Sunderland Flog It!

CROWD ROARS

A game of two halves where skills are put to the test,

but there's always the danger of an own-goal, but I'm not talking about football,

this is Flog It! Today we're in Sunderland.

Everybody knows the rules of football but this is how Flog It! works.

We arrange valuation days like this around the country

where you bring your antiques and collectables along.

Today we're at the Stadium of Light, home to Sunderland Football Club

but we're coming to a town near you soon.

Everyone who comes is guaranteed to get a valuation by one of our team of experts

-and today's star players are Anita Manning...

-Wonderful!

-..and Adam Partridge.

-They still work.

And at half-time we'll bring a selection of the best items we find in our valuation day

here to the Boldon Auction Galleries,

and let's hope we get the back of the net!

I'll also be going back in time to the roots of Sunderland's industrial heritage.

But first, let's get down to the business of the day

and Adam's found something grotesque!

Elizabeth, welcome to Flog It!

-Hi.

-And may I call you Elizabeth?

-You can call me Betty.

-Oh, really!

-Yeah.

-That's nice.

-I don't wanna be over-familiar!

-No, no, everyone calls me Betty.

You've brought in a beautiful biscuit barrel.

Why would you want to sell something so lovely?

Who would want to keep biscuits in that... I ask you!

-You don't keep your biscuits in there?

-No, no.

How did you come to own it?

A friend of mine gave it to me full of golf tees.

-I was more interested in the golf tees.

-You're a golfer?

-Yes.

-Do you still play?

-Yes.

You've brought this in today, presumably to flog it?

Yes, to get rid of.

-And why is that?

-I'm in the last round of having a clear-out.

Just say it, you don't like it.

I don't like it, no. Do you?

I don't mind it, I don't think I'd buy it,

but it's grotesque in a good way, I would say.

It's a type of Majolica really, art pottery,

from what looks like the end of the 19th century.

It's a funny colour really, a monkey with a frog on the top

and a couple of salamander down the side, including a headless one.

Yes, yes.

And there's a fair bit of damage around the lid

where people have been grabbing the biscuits with too much eagerness

then banging the lid back on.

I'll leave the lid off for a minute, so we can have a look underneath

and there we have the mark there, Salopian,

which is the name of the art pottery there made in Shropshire

and it was an art pottery founded at the end of the 19th century,

mainly run and designed by a chap called J A Harthorn,

that's what the JAH stands for.

It's a form of earthenware with a lead glaze.

It's a form of Majolica

and you rarely see anything in that medium that isn't damaged,

because it's quite a brittle, vulnerable substance

that's easily damaged, you're having a clear-out, you don't like it,

at least you're being honest, and what do you think it's gonna make?

I don't know. I was hoping you would say £2,000 or £3,000

but I'm not even gonna say £200 or £300!

Probably 20 quid, 30 quid!

Yeah, £30 to £50 was the estimate, I thought.

We've got the matter of a reserve to put on it.

Do you want it back, or do you not mind whatever it makes?

-No.

-But if it makes a tenner, worst case, would you be unhappy?

Yeah, I'd be unhappy at £10.

There you go! What about £20?

£20, we'll put it at £20.

We will be at the auction together, fingers crossed

-and hopefully the monkey, frog, and salamanders will find a new home to rest in.

-Fine, thank you.

Vera, welcome to Flog It!

I'm always delighted to see jewellery along at our valuation days.

I love these little lockets.

Tell me, where did you get them?

When I was a teenager, our next-door neighbour's mother used to visit periodically and she used to give

me a little gift when she came, and this time, she said, "I don't think I'll come any more,"

cos she was quite old, and said, "I don't think I can travel."

And that was the last gift she gave me.

But I've never worn them. I like them a lot.

-Perhaps not the type of thing that a teenage girl would want to wear.

-Yes.

You wanted maybe something a bit bigger and more extravagant.

Because these are quiet statements.

Let's have a look at them.

This little one here, it's a little gold-mounted, rock crystal locket.

It's a Victorian...turn of the century, really,

late Victorian/early Edwardian style.

We would be able to take away the back part

and put in a little bit of hair or a photograph or something.

Very pretty, very quiet, very understated.

But this one here is my favourite, and they say that diamonds are a girl's best friend,

and what we have are nice rose-cut diamonds.

Your auctioneer will measure how much we have

in carats of diamonds, and hopefully he'll put that in the catalogue.

These are very pretty,

but this one is the item which has the best value.

But also, it has that wonderful fin de siecle look about it.

It's charming of its period.

Price-wise, I would say if we estimate...

I would put them together as one lot,

because I think they'll help one another.

I think probably I would like to estimate them £100 to £150.

-Would you be happy to sell them at that?

-Yes, with a reserve of 100.

We'll put a reserve of £100 on them.

They certainly deserve that.

-Let's hope we have a good result at the auction.

-I hope so.

-Thank you for bringing them along.

Fred, this is an absolutely delightful crayon study, it really is. Tell me a little bit about it?

Well, I got it for my uncle who acquired it from my auntie

who worked in service for a long time and retired in 1964

and the family she worked for bought her a house to end her days

and she died in 1976 and when she was moving in,

my dad and my uncle went down to help her move into the house

and there was lots of stuff in the house.

This was one piece my uncle quite liked and asked if we could keep it.

So have you had this on the wall, at all?

No. About ten years ago I did some research on it

and since then it's been wrapped up in the wardrobe.

Just kept in the wardrobe!

You should have put this on the wall because it's absolutely stunning!

-I know.

-Tell me about it. I know you've done some research, and it is in fact a study.

By Arthur Hughes who was one of

the leading Pre-Raphaelite artists outside of the brotherhood.

You know your stuff, don't you?!

Basically he did five studies for The Heavenly Stair

which was in the Russell Cotes Museum in Bournemouth, and this was one of them.

Let me take this off and have a look.

I'll just put that on the floor.

I know he was a big fan of Millet,

he was a big fan of the Pre-Raphaelite.

London artist, and born 1832, he died in Kew in 1915, yeah.

-Well, it's a monogram isn't it, it's not signed.

-No.

It's definitely Arthur Ford Hughes

and the draftsmanship is second to none, it really is.

I think studies are a great way of owning a piece of art if you can't afford the real thing,

and there's something so understated

about the sort of crayon and charcoal,

and this was done possibly in about two minutes flat, sort of...

that's about right, but let's do another one nearby, very quickly!

I'd like to see it

realise around about £400 in auction,

that's my gut feeling.

Can we put it into auction with a value of £300 to £400 on it,

and sort of... would you be happy with that?

-Yeah, I'd be happy with that.

-Protect it with a fixed reserve of £300.

-Yes.

-Are you sure?

-Positive!

-See you in the auction room.

-Thanks very much.

Tim, this little item is just right up my street!

I thought it might be, actually!

And what makes it so interesting is this text here...

"votes for women",

and I love this little dog's expression.

I mean, is he saying "votes for women?" or "votes for women!"

I think the latter!

It's a wonderful piece of memorabilia

from the Women's Suffrage Movement

and there is a great market for this part of British history,

for this part of women's history.

Tell me, where did you get it?

I inherited it when my mother died and I know for a fact that

she bought that in a flea market in Whitley Bay in the 1970s.

Now isn't that interesting, because in the 1960s and '70s,

they again had this wave of the women's movement, women's lib, and she bought it at that time.

Do you think she was influenced by that time?

I don't necessarily think so but I think it probably would remind her

of her childhood and her upbringing, but she did like animals as well.

-Oh, yeah.

-So it could be one of two things.

Interestingly enough, this little dog would have been made in Germany.

Now if we examine it, we don't find any back stamp, we don't find any marking on it.

It would have been cheaply and mass-produced, sent over to Britain

and possibly sold for fundraising for the Suffrage Movement.

Now, Tim, if I'm looking to date this little item,

the Women's Suffrage Movement started officially...1897,

and women got the vote in 1918,

so this little item

would have been made between 1897

and well before the start of the First World War,

so we can put it in the date

around about the turn of the century,

and I think that this will go

to a collector of suffrage memorabilia.

-Right.

-I would estimate it between £150 and £200.

Let's hope we get plenty of votes for this little dog!

Votes for that little dog, I hope so, Anita!

Elizabeth and her friend have brought something along to set Adam's toes a-tapping.

It's really good to see musical instruments on the programme.

This looks like a very nice example of a concertina.

Some people call them an accordion, that's wrong.

Some people call them a squeeze box. Now, whose is this?

It was an old lady who I looked after,

and became a very good friend.

And after she died I had to get rid of it, out of her house.

-You cleared the whole house?

-Yes.

How long have you had it?

-About 30 years.

-OK. Where does it live?

-In the garage.

-The garage. Right.

-You've never used it? Never played it?

-No, never.

-How about you, Julie? What's your involvement?

-I'm just the neighbour.

-Friend?

-Oh, yes.

-Yes.

It's through Julie that I'm here today.

Well done, Julie, because the value of these things can very immensely.

Concertinas are quite in-demand, on the whole.

Before we go into that, I'll just show you the box. Leather case.

And inside, you've got the makers, Wheatstone of London,

and this is Wilkinson and Co, of Sunderland, retailers.

So actually, this has probably been in Sunderland all its life.

Retailed in Sunderland, and stayed here, but a London-made thing.

I'll put that to one side.

Because it's blocking my light.

The concertina is an air-based instrument, but it also works on reeds.

If you unscrew all these tiny little screws around the side,

this will lift off and you will see an arrangement of little reeds.

And on here, you see a serial number - 26546.

I've been on to the Wheatstone archives.

I know a chap who's very clever with concertinas.

We have worked out that it was made on the 19th November, 1914.

I can be that specific. Which is fascinating.

To get it that close to an actual day on which it was completed,

19th November, 1914, a lot was happening in the world then, wasn't it?

-Goodness, yes.

-Would you believe how much that cost in 1914?

26 Guineas. That's a lot of money.

-Don't you think?

-In 1914, yes.

Have you ever had it valued before?

-It's never been out of the case all the time I've had it.

-Never showed it to anyone?

-No.

-So, it's all down to Julie that you brought it along today.

-Yes.

What about a value? What do you reckon?

-I've got no idea.

-Really?

None whatsoever.

-Give me a figure.

-I couldn't.

-Julie?

-£50.

-Good start.

-I wouldn't even have guessed 50 because I have no idea.

-OK.

How does 500 sound?

Wow!

How about 1000?

That's more realistic.

Is it?

If I'm going to be conservative, which is always my way,

I think if we put a reserve of £800, that's sensible.

And an estimate of 800 - 1200.

That is going to get everybody chasing this, thinking they're going to buy it for £1,000.

What we say is, it's going to be a bloodbath. They're all going to be chasing it.

And hopefully, we're all going to be jumping for joy when it makes the

best part of £2,000, I would have thought, in the auction.

-I wish I could play it.

-So do I!

Unfortunately, I'm not going to get any meaningful noise...out of it.

But at least I've managed to annoy the people filming on the other table!

-Thanks for coming today.

-Thank you.

# The ships were wood way back in the past

# When sails made clipper ships go fast

# And oak was wood to make them last

# They'd keels of Sunderland oak, me boys,

# Keels of Sunderland oak. #

Sunderland has a long and rich history of shipbuilding dating as far back as 1346.

But what's not so well known is its equally important boat building heritage.

There have been little boatyards scattered all up and down the banks

of the River Wear for the last 600 years,

building everything from wooden fishing vessels to motor launches and lifeboats for the Royal Navy.

And like its larger shipbuilding cousin, the wooden boatbuilding

industry has played a key role in Sunderland's nautical history.

Side by side, these two industries prospered for centuries.

But by the 1950s, modern materials such as plastics and fibreglass,

saw the traditional craft of wooden boatbuilding all but die out along the River Wear.

A similar fate was soon to befall the shipbuilding industry, when the last yards closed in 1988.

The Maritime Heritage Centre was started by a group of volunteers

determined to preserve the city's nautical history.

The yards may have gone, but the skills of wooden boatbuilders haven't.

Well, not while 72-year-old Derek Rowal, one of the last surviving

boatbuilders on Wearside, is still practising his craft.

What drew you to boatbuilding in the first place?

Well, it was an accident really.

When I left school I wanted to be a cabinet maker.

I thought cabinet making was the bee's knees.

And of course I got into a cabinet yard just down the road here.

And I realised that all the furniture was made by machinery downstairs,

and upstairs they just assembled it.

So I left there and went to the local youth employment centre.

She says, "I think you might like this, it's boatbuilding."

So when I went round the boatyard and seen the trees and smelt the timber,

and the men were working with tools on the benches...

The linseed oil, the paint, the putty...

I fell in love with it straightaway. It was absolutely fantastic.

-I was right in me element.

-I bet you were.

So you've always been a boatbuilder?

Well, I served me time from '52 to '58. And of course in them days you had to do National Service.

And when I came out of National Service, you were supposed to

have been taken on for six months, but the boatyard was closing down.

But lucky enough, one of the yards had a cobble smashed up.

-Which is an old fishing boat, an old working boat?

-Exactly.

-You've got one down there, haven't you?

-Yeah.

Well, I've actually built one of those, a clinker-built vessel just like that,

with my dad, when I was about 19 down in Cornwall.

-Brilliant.

-Yeah, so I know all about the hard work.

It's obviously a scale model, but of who?

-This is the Venerable, she was a flagship at the Battle of Camperdown.

-So we're talking late 18th Century?

Yeah, when we were fighting the Dutch.

There was a local lad from Sunderland who was able seaman on the boat.

During the battle, the colours were shot down.

-In those days, if your colours come down, you'd give in.

-Yeah.

So he had climbed up and nailed the colours to the mast.

Came down, the colours were knocked down again.

When he climbed up a second time, he was shot in the cheek

and he still went up and nailed the colours to the mast.

They won the battle, and after they came home,

the king invited him down to London and gave him a pension of £36 a year.

-Gosh.

-So when he came out of the Navy, he was a pretty wealthy man.

He was a brave man as well. He deserved it.

So this is the reason why we decided to build this.

What's the next project for the Heritage Centre? What are you working on?

When we get this finished, we're going to work on the Willdora. It was a Dunkirk veteran.

-She's down the docks. If you wish, you can come down and I'll show you.

-I'd love to. I'll follow you.

Willdora was one of hundreds of small boats which set sail to France

as the German army drove all the allied forces back to the Normandy coast in the summer of 1940.

Despite being badly damaged by shellfire, during the evacuation,

she was credited with saving 200 servicemen from the Dunkirk beaches.

After the war she went back to fishing, and was later sold as a pleasure craft.

Years later, she was spotted, sunk, in Sunderland's South Dock.

How did you come by her?

One of our trustees bought it off one of the people on the Tyne

who left her two or three years and found it too big to handle himself.

And he was going to sell it, so we suggested we would buy it off him.

The reason she's out the water now is because she's taking more water in

and she had to be pumped out daily, we had to keep the pumps manned, so that she didn't go down.

And that's why she's out here now. Ready for the work.

-She is in a bad way. You've got a lot of work to do.

-Oh, yes.

When we get all this top side off here

she's got a lot of deck beams what's got to be replaced and also

something that has been missed out, her two beam shelves, have got to come off, which is a big job.

And that's just what we've seen up till now - we'll need to get down and examine it.

What plans have you for her, once she's finished?

We'll just take her to all the various venues where they have historic ships of this nature

and sail her round, you know, for people to see.

Wonderful feeling, isn't it, to think this vessel saved so many lives?

-Yes, yes.

-You'd be glad to see this in 1940, wouldn't you?

-I bet, I bet.

Keeping our past alive is what Derek and his colleagues are all about.

And it's great to see such an important part of Sunderland's

industrial past being so carefully preserved for future generations.

It's half-time at our valuation day and while we head off to the sale room,

here's a quick action replay of our choices.

Elizabeth really doesn't like her Majolica biscuit barrel

in the shape of a monkey's head

and doesn't think it's fit for purpose!

Who would want to keep biscuits in that, I ask you!

These delicate lockets were given to Vera as a teenager

by her next-door neighbour

and although she likes them she's never worn them.

But I absolutely loved this delightful crayon study

of Arthur Hughes' The Heavenly Stair

and I'm sure it will do well at auction.

Is Tim's little suffrage souvenir dog really a woman's best friend?

Anita's not sure!

I mean, is he saying, "votes for women?" or "votes for women!"?

I think the latter!

Elizabeth inherited her concertina from a friend 30 years ago,

but it's laid forgotten in a garage ever since.

Although we've left the Stadium of Light, play now continues

at the Boldon Auction Galleries,

where our experts hope to score with their valuations,

and the man overseeing the proceedings today

is auctioneer Giles Hodges,

but before he takes to the rostrum,

he's got some news about my estimate on Fred's picture.

This lot belongs to Fred and not for much longer.

It's a little crayon study by Arthur Hughes of The Heavenly Stair

and I've put £300 to £400 on it

but I know on a really good day

it should, fingers crossed, double that.

I think you're right.

I think if we're going to be a little bit picky with it,

-I think unfortunately the colour of the grain...

-It's the brown paper.

Yeah, it doesn't quite help.

The only misgiving that I would have would be the paper.

I think the quality of the drawing is phenomenal;

pre-sale interest, not only...

we've actually had international interest from America,

from Canada as well,

so I think again good conservative estimate

we should have no problem whatsoever.

So there's been lots and lots of interest?

Come on, put your neck on the block!

I'm gonna go for around the £600ish mark,

maybe a little bit more if we can gain some firm bids

but pre-sale, yeah, around the £500,£600 mark.

All good stuff, isn't it? I can't wait to see it go under the hammer.

It's just made my day looking at this.

But before we see if the international bidders are here,

we have something more modest.

Betty's monkey head biscuit barrel, at £30 to £50.

-And you say this has got to go?

-Got to go!

It's definitely got to go because it's so ugly.

That's why it's so pretty and beautiful

and I know why Adam gravitated towards it because it's unusual.

-I like ugly things.

-I like ugly things as well.

I like Martin Brothers' ware.

Well, it's a similar grotesque thing, isn't it,

I mean grotesque in a good way.

It is damaged, ugly, but I think it's gonna do all right.

-It's a good talking point, isn't it? You see, it is so unusual!

-Yes.

I was saying to Adam it's against the run of the mill when you look at Doulton

and you look at Clarice Cliff and things like that and it stands out,

and it wants to be talked about,

and the fact it was full of golf tees is even more amusing, isn't it, really!

Lot five, the Salopianware biscuit barrel.

I've got two commission bids.

£20 starts me.

At £20 and I'll take the 2.

At £20. 2 anybody?

22, 25, 28...

We're off, Elizabeth!

£30 still with me.

£30 and we're away at 30.

-That's OK.

-That's not bad.

Bottom estimate.

Yeah, so that is a few golf balls.

I'll either get three good ones or...

a couple of dozen cheap ones at the supermarket!

Or get a snorkel and dive for your own at the bottom of the lake!

I've been looking forward to this, I'm a dog lover,

and all dog lovers should buy this one.

It's a Suffragette Movement dog ornament.

Will we get that sort of £150 for it? That's what I'm hoping.

Yeah, I'm hoping that it will go there,

but it's not an item of quality...

it's value is in its collectability,

and hopefully some rarity values will...

It does put a great smile on your face!

It's a nice little hound.

Oh, it's gorgeous, and I'm sure this little dog will find a new home.

We're gonna find out now, here we go.

We've got the Suffragette Movement

continental porcelain dog...

-Sums up lots of social history.

-It does!

I'm bid £100 to start it.

100, 110, 120.

At 120, on the commission at 120.

-130...

-It's sold.

Upstairs the bid.

At 130. Anybody to my left?

140 anybody?

At £130 it's the last chance at 130.

-Brilliant!

-Dead on the reserve.

-We were just there.

-Spot on!

-Just there!

-That was good, Well done, Peter.

What an expert, marvellous!

How are you feeling, Elizabeth?

A little nervous.

You shouldn't be, don't need to be.

-I was so excited when I saw that?

-Were you? I know you were.

-I had to fight him for it.

And Giles was really excited.

-What's your prediction?

-1800.

I'll go a bit higher, then.

-Two grand?

-I'll go two grand.

Just see what happens.

How exciting is that, Elizabeth?

-Very.

-And you had no idea.

-None whatsoever.

-Here we go.

So, we are on to Lot 245

which is the Wheatstone and Company concertina.

A huge amount of interest.

I have telephone bids. Are we all on?

There's a few telephone lines.

I love these lots.

And we start it at...

1500, and away.

Get in!

1600, 1700...

-Less nervous now?

-Yes.

-..1800, 1900.

2000, 21.

22. Tom's phone at 22.

Incredible.

-Anybody else? At 22.

-It's gone quiet.

-Everyone's very still.

-At 2200. The internet is out as well...

-£2,200.

-At £2,200.

We're all done at 2,200.

Thank you very much.

-That is a brilliant result.

-Excellent.

Absolutely brilliant. Elizabeth, thank you for bringing that in.

It has given us so much pleasure.

And a lot of excitement, which we have all appreciated watching.

Next up, it's Vera's locket. Since the valuation day, she's decided to up the reserve.

£80. Anybody on the net?

Vera, we've got your lockets that your next door neighbour gave to you.

-Fingers crossed we get the top end of Anita's estimate.

-Very sweet.

They are gorgeous, aren't they? We'll find out now.

We have a lovely little lot, the small heart-shaped lockets.

I have a phone on my left.

I've got two commissioned bids.

-That's good.

-And I'm starting it at 180.

Excellent!

That was just plucked out of the air, wasn't it?

260, 280, 300...

-SHE GASPS

-320.

-On the phone at 320.

-That's a shock.

-What?!

-340 anybody?

At £320, are we all done?

At 320...!

Come on! £320!

We were expecting 150, weren't we?

The jewellery buyers were here, Paul.

Jewellery is strong at the moment.

Jewellery is really, really strong.

There's commission to pay, but what will you do with it?

Some of it's going to my grandchildren, and then I'll treat myself and my partner.

Oh, you've got to treat yourself, haven't you?

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

-What a shock!

Now it's my favourite item of the whole day.

I think it's the best thing in the auction.

It's the crayon study by Arthur Hughes and it belongs to Fred

and possibly for not much longer.

I think you've got five more minutes to own it.

We're only a few lots away.

Will you be sorry to see it go?

Yeah, it's a little bit of an emotional thing,

it was owned by my uncle and he was my father since my dad died when I was three,

but he was set to sell it and when Flog It! came to town,

I thought this was the time for him to have one of his wishes, so...

I think the time is right, definitely, for finding a buyer

as it's caused a bit of a stir,

so let's watch, shall we, and just enjoy this. Here we go.

We have the chalk pastel monogrammed Arthur Hughes.

Lovely study of The Heavenly Stair, circa 1880,

it bears label to reverse.

I've got two bids

and I'm starting it at £400.

20 anybody?

£400, 20 now, at 420,

450, 480, 500.

At £500, 20 anybody now?

At £500. The internet is out.

At £500.

-Sold it, £500. That's a good result.

-That's good.

-That's a good result.

-Happy?

-Oh, yes, yes.

Lovely thing, lovely thing. That'll give someone so much pleasure.

It's one of the things that if I'd come out to buy,

I would have bought. Thank you so much for bringing it in.

Thank you.

And coming up later, can this Art Deco wall mount

bring a happy ending to a young love story?

She's met up with an old boyfriend, her first ever boyfriend, who she went out with when she was 13.

-And they have found each other again after 17 years!

-Yes.

Oh, that's wonderful!

History can come alive in many ways here at the Beamish Open Air Museum west of Sunderland.

It lives through period buildings and costumed staff with a passion for their heritage.

These living communities transport you back into the lives

of ordinary working people in North East England in the 19th and early 20th century.

No depiction of the North East's history would be complete without a colliery

and walking through the streets of this 1913 mining village is really just like stepping back in time.

Coal was king. It fired the furnaces which made the iron which in turn

built the ships that exported the coal, so the whole region prospered.

The Great Northern Coalfield was at its peak of production in 1913

with some 250,000 men and boys producing

more than 56 million tons of coal each year.

A miner worked an eight-hour shift with only one day off a fortnight.

It was a hard, dangerous life.

Roof-falls, fires and explosions were constant threats.

Though the wages were comparatively high, without a main breadwinner, life could be tough

'and women had to find ingenious ways of making ends meet.'

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Can I join you?

-Yes, of course.

-What's your name?

-Jessica.

-And what are you making?

-A "clippie" or a "proggymat",

as they're called in this part of the world, and it's a way to use all the old worn-out material.

-And that's the end product?

-It certainly is.

-That's lovely.

-How long would that take?

-It'd take a few months.

-Do you make these to supplement your income?

-I do indeed, yes.

I'm a widow, unfortunately, husband was killed down the pit in a mining disaster.

Luckily, I've got a son of 12 who's above ground at the pit - can't go underground till he's 14 -

but I'm obviously making mats to help, you know, supplement the income

-and taking in washing, delivering babies...

-Gosh!

Laying people out, anything to bring some money in.

-You work hard?

-Definitely.

-I'll leave you to do it.

-Thank you.

Although dangerous, the mining industry was vital in transforming

the economy and the landscape of the area.

But nowhere is this region's growth and prosperity reflected more than at the Beamish market town.

Towns in the North East grew rapidly from the 1870s, with some seeing

considerable improvements in sanitation and housing.

At number three, there's even a dentist's surgery.

Dentistry was a relatively new profession in 1913

and often practised in a dentist's own home.

And around this time, motor cars were becoming more common,

as they were now being manufactured on production lines in England for the first time.

Beamish Motor & Cycle Works is typical of a town garage.

-Hello.

-Hello, good morning.

Pleased to meet you. How long have you been here?

Well, quite a few years. My father had it before myself,

it was originally a stables and then, as the first motor car went trundling past our doors here,

we thought we'd make a bit of money, so we started selling petrol in cans

and tyres and oil and it's from there gradually that

-the motor business took over from the horses.

-Moving with the times.

Yes, gradually, and as cars became slightly cheaper, then obviously the business grew and grew and grew.

It's 1913, what do your customers complain about most about the motor car? What keeps breaking down?

LAUGHTER

-What's your chief complaint?

-That will be the tyres, I suppose.

The tyres, the pneumatic tyres keep coming off their rims, they keep bursting.

We vulcanise the tyres here and keep them going, but they are very, very expensive.

-A reasonably cheap tyre will be in the region of £5.

-Gosh, that's still a lot of money.

A lot of money then. Four of them, £20.

Every 3 or 4,000 miles, another tyre.

-OK, and how about a service?

-Well, servicing is cheap.

For three guineas, you can get 12 services in a year,

we'll drain the oil, we'll clean the oil, we'll put the oil through our filters,

we'll then put it back in, obviously, then we grease things,

make sure everything's OK and look for any faults that need repairing.

-Usually, we find one or two.

-Great. I'll bring my car here. Thank you.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-I love your garage!

It's been a fascinating day. Before I leave, I want to catch up with Richard Evans from the museum.

And what better place to do that than in the pub?

Richard, I've thoroughly enjoyed my day here and it's quite fitting that we've ended up in the pub,

but it's a great way of understanding history,

you know, how our grandparents would have lived back then.

That's right. It's that really fascinating moment where

the past meets the present and it's that connection to the past

and really the stories of the people from the past that we focus on.

It's called "The Living Museum of the North",

because we try and bring it alive, so people can connect to it.

So all the buildings are original, they've been taken apart bit by bit and put back together again?

That's right. Often, they were at risk of demolition

or had past their working life, if you like,

and this particular pub comes from Bishop Auckland, Newcastle Breweries, and it was taken down

and, with their support, actually brought here and, as you say, reconstructed on the site.

-So where did this idea spring from? Because it's the first, isn't it, "living" museum, so to speak?

-Yes.

It started really in the Fifties, when, with the closure of a lot of

the heavy industries in the region, a lot of objects were being lost,

really important objects, particularly for the North East,

and really to save those objects, the original founder of the museum,

Frank Atkinson, started shoving them in sheds before the museum existed.

-Hoarding them up for that day?

-Hoarding them up. He had plans...

-He had vision!

-He had vision, and together with all of the local authorities in the North East,

this piece of land was bought and then the stories of the people of the region,

for their people as they saw it, the museum was founded back in 1970.

Fantastic development, and I love the way the staff wear uniforms.

I know you don't wear this daily attire.

-Not every day!

-Why did you want that?

It is about the detail and detail of the costume.

We have our own costume department. It's very important to us

that people connect with the objects and with the history of the region

not through the object, but through the people that can bring it to life,

-so it's a working, living, dynamic museum.

-Yes.

It's the human to human contact that we find people connect to, then the objects and stories behind them.

Especially as you've got traditional skills passed on - all your staff have learnt these skills.

That's right. We have an apprentice, for instance,

learning about our historic trams and how to keep them going in the future.

-Long may it continue! Thank you.

-Thanks very much.

I'm gonna order a pint now.

-Could I have a pint of your very best, please?

-Yes, sir.

What I really admire about museums like Beamish is the way it brings history alive

in such a personal way and not only is there a great sense of connection

to our past, but also an insight into daily life all those years ago.

Cheers.

Back at the valuation day in Sunderland, Anita's

found a beautiful face and a spot of romance.

Sandra, welcome to Flog It!

-and thank you for bringing along this wonderful item.

-Thank you.

I love the 1930s and I love the Art Deco period

and I think that this type of thing is just down my street.

These wall masks were made by Beswick, which is a wonderful factory.

They made animals, entertaining and humorous figures and so on

-and for the more romantics of us, this type of thing.

-I see.

Tell me, where did you get it?

It was my grandmother's and, er, then it passed on to my mother

and then it came to me and I've passed it on to my daughter.

-So it's come through the family?

-It has.

-That's so nice.

-So it now belongs to?

-To my daughter.

Why does she want to sell it?

Well, she's moving away and she's gonna set up home.

-Is it romance that's, er...?

-It is.

She's met up with an old boyfriend, her first ever boyfriend who she went out with when she was 13,

and 17 years ago that was, and they've now got back together.

Aw, isn't that lovely?!

-After 17 years!

-17 years!

-How did they become separated in the first place?

We moved away. Of course, she was only 13, so she had to come with us, and we moved down to Somerset

and he lived in Congleton, so it was too far. They were both young, so...

-And they have found each other again, after 17 years!

-Yes.

-That's wonderful!

-Yes.

-So they've got to get as much dosh as they can together...

-They have.

-..to set up house.

-That's right.

-And we're hoping that this Beswick wall mask will make some money.

-Hopefully.

-I find these things very popular, people like them and they are a wee bit romantic.

-Yes.

-So it's fitting that we should sell it. If we look round

at the back here, we can see the back stamp for Beswick.

Estimate, it's not going to get a huge amount of money,

and five or six years ago, it may have made a little more.

I would put an estimate of perhaps £60 to £80 on it.

-That's very good.

-We'll put a reserve on it of perhaps £50.

-Are you happy with that?

-I am, thank you.

-Let's try

-and make some money for the young lovers.

-That's wonderful, thank you.

Mr Leslie, I've always been interested in quirky objects.

-Don't look at me when you say that!

-LAUGHTER

-I was talking about what you brought in!

-Oh, sorry!

A lot of people will be thinking, "What on earth is that?"

when they're watching and, obviously, we know what it is. Shall we tell them?

-Yes.

-OK.

-Go on!

-I would catalogue them as early 19th-century

mahogany and brass peat bellows, mechanical bellows.

-Yes.

-There they are. You turn the handle here, I'll do it carefully,

and can you feel a draught coming out of the end?

-Very slightly.

-Very slightly.

-And, of course, you give it a good wind-up and that's how to get it going.

-Yes.

-They date to around 1820, I would have thought.

-I would think so.

-Where did you get them from?

-I bought them once when I was on holiday.

-I can't remember exactly where.

-In this country, presumably?

-In this country, somewhere down south.

-A while ago?

Oh, quite a lot of years ago, yes.

-A long time ago?

-A long time ago.

I'm sure you don't remember what they cost you?

I can't remember, but probably £20 or £30.

-I mean, the values of these have fluctuated over the years.

-Yes.

At the moment, I had some in my sale last week,

made about £100.

I would put the old £80 to £120 estimate on them and an £80 reserve.

-Does that sound OK with you?

-That does, yes.

-Excellent.

-Let's get them out and we'll find a new home for them.

-Yes, good idea.

And over at another valuation table, Anita has found something to remind her of home.

Anthony, Iris, these are wonderful vases, they're in perfect condition.

-Do you know what they are?

-Yes. They're Wemyss Ware.

You're absolutely right! I am so pleased to see

this wonderful pair of Scottish vases down in Sunderland today.

Tell me, where did you get them?

They were a wedding gift from a friend.

All right. Did you like them, Iris?

Yes. At the moment, they're not our style.

They're not your style?

If we lift it up, we have the impressed mark for Wemyss here

and this mark, "T Goode & Co", is the retailer.

Now, Wemyss Ware came from the factory of Robert Heron

and his factory was in Kirkcaldy in Perthshire.

Now did you know that they were Wemyss, that they were perhaps worth a couple of bob?

-Well, not at the time we didn't, no.

-Did you like them, Anthony?

Yes, but I liked them more as I began to learn more about them.

Because it sounds to me like the pair of you must have been

very underwhelmed when you unwrapped them, am I right?

-Yes.

-Yes, yes, it's not what we expected.

Wemyss Ware is easily damaged, because it was fired at very low temperatures.

Now fired at these low temperatures enabled the painters of Wemyss

to do this wonderful, free-flowing naturalistic

painting on their items and these are interesting.

They're not a pair, they are two separate vases.

We have one with plums on them and the other one, Iris, we have irises,

-which I'm sure was in your friend's mind when they bought them for you.

-That may have been the link there.

So, you've had them for how many years?

47 years.

47 years!

Well, the estimate I would put on these wonderful vases

would be in the region of £400 to £600.

-Would you be happy with that estimate?

-Yes, very pleased, yes.

-I'd be very pleased with that.

I think we'll put a firm reserve of £400 on them.

-That's fine.

-Fine, yeah.

And let's hope that they go much further!

-Thank you very much, thank you.

-We hope so!

-Hi, Joanne.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-Fine, thanks.

-Thanks for coming to Flog It!

I see you've brought quite an interesting maritime watercolour.

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

I inherited it. It came from my mother-in-law.

Her husband bought it years and years ago.

It used to be on the wall in the bedroom,

but unfortunately when he passed away, she put it into storage.

This is by a well-known maritime artist, William Birchall.

Dated 1915. His dates...

I'm just sneaking downwards cos I've written them on my leg.

I'm not that much of an expert.

1884 to 1941. So this is painted when he was about 30, 31 years old.

It's his typical subject. He was quite prolific.

He was a maritime painter. He did numerous shipping scenes.

I'm going to whip it off the stand now so we can see the back because I believe there's a title on the back.

"Night..." What does that say?

-Night Cruise?

-"Night Cruise, Bellona."

Presumably Bellona's one of the names of the ships.

"And Torpedo Boats 35 and 36."

So this is a World War I thing, isn't it?

1915.

Why have you decided to flog it?

Because it's just been stuck on the top of a unit since I got it.

-So you don't have it on display?

-No.

-Anyone else like it in the family?

-No.

Any idea what it's worth, yourself?

Not really, no.

As I say, he's got a good track record.

When we're valuing art, it's all about the artist, when they operated and what they make at auction,

and these are things we can look up in various books, even online now.

He's quite an easy artist to value because he painted a lot and they've appeared a lot,

so we've got loads of records of his, and they vary from 60 to even 400 or 500 for the very big fancy ones.

I'd put this one at our usual favourite, 80 to 120, which I think is fairly accurate for it.

-How does that sound?

-That sounds great.

If we tuck in a reserve at 75 just to protect it, because I think it must be worth around that.

Yes, that sounds great.

Well, that's it, the final whistle's blown on our valuations and here's what we're taking to auction.

It's young love that's making Sandra sell her daughter's Art Deco Beswick wall mount.

She's moving away and she's gonna set up home.

Is it romance that's...?

It is. She's met up with an old boyfriend, her first ever boyfriend.

Mr Leslie's early 19th-century brass and mahogany peat bellows caught Adam's eye for the unusual.

I've always been interested in quirky objects.

-Don't look at me when you say that!

-LAUGHTER

And after 47 years, it's time to go for the Wemyss vases,

given to Anthony and Iris on their wedding day.

Joanne's maritime watercolour has been gathering dust since she inherited it from her mother-in-law.

Now she's hoping it will make waves at auction.

Well, the experts have had their say, but will the bidders agree?

It's time to find out.

Going under the hammer right now we've got a maritime watercolour by William Birchall

with a valuation of £80-120 put on by Adam, our expert.

It belongs to Joanne here, who since has done a bit of research and has changed the estimate, haven't you?

-Oh, dear...

-Tell me all about this, because I don't know, nor does Adam.

I did a bit of internet research and I also did some digging around in some old paperwork in the house.

I found it had originally been valued at £300-500 in probate.

Well we've got to move a mountain here now. It's all down to Giles.

The problem with internet research sometimes, when you see the prices

and you don't know about condition, size, subject, etc.

-There are a number of factors.

-Definitely.

Here we go. It's going under the hammer now. Good luck both of you.

The signed William Birchall, dated 1915, titled 'Our Defenders'.

I'm bid 100 to start it.

At £100... 120,

140, 160... 180...

At 180... 200.

Seated in the middle of the room. I'll take 10 from anybody else now.

At £200, it's seated in the middle.

At £200 for the last time... 200!

Yes! £200, brilliant.

-I think you're both right, do you know that?

-Handshake?

Both right.

Next up, two Scottish vases belonging to Iris and Anthony here.

-Now, they were a wedding present, weren't they?

-Yes.

-Is that a bad omen, Anita, to sell a wedding present?

-I don't think so.

-No, cos we're still married!

-LAUGHTER

Why are you selling them?

Well, they've been locked in a safe and they don't see the light of day, so we thought...

You didn't like them really, did you?

We did like them, but we thought they were too valuable to display them.

Well, they are valuable. We've got £400 to £600 on these.

-You're very nervous, aren't you?

-I am!

First auction...and it's packed! Let's just hope there's two or three people that push the price up.

-Fingers crossed!

-That's what it's about - people getting carried away, excited and bidding like mad!

-We hope so.

-That's what it's about! That's what it's about!

We're gonna find out right now. Here we go.

Lot number 80 - we have the two Wemyss Ware

tapering vases, one with the plums, one with the irises.

Again, numerous bids.

I'm gonna start straight in, off the commission, at £420.

-Yes!

-420. At 420.

40 now. At £420. 40 anybody?

-Come on, more though!

-At £420, the maiden bid will get it.

At £420, all done at 420...

-That was short and sweet, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-Well, we got the reserve.

We're over the reserve, so.

I'm really happy, really, really happy.

There is commission to pay here, but what are you going to put the money towards?

-We haven't any specific reason.

-You should have a nice romantic treat for yourselves.

-Because it was a wedding present, let's face it.

-Yes, it was.

-Treat yourselves.

-Yes, we will do. We'll enjoy it, Paul!

-This was a classic antique-dealer's lot.

-Proper thing.

-In an antique shop, you always saw one of those in the window.

-Yeah, mechanical bellows.

-It's just a lovely tactile thing.

-Fingers crossed!

-Fingers crossed!

You know how it works, don't you, we need people getting carried away and bidding madly. Here we go.

The pair of Georgian 19th-century peat bellows

and I'm straight in, I've got two commission bids

and I'm on commission at £70. Five anybody?

At £70. Is there a fiver? At £70 and all done.

-75 anybody? At £70...

-It should be worth more.

-At £70 and we're away at 70.

-GAVEL BANGS

He sold it just under the bottom end of the estimate

-and under the reserve.

-No problem.

-Oh, well, it's gone.

-Yes.

-It blew us away a bit.

-Sadly, that seems to be a sign of the times with traditional artefacts like that.

I think anything made of brass, it has to be cleaned.

You've hit the nail on the head there, actually.

People don't like cleaning and polishing things any more.

That was gorgeous. Thank you. We had so much pleasure looking at that and hearing all about it.

-It was brilliant.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Next up, the Art Deco Beswick wall mount.

Now our valuation days do get very, very busy and, sometimes, you have to wait 4-5 hours,

-and that's exactly what Sarah had to do, didn't you?

-Yes.

You were with Mum and just as we were going to film you, you were next in line, you had to nip off!

-Yeah.

-So you missed the filming of the valuation day, that's where we saw Mum,

but it is yours, this wall mount, so thank goodness Mum was there!

You love this wall mount, it's your thing?

It's a wonderful image, it's in Beswick, it's Art Deco, I love that period.

-Will we get £80, will we get £100?

-I'm hoping for the top estimate, anyway.

-Why are you selling this, Sarah?

-Because I'm moving down south.

-Oh, are you? Where are you going?

-Cheshire.

-Oh, are you?! Why, work?

No, I've just got back together with my first ever boyfriend, so.

Aw, that's true romance, isn't it?

-So you're upping sticks?

-Yeah.

-And you thought maybe he won't like that Beswick wall mount!

-No!

-Some things have got to go, but it's helping for the move obviously for the costs.

-Yes.

-OK. Let's find out what the bidders think, shall we?

-OK.

-Fingers crossed we get that top end. Here we go.

Lot number 20, we've got the 1930s Art Deco Beswick plaque of the lady.

-I wouldn't take it with me either!

-LAUGHTER

-I've got four commission bids again.

-Wow!

-Start it at £90.

-Yes!

-We're there!

95. 100. 105, front row.

110, 115, 120, 125...

-They love it!

-..130, 135, 140, 145, 145 downstairs.

150 back in, 155.

Stood at the back at 155.

All done to the left as well?

-At £155 and we're away.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Yes! £155! You've gotta be pleased with that, haven't you?

-Very, yeah!

Gosh, brilliant!

-And they loved it!

-It's amazing, isn't it, what people do spend money on, it really is.

I wouldn't have bought it, but there you go!

-Good luck with the move.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with the move.

It doesn't get much better. What a terrific day we've had here at the Boldon Auction Galleries.

All credit to Giles on the rostrum there, he's done us proud, and so have our experts.

Keep watching the show. We love making it. Until next time, cheerio.

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