Morecambe 15 Flog It!

Today, we're in the old promenade station in Morecambe.

Now, in its heyday, millions of passengers would have flocked

through these doors to enjoy the

delights the seaside town had to offer.

Nowadays, it's just a beautiful space for events and shows.

And today, for one day only, it is home to our "Flog It!" valuations.

It's lights, it's camera, it's action.

Welcome to "Flog It!".

Morecambe Bay has attracted holiday-makers to the town since

the 19th century, helping to make it one of the busiest resorts in

the country and earning it the nickname

"the Brighton of the North."

Today, hundreds of people have been patiently queueing outside our

venue, The Platform, eager to be part of "Flog It!",

and now it's time to get them inside and unpacked.

Right, people are starting to settle in now, in the warm.

This is where the real work starts,

because somewhere in all of these bags and boxes,

there's something so valuable.

You don't know it yet, but it's our experts' jobs to tell you.

And still outside looking for those special antiques are our own little

treasures, Adam Partridge...

Anybody want to show me something?

..and Charles Hanson.

I've heard you lots, I like your, I like your...

-Patter?

-Yeah.

There we go. Well, you know, that's life.

Together, they're a bit of a handful.

Chocks away! Chocks away!

Covers the bald spot, anyway!

OK, that's enough, boys.

Let's move on to what's coming up later on in the show today.

Has Charles discovered an antique that could be worth big money?

If this was the genuine article,

it would be worth between £50,000 and £70,000.

Adam uncovers a necklace that was almost lost forever.

Until I happened down the lane one day, and what should I see...

-No way!

-..but my necklace?

And I get a chance to test my driving prowess as I discover

the story of Britain's biggest motor company, Leyland.

Well, as you can see, everybody is now safely seated inside.

It's time to find out what's in all these bags and boxes.

Well, that's our experts' job,

so let's catch up with them and see who's the lucky owner at the table.

Welcome to "Flog It!", Patricia.

Thank you very much for bringing along this amber necklace.

Now, I'm not known as a jewellery specialist on this programme,

but I'm very interested in amber, and also,

prices for amber have risen a great deal in recent times.

-Oh, I didn't know that.

-Now, please tell me what you know about it and

how you came to own it.

Well, I thought it was just a bit of old tat, actually,

given to me by my great-grandmother.

And when did you receive it?

It would have been in the late '60s, '70s, that sort of time.

-Right.

-I don't remember exactly.

-And you've never really prized it, then,

-or...?

-Well, I did prize it until I lost it in the snow.

The string fell apart or...?

The clasp at the back came undone.

-Yeah.

-And, I didn't realise, but it fell off

and it lay in the snow for a long time.

And then I happened to be walking down the lane one day and the gutter

was running with rain and what should I see...

-No way!

-..but my necklace?

What a great story.

And how long between losing it did you find it again?

Probably a couple of months.

Gosh, as long as that? So, did it, did it affect its condition at all?

It didn't look so good...

THEY LAUGH

-..when I fished it out of the gutter.

-Gosh. And have you worn it?

I used to wear it a lot, but I haven't worn it since.

-Not since then?

-It's just been in a box since the late '70s.

Since the late '70s, goodness me!

Well, you were lucky to have found it again, weren't you?

Well, I don't know. That depends! That will depend.

And how do you think it came into

the family in the first place, through your great-grandmother?

My great-grandfather was a merchant seaman and he would have brought it

back to this country. I don't know from where.

I suppose we'd better talk about the object, hadn't we?

As you quite rightly say, it looks fairly ordinary on here.

It doesn't look very special at all.

No. Amber, obviously, has been around since prehistoric times,

fossilised tree resin.

Some pieces are highly prized,

especially when they encase an insect or something like that.

Yes. I have looked, but I can't see any insects.

There don't seem to be, sadly.

But I'm pretty sure it's genuine amber.

You see Bakelite examples and plastic examples, but I'm convinced

yours is genuine because of the cracks and the natural imperfections

that you see there. I mean, highly prized for centuries,

but probably never more so than in recent times.

What they particularly want, the market, seems to be

that sort of butterscotch colour with quite...

Oh, that's very interesting.

Oh, really? There's another necklace from the same source in the family.

Oh, well. I mean, if that's a good size...

-It is.

-..and they're very nice beads...

-Yes, they are.

-..then it's probably worth thousands.

-Wow.

I must tell my sister-in-law!

Yes, you must. But this one is perhaps a more regular example and

still worth something,

whereas ten years ago, we'd have put that in a mixed lot.

-Yeah.

-A job lot of jewellery.

-Five quid!

-Yeah, well, not much more.

These days, I think it might make between 100-200.

-Right.

-I think it probably should do.

-Yeah, well...

-Shall we give it a go?

-Yes, absolutely.

They're notoriously hard to predict, this is my disclaimer, now.

I think we should probably pop a little reserve on it to stop it

-going for nothing.

-What would you put on it as a reserve?

I think put maybe £75 or something like that,

-to stop it from going for any less.

-OK, right.

It's, it must be worth that nowadays.

And I wouldn't be surprised if it gave us a little surprise.

But if it was the butterscotch colour,

-then you would be looking at thousands of pounds.

-Oh, right.

So, thanks for bringing it, Patricia,

and I'm looking forward to seeing what it sells for in the auction.

A very hard one to predict.

Well done to eagle-eyed Patricia for finding that necklace again,

and Charles also needed keen eyes to find his first item.

Irene, good to see you today.

Now, you've brought this in, and they say small is beautiful...

-What is it?

-It is, it's a beautiful little brooch.

It's a wonderful brooch.

It is vibrant. It's almost buzzing, isn't it, in colour?

-Yeah.

-What would you say this small insect brooch is?

I should say it's an ant.

-Sorry?

-Ant!

An ant? I think you're probably right. Tell me how you acquired it.

By working for someone, and she gave it me in appreciation.

-By working for somebody?

-Yeah, a lady.

Was this lady you worked for quite grand?

-You said the word "lady". Was she a real lady?

-Yes, a very real lady.

She was a headmistress and she was brilliant.

And why did she give you an ant?

She gave it me so she wouldn't cause no mither with her family.

-Cause no...?

-Mither in her family.

Fascinating. When I first saw it, I thought it's a real jewel.

-Do you like it?

-Yes.

Do you like creepy crawlies?

No!

THEY LAUGH

See, I don't like spiders.

They make me jump. But you quite like this ant?

I like that, yes, as long as it isn't anything

that's crawling over me, yeah.

And you wear it still?

I haven't worn it for a bit, and so,

my son said he was coming here today so I thought I'd bring it along.

And why do you feel it's time now to say au revoir to your ant brooch?

When you're getting on in years,

you don't know how long you're going to be,

and I've got too many granddaughters to fight over it.

So you might split the money, the proceeds of sale?

-Yeah.

-And let them enjoy a bit each?

-Yeah.

-I think it's lovely.

I really do. I look at this ant brooch and what I look at first of

all is its head and body are made of glass.

Not any old glass. It's Murano glass.

-I see.

-It's Italian Venetian glass, from that great island of Murano.

And if you look at the make-up of the glass,

you've got what we call lattimo which is this opaque white.

Oventerine, which is the wonderful specks of gold within the glass.

So this body of this small ant really shows the advancement in all

these experimental workings with this great material.

Now, that sight of quality makes me think that the legs,

antennae and brooch on the back should also be gold.

But I've been looking at it quite carefully and I cannot see a gold

mark on there. But I'm fairly sure, once it's tested,

it will test as being nine carat.

We'll often say to a client,

if an object belonged to a certain lady of some distinction,

was the previous owner, this headmistress,

a fair lady of distinction who liked nice objects?

-Yes.

-That's always a good sign that she would only really buy or have on

her quality. And this is quality.

-How old is it?

-Oh, it must be 100 years.

I think so. I would date this maybe around 1900, 1920.

I like it a lot. I'll be delighted to give you an auction estimate with

a guide price of between £50-£70.

-Right.

-OK? And I propose, to give it a buzz...

OK. It might crawl away!

THEY LAUGH

Irene, I would like to stand there with you and put a reserve on it at

£40. How does that sound to you?

-All right, yeah.

-Shall we say going...?

-Going, gone.

-Gone.

Put it there. Thanks, Irene.

Thanks for coming in today. I can't wait for the auction.

Well done, Charles.

Let's see if Adam's found something larger than an ant on his table.

Well, David, thank you for coming to "Flog It!" today.

-Oh, you're welcome.

-Are you a local man?

-From Preston.

-From Preston? Not so far, is it?

-Oh, no.

-Lancashire.

Well, this is a Yorkshire piece, not a Lancashire piece, isn't it?

-Oh! So I've been told.

-Is that why you're selling it?

Could be. Yeah.

I don't know what that town crest is.

It's clearly a Yorkshire town with those three roses.

Any idea what that is?

Not really. We've not been able to find out much about that.

Somebody said it was a coat of arms.

It looks like a town crest, doesn't it? But it's not York, anyway.

Where did you get it from?

Well, we had gone on a coach trip to Shrewsbury.

-Oh, yeah?

-We went in this little charity shop

and bought it from there.

-Well, how long ago was that?

-About five, six years ago.

Really? Goodness me. So why did you buy it?

Because you liked it or because you thought it was something because of

-the lizard?

-I thought it was something, with the lizard,

that it was something special, you know.

-What did you give for it, may I ask?

-£5.

-£5, not bad.

-Oh, no.

-Well, we've got the trademark adzed oak finish,

you know, finished with an axe.

So a lot of people watching this are going to think,

"It looks like a bit of Mouseman."

And they'd almost be right, but this piece is Lizardman.

-Oh.

-So there was a group of Yorkshire carvers.

They were all apprentices to Mouseman

because he was so successful, and still is.

If this was a Mouseman piece, it would be worth hundreds of pounds.

-Would it?

-Yes, certainly.

But then you had Martin Dutton, who became Lizardman,

and you had Malcolm "Foxman" Pipes, I think his name was,

so he was the Fox man.

I guess if you are being kind, they

are a homage to Thompson or perhaps he might have been a bit fed up -

"Oh, everyone's going off and nicking my mouse idea and putting a

"different animal on it," I'm not sure.

But this is after he'd left Mouseman,

he'd started on his own and producing his own range.

Also known as the Yorkshire Critters.

That's right. That's what I've been told, yeah.

-Have you heard about those?

-Yeah.

So I presume this was made in the '50s.

The gentleman who carved it died in 2009.

-Do you use it? Does it sit in the home?

-No, we don't use it.

-No?

-It has just been in a drawer, you know.

It could do with a bit of a waxing, I think.

-It would bring out the colour nicely.

-It would do, wouldn't it?

I bet Paul would like to have that.

-Would he?

-Never mind. He's not around.

-Is he not about?

-Well, let's get it done before he comes back.

So we're going to put it in the sale and I would imagine it's going to

make £50-£80, or that certainly should be the estimate.

Hopefully, it might make a touch more.

-Right.

-Reserve of 50, I think,

because it really shouldn't sell for less than that.

-No.

-And my view is it's worth maybe £80, £90, hopefully a touch more.

-That's fine.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Would you reinvest?

-I'm always buying stuff, me!

-Are you? Are you a bit of a wheeler dealer?

-Oh, well, not dealer.

-No, hobby?

-No, it's a hobby.

-A hobby.

-Gramophones, old gramophones, stuff like that.

OK. You're not winding me up now, are you?

-No, no, no.

-There's my gramophone joke! Thank you very much.

HE LAUGHS

Adam is right, I do like the bowl,

especially because it's part of the Yorkshire Critters,

craftsmen who made oak furniture

with their animal on it as a signature.

The man who they got the idea from, Robert Thompson, or the Mouseman,

is a name that regularly crops up on "Flog It!",

and he carved his mouse into all kinds of wooden items.

He also liked to work the timber with an old-fashioned adze,

giving the surface a characteristic dimpled appearance.

Thompson chose the mouse as his signature animal because he felt it

was like him, poor and working away quietly, unnoticed.

These days, Mouseman is very notable, and his items,

like the other Critters, can fetch high prices.

Well, The Platform, Morecambe's old railway station,

is proving to be a fabulous venue.

We have found some super items, and right now,

we're going to see if our experts are on track because our owners will

be really chuffed if we get that top end.

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

Patricia's necklace might have been lost in the snow, but I'm sure it

will find a high price today.

We're hoping the buyers will be

swarming all over Irene's ant brooch.

And David's charity shop find is a real beauty.

Can it bowl over the bidders?

Our auction house, Silverwoods,

is a quick jaunt across Lancashire to the pretty town of Clitheroe.

Inside, the buyers are sifting through the lots,

looking for that special something.

Wilf, good luck.

Fingers crossed. Auctioneer Wilf Mould is now on the rostrum.

Any second now, the auction will start,

so we're going to get on with our first lot.

You can sit back and enjoy this

as our owners take a roller-coaster ride.

Let's get on with that first lot.

And don't forget, when you're selling at auction,

you'll be paying commission on each item.

Here, that is set at 10% plus VAT.

There are plenty of buyers checking out all the lots,

eager to snap up a bargain.

Let's hope they get fired up by our items.

And first to go under Wilf's hammer is that lovely lizard bowl.

David, good luck, fingers crossed.

Hopefully, this should go. Nearly a local connection, isn't it?

The Lizard Man. It's a wonderful wooden bowl,

and we love our treen on this show.

-Neighbouring county, but you mustn't get Lancashire and Yorkshire confused.

-No, exactly!

-At your peril.

-They'd go to war over that!

It's a nice thing. Why are you selling it?

Well, I've had it about six years.

-Yeah.

-And I want to move on and sell it.

OK, good luck. Right now,

we're going to learn how much this is worth. Let's do it.

The adzed wooden fruit bowl,

this circular fruit bowl by Derek Slater,

also known as Lizardman,

and it does have his carved lizard

on it, and I'll start it at 55, £60.

£60, 60 and five, 65 and 70.

-That's OK, isn't it?

-65, looking for 70.

70 is on my left.

£70. 75. 80 in the room.

£80 and five from anybody else for the bowl.

At £80. 85, away at the very back.

85, 90.

-That'll do.

-Really, that's really, I've been quite surprised, yeah.

At 85.

GAVEL BANGS Hammer's gone down. £85.

-Well done you.

-That's all right, isn't it?

Just over the top estimate. You've got to be happy with that.

I didn't expect it would bring that much.

And a pleasing piece of treen, and we know how much you like that.

Yeah, it's a nice piece of treen, yeah.

Thanks for bringing it, well done.

-Thank you.

-Good result. Well, that bowl carved out a nice price.

Can the little ant carry away a big profit?

Irene, I love my creepy crawlies, and good luck with this ant brooch.

I think it's jolly good fun. It's Murano glass, isn't it?

You're a brooch lady. Did you wear the ant at all?

Yes, I did, I wore it on a cream suit.

Oh, I bet that looked good.

-Yeah.

-I, I love the sky-blue suit as well, though.

What was the reaction? Did people come up and go,

-"Cor, I like the ant?"

-Yeah, somebody did point out how nice it

looked on the suit, a gentleman.

Well, we like your brooch and it's different.

-Absolutely right.

-It looks different,

it's individual and that is what the buyers want, don't they?

-Correct.

-Anyway, good luck, OK? This is it.

The antique fashion brooch, modelled as an insect, an ant.

There you go, buy something a bit different.

Start me at, what? £50 for this one. 50, for this little brooch.

40, then. £40.

Any of you? 30, surely.

28, 28, and 30 now.

I've 28. 30, we're looking for.

At 28. It's worth all of this.

Come on, don't miss this. 30 is there. £30. I've 32. 35.

35, 38. 40 this time, if you like.

You'll kick yourself tomorrow when you think about it.

£40. 40 bid and two now.

At £40, and 42 from anybody else in the room?

-It's wriggling.

-£40, and 42, this time, then, now, all finished,

the lady in the middle there, at £40.

Yes, £40.

-It's gone, Irene.

-Yeah.

-The lady's bought it there,

-and I'm pretty sure she's going to wear that as well.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It finally wriggled.

-The perfect price for a perfect little brooch.

And finally, Patricia's amber beads that are lucky to actually be here.

You've caused a bit of a stir, haven't you? You have.

Well, amber is apparently red hot at the moment, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Everybody wants to buy it.

We haven't got a lot of money on this because I think it's

-the colour...

-Yes, there's various factors.

But the ones that make great big prices are bigger, heavier beads,

the more butterscotch colour.

They can make thousands of pounds.

-OK. They can, can't they?

-But we've been quite cautious on this one.

You never know, you might get a couple of speculators.

Fingers crossed we get top money, OK?

-Hopefully.

-This is what auctions are all about.

This is where it could go crazy.

As Adam says, it could sell comfortably at £100,

we could do three, we might even do four. Let's find out.

A large, graduated amber bead necklace,

composed of 39 ovoid beads,

which we shall start at £80.

80 and five now.

At £80 and 85 for this.

85. 90. 95. £90

is on my book. At 95 online now.

95. 100. 110. 110. 110. 120.

At £110. 120 is on the screen.

At £120 online, then.

Anybody else for this?

All done at £120.

-You're spot on!

-Well...

-You're so spot on.

Do you know, if this was a sale somewhere else and I just turned up,

I'd have a go at buying those to speculate myself.

Yeah, I think it's beginner's luck, Paul.

I'm really relieved that I got it right.

You do see people speculating and gambling on these, and they can make

more, but I think you got the right money for it.

I'm surprised. I didn't think it would sell!

THEY LAUGH

Adam certainly knows his amber.

He got that price just right.

Well, there you are, our first three lots done and dusted, all sold,

all credit to our experts.

There's more to come later on in the show, so don't go away.

Now, it's not just about the value.

It's not just about what's it worth.

It's the stories behind those items that are so important.

Earlier on this week,

I travelled across Lancashire to get under the bonnet of one of the most

famous names in British motoring.

Trucks, vans, buses.

These vehicles have been the driving force of Britain and one name has

been behind most of them for over a century - Leyland.

This is a Beaver, and it's a

beautiful example of a 1930s truck that still

works perfectly today.

It was built to last. It's a workhorse.

And it's part of British motoring heritage because it was built by

Leyland, a company famous all over the world,

made in the town it was named after.

And this is where it all started, here, over 120 years ago.

The fortunes of the company can be traced inside this building,

the British Commercial Vehicle Museum.

Inside this cavernous space,

which was once part of the Leyland factory,

every square inch is taken up with trucks, vans, buses,

machines designed to work.

Most of them were built by the Leyland company which in its day was

the biggest British vehicle manufacturer,

sending out automobiles across the globe.

The Leyland story starts in the early 1890s,

with this very interesting-looking machine.

Can you guess what this is?

Well, I can tell you, it weighs a tonne, it's steam driven,

and gardeners love it!

And I've been told it's surprisingly manoeuvrable.

Yeah, you've got it. It's a lawn mower!

Look, you've even got this wooden cradle here to collect all the grass

cuttings. Wow, that is incredible, isn't it?

It really is. I wouldn't fancy cutting the grass with this today,

that's for sure, but what a piece of history.

It was made by James Sumner,

a Lancashire man who loved steam engines.

His steam lawn mowers were so popular that he helped form the

Lancashire Steam Motor Company,

building their first steam-driven van in 1896.

The company was an instant success,

winning competitions all over the country.

The orders quickly rolled in.

Within a few short years, the company was flying.

It was worth over £5 million in today's money.

And it even exported its first vehicle overseas,

a steam-driven van, for delivering mail in Sri Lanka.

The company continued to grow and grow,

even adding new-fangled petrol engines into lots of its vans.

And in 1907, the company name was changed to Leyland Motors Limited.

When World War I broke out,

the government turned to Leyland to produce vehicles for

the War Department like this massive, great big RAF three-tonner.

This really launched Leyland, and from here, the company took off.

Soon, it was employing over 3,000 people,

and turning out all kinds of new models.

And it wasn't just trucks and engines that the company pushed new

boundaries. In the 1930s,

they created one of the first-ever pin-up calendars,

which is a million miles away from the risque calendars we see today.

These were all hand-painted by an artist.

And it is rumoured some of the models were women that worked here

in the Leyland offices.

For me, looking at these, it's a wonderful snapshot of the past,

of how fashions have changed.

It's rather delightful.

Leyland continued making trucks and buses of all shapes and sizes that

were sold in every corner of the globe.

But in the 1960s, it took on a whole new dimension,

merging with the car company British Motor Holdings, or BMC.

It took another name change and became British Leyland.

Suddenly, the company was now also making iconic British cars,

names like Jaguar, the Mini, Range Rover, MG Morris.

You name it, British Leyland probably made it in factories all

over the UK. Neil and Geoff, who now help run the museum,

worked for the company all their lives,

seeing huge changes during their careers.

You've both worked for Leyland for most of your working lives.

So, what does it mean to you, this wonderful motoring heritage?

Between us, we've 90 years here, so it was like family.

That's a lot of time.

90 years is a lot of time.

We want to pass down the heritage of it and the stories behind it,

and the stories that we can tell, we want to keep alive.

A lot of people don't really realise Leyland, and what it really means.

When you've worked and lived in Leyland all your life, it's in my

blood, you know, Leyland.

In its heyday, there were a lot of people working here.

It must have been all of Leyland, the whole town worked there.

When I started in '66, there was 13,000, but it did cover a big area.

Take it at lunchtime, the traffic stopped

because they came out of the North Works like a river.

-Yeah.

-And in summertime, all the men,

they would come out and buy pies and they would be all stood around

-talking in the sunshine.

-So what was the atmosphere like?

It was family orientated.

A lot of the older men, their sons usually started at

Leyland Motors with an apprenticeship.

-So it was man and boy?

-Yeah.

And that was the way it went.

In the '70s, British Leyland was one of the biggest vehicle manufacturers

in the world, producing millions of cars and trucks each year.

But this very success brought about the decline of the company.

British Leyland was almost too big to be practical.

Coupled with overseas competition and falling sales,

the company slowly fell apart.

The car side was sold off and, in 1993,

this Leyland site was shut down.

So how did it feel for both of you when it all ended like that?

That particular morning, young men walking,

they had pains in their chests because they had been worried

because they had mortgages and how were they going to manage when they

were fired out, you see? They were actually walking around, crying,

some of them. They were that physically and mentally, they'd been tortured for weeks.

The closure of this works was a painful chapter

in the Leyland story,

but it's great to know that people like Geoff and Neil are helping to

keep the memory alive. And out of this great collection,

there's a couple of vehicles that really stand out for me.

This Lioness is not just a charming little bus.

It's also had a very notable owner.

It was bought by King George V in 1927,

to be used on the Sandringham estate,

to ferry the king and his guests around on shooting trips in the

countryside. The driver's seat was made extra comfy just in case

His Royal Highness wanted to get behind the wheel and have a go.

If I was him, I certainly would

because this seems like jolly good fun.

Now, whether he did or not is another thing, but if he did,

he'd be the first monarch ever to drive a bus.

And how about this for an unusual looking vehicle?

It was created for a very special passenger.

The badge on the side is a clue.

It is the crest of the Vatican.

In its day, this was nicknamed the Popemobile,

a Leyland Truck specially created for the visit of Pope John Paul II

to the UK in 1982.

This is armour plated, so it's bulletproof, it's bombproof,

it's very fast and it's very rare.

From its start as a modest local firm to becoming a global giant,

the story of Leyland really is an incredible slice of British history.

Making buses and trucks may not be glamorous, but I tell you what,

they've given us some beautiful looking machines.

Time now to set the satnav to Morecambe and get back to our

valuation day, and staying with the transport theme,

it looks like an interesting collection has just parked

on Charles' table.

-Hello, Molly.

-Hello.

What a wonderful collection.

Yeah, it's been collected for a while,

but mainly it was my husband's

collection and I just found a few tucked away, and so I thought it

would be a good opportunity.

You don't, Molly, look an oily mechanic type.

-No.

-But your husband was?

-Yeah, you know, anything unusual...

-Your husband's name was...?

-Peter.

-Peter put a wonderful collection of car badges together.

There's 13 here. At home, have you still got the fleet of classic cars?

-Oh, no!

-Look at me, Molly. That's a shame.

It's amazing how in the last 20 years, the sector of interest in

vintage, classic cars really has revved up into fifth gear.

-Yeah.

-The market now for accessories of this sort of vintage,

yesteryear car badge is now so popular.

-Yeah.

-When was your husband collecting these?

Well, we both collected,

did an odd car boot or an indoor thing on a Saturday,

so we collected things from when the kids were little,

-you know what I mean?

-Have you a favourite here, of car badge?

I don't think it's my favourite, but I'm intrigued with that one because

-of the crown.

-The crown coronet, yes.

Yeah, and because Peter's been out and gone...

I think he used to sneak out to auctions when I was...

-Did you allow him to go?

-Pardon?

-Did you allow him to go?

-Oh, yeah, he'd definitely go.

But these are wonderful.

Credit to his passion for collecting and they certainly tell a story in

the history of the car badge, in the history of the RAC, and also the AA.

Are they the popular ones?

They are indeed. I think, when we look at them,

what I look for is colour and vigour of the badges,

which almost reflect certain decades in style.

Yeah, some of them have a nice finish with them.

Yes, and of course, they would shimmer on the grille of your car.

-Yeah.

-And historically, they're interesting.

We know the AA, established in 1905,

they began to issue badges in this

chrome plate, in this metallic finish.

Some, of course, have oxidised, corroded.

We have some enamel losses on this one, here.

Would that be enamel at the back of that, do you think?

-That's... No.

-Oh, no, the enamel on the top.

It's what we call champleve.

It's been filtered into a pool or reservoir,

and when it's been knocked,

that pool of enamel has fallen out.

Oh, I see, so it makes a channel?

I hadn't realised that.

Absolutely. But the really early ones would date to 1906.

None of these are really pre-1906 because, by 1911,

we had the winged car badges come in.

-Yeah.

-So these are after 1911, as are these down here.

-What are they worth?

-I'm asking you that.

Are you feeling revved up?

Oh, yeah, raring to go.

Hold tight, OK?

There's a bend coming up on my estimate.

I would say we'll put a reserve on in case we don't get what we feel

they are worth. They must be worth plus £10 each, times by 13, is?

-I'm not going there, because it's 13.

-Oh, sorry, it's 130.

So I propose a fixed reserve of 120,

with a guide between 120-150.

-OK.

-Is that steering you in the right direction?

-Oh, yes.

-I'm sorry.

-Shall we go?

-Yeah.

-Hold tight.

To auction we go. Thanks, Marlene.

-Can't wait.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

That's a lovely little collection.

And over on Adam's table, he's found an interesting little picture.

So, Ian, welcome to "Flog It!"

A nice little portrait miniature.

What do you know about it? Where did you get it from?

I know very little about it. I bought it at a car boot.

-How long ago?

-Over 12 months.

-Yeah.

-It's been sat at home. I did a little bit of research on the net,

-found out what I could.

-What has your research told you?

-I think it's Frederick the Great.

-Yes.

-The King of Prussia.

Yes, it's a portrait you see of him, you know, a famous portrait.

-Yeah.

-King of Prussia. Great to some.

-Yeah, I believe so, yeah.

-And not great to others.

So he was around, what?

Mid-18th, 1740-1780-something, 1786, something like that?

'86, I think, yeah, '86, '96.

And a very domineering character.

I believe so, yeah.

Well, it's probably 100 years later to Frederick the Great.

-Yeah, right.

-I think this is mid-to-late 19th century.

-All right.

-This one isn't signed

and it's a sort of, in a way, an old souvenir,

something that you picked up on the Continent at the end of the 19th

century as a keepsake. Lots of people collect miniatures, too,

because they don't take up much room.

-No, they're small, aren't they?

-And they're pretty pleasing to own.

-Yeah.

-But hand done watercolours, not printed.

And with that stippled technique that you see in the background,

classic miniature painting.

If you can see, it's been in the back of that frame quite a long time

and this is some sort of old stock number or reference tab on the silk

backing. So you bought it at a car-boot sale?

-I'm guessing that wasn't for a lot, then?

-A pound.

-A pound?

-Yeah.

-A pound.

-In a junk box on the floor.

A pound was not bad at all.

I mean, I don't think it's going to be hundreds of pounds, but it's

certainly going to be £40-£60.

-Oh.

-I would think that would be a sensible estimate.

And do you know what? I was filming with someone earlier and I said,

"What are you going to do with the money?"

And they said, "I'm going to spend it on a portrait miniature".

-Oh, right.

-They're going to be at the auction, so you never know.

-They might end up buying it.

-We might have found you a buyer for it

already. He's a famous historical character and there should be no

problem in getting potential bidders at that kind of level.

Are you happy to put it in at that level?

-Yeah, I am.

-You could stick a 40 quid reserve on it, if you want.

-Yeah, we'll do that.

-Yeah. Yeah, and then if it makes less, so be it.

-You like it anyway, so you don't mind keeping it?

-I do.

-Good.

If it made 60 or 70 quid, which it's got a chance of doing,

-anything specific you'd do with the money?

-Not really, no. Just,

I've been off sick for a while so every penny helps at the moment.

OK. Well, I wish you a recovery.

-Brilliant.

-A speedy recovery and thank you for bringing it along

and keep up the car boot finds.

-Will do. Yeah. Well done.

-Now, where exactly was this car-boot sale?

What a find!

You know, it never fails to amaze me what turns up at car boots.

Next up, it's Charles, who's been served up an unusual little dish.

-How are you, Stephen?

-Fine, thank you.

Yeah, do you know, I feel like your lobster, giving it all that,

quite literally. Tell me about this great object.

I bought it on a car-boot sale.

It was either '89 or '90 and I paid £20 for it.

-1989?

-1989 or 1990.

And I gave £20 for that.

What drew you to this object?

Well, I had some plates from Greece and I saw this and I thought,

"That's going to look nice above the cooker".

Yes, what I love about this is its three-dimensional form.

-I know, yeah.

-And just by lifting it up,

we can see how realistic that lobster is.

Yeah.

Now, some people see these objects as dust gatherers, hard to clean,

-aren't they?

-I've never cleaned it.

-Excuse me?

-I've never cleaned it.

So in 25 years, you've never cleaned it?

Never, you can see the dust on the top, look.

-I like your style.

-Look at the fat, look at all the kitchen fat on it.

Oh, don't! What's it made of?

-Porcelain, I think.

-It's pottery.

-Yeah.

-And in fact, it's a lead glazed earthenware.

-Oh, right.

-OK? And I dream

that one day I would find an original of these.

If this was original, dated to the 1550s,

a very important man called Bernard...

If only, if only.

Hold that thought! Bernard Palissy was a very important man,

who was born circa 1510, who died in the late 16th century,

and he evolved this style of decoration on pottery in mainland

France in the mid-16th century.

If this was the genuine article

and was by the Palissy School of the mid-16th century,

it would be worth between £50,000 and £70,000.

Look at me.

OK? If only! If only.

And our great Victorian friends revived the great

Renaissance in the late 19th century.

So I would date this marvellous lead glazed earthenware to around 1890.

So when you bought it back in '89, it was 100 years old.

-Right.

-Does that surprise you?

-Yeah.

-We use the word encrustations, in this sense quite literally,

because we've got this lobster on almost this seabed of seaweed.

-And it's so real.

-I love the way it's all, it's all been built up.

-Absolutely.

-I mean, obviously,

they must have had a flat plate and then build it all up from the plate.

Yeah, and that was Palissy's charm and why it was so popular on those

great late medieval tables from 500 years ago.

The next best thing for it to be a revival was, is it English?

Is it made by Minton?

They were making this in 1847, very early.

So when I turn it over,

what we can see on the back is the fact it's been pierced for hanging,

and with this old wire, we can see,

you've quite rightly had it on your wall in your kitchen for display,

but there are no markings whatsoever.

We've got a very Continental underside with this spun glaze.

And that's a real Portuguese code, to the fact it is Continental.

And I'm 90% sure this is Portuguese, from around 1890,

with this majolica ground.

Fashion, though, now, Victoriana is slightly out.

-Exactly.

-The dust gatherers are not so in.

We like the more minimal.

But to some collectors, it really is a joy.

-What's it worth?

-Well, I was thinking £150.

-Look at me. How much?

-£150, I was thinking.

I like your style! I like your style!

Well, I was looking and they range...

-Massively.

-..various prices.

I mean, some Americans were quoting 499.

You are quite right, and one thing I will mention,

it is the Americans who do like this very outrageous design.

I would like to guide it at between £50-£80.

It might make 100.

And I propose we put a reserve on at £40.

That's OK.

And I feel that's going to engage the buyers to really compete

for this object which, for its age, although not original,

is in mighty fine condition.

Let's hope there's some Americans at the...

Let's hope the Americans are...

-There.

-Thanks a lot, Stephen.

That plate feels quite at home here in seaside Morecambe.

-Have you enjoyed yourselves? ALL:

-Yes!

Well, a big thank you to all the people of Morecambe and beyond for

coming in today and making our show.

We've had some wonderful items and we've had a fantastic host location,

The Platform, but sadly, it's time to say goodbye.

But there is no rest for the wicked.

I can't sit down. It's straight over to the auction room, and here's a

quick reminder, just to jog your memory,

of all the items we are taking with us.

We're hoping that Molly's car badges are getting everyone revved up and

bump up the prices in the saleroom.

That Russian watercolour was a great car boot find by Ian,

and it's bound to get the bidders rushing in to snap it up.

And Stephen's seafood plate is a great catch for us and is bound to

hook the buyers in at auction.

There is a great buzz in the room and Wilf Mould, the man with the

gavel, is in full flow. GAVEL BANGS

That's it, there's a lot of badges here,

but you do need a chrome bumper for them.

-Absolutely.

-Ah, you've got to have a chrome bumper, haven't you?

-Oh, have you?

-Well, yeah,

they wouldn't look right on a modern bumper,

would they, some of those badges? They are just so gorgeous.

I think he had a good eye and this type of thing is well sought-after

at auto sort of sales.

They do, they have a nostalgia to them.

-They do.

-Happy driving over the years.

Exactly, put them on the old classic cars and off you go.

Let's find out what the bidders think.

Good luck, everyone. This is it.

A collection of 13 vintage car badges,

and we have interest on the phones and on the book at £75 with me.

75 and 80 now.

85 online.

90. 95. 100. 110. 120.

We're in top gear now. Look at that. We've shifted up.

130 on the phone. 130, 140 from anybody else?

At £130, I'm looking...

140 is online now.

-150.

-Hold tight.

150. 160 now.

At 150 on my left here.

160. 170. 180 this time.

-Come on.

-At £170.

180, anybody else?

All done at 170.

GAVEL BANGS Yes, hammer's gone down. £170.

-Pleased with that.

-Good stuff. Peter did a good job there.

-Yeah.

-You'd be proud of him, yeah.

Those are really nice.

And they will go to a great home, another collector.

-Yeah.

-And hopefully those badges

will be on a chrome bumper somewhere.

-One day.

-Who's got the right classic for it.

One down and two to go.

The room is still busy with bidders and hopefully that bodes well for

our next item. Going under the hammer right now,

we have that classic Palissy majolica plate.

I mean, it is lovely, isn't it?

But they do collect a lot of dust when they're on the wall.

-Oh, yes.

-Did you have to dust this one a lot?

-Never moved it.

-Never!

-Never dusted it, never touched it,

-stuck it on the wall.

-So why are we selling today?

Because I've changed kitchen.

OK. So it doesn't suit a contemporary style?

No, it doesn't suit my kitchen at all. I've gone very modern.

But what they say with these plates is the more creepy crawlies,

the better, the higher the value.

-Exactly.

-Because obviously the work's gone into it.

And also, Paul, all the creepy crawlies are in good condition.

There's no knocks or nibbles.

-So hopefully it will make a good sale.

-Fingers crossed.

It's not a lot of money for such a lot of work.

And it's going under the hammer right now.

We come now to this, er, majolica, Palissy style wall plaque.

A nice thing again is this.

And I shall start this one immediately at £28.

-28.

-Oh, come on.

-It went really quiet.

-On the pad.

30. 32.

35. 38. 40. £40. 42 now.

At 40, in the room, looking for 42.

At £40, come on, they don't crop up that often. 42, there. 42.

45. 48.

At 48 from the lady at the back.

48. 50 now.

£50. 55? 55.

-Yes.

-60 up here now.

55 at the back of the room, there.

All done at £55.

No more, all done at 55.

Hammer's gone down, £55.

-That's a good result.

-It's gone.

-£20, you paid for that, didn't you?

-£20, yeah.

-25 years ago.

That's a lot of money, actually.

-It was.

-And the good thing is, it's been on the wall,

out of harm's way, and that's the best thing for those little plates,

-isn't it?

-Exactly. It's gone now.

-Thank you for coming in.

-OK.

-Good job.

-Cheers.

-And our final lot of the day, that royal watercolour,

bought for the princely sum of £1.

It's the King of Prussia and it belongs to Ian,

who got this at a car boot.

-Only for a pound.

-Did you like the image and think, "Actually, yeah,

-"I want to buy that?"

-I'd have thought it was quirky,

and then done a little bit of research on it and found it were the King of Prussia.

Good for you, doing your own research. And then obviously it

went, ding, ding, ding, ding, there's money to be earned here,

you thought. A bit of history. A bit of value in it, yeah.

Yeah, that's the way to make money. And I'd advise that to anybody.

Buy something like that, do some research, stick it into auction.

Because this platform here, the auction room,

you can sell all over the world, can't you?

Well, yeah, and certainly from the point of view of an auction house,

it's nice to know when people come along and they know what they've got

because they've some research. They may not know what it's worth, but if

they can say, "We know this and this," then, yeah,

it shows that that you've got someone who's interested.

Yeah. Look, good luck, I hope you make a good profit.

It's going under the hammer now.

We have this 19th century portrait miniature

depicting Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Who will start me at £80 for this one?

80, any of you? Straight on.

-90 now.

-Go on, son.

-Yeah.

-We want some of that.

I'll take 130 if you want.

I've 120. 130. I'll take 130 on the phone.

Is that a bid of 130?

130 is on the telephone.

140 is online.

150 now. 150, I'll take.

At £140 online...

Always popular, miniatures, as you see, as well.

Nice things for a little cabinet.

All done at £140, this time, and it's going.

That's brilliant. £140. That hammer's gone down.

-Put it there.

-Thanks very much.

-Great.

Yeah, I'm with you on that, Adam.

Good for you. Back out there again, hunting?

Just reinvest some of it.

-Reinvest, probably, yeah.

-That pound, take that pound out!

-Got me money back!

-Put it to good use again.

All done at £32.

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

As you can see, the sale is still going on, but what a day we have had

here. All credit to our experts and the man on the rostrum,

our auctioneer, Wilf. Well done to all.

I hope you've enjoyed the show. Join us again for many more surprises,

but until then, it's goodbye from all of us.