Torquay Flog It!

Today, "Flog It!" is coming from the English Riviera.

Yes, we're down on the Devon Coast - a magnet for holidaymakers,

and home to England's biggest fishing port.

So will we land a prize catch? Let's go and see.

The English Riviera

is the name given to this stunning area of coastline

which comprises three towns - Torquay, Brixham and Paignton.

Historically all three were fishing ports, but today only Brixham remains in action.

Later on, I'll be going sailing on an old fishing trawler

which helped put the fishing industry of Brixham on the map.

But before we go all fishy, let sail across the bay to Torquay where our experts Philip Searle

and new boy David Fletcher are trawling the Flog It! queue outside the Palace Hotel.

Will they net a valuable catch?

-I could have been one of The Three Musketeers!

-Let's get inside and find out.

The people of Torquay have turned out in droves

and Philip has the first catch of the day with Helen's Dinky toys.

Helen, how are you doing?

-Fine, thank you.

-Are you a Devonian?

-No, I'm a Midlander.

-Where from?

-West Bromwich, initially.

-West Bromwich?

-Aldridge, Walsall way.

Coming down here on the M5,

the number of caravans was unbelievable

and, as we're in Torquay, I thought "We've got to do a caravan, haven't we?"

So I picked up this little beauty here which is a Dinky's toy,

four-berth, model number 188, complete with a little opening door here, which I think is great.

And then we've got two Corgi toys.

We got a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE coupe,

complete with spare wheel and a little suitcase ready-packed for our holidays.

And I love this. This is a Mark 1 Cortina.

I remember Dad bought one of these, brand new, a Mark 1 Cortina, 1960-something or other.

-Why do you want to sell them?

-They're just sitting in my cupboard doing nothing.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Are these yours?

-Yes. I used to love playing with them as a child.

I have to say you were very good.

-You played with both these?

-Oh, I did a lot, yes.

The thing about toys is they've got to be mint and boxed, and these are mint and boxed.

-I always put everything away.

-You were careful with your toys.

-Yeah.

I'm intrigued as to why a pretty girl goes and plays with boys' toys as a child.

-I had a Sindy doll as well, which I loved just as much.

-I'll let you off.

Anyway, down to value. We'll sell them as one lot.

I think if we put a £40 to £60 estimate on them, right?

-Right.

-With a £30 reserve, how does that sound?

-Low!

-Low?!

-Go on, what do you reckon?

-I just thought...

I don't know, I would have thought they would be about £40 each.

-We need to protect your interests with a reserve.

-All right.

If you want to put a slightly higher reserve on them, I don't mind.

But here's an expression I always use -

a reserve is a price below which you will not sell the item.

-It's not what you think it will make.

-No.

-OK?

-Yes.

This hasn't got the box.

50 to 80, call it 60 to 90.

If you want to reserve them between 30 and sort of £40, £45, I don't have a problem with that.

-OK.

-So what do you want to do, boss?

-£40 reserve?

-£40 reserve.

I'll put a 50 to 80 estimate on them.

-Great, yeah.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-I don't want to be told off!

-Would I dare?

-Oh, I don't know! You're a star.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

RATTLING

Now, this, Isabel, is a most striking thing.

How long have you owned it?

-All my life.

-You've owned it all your life, have you?

-Yes.

-Did it belong to your parents?

-It did, yeah.

What it is we're discussing

is a cold-painted, Austrian bronze.

The nature of the decoration is such that it's applied to a bronze figure

without firing, hence the expression "cold-painted".

The result is that you get this rather attractive mat finish.

It's by a very well-known sculptor,

name of Franz Bergmann,

who was born in the 1860s and lived until the 1930s.

It is actually marked on the back with a B.

I've never noticed that.

That is actually impressed, or moulded I should say,

into the cast that was taken from the mould.

-Yeah.

-It depicts, doesn't it, a noble warrior who seemingly died

in one of those north African colonial wars or skirmishes -

that's a good word for it.

What I think is so amazing about it, really, is its dignity.

I mean, the dignity that you can sometimes find in death -

beautifully, beautifully moulded.

You sometimes find that Bergmann signed these works

with his surname spelt backwards.

-Right!

-Do you know why he did that?

-No.

Well, he did it because he was Jewish

and he was concerned about being persecuted,

so you do sometimes find bronzes like this, signed "Nam Greb" -

Bergmann backwards.

-Oh, right.

-I must say that objects like this are very collectible, really.

I think if we sold this at auction -

WHEN we sell it at auction, I should say - we would expect it to make

between £300 and £500.

And it could even make just a little bit more than that.

Do you like it as an object?

-I do, but I wouldn't have it out.

-No.

It beautiful thing,

but I understand what you're saying about the subject matter, really.

Well, as I say, I think if we estimate it at 300 to 500

and put a reserve on it of £300,

preferably with a little bit of discretion - say £280?

-OK.

-Would that be all right?

-Fine.

OK? We'll do our best for you.

-HUSKILY:

-We're having such a fabulous day here in Torquay.

Hundreds of people have turned up and I feel like I've probably spoken

to almost every single one of them. That's why I'm losing my voice.

But I have bumped into June here, who is looking absolutely fabulous.

I think you're clutching something quite valuable in there, aren't you?

Let's have a look inside your purse.

Oh, look at that. A wonderful amber necklace!

-Have you worn it much?

-I used to have hair that colour, Paul,

so I used to wear it then and it used to look pretty good.

But, as one gets older, one's hair colour changes.

-I think you'd look pretty good with this on still.

-You reckon?

Of course I do!

This is timeless. It's amber and it's millions of years old.

It really is.

It's fossilised tree sap, basically.

If you've got any insects trapped in it when it was a sticky liquid...

There might be something in there.

If you haven't got little insects,

then look for pine needles or bits of moss that get trapped in this liquid.

It's commonly found in the Baltic, the beaches of Poland, but it does get washed up in this country.

-Really?

-Yes, it does on Southwold beach!

I've been amber hunting

and I actually interviewed a chap on "Flog It!"

who collected amber from the beach.

When it's washed up,

-it's sort of like a rough pebble.

-Yes.

A funny little, odd-shaped pebble,

but you have to polish it and cut into these facets like this.

But let's see what it looks like.

Shall we put it on? Yes, there we go! Look at that.

And it still looks fabulous, doesn't it? Give them a twirl!

-How much did you pay for that?

-It was about £200 about 20 years ago.

You'll get your £200 back.

I just think it's stunning.

I really think every woman would like to own that.

There you are - that's the way. The big one at the bottom.

Why don't we put it into auction with a value of...

-£200 to £400?

-Oh, excellent.

-You need two women who try it on

-and look as great as you do with it on.

-Oh, thank you!

I'm surprised you want to sell it.

I know, but it's sitting in the cupboard

and I don't wear it any more.

-OK, see you at the auction.

-Thank you very much indeed.

I look forward to it. Thank you.

-Barry and Malcolm, hello.

-Hello.

Welcome.

Now, you brought with you three silver spoons.

What can you tell me about them?

Not a great deal.

They have always been at our parents' house, just in the cutlery drawer.

-We used to use them every day.

-Really?

It was just part of the household cutlery.

Well, they are a bit worn.

They're silver, as I'm sure you know.

Two of them are relatively clearly marked,

although I must say it's difficult to distinguish the date letter.

I think these would have been manufactured in the 1730s or 1740s.

-As old as that?

-Indeed.

Assayed in London and made by a silversmith whose initials were JJ.

I think that stands for John Jacobs, who was active at that time.

The third spoon has even more indistinct marks

and I really can't attempt to give that a date or a manufacturer.

They're a typical Georgian pattern.

They have a dog-nose finial, which I think speaks for itself.

But the most significant thing about them is that they have been Victorianised.

Now, the Victorians believed that unless anything was highly decorated, it wasn't old,

and these would have been really quite plain.

So, not content with the fact that they were - let's say 1860 -

150 years old nearly, they wanted to make them look even older.

So they had a go at them and they've chased up the handles.

They've gilded the bowls and then repousse decorated them,

which means they've been hammered from behind

with images of a goddess, Ceres.

And she holds the cornucopia containing fruit.

That's significant because they are fruit spoons

and that's why the bowls have been gilded,

because the acid in the fruit juice would have caused the silver to corrode.

Why are you thinking of selling them?

Well, we were musicians about 30 years ago and we've started writing

and we're going to book some studio time, so hopefully...

-You'll put this towards your expense?

-Yeah, we're selling a few items and going for a studio.

So you're making a comeback?

-Yeah.

-You haven't thought of using them and playing them perhaps?

Well, we used to play them!

There were six originally!

I've never actually met anyone before who played the spoons, but there is some potential there.

They're not going to make the earth.

They're not fabulously expensive, it must be said, and I think you have to bear in mind

that in some people's eyes they've been damaged by the fact they've been Victorianised.

I would have thought each one was perhaps worth about £15,

-and I would estimate them at £40 to £60.

-OK.

And we'll put a reserve of...

Shall we sell them without a reserve?

-Are you happy with that?

-Well, we can do, yes.

Every little bit will help towards your comeback, isn't it?

We've seen our first batch of items and now it's time to head west

from Torquay along the Devon coast to the naval town of Plymouth for today's auction.

And this is where all the action is taking place today - Eldreds Auctioneers & Valuers.

The room's filling up. The auctioneer's just about to start.

But before he kicks off, here's a quick reminder of all the items we're hoping to sell.

Philip was surprised by Helen's minted and boxed Dinky toys.

I'm intrigued as to why a pretty girl goes and plays with boys' toys as a child.

I had a Sindy doll as well, which I loved just as much.

David was impressed with Isabel's Austrian bronze warrior figure,

but she just keeps it in a drawer so it's time to find it a new home.

Shall we put it on? Yeah.

'I absolutely loved June's amber necklace and it seemed I wasn't the only one.'

Give them a twirl!

Barry and Malcolm are hoping to raise funds towards their musical comeback

by selling their Georgian silver spoons. Will they be successful?

Let's find out as the spoons are the first of our items going under the hammer,

and the boys are pinning their hopes on auctioneer Anthony Eldred, who's on the rostrum.

Next up, Barry and Malcolm's three silver spoons.

There are a couple of choice ones here - the London ones.

-I really liked those. They were Mum's?

-Our mother used to use them.

We used to use them in our house, for dishing the jelly out, etc.

Next, three Georgian dessert spoons.

Dishing the jelly - I like that!

£30 bid for them. Against you all at 30. At £30.

Two if you want them.

At 32, 35, 38, 40...

42, 5, 8... At £48 now in the room.

Quite sure at 48, then?

Well done, a good valuation.

So a little bit towards the studio time, guys,

because I know that's what you're putting the money towards. Doing some recording?

Half an hour or something!

330 at the back.

Next up, some Dinky toys and something for all you caravan lovers.

Well, you either love them or you loathe them.

-You don't want to be stuck behind one, that's for sure.

-No, no.

-Especially not that one.

-Let's talk value. Some Dinky toys fly through the roof.

I've never valued a caravan.

No, I haven't, and it was a bit of a sort of a suck-and-see job,

but I just thought they'll appeal to the collector and, you know, fingers crossed.

I mean, the car's even got the little suitcase and spare wheel and everything inside it, so...

It's ready to go. Let's find out. This is it.

Next are three Dinky toys. There they are.

-A caravan in that lot. Several bidders.

-Oh, good.

I am bid £65.

Against you all in the room at 65.

Eight anywhere? You finished at 65?

68 and 70?

Five. And 80?

Five. And 90?

At £90, then.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Well done, Helen, £90!

That proved to be a very good investment over the years.

Yeah. I played with it a lot as well, so I got the enjoyment out of it.

Gosh. You see, the power of the caravans.

I'm really pleased with that. I think that's a good price.

-That's good, I'm pleased with that.

-Thank you.

Right, and now for our next lot. Unfortunately, Isabel can't be with us today,

but we do have the cold-painted bronze and our expert David.

We've got a valuation of £300 to £500 on this.

What I want to know is, is he dead or is he asleep?

-Because I don't know.

-In my view, he's dead. I think he's very dead.

Anthony had described him as being sleeping, probably to make it a bit more commercial, I suspect.

-I think so.

-But anyway, he's been immortalised, so whether he's dead or asleep, he will live forever.

But he has been in Isabel's drawer for a long, long time.

She wants to sell him and I think we've got the perfect market - a packed auction room,

people are waving like mad, bidding on everything, so this should fly away, shouldn't it?

-Absolutely.

-It's going under the hammer now.

Lot 132, the Austrian cold-painted bronze after Bergmann...

Fingers crossed for Isabel.

North African warrior, £240 starts that. At £240, 50 if you want it?

At 240, 250, 260,

70, five, 280.

At £280 now, £290, £300, and 10?

320, 330, 340.

At £340, still seated.

At 340, then.

-Yes, spot on, David.

-Well, I'm pleased.

I'm pretty sure she will be.

-Good.

-You've got to get on the phone and give her a call.

-I will do.

Remember the amber necklace?

Well it's just about to go under the hammer, and here's June.

You can also remember the round of applause she got because that was great, wasn't it?

-Everyone was going, "Yeah!"

-It was so embarrassing.

-But you looked fantastic, and you do today as well.

-Thank you very much.

If you like amber, this lot's for you. We've got £200 to £400 on this.

I don't know what the feeling is in the room,

I haven't talked to anybody, I haven't seen it viewed at all.

So fingers crossed. That's all I can say.

-Absolutely.

-We're going to find out.

I don't think we can talk about it any more, can we?

-It is down to this lot.

-Wait and see.

On next to lot 489, which is a long necklace of 45 graduated, faceted

orange and amber beads, and I'm bid £200 for them. Five, if you like.

At 205, anywhere? And five. 210.

15, 220? Five.

At 225, 230, 240,

250, 260, 270,

280, 290, 300.

And 10? 320, 330.

At £330 on the telephone against you in the room. At £330.

-That's a sold sound. £330.

-Not bad.

-Not bad?

-I'm quite happy with that.

-Not bad at all.

-Very happy with that.

-We were hoping for that.

-Well...

-And we got it.

Thank you. I'm very happy about that.

And your husband is really pleased as well.

There is commission to pay.

He thinks he's going to spend some of that, you know?

Does he? Oh, he's got another think coming, hasn't he?

I think we'll have a bit of fun with that, anyway.

I bet you will. You look like a fun sort of girl, that's for sure.

Well, there we are. Some great results so far.

We are coming back to the auction for some more action later on in the show,

when we'll be selling another of Philip's finds. But what is it?

Now I know that you know what it is.

-Yes.

-But I'm willing to bet that a lot of people at home don't know what it is.

Well, you've got about ten minutes to figure out what it might be.

Right now I'm heading back to the fishing port of Brixham to find out a bit more about its chief industry.

Brixham is the biggest fishing port in England, and the fishing industry

has been at the heart of its economy for hundreds of years.

Now, a staggering £18.5 million worth of fish is traded each year

from that busy fish market over there.

Now, not only does Brixham hold the accolade for the largest fishing port, it's also built its reputation

on developing pioneering fishing techniques which have been adopted by the industry the world over -

hence its nickname, the mother of trawling.

It was over 400 years ago when Brixham first started the fishing method of beam trawling.

This is when a fishing net is attached to a beam, which then drags in the water behind the boat.

The technique was first used on wooden sailing boats

and later adopted by motorised commercial fishing vessels.

And to find out more about beam trawlers, I've come to talk

to Bill Wakeman, who was a fisherman for 42 years, and now he's involved in a heritage project

to bring these wonderful wooden vessels back to the town and restore them to their former glory.

What better way to learn about fishing? I can't wait to hop aboard.

-Bill.

-Hello, Paul.

Lovely to meet you. Welcome aboard.

What a beautiful vessel!

-Ah, she's beautiful, ain't she?

-Can I get aboard?

-Course you can.

This is the Vigilance. She's a 78 foot sailing ketch,

and she's one of the last wooden fishing vessels built in Brixham.

In her heyday, she'd have had a beam for fishing.

Now that's gone. Today she sails the seas to give visitors a taste of Brixham's fishing history.

We're lucky enough to have a sizable crew, but when the Vigilance used to work as a beam trawler,

she would most likely have had a crew of just three men and one boy.

And today it looks like I'm the boy!

That's good for your stomach muscles.

Just let the jib out now, so that's gonna catch the wind, it's gonna turn us around and off we go.

How fantastic is this?!

What's her top speed?

I should say you should be able to get about 10 knots out of her when it's really going.

That's some going.

-That's shifting along.

-That really is, isn't it?

So what year does beam trawling date back to?

The earliest records, I think, is the early 1600s.

Folklore has it that beam trawling first started by accident

when a fishing boat from Brixham got caught in an awful storm off the coast of Grimsby.

The captain dropped the sail into the sea to try to stabilise the vessel.

There was that much wind, they were dragging the trawl back and they were fishing at the same time.

Which is... which is how it all started, really, isn't it? That's beam trawling, in a way?

-And when they did haul it up, they were full of Dover soles.

-Wow.

And the people in Grimsby wanted them to try it again, they did it

two or three times, and that's how Grimsby started, and Hull.

What a lovely story.

Brixham's fishermen went on to perfect this method, which has become part of the town's history.

-It was an ideal place with the tide here to be able to tow a beam.

-Yeah.

And they spread the beam trawl with these old sailing trawlers right the way around England.

And that's basically the birth of commercial fishing, in a way?

Yeah. Cos every little port would have their own little fleet of boats just to supply the local demand.

There was that much fish being landed with these type of boats that, like you say, it became commercial.

And with Brixham, once the railway came here, the fleet increased tenfold.

On a personal note, you were a fisherman.

I mean, that's a hard grafting job, isn't it?

It sounds romantic on days like this, but it's dangerous work.

Fishing's a strange thing. The amount of times that I was gonna pack it in the next day, or when you got in...

If anything was ever gonna go wrong in fishing it would be about

two o'clock in the morning, blowing a gale, sleet, that sort of thing.

You'd think to yourself... You've smashed the trawler up, you're on deck, mending the net,

freezing cold hands, you'd think, "I've had enough of this, that's it."

Next morning, sun comes up, cup of tea in your hand,

nothing to beat it.

But that's the way it is. Fishermen are literally the last hunter-gatherers.

It's the only job where you've got to go out and hunt for what you get.

-And you don't know what you're gonna get, do you?

-You don't know what you're gonna get until you come back.

Get her round, get her round.

More, more.

What a day!

The tradition of beam trawling

continues to play a large part in the lives of the Brixham fisherman,

and contributes to the 10,000 tonnes of fresh fish and crustaceans that land on Brixham's quay annually.

So the lifeblood of the fishing industry doesn't just end, does it, with catching the fish?

-It's got to be sold?

-Yeah. Yeah. You've got a fish market here.

You had the old fish market here years ago, in the days of the sailing trawlers.

They had to move it because of hygiene.

It's a new-ish building on the end of the quay, and they're operating all the time.

What time does it open in the morning?

In the mornings, for auctioning the fish, it's anything from six o'clock to seven o'clock.

You say auctioning the fish, it's actually auctioned off, is it?

There's no set price?

No. Its price on demand, sort of thing. If it's in demand, it'll make good money.

It's the same as any ordinary auction, like yourself, your sort of thing.

And the guy with the deepest pockets wins, at the end of the day?

The one with the biggest demand. If he's got an hotel or big supplier

up in London or one of the big cities that's got to have fish,

they'll really push it, even if they break even on selling it.

Well, Brixham's been a fishing town for centuries, really, and I hope it carries on to be.

-Can you see that happening?

-There'll always be fishing here.

Like you say, it's been here for centuries.

The first recorded thing on paper was around about the 1200s, when there was fish being landed here.

But fishing goes up and down.

Cuttlefish years ago, you used to put it through the scuppers and dump it over the side, nobody wanted it.

Then somebody found a market on the Continent, Mediterranean areas, you can't get enough of it now.

-Incredible, isn't it? It's fashions again.

-Yeah.

-Look, Bill, thank you so much.

-It's a pleasure.

-It's been a great

-insight into the life of a fisherman down here, especially taking out a beam trawler like this.

-Pleasure.

-And thank all the crew as well. Bye, guys!

-Bye, Paul!

It's still a packed house back at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, and a mystery box has caught Philip's eye.

-How are you?

-Fine, thank you.

Do you know, people from Torquay have just turned out in droves. It's been marvellous, hasn't it?

-Yes, lovely, yes.

-Do know the thing I love about doing Flog It?

-What's that?

-Well, A, you meet different people...

-That's right.

-I've met people from Darlington, from all over today.

And then people bring something like this along, right?

And I've got no idea what's in there.

-No.

-And it's clearly a mahogany box,

and we've got a brass inlaid plaque there.

But the first thing that this tells you, this is a really

-lovely quality thing, cos if I just hold that up there, there are these dovetails down there.

-Oh, right.

And they are so beautifully made.

Now, you know what's in here, don't you?

-Yes.

-Shell we have a look?

That's marvellous.

And it's a set, isn't it, of measuring rulers for an architect or draughtsman to use.

Sometimes they're made out of bone, out of ivory.

These are made out of boxwood. They're actually...

Each one is a different scale.

You can see this one's marked 80.

-Right.

-And the next one is marked 60.

-Oh, yeah.

So each one of these will be a different scale, so that when you're in your office, drawing your really

-accurate plan, you would use these for different scales for drawings that you were producing.

-Right.

And, do you know, life's changed so much, you know?

Cos the computer will do all this for you with the right programme,

-so all these have become redundant.

-Yeah.

And they're actually quite collectible. Not hugely valuable...

-No.

-And I would think these date to end of the 19th, early part of the 20th century.

If we look here, this set is produced by Stanley's of London.

Now, these are boxwood rulers.

-And if we lift each one up, you can see it just says here, Stanley's.

-Yeah.

But I suspect they're probably not all by Stanley's.

You see, there's a foreigner.

-That one's made in New Street in Birmingham.

-Right.

Let's have a look here.

Here's another one from Birmingham.

And there's another one.

So what that tells us is it's a composite set,

because there are some missing, and these three have been added in.

And how long have they been in your possession?

Well, it was my dad's.

It was given to him by his boss, and they were the boss's dad's.

Was your dad a draughtsman?

No, my dad was a gardener.

-Gardener?!

-Mmm-hmm. And he worked for his boss for years.

And was he a draughtsman?

-No, but his father was.

-Oh, right.

-So that's where it originated.

-Yeah.

-I think if you put these into auction we can put a 30 to 50 estimate on them.

-Right.

We can perhaps reserve them at £25.

-Right.

-Where the strength of selling these today is the Internet.

And going through a good auction room, which we are, they'll put them on the Internet and you'll find from

that that you'll have collectors from all over who collect this sort of thing and they're out there.

But I think you've got to estimate them at about £30 to £50.

It'll create interest and when they go on the Net, they'll make what they're worth.

John, this is every schoolboy's dream, isn't it?

It is really.

We have in front of us a Hornby railway set

designed and manufactured to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of our present Queen in 1977.

It's dated 1976, so the Jubilee Year was a year later than the year of manufacture.

We'll start by taking off the box which is

a little bit damaged, frayed at the edges.

That reveals a liner inside

illustrating a diesel locomotive Isambard Kingdom Brunel

which is appropriate for this part of the world because he built the Great Western Railway,

which brought me here yesterday, or at least its successor did.

This is in much better condition.

But the next layer of the cake is even better.

It's true to say it's never been out of its box.

That's right.

I think what's fun about this is the fact that we obviously have a period diesel locomotive and we have

examples of the sort of advertising that was fashionable at the time. Why did you buy it?

We were going to set up a railway system in our loft for the children, but we never really got round to it.

I can see that.

Were you buying it for them or were you secretly buying it for yourself?

A bit of each. I have two boys and I was interested in trains.

Why are you selling it?

We're downsizing and we want to get a bungalow, so

we've got to get rid of some of the stuff that's stuck in our loft.

I think from the financial point of view the most amazing thing about this is the condition.

Can you remember how much you paid for it?

£68.

That's interesting because I don't think it's going to make a lot more than £68 today.

But to look on the bright side, if you had spent £68 on a TV set in 1977, it'll be worth nothing today.

Let's hope you get your money back and to that end I'd suggest

an estimate of £60-100 and a reserve of £60. Are you happy with that?

-I'd have thought a bit more.

-So you're a bit disappointed?

-I am, really.

All I can say is that things come in and out of fashion, tastes change.

I think today if you had £100 to spend on a model railway, you'd probably treat yourself

to a single locomotive that was a little bit earlier than this and invest your money in that.

Let's hope we have a pleasant surprise, who knows? We may do.

I hope that you do turn out to be satisfied in the end.

-We'll see what happens.

-We'll do our best for you. Thank you very much.

Rose, this plaque is exquisite, it's beautiful!

-Is it?

-Stunning, it really is!

I wish I had the talent to paint something like that!

-Yes.

-It's definitely a religious scene.

-Yes.

-Tell me a little bit about its history.

I inherited it approximately 30 years ago from an elderly lady

and she was a housekeeper, must have been in quite a nice house,

and she was given, obviously, certain items from the house

and I think this has got to be one of them because she wouldn't have had this herself.

What have you done with it? Have you had this on the wall?

I've had it on the wall. I took it off this morning!

So there's a little dust mark, a little square one!

I saw that Flog It! was coming and I said to a friend of mine

I think I'd love to go, so she said, "What would you take?" I said, "I'll take the miniature."

Well, I'm pleased you brought this in.

I'm going to take a closer look, actually, just turn it around.

If you look...

right in the crack, there, where the frame meets the image, you can see there's a slight curve on it.

Now you can tell instantly that's a porcelain plaque, yeah?

It's not painted on board, or card, or anything like that, or a piece of tin.

That's quite a thick plaque.

The beautiful thing about painting on porcelain plaques

is the fact that it's not like a canvas or a paper, there's no grain,

so the brushstroke almost vanishes, so you can see hardly any brushstroke. Can you see that?

-I can, yes.

-It's just so fine, and look at the folds in the linen.

Do you see the shadows around the headscarf where it's coming around?

That's just incredible, isn't it?

If you can see, very closely, look, right in the middle, there, an O,

and that's an Otto, so he's Otto... Wustlich or something like that!

God, my bad pronunciation of German, and it's dated 1843.

Gosh, that's minute, isn't it!

You think how can he paint his name so small but of course he can,

because he's painted those lips so beautifully and the eyes and the little eyebrows.

Even the darkness under the eyes, you know, it's very...

The eyes have got tremendous expression, haven't they?

Now I've looked on the Internet and I've looked up to see what's sold before.

Now he did have a larger plaque that came up for auction in America with

-a 3,000 to 4,000 estimate on it, but it failed to sell.

-Oh!

So it doesn't give us a price guide really, because this is a small one

and it's got a religious connection which slightly devalues it...

Because it's not everybody's... No.

It puts a lot of the market off so there's less competition. I still think it's worth...

..£400 to £500, I really do,

but I would like to ask you if we could put it into auction...

Yes, by all means.

..with a valuation of £200 to £400.

I don't want to start the bidding at 400...

I want it to do more than 400, but I need it to start a bit lower

so people feel they're in a chance of buying this.

I look forward to the sale.

-Joanna, how are you?

-I'm very well.

I've been doing Flog It! for a long time now and you see all sorts of things, but very occasionally,

you see something that really does excite you.

I know that you know what it is.

-Yes.

-I'm willing to bet that a lot of people at home don't know what it is.

Let's let you tell them.

OK, it's a cheese coaster.

You'd put a full cheese in here

and then you'd push it up and down, along the refectory table,

and people would help themselves to cheese as it goes up and down.

-Don't get too good here because I'm supposed to be the expert!

-Sorry.

You're spot on. It's a cheese coaster or a cheese truck.

It's made in mahogany.

A lot of these originated from the 18th century.

I think this is a little bit later than that and I think it's probably from around 1825-1835.

There are key signs as to why I think that. If you look here,

that's called a bell push moulding.

Because it looks just like a bell push.

-Absolutely.

-These columns here are called cluster columns.

If you think of that Regency period which is about 1810-1815,

we've got hairy paw feet.

Not you and I, but hairy paw feet are typical of that period.

A lot of these, over the time, split

and you can see just down here we can see a split running down there.

One reason is modern central heating.

If you're going to keep things like this at home, always put a bowl of water under a radiator,

because the water comes out of the bowl.

And the other reason is the shape of the thing.

It's almost under stress and pressure with

its arc shape. Can you see that split along there?

It was like that when we got it, of course.

Why do you want to sell it?

We've run out of cheese.

Do you know, that's a good answer. I like that.

Why do you want to sell it?

It's really hard to display in a house.

It's our golden wedding anniversary year, so we thought we'd

try and raise a few funds, go and visit our daughter in Australia

-for Christmas.

-Do you have any expectations?

Well, I hoped it would be about £200.

-Ten years ago, that would have been between £600 and £900.

-Wow!

I think today you can estimate it at £300 to £500.

We can put a reserve of £250 on it.

Give the auctioneer 10% discretion.

-But I think it's absolutely lovely. Are you happy with that?

-Very.

Thank you for bringing it. It won't get you all the way to Australia, but it'll get you on the way.

Thank you so much.

Now time for something that inspires a bit of travel.

Tucked into a corner of Devon and looking every inch like it

belongs in a fairy tale, is A La Ronde in Exmouth.

Built in the 1790s, this home was created for two spinster cousins, Mary and Jane Parminter.

If you look closely, you can see it's rather unique.

There's something so fascinating about this. It's got 16 sides.

It's a cross between a home and a little temple.

It's raised on a platform so it's got uninterrupted views of the estuary there, the River Exe.

It's absolutely stunning, but the ingenious thing is, it lets the sun in from every single angle.

You see, as the sun curls around the day, it floods the building with natural light.

Back in the 18th century, Exmouth was the choice locale of the rich and fashionable.

It was a magnet for the cousins who sourced the best land they could

in a most desirable location with a remarkable view.

Here, they set about building their fantasy home.

A La Ronde is a stunning realisation of what must've been quite a wacky idea,

but what inspired them to build this in a time when,

architecturally speaking, classical revival with its clean, formal lines was the order of the day.

Well, the answer is a holiday in the sun.

You see, what you see here is the result of having your senses stirred

and your mind seduced by wonderful architecture steeped in religious history.

You see, it was the done thing back in the 17th and 18th century to escape the bad weather of England -

a bit like it is today, really -

and do a grand tour of Europe, taking in all these wonderful things.

Basically, it's an awful lot of souvenir shopping for our two intrepid explorers.

Typically, it was the male family members, the young bucks,

who were sent to experience everything Europe had to offer.

They returned home one to three years later, full of

gusto, knowledgeable about every art form and in the ways of the world.

Now, it's one thing to embark on a grand tour if you're male for a couple of years, but quite another

if you're female, single and travelling for ten years.

That's a long time.

I've come to meet Trevor Adams, a volunteer here at A La Ronde,

to find out more about Mary and Jane's history.

-Hello, Paul.

-Hi, Trevor. Thanks for meeting me.

-Have a cup of tea.

-Thank you. Good timing.

-It's just started to rain outside.

-Yeah, we're better in here, I think.

We're in the tea room below the house.

This was the staff accommodation underneath here, and the kitchens of the house, and the two ladies

wouldn't have come down here very often. They lived on the floor above.

-So they had some staff as well, did they?

-They had about three staff.

Gosh. What were Mary and Jane like?

Jane was a very strong lady.

She was independent, she was skilled in languages, she knew a lot about travel, she was talented musically.

Mary was regarded initially as being very much under the influence of Jane.

Obviously they were very wealthy. Were they independently wealthy?

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

The family came from North Devon, and they were traders,

and they were trading in sugar and tobacco and wines.

Mary in fact inherited a lot of money from her mother's side of the family.

They left in 1784 and they came back in 1794. It was ten years away.

-A long time.

-It was a long time.

-And Mary, when she left, she was only 17.

-Gosh that's young.

She had just been orphaned and she was a ward of Jane, who was her cousin,

-and Jane was 34 when she left.

-Well, they must've kept diaries.

Do you know where they went and how they went about it, throughout Europe?

Yes. They started obviously from London.

'June 22nd, 1784...

'set off from London at 5.30am, passed through Greenwich, breakfasted at Dartford.

'Very fine, pleasant country.

'Onto Rochester, the river very pretty. June 23rd...

'arrived Calais half past three.

'A most charming passage. Sick twice but did not spoil my enjoyment.

'Went to des Angers, walked around.'

We know in detail where they went as far as Dijon, but then

it gets a bit blurred because the diary that they completed

was put for safe keeping in World War II into a county record office,

and it got destroyed with bombing, unfortunately.

But fortunately there was a transcript of the first six weeks, so we know the first six weeks.

We've got great details of them

getting involved in various local things, going to plays, descriptions of churches, the museums, the towns.

'A very pleasant, large city with 16 churches, a most elegant cathedral with a beautiful pulpit.

'We saw the King, a corpulent man, not strikingly agreeable.

'The Queen is tall and elegant-featured.

'The playhouse is quite superb, the ceiling most delicately painted.'

As well as documenting their travels, Mary and Jane Parminter also gathered an extensive

collection of souvenirs from every leg of their European grand tour.

Upstairs here, every part of every room is packed with artefacts from their decade of collecting.

And there are literally hundreds and hundreds of them.

So you've been on your travels for a few years and you may have purchased some fine art

and some sculpture, but also lots of curios, things that grab your attention.

It's a spur of the moment thing. But what do you do when you back home?

Well, here is the answer.

It's a cabinet of curios. It's jam-packed.

There's something in here for everybody, and there's no better way to spend a wet-and-windy afternoon

than sitting in here, reminiscing, bringing back all those memories of your travels and your adventures.

Many of these souvenirs can help us trace Mary and Jane's journey across Europe,

like this purpose-built table,

set with a fan that can only be purchased

at the base of the explosive Mount Vesuvius.

This table, very much like the one over there housing the fan, was also built in 1802.

That's eight years after they returned from the grand tour.

This was built in Exmouth.

Now, the clever thing about this is, the top surface

has been inset with most wonderful semi-precious stones, foreign coins,

and lots of miniature reliefs

of Roman emperors and classical figures. It's absolutely ingenious.

This must've taken hours to do

but it really does show a great artistic flair.

Now, this, to me, is a most sensible way

of displaying your little curios brought back from the grand tour,

rather than stick it in a shoebox and put it away in a cupboard.

That's so clever.

Jane and Mary were travelling at a time when photography just didn't exist in the world.

The 18th-century equivalent of a picture postcard was to have work produced by an artist.

One such chap, Piranesi, who was based in Rome,

produced work specifically for the grand tour market.

And looking around at the numerous sketches, they must've had quite a time.

It's not just the contents of this 16-sided house that have their heart in Europe.

The architectural design does too.

The benefits of this extraordinary shape can be best appreciated from here,

the central octagonal around which all the rooms are formed.

Cleverly, it allows light to flood into every room throughout the day,

showing off the collection to its best advantage.

And true to the spirit of the tour,

the cousins got the idea from Europe too.

The story in the family is that it was based on a church in Ravenna

in Italy, San Vitale, and that is an octagonal church,

and it's very finely decorated with mosaics.

As I say, the story is that they wanted that design incorporated into A La Ronde, and you've got here

the mock mosaics, you've got the shell gallery,

which really looks like mosaic from ground level.

You've got the decorations of the feathers in the feather frieze,

real feathers, and that's supposed to be based on a European design.

And did they live here happily ever after? Is it a great ending?

Oh, there's a great ending.

Jane was the older of the two and she died well before Mary.

Mary, she set up a charity...

a local school that she built and financed the children

and the school teacher, and they built a small church of their own.

-Oh, lovely.

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-And Mary lasted on till she was 82.

-Did she?

-Yes.

So what happened to this house and the wonderful collection

that belongs here once both cousins died?

Well, Mary left this very long will.

There was a lot of money involved in her will.

In today's money terms, she left cash bequests of nearly a million pounds.

-Wow.

-And there was a lot of land,

property and so on that she dispensed in the will as well.

An unusual part about the will,

and this perhaps illustrates their independence, is that the will states

that the inheritance was to be to the nearest unmarried kinswoman.

They only wanted it to stay in the family,

and they wanted it to stay in the female line of the family.

And in fact, people who married after they inherited

should have given it up. Most unusual.

Time for our final trip to the auction where Jan's scale rules

will be going under the hammer and I think this is a wonderful lot.

John is downsizing, so his Hornby train set just has to go, which is a pity, as he's never used it.

We were going to set up a railway system in our loft for the children, but we never really got round to it.

I thought Rose's porcelain plaque was exquisite

and hopefully the religious subject matter won't put the bidders off.

Joanna is selling her cheese coaster

to raise funds to visit her daughter.

It's a fantastic piece, but will the damage let it down?

Before we see it sell, I'm going to find out

what our auctioneer thinks of the cheese coaster.

This is a cracking cheese coaster,

one of the best I've seen for a long, long time.

It belongs to Joanna and she's selling it because she wants

to raise some money to visit her daughter in Australia.

We've got £300 to £500 on this.

George IV, it's a lovely example.

I think it's a very sensible estimate.

If it was in really tip-top order, it could be 800 to 1,200, even.

You might get halfway to Australia on that one, I think.

-Has there been any interest?

-We've had some interest in it.

With furniture and works of art often you don't know until the day of the auction.

-We're confident we'll be able to get it away within that estimate.

-OK.

We're working on the right lines now and next up we've got Jan's set of scale rules.

Beautifully presented in a lovely box, made by Stanley and we've got a value of £30 to £50.

Very, very nice.

Who was the draughtsman?

It was my dad's boss's father.

-It goes right back.

-How long have you had them?

20 years. Dad died 20 years ago and they were passed down to us.

Such a useful thing to have.

They're redundant now, computers have replaced them.

Yes, I know, but isn't it nice to actually be hands-on

with something like a scale rule?

And if you're planning something like jigging the bathroom around

or doing a bit of garden design

and you can measure it out in feet and inches

and you can use those scale rules

to scale it down on a piece of paper and be practical with them.

Next, a set of boxwood scales and rules all in a mahogany case.

-Let's hope the figures add up. Here we go.

-Several bidders.

I'm bid £30 for them.

-That's a good start.

-2, 5, 8.

At £40. Still against you all.

All done at 40.

Spot-on evaluation.

Not a lot of money unfortunately.

That's all right. We're going to put it towards my dad's plaque in the cemetery for renewal.

It all helps. Every little penny helps.

-Thank you, Jan.

-Thank you.

John is downsizing so the Hornby Railways set just has to go.

-It never made it up in the loft, did it?

-No.

One of those jobs that never gets done.

I've got a few ongoing jobs like that at home.

We've got a valuation of £60-£100.

I hope it'll do well.

It's in superb condition, it's never been out of its box.

That's so important with something like this.

Condition is so important for the collectors.

Thanks to you it never got played with.

So if anything we should be getting top money right now.

Let's see how we do.

Next is the Silver Jubilee freight electric train set.

£50 starts that one. At 65.

Take eight.

At £65 at the back. 68, £70 and two.

At 72. In front of me.

All done at 72. Last chance?

Quite sure at 72?

That's a good result. Happy?

I'm happy with that. A good day out.

..sell it.

Rose, I think this little plaque's wonderfully decorated, beautifully painted.

-It's quality.

-Good. It's very pretty.

-It is!

-Yes.

-It is.

We can't really talk any more, we can't speculate.

It's now down to this lot in the room, isn't it, and hopefully, fingers crossed...

-Somebody wants it.

-Yeah, there's a phone line booked for it.

That's what I'm hoping.

Next is the 19th-century German porcelain plaque.

It is signed and it is dated, 1840-ish, and at £180 starts that.

At 180, 190, 200, and ten, 220, 230,

240, 250, 60, 270, 280, 290. 300.

310, 320, 330, 340, 350...

-I can't believe it!

-370.

At 370, then, at the very back. At £370.

-That's...

-Ever so pleased with that... £370!

-That's good!

Quality always sells,

simple as that,

-and that was perfect, absolutely perfect!

-I'm really pleased!

Well, so far, so good. You could say we're coasting along, which brings us nicely into our next item.

I've just been joined by Joanna and the Big Cheese!

Did you like that?

Not a smelly cheese.

But this coaster is beautiful.

It made Philip's day and mine, actually.

Why are you selling this now?

It's difficult to display in a house and we just had it poked under a table for years.

That's a shame because it should be viewed at table height.

Do you know what I'd do with it?

I know it's impractical to put cheese in it, but you could fill it full of fruit.

A quirky fruit bowl.

-We've tried all sorts of things and we love it, we're very fond of it.

-It didn't work for you.

-No.

-Right, OK.

You've got two people who would love to own it, but unfortunately we can't, but I know

there are plenty of people here in the room that are going to stick their hand up, so let's watch this.

On next to Lot 39, which is the George IV mahogany cheese coaster.

Quality.

I'm bid £260.

280, 300, 340,

360, 380, 400.

And 20. 440,

-460, 480...

-This is more like it!

500 and 20.

540, 560,

580, 600, and 20.

Not a Stinking Bishop, is it?

640, 660, 680, £700.

And 20.

740, 760, 780,

800 now...and 20.

At £820.

Any more at £820?

Yes, roll that out. £820.

Wonderful. Amazing.

-They absolutely loved it, Philip.

-I think the Philly was a bit light there.

What are you going to do with that? Don't forget, there's commission to pay.

Well, we're going to Australia for Christmas to see our daughter and grandchildren.

-What part of Australia?

-Northern New South Wales, Queensland.

We've been many times, but my husband is coming, too,

and this will upgrade us from cattle class to cattle plus.

Travelling in style.

Thank you for bringing in such a quality item.

That's it. It's all over. The auction has just finished,

all our owners have gone home and the highlight for me had to be

the massive great big smile on Joanna's face.

The cheese coaster coasting its way to £820.

Quality always sells and I hope you've enjoyed the show.

We've loved making it, so until the next time, from Plymouth,

down in the West Country, it's cheerio.

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