Loughborough Flog It!

This unusual sculpture tells us a great deal about the history of the town we're visiting today,

which is Loughborough in the East Midlands.

Welcome to Flog it!

Sitting proud in the middle of Loughborough's market place is the sock man,

a bronze sculpture of a figure admiring his sock.

It's here to celebrate the knitting industry which has been key to the prosperity of the town.

It's a wonderful sculpture and over the years

it's raised quite a few eyebrows. That's maybe because,

apart from the sycamore leaf here and the sock he's wearing,

he hasn't got stitch on.

Later on in the show, I'll be returning to my childhood

when I explore the story of Ladybird Books,

a company founded here in Loughborough.

Since they were first printed in the 1960s they've sold well over 100 million copies worldwide,

teaching generations of children to read.

I don't know about you but I'm feeling rather nostalgic.

But first it's down to business at today's venue, Loughborough Town Hall.

Well this is where it all starts, a Flog It! valuation day.

It looks like all of Loughborough has turned out to see us.

Hundreds of people have lined the streets!

These two guys have got their work cut out, Elizabeth Talbot and Adam Partridge, our experts today.

The lucky ones will go through to auction, if you get a good valuation what you gonna do?

Flog it!

And it looks like Elizabeth has already found an item with an exotic past.

Deirdre, in this wonderful mahogany box you've brought an absolute delight,

which is a little concertina.

I open up the box, tell me what you can about the concertina.

How have you come by it and what's the story?

Right, well my grandfather came from the south

and we used to go and see his sister, who was my great Aunt.

Her husband's brother lived with them.

He was a bachelor.

In his youth he'd gone to Australia,

backwards and forwards mining opals.

-Right.

-He bought this back and he said it was taken off a boat.

It was one of the sailors. How he'd come by it, I don't know.

I don't remember him ever playing it, I don't think anybody played it.

It was just something he'd collected...

And a story to tell behind it, one of his travels.

Do you play? Have you learned to play it?

Oh, no.

Well it's a nice example of its type.

Concertinas come in a variety of scales of quality.

What we have here is a very late 19th century concertina, which was English made.

It is English, is it?

It's English made and it's in a wonderful mahogany case,

so it's in a lovely piece of furniture in the outset and I love the fact we have the key.

-To be honest, I've kept this in the garage for years.

-Oh, my goodness!

We looked everywhere for the key, when we took the concertina out the box, it was under the concertina.

The great thing is you've got it and that adds a huge amount of charm and originality to the casing.

It's actually encased in mahogany.

Now, the finest and most expensive concertinas were made of more important woods than this.

Rosewood examples are a next step up.

-Some concertinas actually have fret carved or fret pierced metal ends.

-Yes.

The more intrinsically valuable the ingredients

-and the more valuable the instrument remains today.

-Yes.

If we take it out of its case, thank you very much, we'll take that out there.

You can see the wonderful bellows.

These are paper bellows with leather lining.

What's lovely about this is the bellows are in good order.

The fact that they're in such good order is a bonus there.

I'm not a player but we'll just see if it does make as much sound as good quality bellows suggest it should.

Ooh, yes.

-It's quite loud isn't it, really?

-I can do a siren. There we go.

We've got high notes and low notes, so that's good. It's very playable.

This really is a collector's piece.

I think a collector would delight in owning this.

D'you have any idea of value? Have you brought it with expectations?

No, I'm surprised I haven't thrown it out, to be honest!

-Well, I think, in the current market, if it had a pre-auction estimate of, say, 180 to £250...

-My goodness.

I don't think anybody'd balk at that. I think that would be...

I just did!

I'm pleased to have made your day.

-That's good if you're pleased with that.

-I am, yes.

-But I do think it's important we put a reserve on it so that you're comfortable...

-OK.

That on the day it'll be looked after.

If I say £150 firm I'm sure the auctioneer will promote it well.

It'll be picked up through the cataloguing and so on.

-We will see what we will see.

-We will.

As the sailor said!

As the sailor said, yeah!

Well, Clodagh, Julie, are you related?

-Yes.

-No.

THEY LAUGH Good start!

Sisters? Only joking!

-Mother and daughter.

-So, you've brought in these very attractive vases here by James Macintyre.

Designed by a famous man, William Moorcroft. Whose are they?

-Mine.

-You're here for moral support?

-Yes.

-And how long have you had them?

-About 25 years.

-How did you come to own them in the first place?

-I think they came from Beaumanor Hall.

-I think they did, actually.

-They used to hold a lot of antiques fairs at that time.

Do you like them still?

Yes.

-How about you?

-No.

You like them, you don't like them. It makes me wonder why you're selling them, Clodagh?

Well, I've got so much stuff and I just need to get shot of some things.

-So, they aren't going to leave an empty patch on your mantelpiece?

-No, no.

So, you presumably know a little bit about them anyway.

For auction purposes, I'm going to treat him as two separate lots.

Our job is to get you the best result we can.

I think offering them as a group at three won't be as good as splitting

them into a clear pair and a separate vase.

We'll treat the pair first.

These are all from the Aurelian Ware range,

which was designed by William Moorcroft for Macintyre and Co.

It was registered in 1897 to 1898.

So they're 110 years old now.

But it's very still fresh and bright and in pretty good condition.

This pair I'd estimate at 300 to £500.

And a reserve of £300 absolutely fixed, with no leeway at all.

-They've got to make 300 plus.

-We'd expect them to.

-Otherwise, they aren't sold.

Don't forget, it's the auctioneer's job to get as much as he can, cos that's how he earns his money.

-That's right.

-And then you've got this separate one, here,

which is a very nice shape, isn't it? Very attractive shape.

A vase with a cover. Unnecessary, really, to have the cover, but it's nice that you've still got it.

A lot of people would bring that in and never realise it had a cover,

cos there's no sign of it having a cover. So, that really helps it.

Again, you'd hope to get 250, 300 after everyone has had a go at it.

To sum up, we've got 200 to 300 there, 300 to 500 there.

If they both make the top of the estimate, that's 800 quid.

That's a real good result that would be, and the bottom end, £500. I'm looking forward to the auction.

Hopefully, they're going to do pretty well and we'll see you there.

Yes, that's fine.

Katherine, thank you for bringing in this lovely book,

The Magic Of A Line. It's the autobiography of Laura Knight.

What story do you have behind it?

Well, I was sent it as a Christmas present in 1965.

Right.

-My uncle was the bursar at the Royal Academy and Laura Knight was the Royal Academician.

-Yes.

I suppose she was promoting her book at the Royal Academy.

He asked her to sign it for me.

-Right.

-She said, well I'll draw a picture for her as well.

-How wonderful.

-I was actually living in India at the time, so it was sent to me in India as well.

-It's very exciting.

-It's travelled a long way and you obviously weren't expecting such a present?

Not at all, no. I'm always pleased to get books as a present

but when I opened it and saw that it was signed and the picture, that made it really special.

Interestingly enough, the book itself, which is a first edition, 1965,

-can actually still be bought for 45.

-Gosh.

-So the book itself is really modest and straight forward.

-Yes.

As you point out, the exciting, exciting piece is this frontispiece which is just lovely.

Now, it's personalised to Katherine.

This wonderful clown, which Dame Laura Knight was very well-known for doing.

-Yes.

-Of course her designs of clowns went on to everything, including ceramics.

-Oh, right.

Her designs were seen in art form, picture form,

but also commandeered for some of the mid-20th century factories that produced quirky ceramics of the time.

You've kept it well. It's obviously been happy in its travels,

on its bookshelf, and that's important.

So, the paper is in good condition, the ink hasn't run

and it's not been manhandled or torn or anything so that's fantastic.

Laura, Dame Laura Knight's art work is now highly sought after which can make vast sums of money.

-Yes.

-Have you any idea what you think that that might, what the value might be added to in terms of...?

-Not at all, no.

-I think it would certainly fetched 300 to £500.

-Gosh.

-With a fixed reserve of £300 to protect it...

-Yes, that's fine.

-It'll be an exciting day on the day it auctions to see exactly how it's responded to.

I might need to apologise to my Uncle.

You can say that he was a canny man.

-He was, yes.

-Thank you for bringing it in.

-That's wonderful.

-Thank you very much.

-It's a great honour for me to see it because it's quite a rarity.

-Thank you very much.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-Welcome to Flog It!.

Thank you. What a lovely smile! You seem very cheerful.

What is your name, do you mind?

-Evelyn.

-Evelyn, am I all right to call you that?

-Fine!

-I remember seeing this in the queue. It was on a big trolley, wasn't it?

-That's right.

And I made a silly joke of admiring the trolley instead of the figure.

-Because it's quite...striking, would be a polite way of putting it.

-Yes.

What can you tell me about it? Where did you get it from?

My husband bought it. It was supposed to be a house-warming present, when we moved house.

-So, he came home with this and said "Evelyn, here we are, here is your house-warming present."

-More or less.

And what was your reaction?

"What the hell have you bought that for?!"

HE LAUGHS

So, you weren't impressed.

I was quite polite, but...

No, I wasn't impressed at all.

-I believe there you have a name for this chap.

-Yes, Fred.

Fred. And what about the lady?

Oh, I've never named her. You've never named the lady. Poor thing!

We just assumed she was from a harem.

Fred and Frieda, perhaps?

-That sounds all right.

-That would be appropriate, wouldn't it?

-I don't suppose you'll ever know what he paid for it?

-No, no.

-Hopefully it wasn't too much.

-No, that's what I think!

Well, we've got some markings on here, which is "Koenig and Lengsfeld", from Germany.

They made things at the turn of the century,

1900s to 1920s, that sort of period.

They did this type of composition figure in plaster and in terracotta.

Very decorative. It's one of those things that you either love or hate.

-There's no middle ground with that.

-No.

-I'm not a fan myself,

but some people out there will love that, like your husband did.

-Yes, but my daughters don't want it.

-None of them?

-No.

-My thoughts are to put an estimate of 100 to £200 on it.

-That sounds all right.

If it's all right with you, I'd say put 75 as a bottom line

and hopefully it'll make up to £200. You never know.

Thank you very much for bringing Fred in, and his female companion.

I look forward to seeing it in the auction.

And fingers crossed for a good result.

Now, are you sitting comfortably? Because

I'm going to tell you the story of some remarkable children's books.

Well, you've just caught me genning up on one of my favourite subjects, the history of television.

Now, I know this is a little out of date but actually what I've got here is an iconic guide.

You see, for nearly 95 years Ladybird books have been opening up

our reading horizons with imaginative storytelling.

Wonderful illustrations.

But best of all, accessible knowledge.

You can learn so much from one of these little books,

all manner of subjects.

And, as the home town of Ladybird,

it's no wonder the people of Loughborough hold these little books really close to their hearts.

The story of Ladybird began in 1873, when a businessman and printer called Henry Wills

bought the Angel Press in Loughborough's market place.

The company established itself by printing a range of commercial material.

When the war threatened in 1914, the firm,

now operating as Wills and Hepworth, decided to try their hand at printing children's books.

Today, Loughborough's Charnwood Museum is the home of the Ladybird archive.

I have been given special permission to go behind the scenes and take a good look around.

This is what I'm after, one of the first Ladybird books published by Wills and Hepworth.

It's titled Billy And The Treasure.

If I open this very carefully,

on the inside sleeve you can see it says there Ladybird Series.

This is the forerunner to the Ladybird symbol.

Hepworth was a keen gardener and rose grower.

With this in mind, his wife suggested the name.

This book dates to the 1920s.

It's quite large, it's more like a children's annual.

The paper is very thick and the illustrations are very basic, as you can see.

But in its day, this book wasn't basic.

It was so well received.

I can see now, I can understand how the Ladybird books that I grew up with have evolved from this.

It was in 1940 that the Ladybird pocket book was born.

The first series featured animal stories like Downy Duckling.

This time round, the printing was higher quality, with full-colour illustrations.

The pocket book was perfect for tiny, small hands to hold.

This one is called Bunnikin's Picnic Party.

If I open it up inside and show you the illustrations,

now, they're perfectly clear and vibrant.

Look at that, isn't that lovely?

Each little book was printed from one large sheet of paper, which I can show you here.

It's also printed on both sides.

It meant that a quality book could be printed relatively cheaply.

In the decades that followed, that formula was put to good use in many different ways.

After the war, the pocketbook format was used for a pioneering series of education books.

Factual titles, like the Uncle Mac books and, later,

the What To Look For books were a great success with young readers.

It was the 1960s that proved to be the defining era of the pocket book.

This decade saw the launch of the Key Words reading scheme, featuring Peter and Jane.

Based on educational research which showed that just 12 words make up a quarter of our speech,

the Peter and Jane stories used those key words and phrases to help children learn to read.

That, coupled with these wonderful

colour illustrations, really did bring these stories to life.

Since they were first printed in the 1960s,

they've sold well over 100 million copies worldwide,

teaching generations of children to read.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling rather nostalgic.

Key to the success of Peter and Jane, and so many of the pocket books,

was the expertise of the authors and the illustrators who created them.

Kathie Layfield was one of those talented artists.

She's come in to the museum to talk to me about her work.

Kathie, it's great to meet you.

I can see why you love painting in vibrant colours, just by the way you're dressed.

-You look fabulous!

-Thank you.

Were you always an illustrator? And how did you get your big break?

I trained actually in textile design at Loughborough College of Art,

and I went in as an amateur and joined Leicester Drama Society.

I got into designing costumes, although I can't sew for toffee.

I had a little exhibition of my work.

I went into the bar one day and a guy came up to me and said,

"I can see you draw figures, how do you feel about illustrating books?"

I said, "Yeah, lovely", and it turned out he worked for Ladybird.

He just said, "Bring in a portfolio,"

and I did and got my break.

Have you particular favourite that you worked on?

I loved most of them, but I particularly liked Puss In Boots.

That illustration over there, because I love cats.

Also, because I had freedom to choose something which I could set in costume.

I love the history of costume, so I decided I was going to do it in the period of Louis XIV.

And you set yourself these difficult tasks, because you had to be very careful in Ladybird books

that you didn't make any mistakes, historically.

-Because it's a reference book as well.

-Exactly.

If you did, you got people writing in, particularly children.

They'd write in and say, "You got that wrong."

Just looking at some of these images, there's a lot to see.

I always like to put something in that's a distraction, something funny. I remember when I was a child,

loving in comics where there would be something else going on

in the background, some little tiny thing happening.

-I try to do that in my books.

-Cos kids find that.

-That's right, yeah.

I was looking at this, and you just see, although you're looking

at the main picture with all of the fisher men and the octopus,

you kind of see the little fishes' mouths looking up like that.

Also in that one, I did a recurrent thing were one of the sailors starts

getting a green face and in about three pictures, he's gradually being more sick.

He's sick over the side.

It's those sort of things I like putting in.

Kathie, thank you so much for bringing these illustrations in.

I can't wait to start reading them again with my little son, when he's able to read.

-Thank you so much, it's been a pleasure.

-Thank you.

So, now it's time for our trip to the auction room, and here's a reminder of what we're taking.

Deidre's concertina has plenty of sea shanties left in it

and Elizabeth thinks it'll sail away at auction for 180 - £250.

I don't think anybody would balk at that.

I just did!

Adam thought Clodagh's Moorcroft vases were in good condition,

but advised her to sell them as two lots.

I think offering them as a group of three won't be as good

as splitting them into a clear pair and a separate vase.

And Evelyn's striking statue was a gift from her husband, but she's never really liked it.

So, he came home with this and he said, "Evelyn, here we are, here is a house-warming present."

-And what was your reaction?

-What the hell have you bought that for?

THEY LAUGH

And with its personal dedication by Dame Laura Knight,

Katherine's book is a rare find.

Now, will we hold the front page for this one?

This is where we put all our expert's valuations to the test,

courtesy of Gilding's auction rooms in Market Harborough.

As you can see it's packed, isn't it?

I hope they're here to bid on all our lots.

Don't go away, we're gonna find out.

Wielding the gavel this morning is auctioneer Mark Gilding.

let's see how Clodagh's two lots of Moorcroft vases do in the auction.

Tell me a little bit about the vases. Why you want to sell them?

I thought I'd get my garden a makeover.

-It's at bit, you know, needs a facelift.

-Really?

So, we're going to do a bit of landscaping and sorting out.

Pruning and strimming.

Will we get the top end?

-We're looking at 300 to 500.

-I think it's accurate for Aurelian Ware. End of the 19th century,

Macintyre and Co, it's a stable, steady seller.

It never goes mad. I'd say, it's about right this time.

-Book price.

-Touch something...

-Touch some wood!

Good luck, good luck. Here we go.

One pair of Moorcroft Macintyre octagonal vases,

I'm bid 190, 190 bid here. 190.

200, 210, 220, 230.

230, bid, at 240. 250,

260, 270, 280, 290, 300.

Selling away at £300.

£300. And our second lot now,

fingers crossed we get 200 to £300.

Another bit of Moorcroft here, Macintyre vase and cover.

I'm bid £110 on this, at 110, I'm in at 110.

120, 130, 140, 150, 160,

170, 180, 190,

£200. I'm out.

-It's done it.

-£200, right at the back.

It will sell, at 200,

selling in the room then at £200.

Yes, let's see, bedding plants,

-shrubs...

-Yes. Probably a tree.

-That's good.

-Fruit trees, blossoms.

-Yes. Cherry or something.

A cherry tree would be nice, wouldn't it? Or plums, I like plums.

Next up, we've got that wonderful autobiography.

It's a first edition by Dame Laura Knight and it belongs to Katherine.

It's signed to you as well.

What a privilege. She's one of my favourite artists.

Now, she specialises in sort of dancing, clowns, those kinds of things.

-We've got a clown image in there.

-We have, yes.

-It could fetch top money.

That's what we're here for, that's what auctions are all about. Here we go, we're gonna find out.

220, Laura Knight, The Magic Of A Line

with inscription and a sketch of a clown.

Bidding starts, £190.

190 bid here, 190, 200, 210,

220, 230,

230, I'll take 40 if you like,

it's with me at 230, watching it carefully.

230, here with me at 230 and away now at £230.

-Oh, it didn't.

-I'm disappointed with that.

Maybe it's not meant to go.

I did say to my son, "Perhaps I should have let you have it."

Yeah, I think what does devalue it is the fact that it's got your name, it's to Katherine.

-That's right.

-If it was just signed by her and dated with that little clown in the edge of the sketch,

yes, we'd have got it.

My sister has one with a better sketch.

Oh, does she?

A clown on horseback.

I wish I'd got one.

Next up, something for all you music lovers.

It's a concertina and it belongs to Deidre. So why are you selling it?

Well, I'm clearing my house out and having alterations done,

trying to get low-maintenance, as everybody is,

it's been in the garage for years, unfortunately it's such a shame,

-just to send it...

-Lots of DIY?

-Not myself, no. No.

-I'm allergic to that as well.

-I'm not that talented!

It does haemorrhage money, doesn't it?

Somebody said DIY stood for do it for years if you do it yourself!

I like that. We're going to do a bit of DIY right now because we are just about to flog, hopefully,

fingers crossed, this wonderful little squeeze box. Here we go.

Lot number 70, Lachenal & Co concertina, mahogany frame,

numbered and within a mahogany carrying case.

A nice concertina this and reflected in commission bids with me here.

-Let's hope we hit the right note.

-Oh, yes.

Reflected in commission bids with me here,

I have to start bidding at £300.

-How much?!

-300.

-Oh, my God!

I'll take 25.

300, I'm bid at 300.

You're out, commissions at 300, will sell here at £300.

Selling away now at £300.

Well, that'll help towards the home improvements.

Yes, it will, it certainly will. Thank you very much.

Going under the hammer now is Evelyn's statue.

It's a composition of two figures, and the figures we've got on this

are £100 to £200, put on by our expert, Adam, here.

We know we need the money, don't you, to go to Tenerife, that's right isn't it?

Who are you going with?

Two of my daughters. And a granddaughter.

Oh, bless! A whole family holiday.

I know Evelyn can't wait to see the back of this, can you?

You told Adam you didn't like it. You've has it 33-odd years.

Never liked it.

The good news is, is definitely going, that's for sure.

I know we put £100 to £200 on this, and I quite agree with you.

I asked the auctioneer what he thinks it might make.

It's what he thinks it might make - he said 400 to £500!

-So in that case, you're going.

-Does he have some prior information, or is that his instincts?

-I don't know.

-I hope so.

Fingers crossed he's got a few bids on the book. Let's find out.

We can't discuss this any more, it really is up to the bidders. Here we go.

Lot Number 10 is a painted plaster and spelter figure.

Fantastic lot this one, lots of interest on the bidding here.

Bids start at 80, 90, 100, 120,

140, 160 with me. 160, 180,

200, 220, 240,

240 bid with me. At 240?

Are you all out at 240?

I think you're going to split the difference there.

280, I'm in at 280. 300,

-320? 320 here? 320, 340...

-There's somebody on the phone.

360 here with me, at 360, I'll take 80 if you like?

-380, 400?

-There's another phone bid!

-400 with me, 420?

-Two people on the phone.

All commissions out, that's 420.

Telephone is in at 420, selling away at £420.

-£420!

-What do you reckon?

-Say bye to Fred?

-Definitely!

-It's a good moment all round, really.

-Evelyn is glad to see the back of that but also, you're off to Tenerife.

-Definitely.

That's it. It's all over for our owners.

The auction's still going on.

We've had a brilliant day here in Market Harborough.

The highlight for me had to be the big smile on Evelyn's face as we got £424 for her statue.

I think that's a great result. A lot more than we anticipated.

Join me again for many more surprises.

For now, from Market Harborough, cheerio.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd