

Tramline moulding.

-And those lines there date it to that same period.

-Right.

It's made out of...probably beech, I would think.

Do you have anyone in the family to pass it on to? No-one wants it?

-Nobody's interested.

-No-one wants it?

-Just collecting dust in the corner.

-That's sad, isn't it?

-It is.

In terms of value, and this is what I love about our business,

-I think this is worth £80-£120, but a fixed reserve of £60.

-Yes.

-You couldn't go and buy a new one for that sort of money.

-Yeah.

But it probably wouldn't conform to all sorts of relevant statutes,

but I think it's a wicked thing.

Ingenious design is something that the restorers of

Highcliffe Castle know all about.

In the 1960s two fires destroyed the castle roof and it fell into

disrepair, until it underwent a massive restoration

programme 20 years later.

David Hopkins, the manager here,

can tell us about their efforts to make the building safe again.

If you can imagine the derelict castle - no floors,

cos they'd all been burnt out, no roofs either,

nothing holding these very huge walls and windows up,

so the girders were one way to stabilise the building,

but the other thing were these rods.

How do these work, then?

It's what tied the two parts of the fabric together.

We had stone on the outside of the building.

Lots of it was the medieval French stonework that was shipped in.

And we've got brickwork on the inside, and we've got ties in

modern houses, but this is the scale of the ties that we needed.

And because all the stonework was rough,

this pocket is filled up with resin and it fills all the gaps,

so it creates an absolute key to whatever space it's trying to fill,

so it then becomes a really solid tie between the outside stonework

and the inside brickwork.

-I see how that works now, yes.

-And because it's stainless steel...

It won't rust, yeah. It's very clever, isn't it?

And it was pioneering at the time that they were repairing

Highcliffe Castle. It's now used extensively around the country.

Back to the valuations in the glorious sunshine,

and Adam has found his next object.

What a pretty little piece of silver you've brought along,

thank you very much. What can you tell me about it?

I don't know an awful lot about it.

I inherited it from my mum, who inherited it from her mum.

My grandmother, I think,

received it as a gift from my grandfather's employer's wife.

She used to send her gifts at Christmas and birthdays.

She wasn't a German lady, the employer's wife?

Not that I'm aware of.

-Is it German, then?

-Yes, it's a German piece.

-Oh, right, OK.

-It's a beautiful little thing.

-It is, very pretty.

Lovely shape, enamelling simulating malachite along the sides

and a nice romantic scene there.

-I think this probably dates from the end of the 19th century.

-Oh, right.

And silver, we'll just flip it over that side

to see the engraved detail.

-It's very detailed.

-Yeah, beautiful.

And it is, of course, a compact. So we open it up there.

-With a mirrored interior.

-I love the shape of this mirror.

-Lovely shape.

Bevelled edge to the mirror.

There's the 800 stamp there,

which tells us that it's 800 parts out of 1,000 silver.

-Right.

-So 80% silver.

Which is lower than the UK standard.

You have to have 92.5%, or 925, which is the sterling standard.

-A lot of German silver was made out of 800-grade silver...

-Right.

..rather than higher. Unfortunately, there's no maker's mark or anything

else, so we can't tell you much else about it.

But it's a beautiful little thing. Traces of the original powder.

Yeah, I see my grandmother must have used it at some time.

I know when she gave it to my mum she said,

"I don't use it, I don't want it, it's just in the drawer.

-"You have it."

-What do you do with it? Does it sit out on the side?

-Do you have a dressing table?

-No.

It was actually wrapped in a very tatty brown paper bag...

-OK.

-..in a drawer.

-Oh, wow.

That's where it's been ever since my mum gave it to me.

So that's why you're selling it?

Yeah, it's just a nice piece that I'm sure somebody would love

to be the owner of.

They certainly would, because small silver is one of the things

that still commands a premium. People like small, pretty bits,

lots of different things that you can put in a bijouterie table,

display table, and have...rather than all the same kind of thing.

So that's really going to appeal, I think, to a lot of people.

So, value, what do you think?

I have absolutely no clue, I really... I don't know at all.

It's not the easiest thing to gauge but my instinct tells me...

I think it's worth £200 or £300.

Oh, right, that's good.

-OK.

-Shall we put a 200 reserve on it?

-I think so.

-10% leeway, just in case?

-Yeah.

But if it got to 180, 190 and they didn't sell it you might think,

"Probably should have taken that."

So let's do that and I hope it'll make the top end of the estimate,

maybe a touch more, cos it is a lovely thing and I can see

-lots of people - both male and female - wanting to own it.

-Lovely.

It's nice to find out something about it.

There we are, three great objects

found by our experts to take off to auction. But before that,

I'm in the castle grounds by the cliff face and I want to show you

the ingenious ways they've come up with

of stemming the tide of cliff erosion.

Over the centuries the castle has been under threat of collapse

due to erosion along the cliff edge, caused by soft clays here.

Today, modern engineering has solved the problem by building

limestone structures which jut out into the sea,

driving sediment onto the beach and preventing the cliff face

from eroding.

So I'm pleased to reassure you the castle is now as solid as its

reinforced stonework.

Right, let's get those final three things under the hammer.

Here's a quick recap of what we're taking off to auction.

We have an elephant in a room designed by 20th-century

sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi.

A three-in-one chair that's no longer needed by Kenneth

but should make some family with children very happy.

And the delightfully decorated 19th-century silver compact,

which has been stuffed in a paper bag.

Time to get it out and let the buyers take a look.

We're heading to the pretty market town of Wareham for our auction.

In 876, the Danes invaded here and they were only persuaded to leave

after Alfred the Great paid them a generous ransom.

We're hoping to earn a king's ransom today for our lot,

so let's join up with our owners at the saleroom, Cottees.

And John Condie is on the rostrum today, where he'll be adding

commission to today's sales of 20% plus VAT.

First up, it's the romantic silver compact from Germany,

with the delightful scalloped edging.

There are collectors out there that would love to have this.

It'll look great in a little bijouterie cabinet alongside other

-little enamel pieces, compacts, things like that.

-Yeah.

OK, we're going to get top money for this, fingers crossed.

-Let's hope so.

-It's going under the hammer now.

We move on to a nice silver-and-enamel powder compact.

I'll start at 140. 140. 150.

160.

170. 180. 190.

200.

200 bid. At 200.

220. Lady's bid. 240.

260. 280.

Keep going. Yeah, keep going.

320. 340.

-360.

-Oh, I'm glad.

-380.

£380 I've got.

And I'm going to sell. Last chance.

Yes, £380. Top money. Brilliant, well done, Adam.

-Very good price.

-There is commission to pay, it's 20%.

Everybody has to pay that, but otherwise we're going home

-with a lot of money.

-Good. lovely. Thank you.

-Pleasure. Thanks for coming. What a delightful item.

-Yeah.

A great result at well over the estimate.

Our next lot is the highchair-cum-rocker,

used by two generations of family.

-Look at that, Kenneth, it's right next to us.

-Lovely.

Lot number 41, there we are, look.

They don't make 'em like that any more. They're all in plastic.

Hopefully we want to find some bidders that have some young kids

right now that have got an eye for a bargain.

-Right, you ready for this, Kenneth?

-I am.

-Ready to say goodbye?

-Sadly so.

-OK, it's going under the hammer.

Start me, then.

I've got to go in at 35, anyway. £35 for this one, 35.

At 35. 40 make it.

40.

45.

50. 55.

60.

£60. Gentleman in the middle. At £60.

60 I've got. 65 anywhere?

It's in the middle of the room at £60.

65? Anyone else coming in?

Last chance. I'm going to sell at 60, then.

£60, then.

Well, it's gone, Kenneth.

You didn't want it any more, so that was its market value,

I guess, here today. Not many bidders wanting a highchair.

I think whoever bought that,

they're going to stick a teddy bear in that and put it in a shop window.

-Thanks, Kenneth.

-OK.

Now, how will the Eduardo Paolozzi elephant used for marketing do?

-What have we got, 300-500?

-300-500.

-It's going to do that.

-Yeah, I hope so.

-It's going to do that, it's got to. I love it.

Why are you selling it?

We don't really need it any more. It was up in the loft.

Oh, you can't put a sculpture in the loft.

Well, many things on the show have been found in the loft,

-haven't they?

-Well, hopefully, fingers crossed,

there's some people that love modern design right here, right now.

It's going under the hammer. This is it. Good luck.

Originally designed for Nairn Floors in 1973 as an advertising symbol.

I'll start at... Give me a chance at 150. At 150, I've got here.

150. I've got 150. 160 I'm bid. 160. Two places on the net as well. 170.

Surely the internet will sort it out.

180 now. 180. 190. 200. 220 bid.

240. 260. 280.

-Thank God for the internet.

-300 here. 320 on the internet.

320. 340 now.

340 bid. 360 now. 380 now.

SHE GASPS

380 bid. 400. Internet bidder at 400. 420 now.

420 I've got. 440 now.

460 if you want. You're out in the room. It's 440 now. Internet bidder.

At 440 now, you're all out in the room, I'm closing it at £440.

Last chance, and selling.

-I'm so excited.

-That was not bad.

-You picked that up for nothing, when you left the office.

-Yes.

-Well done.

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Credit to you for looking after it and not just chucking it away.

-Yes.

A great result for a fantastic example of iconic 1970s design.

There you are. Three lots down, three more to come later on in the programme.

Now, in the theatre of war it could be said there's one company of men and women who

oil the cogs of any operation. Their base is in Dorset.

While we were in the area I went to discover how their efforts and

ingenuity have helped steer the fortunes of war.

The Royal Corps of Signals have been deployed in every modern

conflict since the First World War.

But ask most of us what they do and we'd be hard pushed to say.

I've come to their base to meet Adam Forty, the business manager from the

museum here, to start to find out who the Royal Signals are.

The Royal Signals are the men and women of the British Army who

provide the vital link of communications on the battlefield.

Whether it be ordering logistics, fulfilling the strategy of

-your commanders, you always need to know what is going on.

-Yes.

So right back into history, whether it be Romans or Macedonians,

communications were hugely important.

'Adam has specially set up some pieces from the museum in an ops room

'to demonstrate some of the early technologies used by the signallers.'

We've got here a signalling lamp. This is a short range.

You can see it's got Morse-code tapper and the light comes out.

-So when you're tapping that the light flashes?

-Yeah, absolutely.

So you can read the signal by torchlight basically.

Yes, generally using Morse code, you can see using this, it's just

dots and dashes, so that you can send a message over a limited space.

-Next. That looks interesting.

-This is.

It's good fun and actually more complicated than it looks.

You press the button, the light comes in.

The sunshine's coming onto this. It reflects, and by deflecting this,

you are, again, using Morse code to send a message.

-You need a lot of sunlight, though?

-You need a lot of sunlight.

Typically, this was mainly used in places like India,

-and North West Frontier.

-Yes, yeah.

-Africa, et cetera.

-And the name of this is?

-Heliograph.

-Heliograph.

-The heliograph.

The amazing thing is the distance they reckon they can

actually send a signal is up to around 40 to 50 miles.

That's incredible, isn't it?

Once we'd started to get basic electronics,

then the battlefield changed in terms of communications completely.

During the First World War, the signallers had a range of methods of

communication at their disposal.

Including dogs as messengers.

But it was the telephone and the wireless that gave them the chance

to get their messages even further.

However, now it wasn't just about communicating from commander to men,

but about how to intercept your opponent's communications.

The British Army didn't particularly like the idea of wireless.

It was cumbersome.

The batteries they used were very, very heavy.

So, they tended to rely on line communications.

And this is the First World War field telephone.

I love the mahogany box as well.

It's not even in a bit of metal. A joiner's made that.

It's beautifully designed.

It looks like something you'd have in your front room, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-With line communication, what they realised is,

they could do both telegraphy over it,

so they could still use Morse code, but all of a sudden, because of

-the invention of telephony early on, they could also speak over it.

-Yes.

Unfortunately, they didn't realise that the system they used -

which was a single cable and then used an earth spike at each end,

where the handset is, to finish and complete that circuit -

and what they hadn't realised, by doing so,

the Germans could actually put in their own ground spikes.

Oh, and pick the message up. Gosh.

So, the first 18 months of the First World War, the German army

were listening to an awful lot of our messages.

Eventually, by 1916, 1917,

they invented something called the Fullerphone.

-And this...

-I've never heard of that.

The Fullerphone was actually very famous

and used right up into the Second World War and later.

And it chops the message up, electronically.

And only if you have two handsets synchronised together

will you be able to get the message.

-The proper message in full. Otherwise it's chop, chop, buzz, buzz.

-Exactly.

'I'm going to get a sense of the work the signallers did during

'the First World War, laying out telephone cable by using a modern

'version of a field telephone, which is more robust than the original.

'The trench we're using dates to the same period and was actually used

'for practice by soldiers before they went to the front.'

You can imagine doing this over a long distance, when it's dark,

in trenches that you're not sure of, under fire,

it's cold and wet and you're tired.

I mean, this is easy for me today, but I think it would be hard work.

This incredible footage shows the men letting out telephone cable

from wagons, pulled by horses.

Imagine the conditions - cable was constantly damaged by the shells

and the battle lines changed,

so the task must have seemed unimaginably mammoth.

-Hello, Paul, can you hear me?

-Hi, Adam, loud and clear.

That's brilliant. It's working.

I've only laid about 100 metres.

What sort of distances were covered during the First World War?

Well, just to give you an idea, before the Battle of the Somme,

the British Army laid 50,000 miles of cable,

43,000 miles above the ground

and 7,000 miles six feet deep in the ground.

Wow. Gosh, that's a lot of work.

And that's just for the one...

That's just for the offensive of the Somme.

So, you can imagine, over the full period of the war,

they must have laid hundreds and hundreds of thousands

of miles of line.

By the end of the war, the signalmen had grown in number

from 6,000 at the start of the war to an incredible 70,000 men

with highly technical skills by the end.

In recognition, the Royal Corps of Signals was created,

but it was in the Second World War that things changed again.

D-Day, the Allied-led invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944,

was to be the largest seaborne invasion in history.

In this war, the name of the game was using

communications for deception.

Operation Fortitude was the deception plan to convince

the Germans that the Allied forces would invade at Calais and

the Royal Signals were part of this plan,

transmitting false communiques to fool the Germans, and it worked.

At age 100, John Bowman was one of the men responsible for setting up

communications in Normandy after the invasion.

He still remembers those days well.

What was your role in the Signals?

Entirely as an operator, which meant as a wireless operator.

It developed into working at brigade headquarters,

manning a wireless set, latterly, as one of the operators on the

brigade command in an armoured command vehicle.

That was, of course, when it came to operations in Normandy.

I was the sergeant in charge of that vehicle

-with three operators with me.

-Yeah.

So, we had four, the four of us with two wireless sets,

one working forward and one working back, so that there could be

a conversation from the battalion back to the brigade

and the brigade back to division at any time they wanted it.

The radio sets were working 24/7, and unlike a telephone now,

a conversation on the best radio sets could only get about two miles.

Well, that's gone completely now, obviously.

It's so very different.

Thank you so much for sharing your memories with me today.

Yes, well.

It's been a real pleasure listening to one of our heroes.

-I don't know about that.

-You really are, you really are.

Because of the contributions of signallers like John,

the Allies were able to trick the Germans and eventually win the war.

Since then, the technology used by the Royal Corps of Signals

has hugely advanced.

With digital communication, they have upped the game again.

Today, communication allows every individual in the theatre of war

to be connected to HQ and each other, instantly.

But though they've come a long way, their motto is still as true today

as it ever was 100 years ago -

"certa cito", "to be swift and sure".

Welcome back to our magnificent valuation-day venue,

Highcliffe Castle. As you can see, it's still in full swing.

It's now time to join up with our experts,

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

It's over to Philip, with something that would have been familiar

to many a fighting soldier during the war.

So, these things that you've brought along, are these family things?

No, I moved into a bungalow in 1994.

I went into the loft to do some work about three months after

we were there and these were hidden behind a beam.

They had obviously belonged to the previous owner,

so I did the right thing, phoned him up, he didn't want 'em.

He said, "You can keep 'em."

-What I love about these is the social history.

-Mm.

-This is a Brodie helmet.

-Oh, right.

The origins of this were in the First World War,

-but they still used them in the Second World War.

-Yes.

But what I think is fantastic is this, look.

-"Ration, type K, breakfast unit."

-Yeah.

It's packed by the Beech-nut Packing Company,

from Canajoharie, wherever that is, New York.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Would this be for American soldiers, do you think?

I think so, because I did a little bit of research online and

these were issued to American soldiers in England and

France when they were, you know, fighting for us.

-So, these rations have come over from the States with the soldiers, effectively.

-That's right, yes.

And it says here, look, "For security,

"do not discard the empty can, paper or refuse

"where it can be seen from the air.

"If possible, cover with dirt, foliage and sand."

It brings home to you, really, the harsh reality of war, doesn't it?

-That's right. Oh, yes.

-You know?

-Yes.

What have we got...? Oh, here, look. We've got a list.

So, this package contains two packages biscuits - energy crackers.

I bet they were anything but that.

Two cans of ham and eggs.

I bet they were REALLY nice.

An envelope of soluble coffee.

A fruit bar. Well, that might have been OK.

But it's to be eaten cold or you make it into a jam

by - cor! - stewing it for three minutes.

Four lumps of sugar.

-I mean, that was like gold, wasn't it, in the war?

-That's right.

A packet of four cigarettes and a piece of chewing gum.

-Yeah.

-You can tell the American influence, can't you?

-Yes.

So, they're in there, never, ever been out the packet?

Never, ever been opened.

Still sealed in the wax wrapper.

Isn't that just fantastic?

Well, I would strongly advise anybody who buys these just to

-leave them that way, cos I don't think they'd taste very good.

-Yes.

The K ration pack distributed to American soldiers and,

eventually, the British was developed by American food

scientists for emergency and battle situations.

It was to be used for only 15 days at a time.

British soldiers drooled over this ration box.

They thought the combination of sweets and cigarettes

to be highly superior to what was on offer by the British Army.

The "but" comes, for me... is what are they worth?

You know, because we don't get too many unused Second World War

breakfast rations.

-So, I think the helmet's probably worth 20 quid.

-Right.

That could be worth 20 quid and it could be worth 100.

-You know, I'm guessing.

-Yeah.

If they were mine, I'd estimate them at 60 to 90

-and I'd put a fixed reserve of 50 quid on them.

-OK.

-How's that feel to you?

-That's fine.

Well, let's just hope whoever comes to the auction

-is on better rations than these.

-Yes.

At Adam's table, he's found an object that's really surprised him.

What can you tell me about it?

Because it's not often that you see examples like this.

Oh, well, not much really.

My husband's uncle found it on Horsford Common.

-Your husband's uncle found it?

-Yes.

-On a common?

-That's right.

-Goodness me.

-He was out walking and he just found it

-and he took it to the police station.

-How long ago, roughly?

-Probably about 70 years.

-I think you can legally claim ownership now.

-I think so, yes.

-After doing the right thing with the police.

-Yes.

-And what's happened to it since?

So, your husband's uncle found it and passed it to your husband or...

-That's right.

-Well, it certainly is a posh stick.

-Yes.

We've got 18-carat-gold mounts on the side here,

on the top here, and it's by a famous maker, walking-stick maker.

-Do you see that, Callow?

-Yes, Callow.

-Callow were of Park Lane, Piccadilly.

-Yes, I did look that up.

-Oh, did you?

-Yes, yes.

Well, they were a well-known maker of canes and they made all sorts

of novelty canes out of ebony, malacca, various materials.

Including this one, which I think... I'm pretty sure

this is made from rhinoceros horn.

-Rhinoceros horn. Oh, dear. Poor rhinoceros.

-Oh, dear.

Exactly. Well, that's right.

-And quite right that we should discuss this sensitively.

-Mm.

It's easy not to film something like this and brush it under the carpet,

but the fact is that many things throughout the 17th, 18th, 19th

century, up to this sort of period, 1915 this was made...

There's a lot of legislation covering the sale of things like

ivory and rhinoceros horn and this changes quite regularly.

Currently, this is legal to be sold.

-Oh, right.

-Because it's pre-1947.

And because it's a piece that's been worked.

-If it was just the horn, you couldn't do anything with it.

-No.

Why have you decided to sell it?

Well, it just sits in the cupboard, and if we leave it to the kids

-they'll just do the same thing.

-Yeah.

What's your idea as to value? And what are your expectations?

I really have no idea what it's worth,

but I don't think I'd want to sell it for less than, say, £150.

HE INHALES SHARPLY

It's all right, I'm only joking.

-£150 I think is a realistic expectation.

-Yes.

Probably, with the gold,

-£80 to £100's worth of gold on there, isn't there?

-Yes, exactly.

I reckon I'm going to put a bigger estimate, slightly higher.

-£200 to £400.

-Wow.

It's a big, wide estimate, but it shows that I think it's got

-the potential to make a bit more.

-Gosh.

-Yeah, good.

-That would be good.

-There's a happy reaction.

-Yes.

Really pleased you brought that in.

Not just because it's a fabulous object, but also it's given us

-the opportunity to discuss something that's really quite important.

-Yes.

And that people are aware of what things are made of

and the regulations there. Let's hope it goes to a good home.

-It won't get exported.

-No, it won't.

For our last object today, Philip seems to have met an old friend.

-Do I recognise you?

-Yes, you do. I've done one "Flog It!" before.

-You've been on "Flog It!" before?

-Oh, yes.

-I've been on "Flog It!" before.

-Have you? Can I have your autograph?

Yeah, yeah. Can I have yours? Lovely to meet you.

-What's your name, then?

-I'm Kenneth.

-I'm Phil.

-How are you, Kenneth?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Tell me all about this.

This is a life belt that my father dragged up with a lobster pot...

-Where from?

-..from Chapman's pool.

-Where's that?

The other side of Worth Matravers, near Swanage.

Did he...? I mean, other than lobsters, did he pull anything else

-out of the deep?

-Not really, no.

It's about the only thing that had come up, ever.

So, this came up, and why did he keep it?

He probably thought it was worth something,

cos it's made of copper.

Although it's metal, it's always, always going to float, isn't it?

-Cos it's hollowwares.

-Yes.

And what's quite interesting here, look, it says,

"The Sankey corporated life belt, warranted of solid copper,"

and what's interesting for me,

it's got "Sankey of Bilston", which is in the Black Country.

-I think there is still a Sankey up there.

-Is there?

Making metalwares.

I suspect they're not making copper life belts any more,

but it's an interesting thing. I think it's really, really wacky.

And I suppose, what would you do with it?

Well, I think it would look great if you've got a pub

or a restaurant by the sea.

-It would be a great decorator's thing.

-Exactly.

I'm sure if you collected nautical stuff and marine memorabilia,

it would add to your collection.

I'm going to guess that it's worth between £100 and £150.

-Oh, really?

-You think that's more or less?

-I think that's more.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-Well, shall we go 80 to 120, as an estimate?

-Yeah.

Reserve it at 80 and perhaps give them 10% discretion if they need it.

-Exactly.

-Are you happy with that?

-I'm happy with that.

And just out of curiosity, notwithstanding that you're

a seasoned "Flog It!" professional here...

-Yes.

-..why have you decided to flog it?

Is it because "Flog It!" is here?

No, it's been in the attic and I thought I'd get rid.

The time has come.

I asked my brother, he half-owns it. And we'll give the money to charity.

-Oh, good man.

-I lost both my sisters to cystic fibrosis.

-They both died very young.

-Yeah.

-So, a cystic-fibrosis charity.

-Well, let's hope it goes and makes an awful lot of money.

-So do I.

-Thank you for coming along.

-Thank you very much.

-I'll see you on the next series.

-I hope so.

Well, there you are. That's it.

Our experts have now found their final items to take off to auction.

I've got my favourites, you've probably got yours,

but we'll let the bidders decide.

So, sadly, it's time to say goodbye to our magnificent host location,

Highcliffe Castle. And our magnificent crowd of people.

-Have you had a good day? ALL:

-Yes!

Yes, well, give us a wave, because we're saying goodbye,

but it's hello, auction room.

We have some unfinished business and here's a quick recap

of all the items that are going under the hammer.

The World War II helmet and K ration pack used by British

and American soldiers, which, miraculously, hasn't been opened.

The rhino-horn walking stick by supreme maker of canes

Callow of Piccadilly. Will it walk away at auction?

And a copper life buoy hauled out of the water.

Will it sink or swim when it goes under the hammer?

Back at the saleroom, with John Condie still on the rostrum,

it's time for the K ration pack and helmet.

Will the bidders like them as much as we do?

I'll tell you what, Gino, thank you very much for bringing that in,

because it is an eclectic mix today.

It's the only World War II memorabilia in the sale,

so fingers crossed. That could be a good thing, could be a bad thing.

But it should be picked up online.

-It's a lovely lot you have. That ration pack is so cool.

-Good luck.

Good luck. This is what auctions are all about. Here we go.

I've got interest in this. I've got to start at 30.

5, 40.

5, 50.

£50 bid. At 50.

£50 I've got. 55 anywhere?

55, anybody else? I'm going to sell at 50, then. Your last chance.

Well, £50.

-You'd think it would go for a lot more, wouldn't you, really?

-Yeah.

I think it's one of those things, isn't it?

If you buy it, what do you do with it? It's just a talking point.

-Gino, thank you for bringing that in.

-Thank you.

-It sold.

-Philip was spot-on there with the value...

-Yes.

-..so good on him.

Great. Thanks very much.

I'm glad that fascinating reminder of the trials of war

has found a new home.

Time for the early-20th-century life buoy,

hauled up with the lobster pot.

Can we haul in a great price for it?

Well, if we get into trouble, Kenneth,

all we've got to do is throw Phil a rubber ring. Sorry, a copper one.

A corrugated one.

Might need to be a bit bigger than that.

I love it, I love it.

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

Right, lot 171 is the interesting Sankey-in-Bilston copper life buoy.

I've got interest to start at £80.

-Done.

-80 bid. 5, 90.

90 bid. 5. 100.

100 bid, 110. 120. 130.

-This is good, this is good. Come on, keep going.

-140. 150 I've got.

150, 160.

170. 170 I've got.

Whoa! That's more than just the copper it weighs, isn't it?

180 now, on the internet. 180. Internet bid at 180.

Anyone else coming in? Your last chance.

Maritime memorabilia.

You know, there are certain collectors out there that

-really, really hunted that down, so well done, you.

-That was very lucky.

-Brilliant. Thank you very much.

-What a find.

-Yeah!

We'll try to get more bizarre next time, shall we?

Yeah, come on the show again with something equally as bizarre

for Philip to value.

We'll go and get the boat out, Paul, and see what we can find.

And our final lot of the day, the rhino-horn walking stick,

found on a walk on the common, and due to CITES regulations,

this cannot be exported overseas.

As far as walking sticks go, this is pretty special, isn't it?

-Top of the range.

-It is a proper... Yeah, exactly, yeah.

-Quality, quality, quality in its day, quality today as well.

-Yes.

We're going to find out what the bidders think right now.

We do have some telephone lines set up.

All UK-registered bidders,

but I cannot accept international bids on this lot.

Where will you start me?

500 for it? 500 bid.

-Yeah.

-Wow, straight in at 500!

550? 550 bid. 600.

600. 650. 700.

750. 800.

850. 900. 950.

1,000.

1,100. 1,200.

1,300. 1,400. 1,500.

1,600. 1,700.

1,800. £1,800 bid.

1,800 on the internet.

-Telephones, come in if you like.

-19.

1,900 here. 2,000 now.

2,000 bid.

-2,100.

-22?

-2,100 here.

2,200 on this phone. 2,300.

2,300... 2,400 on this phone.

2,500 here.

2,500. 2,600.

-2,700 on the internet now.

-Yes.

2,800. It's 2,900 on the internet.

-3,000 on the phone.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Gosh!

-It's £3,000 on the telephone.

3,100 here. 3,200.

You're out on the internet.

-It's on the telephone. I'm going to close it...

-Good job.

-..at 3,200.

Anyone else coming in?

Your last chance, it's going.

And the hammer's gone down. £3,200. Now, that is really punchy.

-Yeah, yeah.

-That is a lot of money.

That is a lot of money for it.

It's obviously gone to someone who's going to appreciate it.

-Yes, absolutely.

-I hope so, anyway.

And to think that was discarded on a common, and nobody went to claim it.

I can't believe it, but thank goodness it was in your possession.

-You're the one going home with all the money!

-Exactly.

And what a way to end today's show.

-It was a brilliant one, wasn't it, Adam?

-Yeah.

We've learnt something, and I hope you have to.

Join us again for many more surprises, but until then,

it's goodbye.