Weston-super-Mare Flog It!

This seaside town was just a tiny village of 100 people

back in the early part of the 19th century,

but it soon grew into a popular Victorian seaside destination.

It now boasts a population of 70,000 people.

So, where are we?

Well, Flog It! today comes from Weston-super-Mare.

Behind me is the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare,

the heart and soul of the seafront.

Later on in the programme, I shall be returning here

to find out how the Grand Pier

used to look like this.

Now, sadly, it looks like that, but hopefully, it will rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

But right now, I've got this massive great big queue to contend with

outside the Winter Gardens and they're all laden with antiques and collectables,

hoping they're going to be one of the lucky ones chosen for the Flog It! auction,

-where they'll earn a small fortune. Are you ready for this?

-Yes!

There are hundreds of people here at the Winter Gardens today, waiting for valuations.

And eager to find a gem are experts Anita Manning...

-And a wee hanky.

-..and Michael Baggott.

They couldn't be any cheaper.

Well, everybody's now safely seated inside, they're all happy,

it's a packed house and it looks like Michael has already spotted something.

Let's take a closer look at what he's looking at.

Marianne, thank you for bringing this lovely brooch along today.

-My pleasure.

-I'm surprised you're not tempted to wear it.

It's a bit dated and heavy for my choice.

Yes. Where does it come from?

It comes from my mother-in-law.

-Oh, my word.

-And when she died, it was given to me

-and, um...

-Did you wear it at all?

No, I haven't. I haven't. I tried to begin with, but it's just not me.

If there was one word to describe this brooch it would be "Victorian".

-Yes.

-Possibly not in the most flattering sense.

It's typical of jewellery that's made towards the 1860, 1880 period.

-Right.

-They tend to be manufactured in Birmingham.

It is unmarked,

-but it's certainly low-carat gold.

-Right.

It's probably nine carat, that's then dipped in an acid bath and with nine carat gold, there's a

high copper content and if you dip it in acid, it eats away all the copper on the surface and leaves pure gold.

-Oh, right.

-So it has the appearance of a higher carat of gold.

-Right.

-The Victorians were nothing if not ingenious.

That's quite clever, isn't it?

It was probably made in Birmingham and all these little separate scrolls

-that look so finely hand-chased were done in a huge machine.

-Really?

-A large fly press and kerchunk, kerchunk.

-Even that far back?

Even that far back. Oh, the fly press goes back to the early 17th century.

-Good heavens.

-And all these little pieces would have been

soldered together and they've had a plain piece of gold

set to the back and it's set in the centre with a citrine,

which is a lovely faceted stone,

a lovely colour of stone as well, and very popular at that date.

-Any idea what it might be worth?

-No.

I would imagine at auction that's between £70 and £100 pounds.

-Right.

-And, you know, you would protect it with a reserve of £70,

because I don't think you'd want to sell it for any less.

-I'd prefer not to.

-No.

-It would be criminal to sell it for any less, really.

-Right.

Hopefully, it will sparkle in the auction.

-We'll give it a go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you for bringing it.

-Thank you.

That's just fabulous.

I've been doing a bit of digging around myself.

You never know what's been gathering dust in people's attics.

What have you got?

-Old photographs.

-Is it cigarette cards?

-Yeah.

-Senior Service Cigarette Album. Did you collect them?

-My mother did.

-Your mother did.

You've got a table. What have you got?

Hey, look at that! Is it the same cards?

No, I don't think so.

-Do you two know each other?

-No, we've never seen each other.

I bought these at a charity auction 20 years ago.

You've got quite a few in there as well. And you've got quite a few.

Britain from the air.

Look at that. Well, the bad news is the value's just gone down,

if there's lots about!

As I keep searching for that rare beauty,

Anita looks like she's found something

that's captured her imagination.

Bill, why are you selling these pots?

These two pots have been in the house... We bought the house - Mary,

my wife, and I - we bought the house from her father and there were

various bits and pieces in the house

and these two pots were amongst the pieces that were there.

When Mary saw the advert that this was on here,

she decided to go up in the loft and get down her pieces of Royal Doulton.

She said they're better going to someone that's going

to make use of them, rather than be up in the loft.

Well, they've probably been there since the 1920s or 1930s,

-because that's when these pots date from.

-Really?

Yeah. I mean, Doulton is a factory which always produced

good-quality porcelain and stoneware

and these pots are a part of that wonderful Doulton tradition.

If we look at them, we can see that they are transfer printed

and not hand-painted, so you would have had a transfer here.

Nice pair.

Good condition.

Not bad period.

I would put an estimate of...60 to £80,

-that's £30 apiece.

-Right.

-£30 apiece.

But just to give us that safety net, we, perhaps, should put, say,

-£50 reserve on them.

-Sell them as a pair?

We'll sell both of them together. Uh-huh.

-A pair is always better than two single ones.

-Right.

Do you think you would be happy with that price?

-My wife had quoted to me that she would be happy with that sort of a price.

-Is she the boss?

She's the boss regarding these two.

-Yeah.

-Most of the time, actually.

That's absolutely fine. Great.

-Thank you for coming to Flog It!

-Thank you very much.

Brian, you've made me smile. I'm in love with this two-gallon measure.

Did you have any connections with the brewery?

None at all, but I did actually go at the time when they were retiring,

about 1968, and I bought it from one of the partners.

-Did you get both measuring jugs?

-No, no. This is from my wife's side of the family.

It has always been used as a vase but I think it's some sort of grain measure.

It is a grain or hop measure, yes.

I never realised that they did hallmarked wood.

Yes. You can see just there.

-There's the mark of King George.

-Yes.

-You see the crown and a G?

-Yes.

And it's got..."Bedford"...

-..on the bottom hoop.

-I don't know what the significance of "Bedford" is.

-I think it came from Bedford.

-Ah.

The civic Bedford, not the Duke of Bedford.

It's been coopered very well in these lovely bands. Very nice.

Any idea of value on that?

Not really.

It's been with us so long, we don't really think of it in those terms.

Well, it's been your vase, hasn't it?

I think, because it has got the crown stamped in

and the G and we've got these lovely, heavy, coopered rings,

I'm hoping that'll realise about £100 to £120 at auction.

Right. I'd be quite happy with that.

-But it's this one, now this is your one.

-Yes.

You managed to buy this off the guy

from the firm in Birmingham when it was shutting down.

-Yes.

-And is that the chap?

-Yes.

Edward James, and on the day I bought it,

this Edward James was in the premises and he said it was a two-gallon jug

and he wanted £2 for each gallon so it cost £4.

It cost you £4. Isn't that lovely?

Proportionately and architecturally, that stands really, really well.

And I think your

£2 a gallon

could today translate into

£100 a gallon.

That would be rather nice.

I think we could get £200 for this.

-I'm quite happy to see someone else enjoy it.

-OK.

Rodney, welcome to Flog It!

and thank you for bringing along this nice little group here.

-Thank you, Anita.

-Tell me, where did you get them?

Well, from my father and then obviously from his father.

It was my grandfather they belonged to in the first place.

They've just been in a drawer for many years and they're just there.

My children don't want them, so we thought we'd bring them along

and see if they were worth anything.

Well, thank you for bringing them along.

Let's have a closer look.

The first thing is this Victorian watch chain,

or Albert.

Secondly,

we have the silver pocket watch and, thirdly,

a nice little pair of nine-carat gold cuff links.

Now, the thing that draws me first is the watch chain here

and I've had a wee look at that. Each of the links

is hallmarked, so it's a gold chain.

And we have this little fob here,

with the carnelian stone in it, so it's a nice little lot.

Your pocket watch is not really compatible with the chain.

The chain is a gold chain, nine-carat gold, the watch is silver

and it's hallmarked.

If we open it from the back, we will see the silver hallmark there.

We have a little lion mark.

This would maybe have been your grandfather's everyday watch

and he would have had a gold watch to go with that

-for high days and holidays.

-Right.

With this little lot is cuff links. Again, they are

hallmarked in nine-carat gold

and I would imagine that they would come from probably the 1930s.

This little area of machined pattern here

has a wee Art Deco look about it.

Yes.

Now, Rodney, I would put this wee lot together.

-Yes.

-It makes it interesting to have three parts of it

and I would estimate it in the region of 150-250.

Would you be happy to put it into auction at that?

Yes, very much. Yes. Yes.

The gold is high just now so it's a good time to sell gold.

We'll put a firm reserve of 150 on it.

Oh, right.

If we sell it, what are you going to do with the money?

We'll split it between our two grandchildren.

-Ah.

-Tyler and Emily.

And what age are they?

-Tyler's seven and Emily's one.

-Thank you for bringing them along.

Thank you, Anita. Thank you.

Some interesting items, so here's what we're taking to auction.

Marianne will be glad to see her inherited brooch sell.

It's a bit dated and heavy for my choice.

Bill and his wife inherited this pair of Royal Doulton bowls

with their house, but now it's time to find them a new home.

My two choices were Brian's measuring jugs,

one made from wood and the other from copper.

When he bought the copper jug from a brewery,

Brian paid just a few pounds.

And I think your £2 a gallon

could today translate into £100 a gallon.

'Let's hope I'm proved right.'

And Rodney inherited his collection from his grandfather

and wants to pass the money down to his grandchildren.

So let's find out if the kids will be in for a real treat or not.

We've popped up the road to the village of Kenn,

just outside the seaside town of Clevedon, for today's sale

and this is where all the action is taking place - the Clevedon Salerooms.

And I think it's just about to start so let's get inside.

And today's auctioneer is Marc Burridge, so let's hope he can bring home some good prices.

The first of our lots

is Marianne's Victorian brooch and Michael put an estimate of 70 to £100 on it.

It's a real fashion thing, brooches.

They are, yes.

They are. And we have found in the past on Flog It!

that they either fly away or they're really hard to sell.

Or they struggle. I mean, today, I don't think I've seen anybody wearing a brooch.

-No.

-So they can be difficult things.

What you want, because yours was in such a lovely condition, is a collector.

-Whether it goes today is, as you say, Paul, they sometimes fly...

-It's a fashion accessory thing.

-..sometimes they're left flat.

-Well, look...

We've got a packed saleroom. 50% of the occupants are women, fingers crossed.

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

Lot 620, Victorian, citrine-set brooch.

Nicely-engraved decoration there.

Lot 620, what can we say? 50 with me and 5.

5 and 60 and 5 and 70 and 5 and 80...

Good. We've sold it.

80, 80, 80 with you. 80, 80, 80 with you.

At £75, the bid's in the room, selling on £75 then.

Yes. It's good.

The brooch-wearers or the collectors were here.

It could be a brooch-wearing collector but I haven't seen one.

-That was a good result.

-Yes.

There's commission to pay with it but there's a bit of spending money for you.

I'm just relieved it's gone!

Oh, this next lot's nice.

Great name, great size, two jardinieres, Royal Doulton.

They belong to William and we need all the money to go towards a special holiday.

Why are you selling these two lovely jardinieres?

They belong to my wife, actually, but...

-She doesn't like them?

-They've been in the loft.

She never ever... Since we moved in, they've been in the loft

and it's just the fact that when we saw you were down here, we came down.

Good chance to get on telly, as well.

Yes, so we brought them down.

-Is she here today?

-She is but she won't come on the television.

Well, she's giving you moral support anyway.

-These are very nice.

-Oh, they're so sweet.

-Charming.

-You get a lot of value for your money, really.

Yes, well, you have two of them, a pair.

-Yeah.

-Which is always good. They're functional items, good factory and idyllic little rural scenes.

-Very charming.

-Good value for money as well.

Right, they're going under the hammer now.

Lot 320, a pair of Royal Doulton series jardinieres.

£50 I'm starting.

And 5. Who's got 60?

5, 70, 5, 80, 5, 90, 5, 100, now 10.

In the room on £100.

And 10? And 10? And 10?

That's more like it.

And 10? Are you all done on £100? Selling on 100 then.

-Yes.

-Oh, it's good to round it up at the very end.

-Yes, yes.

-£100. Put that into the kitty.

-Yeah.

Can you...? Where is she? Where is your wife?

Yes, she's just there, grinning.

There is commission but that's something towards that trip.

Yes, oh, quite. We were expecting... No, it's very good.

Right, now it's my turn to be the expert

and I'm joined by Brian and we've got two wonderful measuring jugs with great history as well.

It's nice to have that connection.

They've both been used in their time.

Yes, yes. I particularly like the little walnut one.

I think that's cute and it's so tactile.

I haven't seen a lot of interest on the copper one but I'm sure it'll sell itself.

We've revised the estimate slightly, we've brought

the estimate slightly down, lower, and hopefully, fingers crossed,

these are going to sell well.

Oh, I hope so.

And lot 40 there is the hardwood dry measuring jug.

Here we go, Brian, this is our lot.

Lot number 40. Interest here.

At 35, £40 on the book, 45 on the book...

50 on the book with me,

5, 5, 5 now, 55, 55, 55,

55, 55 in the room,

60 on the book, 5 with you, 5 bid, 70 on the book...

-It's a struggle, isn't it?

-At £70. Anyone else, 5?

All done at £70 then.

£70 and he sold it.

Just. I know we had a reserve of 80

and I think he's used his own discretion there.

He might make the difference up but it's gone at £70

-I don't mind.

-And you don't mind.

No. I'm happy that someone else has got it.

That was right on our lower end of the estimate.

Oh, well, one down, one more to go.

Let's hope we have a bit of luck.

Many thanks. Lot 60 is a two-gallon measure there,

from the cellars of James Ltd

in Birmingham, with a souvenir brochure from the same company.

Lot 60, what can we say there?

70, 80, £90 with me, give me 100.

100, 100, thank you, 10 with me.

-Selling at 110 with me, give me 20, will you?

-Come on, please.

120, will you? 120, will you? All done then at £110.

Commission buyer.

Yes, we've just sold that one.

Gosh, things are close today.

£110, which makes a total, with the two lots, of £180

and all the money's going to the charity...

-Send A Cow...

-To Africa. Brian, thank you so much for coming in.

Thank you very much. Very enjoyable.

Rodney, these were your grandfather's...

-Yes.

-We're looking at £150-£250.

-That's right.

-And the trade are here today so things are selling well.

The gold's selling. Fingers crossed.

-Yes, fingers crossed.

-Because the scrap value's right up there now.

Everybody seems to be putting their money into gold rather than into the banks.

Yeah. Credit crunch.

Exactly. Well, let's find out what sort of credit crunch

is going on here in Clevedon, shall we? This is it.

Lot 640, it's in the catalogue there,

it's the gold Albert with the fob et cetera.

They're all in the catalogue there, what can we say?

200 I'm bid, now 10.

210, 20, 30.

-Straight in at the top.

-Yes.

-250, 60, 70. 270, 270, 270...

-Excellent.

270, 80, 90.

300. 320.

Yeah. 310, now 20.

320. It's in the room at £310 then.

That was a good result, £310.

There's commission to pay here

but what are you going to spend the money on?

Well, it's going to be split between my grandchildren.

Yes, it was a family thing.

But now it will be split between three grandchildren.

When we were thinking of selling it, it was only two.

So now there's a third one from last Saturday, so that's round about £100 each, I suppose.

That was a brilliant result for Rodney and his grandchildren,

but don't go away, as there are plenty more surprising results

when we return later to the auction rooms.

Not in my wildest dreams. That's wonderful.

Well, that's the excitement of auctions, you never know what's going to happen.

Well, I've left the auction behind for a little while and I've popped out to indulge in a wonderfully

nostalgic experience, one that very nearly died out.

Welcome to the Curzon Community Cinema here in the heart of Clevedon.

Now this is one of the oldest continually running cinemas still operating in the world.

But in 1995, it nearly disappeared and it was due to follow in the path of so many other doomed

independent cinemas if it hadn't have been for the people for Clevedon.

The Curzon had a special place in the hearts of so many of the people in the community that

a large group of them got together to save the cinema.

Hence in 1996, it became the Curzon Community Cinema.

In doing so, it's guaranteed a cinema is on this site for

many more years to come so I think I should cough up my £5.50. Hi, there.

Hello, thank you. Bye.

Thank you.

Where's my ticket?

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

Well, I wasn't expecting this! It's fantastic!

It's like a throwback to the 1920s.

It has all the trappings of a traditional picture house.

Well, I've got my popcorn and my traditional cinema ticket.

We've got these incredible 1920s surroundings.

I'm starting to see what the people in Clevedon saw in this little gem and why they wanted to save it.

The first cinema building erected on this site was named The Picture House

and it was the brainchild of Victor Cox, a local sculptor and monumental stone mason.

The grand opening of The Picture House took place on 20th April, 1912,

at 7.00pm and the cinema was packed to capacity with many people being turned away.

Since its opening night about 100 years ago, The Picture House has gone through many reincarnations

but the most crucial moment in its history came in 1995,

when as a cinema, it was on the verge of closure.

Gareth, it's a pleasure to meet you.

You're the Director of the Curzon Community Cinema here in the heart

of Clevedon and I'm so pleased they saved this place.

Why do you think it was so important to keep the cinema open?

Well, I think a venue like this can provide a real focal point, not just for a community but

also because it's a link to the whole heritage of cinema and to the picture houses from the golden age

of cinemas in the '20s and '30s. So we have people in Clevedon

who have been coming here for decades and have now been able to introduce their children and even grandchildren

to go into a traditional cinema in their home town.

How did the people of the community go about saving the cinema?

Well, when they heard that the company who owned the building had

gone into receivership, John Webber and a group of like-minded people basically formed a registered charity

with the aim of buying the building and keeping it running as a cinema for the benefit of the community.

So there was a great deal of publicity in the local press,

there were public meetings held here in the cinema, which had people spilling out of the doors.

A lot of people put money in to try and raise the money to keep it going as a going concern.

One of the things that first struck me when I came in was the relaxed experience.

Is that a policy that you want to maintain?

We certainly try to keep a friendly atmosphere and to give people a warm welcome,

whereas I think a lot of the bigger cinemas have this...

People have this feeling that they're slightly impersonal places, whereas we try very hard

to make this a kind of unique place to visit, one that's very much at the heart of the community.

And it's a trip into nostalgia as well, isn't it?

You've got the old cinema tickets, you've got the organ, you've got...

just awesome embossed walls.

They look like Moroccan red leather! I know they're not!

Most of the auditorium that we're sitting in now

dates back to 1920, although there has been a cinema on this site since 1912,

so we're nearly 100 years old.

But I mean, the embossed metal panels are a big part of the reason why we gained listed building status.

What I'd love to do is have a wander around.

I know there's some interesting things up there but at least show me the projection booth and backstage.

-Can I do that?

-Yeah, of course.

-I'll follow you.

-All right.

Here we are in the projection room, the nerve centre.

I guess this is the most important room in the cinema, really.

It is, yes. For anyone wanting to watch a film, it certainly would be.

-So the pressure's on the projectionist?

-Absolutely.

-How does the film arrive?

Well, we have two main projectors here.

I mean, we have one which is your 35mm projector,

which is essentially how film has basically been shown for

the last 100 odd years and on a 35 mm traditional print, it comes in a big box like this.

-So a courier drops this off?

-A courier drops this off.

And it costs a lot of money, that, I would imagine!

It comes in up to six to eight separate reels.

So that's the standard 35mm format.

There is an option now, isn't there?

There is. We do also have here a digital projector and the film

comes in a rather different format for this. I've just got one here.

This is kind of state of the art kit now, isn't it?

It is yes, so I mean this is Che Part Two, which we ran last week.

So this is the whole movie in that little case.

The whole movie in this little case and it comes on a hard drive,

so what happens is, we put this into the server on the digital projector,

we download the film and then we can show it on the digi-projector as many times as we've got the licence for.

So it's a lot cleaner, a lot simpler and easier to use?

It doesn't have the wear and tear that you can get on 35mm prints and it is a lot easier to operate.

It's so simple, even I can do it!

There's some other treats here, I know. I know there's definitely a balcony.

-I'd love to see that.

-There is a balcony but we're going to go

from something that is very modern to something that's a little bit older.

Well, here we are in the auditorium, up in the gods, so to speak.

Why is that false ceiling still there, or why did they put it there in the first place?

Well, they put it in there in the early '70s and at the time,

it was really a perfectly sensible economic decision, unfortunately.

So, out of sight, out of mind!

Well, I mean it was at an era when cinema attendances were just dropping through the floor.

I mean, it's a really big space to heat as you can imagine, so at the time it just made sense that it was

easier to run the cinema without the balcony in operation, unfortunately.

This is great up here! What a space!

-It is!

-Look at that!

That ceiling!

It looks like you've got space for about, what 100 seats, a bit more, maybe?

A little bit more I think, certainly at the time.

You could fill these!

With the right film, we could absolutely fill it, yes.

Would you contemplate sort of having

luxury seats up here, wider ones or something like that?

I think, yes. I think we quite possibly would.

I mean, I do sometimes meet older people in Clevedon,

who reminisce about sitting up here when they were kids.

But the fabric of the building is here, it's intact and it can be achieved.

The roof above the ceiling is about 80 years old now

and it is leaking in several places, so we are working on

a fund-raising drive to patch up the worst of the leaks.

The first priority has to be to make sure the fabric of the building is

safe and sound for the next three generations.

You're doing a fantastic job, you and your team.

Thank you for sharing a bit of time with me and showing me around.

My pleasure.

This cinema obviously holds a very special place in the hearts of

the people of Clevedon and after visiting the Curzon Community Cinema today, I understand why.

It's great to see an old picture house like this going from strength

to strength, run by the very people that depend on it.

And there's still a full house back at the Winter Gardens and Anita has

found a piece of Poole Pottery nearly as tall as her!

Jane, I always love to see Poole Pottery on Flog It,

it's one of my favourites.

Now, tell me, does this belong to you?

No, actually, it belongs to my parents.

They bought it in about, I think, 1969.

My brothers and I were deemed old enough and responsible enough

to be left on our own and they went on their first holiday on their own,

from having children, and they went to Weymouth and they went to Poole Pottery.

-And they brought this back?

-Yeah.

Did you behave yourself when they were away?

I did, but my brothers didn't.

So it belongs to your mum and dad?

-Yes.

-Do they know that you've got this vase here today?

My father said it was OK. Checked with Mum, and they said it's OK.

Excellent, excellent. This vase is similar to the design

on the earlier pieces from the 1930s

and it also has the embossed mark on it, which the earlier pieces had.

Can you see the embossed mark here, but the later pieces like this

had a less heavy pattern and perhaps slightly muted colours.

I love them, I think that Poole

has painterly qualities, artistic qualities and design qualities.

It's always made a wonderful product and it is still doing so today.

Price-wise, Poole has gone off a little bit

in the last couple of years. 1930s stuff was very popular

and doing very well, but it's come down a wee bitty, a wee bitty.

I would put an estimate of £30 to £50.

Jane, we both like this vase, but tell me, why are you selling it?

Well, my daughter and I knew that Flog It

was coming to Weston-super-Mare, we live in North Devon.

I don't have anything that's worth anything and I knew my parents had this, and we wanted to come

to Flog It, we love Flog It and so here we are.

And here you are part of the Flog It experience.

-Indeed, indeed.

-Which is wonderful fun, wonderful fun.

It is a great day, we've had a great day.

Ian, I'm a little shame-faced with my - I shall cover it up -

my horrible battery-operated digital watch

cos you've brought in this stunner.

-Yes.

-Can you tell me, where did you get it from?

Well, it was left to my wife in some effects.

-Oh, right.

-And I have been wearing it occasionally.

It is a beautiful timepiece but the one disadvantage

is having to wind it and inevitably, of course,

you forget and it can make you late for appointments.

Which is not good, is it? It's not good.

Well, you are going to have to be more disciplined in your winding

or get a battery-operated one.

I have resorted to one, that's why I'm offering it today.

-I'm afraid we do. It's shocking, isn't it?

-Yes.

I would be tempted to wear this on a daily basis, were it mine. It's a stunning watch.

Have you any idea when or where it was made?

Well, I've seen from the sign inside

-that it was from Universal of Geneva.

-Right.

And about ten years ago, I looked up their website

and found this model in a catalogue of about 1937.

It was pictured there.

Well, that's tremendously useful and the joy of this,

because I love watches that do things,

and you can tell immediately by those two lugs

that it's not an ordinary watch.

So if we press the first one and we watch this black enamelled hand here,

one would imagine that your horse was running down the track

and you were waiting to see how long it would do a furlong

and then it's past the post and stop,

and then you've got the reading.

-And then, of course, this second button, after you've pressed it, is to reset...

-Yeah.

And I think that's tremendous fun.

-I hate to use the expression "boy's toy" but it does fall into that category.

-Yes.

Why have you decided to part with it now?

Well, I think for the reasons I mentioned. It's, um...

You do have the disadvantage of having to remember to wind it up regularly, so I've reverted

to the modern option, with batteries and what have you.

Well, I think it's a stunning watch.

Any idea of the value?

I don't know. 150? 250?

I think you're in the right ballpark but I think you're being conservative. Which is good news.

I think we should pop that into the sale.

-I think the saleroom estimate should be 250 to £350.

-OK.

-After all, it is a multi-functional, 18-carat gold, gent's Swiss wristwatch.

-It is, yes.

And when you say that, it doesn't sound a lot of money for it.

I think if we give the auctioneer a small amount of discretion

and put the reserve fixed at £230.

Yes, I'd be very happy with that.

I think there should be people fighting over it in the saleroom.

Let's hope so.

Ann, what a charming little cottage scene we have here.

Can you tell me, where did you get it?

I looked after an elderly lady, she was about 90, 93 or something,

and she left it to me when she died.

-That's very nice. Have you had it on the wall?

-Yes, I have.

What's it doing in here today, then?

Well, we're changing to a... Downsizing our house.

-Yes.

-It doesn't go with the decor now.

When I look at a picture,

the front of it first of all,

but I always look at the back

because very often the back of a picture

can tell us a lot more about it.

And here we see that we have a subject -

a mill cottage at Dinasmowdy, North Wales.

That's giving us a little help in trying to identify it.

If you look at the picture as an item on its own,

we can see some distress in the canvas here.

The paint has separated from the canvas

but the scene has a lot of charm.

Ann, I would estimate this picture between 150 and 250.

Would you be happy to sell it at that?

My husband wanted to sell it at no lower than 200.

Uh-huh. He wants a reserve of 200?

-Yes.

-Well, I think we should give it a punt, we should give it a try.

-Lovely.

-We shall see what happens.

Thank you, Anita.

Peter, thank you for bringing along

these two marvellous, interesting items.

Before I tell you about them, can you tell me where you got them?

I was working in Dublin about 30 years ago

and there was an antiques shop in the suburbs

and we were passing by, and we bought them.

A difficult question when anyone's bought from an antiques shop -

were they expensive things?

No. I can vaguely remember that the bottle was 30 punts,

-which, I think, was about £25 at the time.

-Oh, marvellous.

And that was less, but I can't remember what the actual amount was.

My wife liked the scent bottle

and that just looked an interesting item.

So, really, you bought them for the best reasons?

-Yeah.

-Which is not a maker's mark or anything?

-No.

-You just liked the object.

-Indeed. Well, let's look at this first.

This is an English, silver-mounted

toilet bottle, or scent flask,

and you get them in various sizes like this.

You can have a round one, sort of this large, with silver casing on it.

What's interesting is if we open it up...

What a long stopper!

That's the longest one I've seen.

That's quite impressive.

So that, to a scent-bottle collector, is a very nice feature

because you can imagine how tremendously fragile that is,

and how easily it's chipped, broken or simply misplaced.

We've got a set of hallmarks here and we've got the maker's mark,

which is J, G and S, which is John Gloster & Sons.

We've got the Birmingham anchor and the date letter for 1913.

This, to my mind, is actually the better of the two pieces,

even though it cost you slightly less.

I mean, it's... Anyone can see it's a gorgeous magnifier

and it's the sort of thing you would have found

on a very wealthy gentleman's desk,

-possibly to peruse the paper if his eyesight was failing...

-Yes.

..or to admire objets d'art.

Now there are some marks here on the handle.

Well, this is a tricky area

-because it's French.

-Oh.

Now if I tell you there is one standard reference work

on English hallmarks,

-one big book you can buy that has most of the hallmarks in it...

-Yes.

I've got 25 books on French hallmarks and I'm still going...

-Right.

-Stylistically, it dates

anywhere from 1870 up to 1900 and it's marvellous quality.

-So now we really get down to the thorny question of price.

-Yes.

That, because the engraving's so crisp

and it's got that very unusual internal stopper,

even though that's worn, that's £40-£60 all day long.

That's a very intriguing thing.

I'll say, for the purposes of today,

it's £60-£100 but it wouldn't surprise me

if you went into a posh Bond Street shop and it was a couple of hundred.

Because the quality's that good.

-Yeah.

-So I think we should put these together

because they're both charming and interesting items.

Put an estimate of £100-£150 and maybe put a reserve

of sort of £90 on them, just to protect them.

-Yes, that's fine.

-If you're happy, we'll place them into the sale.

But why have you decided to part with them?

Well, we've had them for 30-plus years.

They're moved around, backwards and forwards, on a little table

and we looked at them and we thought, "Well, it's time."

Time. Time to go.

-Yes.

-Time to go before the stopper gets damaged.

-Exactly, yes.

Thank you for bringing them in

and I hope they do really well at the sale.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Before we see our next batch of antiques go off to auction,

I've popped out from the Winter Gardens

to take a look at this remarkable Edwardian structure, the Grand Pier,

which had a long and fascinating history of entertainment

here in Weston-super-Mare. But just take a look at this.

This was where the pavilion once stood.

On July 28th in 2008, masses of people looked on in horror

as an electrical fault reduced this pavilion to ashes

in just over an hour.

But it wasn't the first tragedy to hit this iconic structure.

The first Grand Pier opened in 1904

and a fabulous pavilion stood at the end.

With a tower in each corner, it was a visually-enticing building.

Weston's Grand Pier was one of the last great pleasure pavilions

to be constructed at the end of a frantic period of pier building

across Britain's seaside resorts.

When it opened, it boasted a fabulous 2,000-seater theatre

which hosted entertainments from opera and ballet,

right up to boxing matches.

The pier also boasted its own bandstand and visitors enjoyed

promenading and even roller-skating up the boardwalk.

But tragedy struck Weston's cherished Grand Pier in 1930.

It was completely destroyed by fire.

But it wasn't the end of it, though. Three years later, it rose again,

only to be destroyed by a second fire some 70 years later.

So what will happen to the next pier

and will Weston ever be the same without a Grand Pier?

Well, I've come to talk to a chap called Mike Davies,

who's got piers in his blood.

Mike is a member of the National Pier Society

and is a local Weston-super-Mare boy.

So you must have lots of childhood memories of this pier,

the Grand Pier?

Yes, and most of them, funnily enough, are underneath the pier,

as I used to go underneath to see if I could find any coins

that had fallen through the cracks.

I don't blame you. Did you earn much?

No, not a lot but it was a bit of fun in the school holidays, you know.

Yes. This structure has been with you all your life, lots of memories.

Very much so. You drive past it every day and it's now...

It's terrible to see.

-It's now looking like this.

-Yes.

Let's just talk about the history of the pier -

what did this mean for the Victorians and the Edwardians?

Well, it was basically the fact you could walk on water,

this was the most important thing.

People, the Victorians, used to love promenading.

Yes, very much so.

And if they could walk on the pier,

as I say, walking on the water was fantastic,

and just taking the sea air as well,

that was what Weston was renowned for.

After the 1930 fire, talk me through the latest of the pavilions,

the one that's just burnt down.

Well, that one had four towers, like the one that burned down,

but it was a real, total amusement arcade.

We had, um...

-Ghost trains, dodgem cars.

-The ghost trains.

Yeah, What The Butler Saw - it was a bit risque.

It was all that kind of thing, it was just pure entertainment.

And it was great for the town.

The most recent fire on the Grand Pier, in 2008, was an inferno

which destroyed the pavilion in little more than an hour.

I find it truly amazing that any artefacts have survived the fire

at all but Mike Davis and I are off to visit the North Somerset Museum

in Weston-super-Mare where they are currently holding an exhibition about the fire.

Looking at all the charred remains, the heat must have been intense.

It was. It was 1,000 degrees, according to the firemen,

and I mean, nothing can survive that.

No. It's no wonder it went up so quickly.

Yeah, well, it was a wooden building, let's face it.

It was wood and it had a lot of white plastic on it

which goes whoosh when it gets to a certain temperature.

They couldn't do anything to save it, unfortunately.

The day that the fire happened,

I said that as far as I was concerned,

it had taken the super out of Weston-super-Mare

and I don't think that'll come back until we get another pier.

When you drive along the seafront, it's not right.

No, it isn't. You're so used to passing what's been an iconic symbol

slap-bang in the middle of the seafront

and all of a sudden it's not there.

What effect has this had on the local economy?

The effect has been quite devastating.

So many people came to Weston.

Not just the kids to play on the go-karts

and a spell on the slot machines,

but you'd get Mum and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa... .

It's the memories, they come back to relive them.

Yeah. Also, everybody likes walking up and down the pier.

It's walking on water, which is what it's all about.

-Well, it's clearly important that the Grand Pier gets rebuilt.

-Definitely.

I know it's going to happen.

Tell me about the planning process and how the plans were accepted.

The planning process, as far as I'm aware, everything is going through.

We should see the pier opened by 2010.

And what about the design itself?

How was it picked? Because I know there was a committee,

all the people of Weston had their say.

Yeah, there was a show at the Winter Gardens,

the same place where the "Flog It!" programme was being filmed,

and they had a shortlist of six and this one was the one

that was chosen by the general public and the owners.

-It had the most votes.

-Yes.

One of the most important factors

is the fact that we're keeping the four pillars.

The pier that burned down in 1930, that had four towers. The one that's

just gone had four towers and the new one's got four towers.

It's going to be a larger building but it's going to be great.

Did you vote for that one?

-Yes. That was the one.

-It's a winner.

-Yes, it is, definitely.

Well, it's really encouraging to see the proposed plans of the new Grand Pier.

They're taking the very best of the old designs

and marrying it with new architectural elements.

I can't wait for Weston's pier to be restored to its former glory

so I can come back in the near future and have another visit.

It's time for our final visit to the auction room and here's what we're selling.

Peter's scent bottle and magnifying glass

will be going under the hammer.

Ann is downsizing, so her Victorian painting has to go.

Also, Jane's parents have had their Poole Pottery vase since 1969,

but now it's off to auction, so Jane can enjoy the Flog It experience.

Ian feels it's time to sell his watch

and update to something a bit more modern.

The one disadvantage is having to wind it

and inevitably, of course, you forget.

Let's head to the Clevedon Auction Rooms.

Before the sale gets underway, let's go inside

and have a quick chat with today's auctioneer.

What does Marc Burridge think of Ian's wristwatch?

You could say time is definitely up for Ian's wristwatch.

Cracking thing, it really is. Swiss movement, 18-carat gold.

It was left to his wife,

and they don't wear it, it's a bit too precious,

and we've got a value of £250 to £350 on this.

What more can I say, really? It's very desirable, a lot of interest

in vintage watches in auctions now and they're selling very well.

The kind of thing you'd like to wear?

I would certainly be quite pleased to wear that one.

-At £250?

-At £250, yes.

Is that what you think?

I think this is going to do much better.

-What do you think?

-I see this making £500, £600, maybe £700.

It's a good collectable watch, a good maker, in working order.

-Yeah, it keeps good time as well.

-Yeah.

Watch this watch fly, that's all I can say.

I can't wait for you to do your stuff,

-and hopefully, we'll get that £700.

-Yeah.

Wise words from a seasoned auctioneer there.

Exciting stuff. Let's get straight on to the action, shall we?

Well, Jane, the reason you bought the Poole Pottery along is because you wanted to be on Flog It.

-We did.

-You've made it.

-Yes, I have, I have.

And now we've just got to find out whether you'll get the £30 or the £50. I hope it's the top end.

-So do I, cos I've already spent it.

-Have you? On what?

-On what?

-I bought the chair I was sitting on.

-You haven't, have you?

-Have.

Beautiful Edwardian folding chair and the lady that was selling it

actually came up and said, "I've sold that and it was really loved,"

-and we'll really love it.

-How much did you pay for it?

-£35.

-Brilliant!

And I've also bought a cheese dome and I paid £18 for that.

-Right, the pressure's on.

-So I think I've already spent it. Absolutely!

Lot 400, the large Poole Pottery vase.

Monogrammed for Alan White.

-I'm starving, darling.

-Yeah, are you?

How can you think of food at a moment like this?

What can we say, give me £30 to start then.

Nice large Poole vase there, £30. £25 I have, I'll take 8 now, 8,

and 30 here, 30 and 5, 5, 5, 35, 35, 5, 5, at £30 only in the room.

-We've done it!

-I've paid for the chair!

-35 anyone else?

Are you all done at £30? And I'm selling, make no mistake on the 30.

-The hammer's gone down.

-Done it!

-That's a fair exchange.

-Yes, absolutely.

Poole Pottery for an Edwardian chair.

And two wonderful days out, absolutely wonderful days out. Thank you so much.

Thanks for being such a great sport, Jane.

-And thank you, Anita.

-You were wonderful.

-Thank you very much.

Useful things, though, magnifying glasses.

Absolutely. That's where the value of this lot lies

cos it's a wonderful desk accessory.

-Yes.

-I think the glass needs slightly polishing.

-But that's easy to sort.

-But the quality's there.

And it's French silver as well, which is a higher standard than ours

and it's something people don't tend to go for at sales

but hopefully they will. Hopefully...

Peter, we could be looking at the top end of the estimate.

Will we get that sort of 120, 130...?

I'd be really disappointed if we didn't.

-Yeah.

-Because I could...

I think the magnifying glass alone is £100.

Put your fingers in your ears.

If it was in a gallery in London and the glass was done,

I wouldn't expect to see it go for less than maybe 250.

-So work needs to be done on this.

-But it's quality, isn't it?

And you've got that wonderful scent bottle as well.

-It should fly.

-Hopefully.

Lot 300,

it's a French silver-frame magnifying glass there.

70, 80, 90... Difficult here. Two bids at £120. Bid twice.

Who's got 130? 130.

120 bid twice, 130, 130.

And 5, I've taken a fiver from the book.

125, who's got 130?

Selling on £125 now.

Sold it, he's sold it.

A very quiet hammer, but crack, that's gone.

-£125.

-That's the top end.

You'd have been disappointed if it had gone for less.

Obviously, at least two people thought it was worth 120!

Something now for fine art lovers.

I like this. It's a little mill scene, North Wales, oil on canvas,

and it belongs to Ann, and I think for not much longer.

We've got a valuation of £200-£250. It caught Anita's eyes.

Yes, and it's by Jacobi

and this scene is very typical of what he was doing.

It's of North Wales, but I think it will have a market in this saleroom and in this area.

It's an idyllic rural scene.

It's English, romantic, a lot of artistic licence because maybe all the flowers

weren't on the cottage, but let's see what the bidders of the West Country think.

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

120. Oil on canvas by M Jacobi.

Welsh scene there, what can we say?

Signed and titled, everything you should need.

What can you say for that one? Give me £100 here, thank you.

110, 120 I need.

120, 120, 120, 120, 130, 140...

-We're off.

-140, 50, 60. 160 now.

160, 70, 80.

180, 180, 180 in the room, 190 now.

190. Anyone else?

-It's sold, it's sold.

-Yeah, yeah.

200 sat down. And 10.

210, 210, 220.

220, 230.

230, 230. The bid remains sat down at £220 then.

Hammer's gone then.

-It was sticky for a moment there, wasn't it?

-Yes.

It's a bit of a roller-coaster ride today.

-Happy with that?

-Yes, yes.

Yeah. What are you going to put the money towards?

It's going into a holiday pot.

-Oh, are you?

-Yes.

-Where are you saving up to go to, do you know?

-We're going to Florida.

-Lovely.

Ian, time's nearly up for your watch. It's just about to go under the hammer,

in fact, in a couple of lots' time.

We've got quite excited about this

because we've got an initial valuation of £250 to £350 put on by Michael.

We had a chat to the auctioneer before the sale started.

He's agreed with your valuation and he's not changed it in the catalogue but he did say...

He thinks it's a come-hither estimate.

Yeah, he did say it could do £600.

Well, I've done a bit of research after the valuation day

and I've seen them make £400, £500, £600

so I agree with him, but it's no harm to put these things in low.

-Yes.

-And let the market decide.

-But I don't think it'll make £1,000.

-No.

-I could be wrong.

Lot 680,

it's a gent's compact Universal 18-carat gold wristwatch.

A handsome wristwatch there. What can we say?

Starting with me at 400, 450, 500, 550 on the book...

Started well on the top end.

600, 650, 700,

750, 850, 900, 950, 1,000, will you?

-It's on the book at £950.

-Wonderful!

Any advance? I'll take 980.

With me then, selling at £950, commission buyer.

That's what they thought of it. £950, Ian.

That's beyond my wildest dreams. That's wonderful.

That is brilliant. When I said they don't make £1,000,

it was quite close to it, wasn't it?

I was technically right!

But I'm so pleased. It deserved to make every penny of that.

Oh, gosh, that was a wonderful, classic moment, wasn't it?

We're all going, "Come on, come on!"

There is commission to pay.

What are you going to spend that on? £900 or so.

It will go into the holiday pot.

Where are you thinking of?

Well, I like to do bird watching,

so I'll possibly go over to Norfolk

or I might have a walking holiday in Italy or something like that.

But I'll use it to my enjoyment.

Yes. It's one of the nicest things we've ever had on this show

and thank you, Ian, for coming in.

I hope you've enjoyed watching today's show.

We've enjoyed being here down in Clevedon.

If you've got anything like that,

we'd love to see you at our valuation days.

Check the details in your local press because we're coming to an area near you very soon.

So from Clevedon, from all of us here, cheerio.

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