Torquay Flog It!

What fabulous weather. Just the kind of day to be on the coast

and this beautiful beach is called Oddicombe, and it's situated in Torquay

and that's where the show comes from today.

Torquay is situated on the South Devon coast in the area known as Torbay

and Torbay has been a firm favourite with tourists ever since the Victorian era.

It's been dubbed "The English Riviera."

And what better attraction for visitors to the area than this...

the Babbacombe Cliff Railway. You can just see one of the carriages.

Now that takes visitors from the beach, where I'm standing,

right up to the top of the cliff

and later on in the show I'll be coming back here

to find out how this marvellous feat of engineering works but, for now,

I'm heading off to the centre of Torquay to the valuation day and I'm going to be taking that quick route.

And there is quite a crowd outside the Palace Hotel,

so it's just as well today's experts, Philip Serrell and new boy David Fletcher,

have already got stuck in, browsing Torquay's antiques and collectables.

Now they'll have to continue looking inside as it's time to get the doors open

and it looks as if something speedy has already caught David's eye.

Alan, when you said you'd brought a vintage car in,

I thought we were going to have to go out to the car park to look at it!

Now, how long have you owned this?

It's difficult to remember, I seem to remember it being around at least 20, 30 years

but I think when one of the grandparents passed away, it came my way then.

-So you didn't play with it as a boy?

-I didn't, actually.

-So you weren't responsible for the damage?

-No. I've only ever known it to look like it is and there we are.

OK. The damage is a problem.

It's a little bit rusty, there's metal fatigue, I think, in his trouser bottom there

and in the hem of his coat.

This was made in Germany by the Leamann Factory.

In their day, they were prolific manufacturers of this sort of item.

If you like, they were the Dinky and Corgi toymakers of the early 20th century

and this model is known as a "Tut-Tut"

and I think that must refer to the fact that, if we look inside, we can see these bellows

which are operated by the clockwork motor

which would have caused his horn to sound.

This particular design was patented in 1903, by which time the factory had been going for some time

and this model continued in production until 1935.

One of the things I love about it is his driving position.

I mean talk about cool, he's got his foot up on the dashboard,

one hand on the steering wheel, no seat belt

and he's blowing his horn as he does it.

That's a bit worrying, but standards were different in those days.

Now, why are you selling it?

To be honest with you,

we would like it to go to a home where it's appreciated.

-I know a lot of people say this, but we really would.

-That's good.

It would be nice if someone had it and looked after it

more than what it's been in the past

and maybe did a bit of restoration on it.

It's always said, isn't it, we don't really own these things,

we just take care of them for the next generation and I'm glad that you're handing it on.

-That's right.

-Now, we need to think about what it might be worth.

I am concerned, as I say, about the damage.

I would give this the benefit of the doubt

and say that it was made at the start of that period

so, before the First World War which gives it a bit of extra cachet.

-I reckon this will make between £60 and £100.

-Good grief!

-You surprise me, you really do!

-Oh, that's good.

What I'd really like to suggest is that we sell it without reserve.

You'll have to be a bit philosophical but I'm confident that there'll be

enough people there who like this sort of thing for it to do pretty well.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes, that would be wonderful!

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 brush stroke 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

-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.

-Rita, my love, how are you?

-I'm all right, thank you.

-That don't sound Devonian! Where are you from?

-Bradford in West Yorkshire.

-Bradford?

-Yes.

-Are you a Yorkshire lass?

-Yes, I am.

-Not any more though?

-No.

-When did you move down?

-12 months ago.

What have you brought along today?

Well, I don't really know. I think it's a snuff box but I'm not sure.

It's been handed down through my husband's family and it's just something in the display cabinet

and I've no idea exactly what it is or what it's made of.

-And you want to sell it?

-Well, yes, if it's worth anything.

-I've seen lots of these.

-Have you?

-And I love it to bits because I just... I like my bits of wood

and you see a lot of these that are just sort of in a plain timber.

-Yes.

-And they're worth like a fiver, not much more than that,

sometimes a little bit more but not much but, as you rightly say, it's a snuff box.

-It would date from the 19th century.

-Does it?

-We've got a bit of Mother of Pearl inlay...

-Is it Mother of Pearl?

-..in an ebony oval there, but what I love, look at that back.

-Yes.

-Can you see the colour of that timber there?

-Yes, yes.

Now that's just what we call "patina"

-and all this happened through people going like that...

-Just with the use?

And it's the grease off your hands, and it's clung and it's gone into it

and you put it in your pocket and against the cloth of your pocket, it's polished it.

I just love it to bits!

And so many people get an old bit of wood,

-or silver for that matter, and they over-clean it.

-Yes.

You take that layer of colour off.

-This is called Treen, so it's a small wooden item.

-Oh, yes.

And they're cut out of the roots of trees and of hedges.

It might be that this has been cut or carved out of that.

I think it's really sweet. It's not worth a fortune. Why are you selling it?

I don't know whether anybody's really interested in using them today or not

but I just wondered whether it was doing any good in...

just stood in a cupboard.

-Its auction estimate is going be £20 to £40.

-Yes.

And, you know, if you went to a really ritzy dealer

and saw something like that, you could possibly pay anywhere

between £50 and £100 for it, but I just think it's absolutely lovely!

Hello, Heather. It's a real thrill for me to be able to discuss a piece of furniture because on "Flog It!"

we don't see a lot of furniture, as you might expect, really.

-Is this a family piece?

-It was a family piece, yes, but I'm the end of the family chain.

-Right. Who did it belong to first?

-It would have been my grandmother and when she died,

my mother inherited it when I was very young so it's always been in my life, since I was a young child.

-And why are you selling it?

-Because I don't like it! I don't like brown wood furniture!

Just want to be shot of it?

-Yeah!

-Whereabouts is it stood in the house?

-In the spare room.

-OK!

I've got a modern bungalow and it just doesn't suit it.

-So it's not on view?

-No!

What's interesting, you mentioned the timber

and, in fact, we have a light timber here so it needn't be dark.

It's been stained to simulate rosewood. It's actually beech wood

and this would have been made in the middle of the Victorian period,

-probably as early as 1850, perhaps a little bit later than that.

-Right.

It's designed in the Jacobethan style, which is a name the Victorians gave

to a style which merged the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles.

I think that it's a child's chair, but it could be a nursing chair.

One thing I would just say, which always interests me,

is, in my experience, Victorian chairs like this, the barley-twist legs always oppose each other,

so this one spirals this way and that one spirals that way.

On a period piece of furniture, you find that each leg would spiral the same way,

-so, if nothing else, that tells us this is Victorian.

-Right.

It's not going to make the earth, but I would expect it to make between £30 and £50, perhaps, on a good day

with the following wind, a bit more and if you're happy, I would suggest that we sold it without reserve.

-Yes, I'd be happy to sell it.

-Good. Let's go ahead on that basis, then.

Lovely, thank you.

And now it's time for our first visit to the auction.

Here's a quick reminder of what we're taking along.

David was relieved to discover Alan's inherited "Tut-Tut" car was in fact a small German tin one!

When you said you'd brought a vintage car in,

I thought we were going to have to go out to the car park to look at it!

I thought Rose's porcelain plaque was exquisite and hopefully

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

Rita's snuff box came from her husband's family, and Philip

was wowed by it, but Rita isn't so sure that it'll sell!

I don't know whether anybody is really interested in using them today or not.

And finally, we're selling Heather's Victorian chair

which came from her grandmother and is a real bit of quality.

There you are, they're the items we're hoping to sell and this is where we're doing it...

Eldred's Auctioneers and Valuers

which is just along the coast from Torquay, in Plymouth.

Before the sale gets underway, there's just enough time for me

to have a quick chat with today's auctioneer, Anthony Eldred,

to see what he's got to say about one of our lots.

This guy's a bit of fun, isn't he? Look at that, blowing his horn!

It's a German 1930s tin-plate car. It belongs to Alan.

Obviously it's been used a lot but d'you know something,

I like that kind of weathered condition about it.

There's something sort of tactile. It gives it a bit of personality.

We've got £60 to £100 with no reserve, so it's here to go.

Well, I think it will definitely go at that estimate.

Ernst Leamann produced several of these little car models.

They're always portrayed as sort of large capitalist figures.

-He was not a great fan of the motor car, so he liked to have some fun with this subject.

-Yeah.

But I think the condition actually is a little bit against it.

Collectors, as you know, like to see...

-They're fussy.

-..tip-top, but at that estimate, I think it'll make more.

-The character is so wonderful! He's just brilliant!

-Absolutely!

He puts a smile on your face and I think with antiques like that,

if you're prepared to spend £100 and smile every time you see it, it's money well-spent.

Yeah, I think if that only cost me £100 I would have a smile on my face!

So what do you think it might go for?

I think it could double that.

Keep watching to find out how Alan's Tut-Tut car fares, but first my valuation is being put to the test.

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!

Going under the hammer right now is Heather's chair.

We've got a value of £30 to £50 put on by our expert, David.

Why do you want to sell it, Heather? because it's been in the family for three generations.

-Are you having second thoughts?

-No.

No? Why not?

Well, I just don't like dark wood, it doesn't go with anything, it's too small.

But that's the beauty of it... the corner of a room, in a bathroom,

you can throw some towels or some clothes over it. What do you think?

Well, I persuaded Heather to sell it in the first place!

I thought you might have done, there's no reserve as well!

Fingers crossed, here we go.

Lot 57 is the little Victorian simulated rosewood child's chair,

there it is in front. A host of bids for this. I'm bid...

-£48 against you.

-Gone, straight away!

-50, two, five, eight, 60, two, five.

-At £65 then.

-I was expecting five or ten!

-At £65.

-68...

-A bit of competition!

-70, £70 stood by the door there at £70, then.

All done at 70?

Well, done, David!

-That was brilliant!

-Happy with that?

Yes, I am. I never expected that!

Well, chairs are useful! At the end of the day, people do need a chair.

What are you going to spend the money on?

I dunno, because I'm taken back that I got so much!

It really has surprised me!

Well, it's been in the family a long time.

-It has!

-Stuck in a cupboard, and now Rita's flogging it...

-it's the snuff box.

-Yes, it is.

It's a pinch at 20 to 40, Philip

-It is, isn't it?

-It's lovely! Yeah, it's a tactile thing.

-I was going to say very tactile, lovely colour, you know. Its colour is its passport.

-Yeah.

I know it's old and it's a nice thing but I didn't really realise

it was what you made it out to be.

It's lovely, it's lovely.

Let's just hope it sort of does double the estimate because it could do that on a good day.

-On a good day.

-Fingers crossed, we're going to find out.

-Right.

-Here we go.

Next is the fruitwood snuff box.

There it is, a little snuff box and I'm bid a tenner for it,

at £10, against you all at ten, 12, 15, 18.

At £18 here. Take 20 now.

At £18 in front. Are you all done at £18?

Quite sure, then?

£18 bid, it's gone.

It's broken its reserve, so.

You were right, Philip.

It hasn't done what it should do, really.

No, no. There's a lot of history there, a lot of personality.

Yeah, a huge amount of social history, lovely colour, great little thing, £18?

Well, it's gone, my darling!

At least it's been a great "Flog It!" experience, that's what it's all about, isn't it?

And I've really enjoyed it.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

One of my favourite lots of the day, the German tinplate car belonging to Alan here,

we've got a valuation of £60 to £100 put on by David, our expert.

Had a quick chat to the auctioneer.

We both thought this could absolutely fly!

There's just something about it it's quirky, it puts a smile on your face

and I'm rather hoping for a couple of hundred pounds.

-Are you really?

-Yeah, on a good day.

You can never tell in an auction room, can you?

No, no, never tell.

It's the first time I've ever been to an auction in my life!

-Is it really?

-Yeah. The closest I've been is...

I do charity rock'n'roll discos and we auction teddy bears for a children's hospice or whatever.

Right, so you do a bit of auctioneering?

Well, only at charity discos, that's all, so this is completely new.

-It's an exciting arena, isn't it?

-That's right.

Everything's vying for your attention, people get carried away,

they can bid too much money, they can pay over the top for something.

-Let's just hope they do this today, that's all I can say!

-Absolutely!

Here we go, this is it.

Next is the Leamann tinplate model. There it is, "Tut-Tut" it's called.

I'm bid...

£200 for it. Against you all at 200.

-You're joking!

-Straight in, 200!

And if you want it, ten, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300,

-and ten, 320...

-You're joking!

-330 now.

-Racing away!

-At £330.

-At 330 at the back.

-No!

Are you all finished then at £330?

Sell at 330.

-God, do you know, I'm flabbergasted!

-That was good, wasn't it!

Some of that money is going to the children's hospice.

Oh! For which one?

-The Children's Hospice South West.

-South West?

Yeah, definitely. Wonderful, wonderful

and thanks to the "Flog It!" team, and David got it right!

-He did, didn't he!

-Well, I did undervalue it by a long way!

Yeah, but you knew it would sell, that's all that mattered, David, well done!

That's the end of our first visit to the auction room today.

Plenty of excitement there.

We are coming back later on in the show and hopefully we'll have a few more surprises.

Philip comes face to face with a mystery nameplate that's got him flummoxed!

When I first saw that, I thought "Burmese", that would hang over tea or something like that, yeah.

-Am I right, close?

-Miles away!

-Miles away!

Do you, at home, have any idea what it might be used for?

Keep watching to find out!

Here on the South Devon coast, just along the shoreline from Torquay,

is the Babbacombe Cliff Railway which was built in 1926.

The need for this funicular railway grew out of Torquay's booming tourist industry

as visitors flocked to enjoy the town's beaches and holiday attractions.

This railway starts at the top of the cliff here and goes all the way down the bottom to Oddicombe Beach,

and Oddicombe is one of the most popular beaches in Torquay.

There are only 27 cliff railways in the United Kingdom.

The one here at Babbacombe is one of only two in Devon.

The other is at Linton, on the North Coast.

Now the Babbacombe Cliff Railway has recently broken new ground because it's the first cliff railway

to be fully modernised in the last decade, making way for others to follow in its wake.

I'm here to meet a chap who's a massive fan of funicular railways and he's responsible

for modernising this one and his name's David Cooper.

Hi, pleased to meet you, and thanks for talking to me today.

How did you get involved with the Babbacombe Railway?

I got a phone call in 2003 to say there'd been an incident down here

and they needed a chartered engineer to inspect it,

and then I've been involved ever since.

This particular cliff railway is called a funicular railway.

They're not all called that, and what does it mean?

-Well "funicular" in two terms is actually a Latin word and it means "of rope".

-Right.

And so even an ordinary traditional lift is a funicular.

Many people think it's because they're inclined, but that's not the case.

There's various different types. Over at Padstow there's a rack and pinion one,

the one you've already mentioned at Linton is a water-balance one,

no electricity involved in that one at all, and some are drum-drive,

so just like a crane and the ropes go round the drum.

Well, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

Can you explain to the layman, like me, exactly how this one works?

Yes. This is an electrical traction one, so we've got a motor downstairs

so we need to go down into the depths below the station and I will show you how it all works.

-Brilliant! Follow you.

-Thank you.

Although the principle design hasn't changed since the 1920s

the motor has been replaced to make it safer and more energy-efficient.

I'm quite surprised, because it's a small engine. Is this it?

This is it.

Most of the stuff goes on outside on the track in terms of signalling.

So talk me through how the separate components work.

OK. This is the motor and it takes signals from the track,

from the position switches and the encoder on the end of the motor here

and that controls the speed of the lift.

It accelerates it to make its speed and then it decelerates it into the station.

This here is the brake and the brake holds the lift when it's in the station.

The motor drives it to a stop and the brake holds it, just like a parking brake, or handbrake on your car.

Yeah.

Down here we have the gearbox and what that does is that takes this high-speed shaft which is rotating

at 1100 revs per minute and gears it down.

It literally is just a gear box and that in turn turns the traction tube over there.

I can see that... Which drives that wheel as well.

Indeed, through a double-wrap arrangement, then go up to the diverters and then out to the track.

-Yeah.

-To the end of the cars.

Very simple. Very, very simple.

I was expecting so much more!

Well, if you think about it as well, with an ordinary passenger lift,

the whole of the weight is taken by the gear box and the motor

whereas out here, cos we're on an angle,

a lot of the weight is taken downwards into the ground

so, therefore, it's not as big as you might have been expecting.

But it wasn't just the motor that was modernised.

From 2005, David and his team also replaced the carriages and the track.

So you actually oversaw all the restoration project.

-How long did it take?

-It took us two years, over two seasons.

We took it out for the first season, then put it back in

and then completed the works during the closed season.

I see, so you kept it open all the time over the two years?

During the summer, during the season when Torbay required it to be open.

And what was the reception like? Was it a really nice opening party?

Yeah. On...

It was the 1st of April 2006, we all met here

and we replicated the opening from the 1st of April 1926,

so it was 80 years and in fact one of the ladies who rode on the lift car on that first date was here!

Oh, brilliant! How lovely! Well, I can't wait to have another go.

-Shall we get inside?

-Yep, let's go and have a play.

So how many people can fit in the carriage?

This is a forty-berth carriage.

-Actually, it's quite a smooth ride, really, isn't it? How fast does it go?

-Two and a half metres a second.

And what sort of angle are we going down at?

The incline is actually 22 degrees on this one.

It looks steeper when you look in reverse, actually!

-A trick of the eye!

-Yeah.

What a fantastic view!

-This has got to be a great way of coming down the cliff!

-Absolutely!

There's obviously another operative, in here, yeah?

Yes, we have two down here, we have a person operating the doors and a person taking your money!

-Oh, right! We pay at this end?

-You do!

Lovely sea air!

Gorgeous, gorgeous beach!

I can see why it's important to keep this open.

It's an absolutely stunning beach and it does get quite full.

They sometimes see 100,000 people a year down here, but in its heyday -

obviously the British holiday seasons back in the '50s and '60s -

-it was regularly seeing a quarter of a million people down here.

-Yeah.

When you're up at the top, you know the flags are sort of blowing in a breeze up there and you think,

-ooh it's going to be quite gusty down here, but it's not at all, is it?

-No, far from it.

Because it's so enclosed with all this sandstone, it has its own little micro-climate down there.

Do you have to alert people on the beach because... When do they know it's the last car?

What actually happens down here is we have a bell.

-I saw that. A ship's bell?

-It's an old ship's bell from a ship called Talca.

Well, it's now quarter to five.

-In that case, you may as well ring the bell.

-Shall we?

-Absolutely!

-Let's alert them.

This is like last orders, isn't it?

-Give it a good old go.

-Give it a good old go.

BELL RINGS

No time to build a sandcastle, I need to get back to the valuation day.

Back at the Palace Hotel, people are still pouring in

and it's now time for Philip to find out what that nameplate is.

-John, how are you?

-I'm very good.

I'm a bit flummoxed here. Let me see if I can work things out.

So, "Burmese".

Oh, there's a name on the back as well.

"Roland", yeah?

See when I first saw that, I thought "Burmese"

that would hang over tea or something, or something like that, yeah, am I right, close?

-Miles away!

-Miles away?

-But it is a name plaque?

-Yes.

-Go on then, tell me!

-Well, Roland was a state carriage horse.

-I was a postillion.

-Can you just...

I'm showing my ignorance here, what is a "postillion"?

-I looked after two state carriage horses.

-Really!

-And rode them during state processions.

-And Roland was the lead horse?

-Roland was one of the carriage horses.

-Yeah.

-And Burmese was the horse that the queen rode on the Trooping of the Colour.

-Really!

-Yeah!

-So a postillion was somebody who looked after the horses?

-Yep.

-And your job was to prepare Roland, harness him up, tack him up and hitch him up to the carriage?

-Yes.

And then you sat on the carriage?

Er no. You sat either on the horse...

You rode one horse and led another one.

-So you were in the black tunic and the cap and all the rest of it?

-Yes.

That's fabulous! So that's Roland?

Roland was one of the carriage horses.

Right, so we've got Burmese here. Why is this double-sided?

Well, Burmese was the horse that the queen rode on the Trooping

and she was a gift from the Canadian Mounties.

So Burmese was almost like a family pet, I suppose?

No, she was a Metropolitan police horse, day to day.

-Really?

-Yeah, and when she was stabled at the mews,

-they took Roland's nameplate...

-And double-sided it?

And painted Burmese's name on the other side of it and hung it above Burmese's stable door.

That's fantastic! You've brought these to "Flog It" to sell them?

-Well... yeah!

-How are they yours?

Well, when Burmese retired in '86,

I asked if I could keep the nameplate.

-So you're happy you've got title to this and you can sell it?

-I should think so.

I'm not going to be locked in the Tower of London?

I asked my senior coachman if I could keep it, and he said yes.

And I can see you've got another box over here with Buckingham Palace on it.

Well, this is a piece of...

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's wedding cake.

-Really!

-Yep. Because my horses and I were on the procession, all the staff got a piece of wedding cake.

-That must have been a big old cake!

-I think it was, yes! I think it was a huge cake!

Well, you've given me a problem now, and the problem is value.

If this came in to me cold, Burmese the name plaque, I'd guess, and all it is is a guess,

that it might be worth between £400 and £600, right, but it wouldn't surprise me

if it made £2,000, £3,000, £4,000 and I think that the issue with this is that

when it goes to auction, you've actually, when we finish filming this now, I think you've got to go and see

one of our researchers and you've got to write down all the provenance

and all that's got to be put in the catalogue,

-so perhaps if we put a £500 to £800 estimate on it, right, and a £450 reserve?

-Right.

And, you know, I think it might not sell, but where you go with value, I really, really don't know

-and the wedding cake, I think we'll put a £40 to £60 estimate on that and put a reserve of £30.

-Right.

One question I've got to ask you, though.

Why didn't you eat it?

Well, I've always been a bit of a collector, so I feel it probably is worth holding onto.

-But did everybody else eat theirs?

-A lot of people ate theirs, yeah.

-Was it good cake?

-I have seen bits of Charles and Di's go on the auction site.

-Really? What did they make?

-The last one I knew of Charles and Di's wedding cake, made £500.

-500?

-Yeah.

-Listen, I think these are just really lovely things that you've brought us,

so let's just hope that when we get to the auction that there's some real

avid Royal memorabilia collectors there and fingers crossed, some hungry ones as well!

-Hello, Maureen.

-Hello.

Tell me a little bit about this lovely knife that you've brought in for me.

I just know that it's a gold fruit knife which I inherited from my grandfather.

It's dated 1803.

We know that because of the hallmarks.

It's also hallmarked "18"

which means it's 18 carat gold, so as you suggest, it is gold.

What we don't know is who made it, but interestingly enough, we do have the initials I and A

after the hallmarks, but I'm not able, offhand, to tell you to what those letters relate.

They might be an owner, they might be a retailer.

That's something that would perhaps need a bit of research but the quality is lovely.

There is one minor problem, if we turn it over, and that relates to a crack here.

How do you think that might have happened?

-Well, my grandfather was in the First World War with the King's Royal Rifles.

-Right.

He came home seriously injured and lost an eye.

I imagine it got damaged during his war-time years.

-So you think he took this off to war?

-I know he did take it with him.

-My grandmother said that he took it with him.

-How interesting.

-A most incongruous item to have in the trenches, really.

-I know!

You think of all the mud and all the terrible experiences those chaps had.

Maybe it had something...

-Good luck, perhaps?

-Good luck for him, I really don't know.

I think it's absolutely super.

What I particularly like about it is if you fold the blade back into the handle, the hallmarks stand proud,

so even when it's closed, you can see not only that it's gold but you can see

how good the hallmarks are and the hallmarks are super.

Any particular reason for wanting to sell it?

It just sits in the cupboard and I suppose extra pennies/pounds are very useful when you're retired!

It's a good an answer as any!

I think this will make between £200 and £300.

I would suggest a reserve of £200.

It's such a lovely thing and I'm optimistic it will do very well.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes, that's fine.

-Jolly good. Thank you for bringing it in.

-Cathy, how are you doing?

-I'm fine, thank you. A bit worn out!

-You've made my day!

-It's been a long day!

-You've made mine!

-Have I really?

-Yeah, because I'm a real petrol-head.

-Yes.

And you know you've brought something along which is not hugely valuable

-but it's clearly, in my eyes, possibly the greatest racing driver of all time.

-Definitely!

You hear people talking about Lewis Hamilton and Schumacher, Ayrton Senna

Jimmy Clarke but for me, this man Fangio.

Yeah, definitely!

And this is a picture of Fangio...

-Yes.

-I would think in a Mercedes?

-Possibly. I'm not well-up on the cars, but possibly.

-And...

-You tell me what you know about it.

-My late husband and I worked for the Birmingham Mail.

-Yep.

He was part of the organising committee for doing the cavalcade through Birmingham.

This was when they were trying to get the Grand Prix round there.

Yes, through the city streets and because we worked at the Mail we got photographed

-and he managed to get Fangio to come and sign it for him.

-Was this done for motorsport?

Yes, for the motorsport part of the newspaper section, yes.

Right. It's interesting this because, and you're getting into real anorak country here,

-Fangio was the superstar, one of the late 1950s with Peter Collins and Mike Halewood.

-Yes.

-And this is taken out of period.

-Yes.

-So it's Fangio, in his helmet, but it's probably...

-When was the Birmingham Grand Prix, is it 1980 something?

-1981, I think it was, yes.

-1981, so this was probably taken 21 or 22 years after Fangio raced.

-That's right, yes.

And in a way, that devalues it. Now I've seen...

photographs of Fangio that are signed

-from in period at around £300.

-Aha.

Now, I think that this will get picked up on the internet

and I think we've got to put a sensible but cautious estimate on it

and I'd probably put £50 to £80 on it, and put a reserve on it of £40. Are you happy to sell it?

Yes, definitely.

-I reckon it will race away!

-Hope so!

Sorry about that!

Oh, dear, Philip, but will he be right about

Cathy's photo of racing star Fangio at our next trip to the auction?

It's proved hard to put a price on the value of John's royal horse's nameplate

and that piece of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's wedding cake.

Let's just hope when we get to the auction there's some real avid royal memorabilia collectors there

and fingers crossed, some hungry ones as well!

Maureen's 18 carat gold fruit knife may have seen some action in the

trenches, but right now it's gonna see some action in the auction room.

Maureen, it's good to see you again.

Gorgeous fruit knife. We've got £200 to £300 on this.

I'm pretty sure this is gonna sell.

It's a good time to sell gold, it's up in value now.

Why is it a good time for you to sell this?

Why have you thought about selling this?

-It was because the programme was coming to Torquay!

-Oh, was it?

-I always watch the programme.

What could we take along to "Flog It"! Let's hope we get top money for this.

Here we go, we're gonna find out now.

Next is a folding pen-knife or fruit knife.

It's a gold one, which is unusual and several bids. I'm bid £210, against you all in the room at 210.

Straight in, aren't we!

-Yes.

-220, 230, 240. At £240.

250, 260, 270.

At 270 standing at the back there.

At £270. 280 now.

290.

300.

At £300 on the telephone, against you all in the room at £300.

Sell it at 300, then.

We'll settle for that, Maureen, at the top end of the estimate.

-Well, done, David!

-Thank you, David.

Thank you very much.

A very nice thing, very nice. How are you gonna divide the money up?

-We're treating ourselves!

-I don't blame you!

-We're going to a classical concert at the Royal Albert Hall...

-Oh, brilliant!

-And have a weekend in London.

-Brilliant!

-So that will go towards it.

-Enjoy it, won't you!

Well, that's more like it! We're racing away now which brings us cleverly to our next lot.

I've just been joined by Cathy and Philip and the photograph of Fangio,

probably the greatest Grand Prix driver ever!

You had the right expert picking this one, that's for sure!

Mr car fanatic! He's a petrol-head!

Yeah! You think about him racing this car, no seatbelt, head up

-above the bonnet, you know, you flip that at 150 miles an hour and you'll have no hope!

-Definitely, definitely!

And hopefully he'll get top dollar as well.

I know it's signed when he's not racing, it's sort of 25 years afterwards, but as Philip said

earlier, you know, if it was of the period, £300 to £400.

-This will be quite interesting, actually.

-Yes.

-We'll see.

Next is a signed black and white photograph of Fangio

in the cockpit of his car and £35 starts that, at 35. Eight anywhere?

At £35 then, eight if you want it.

At £35. Are you all done, then at 35?

Quite sure at 35?

That can't quite be sold.

-He put the hammer down.

-That's really disappointing.

Yeah, yeah, we got a fixed reserve at 40.

-Yes.

-So close.

-I'm actually really pleased it didn't sell for that.

It's disappointing but it's worth more than that.

-Not meant to be!

-No, not today, unfortunately and there is another day at the sale room!

-Thanks so much for coming in.

-Thank you very much.

Oh, dear! Cathy will be taking her photo of Fangio home.

Let's hope Philip has better luck with his estimates on the royal memorabilia.

Well, it's all hanging on a nameplate now, and that belongs

to John, and what a wonderful horse as well, it really was! Have you got lots of fond memories?

Yes, yes. I was there just at the right time, I think.

I hope for you that it goes and makes £1,000 or £1,500

or doesn't sell, but I have to say, in terms of value it's...

One of those jobs because I really don't know!

Well, look, that's our first lot. Now we've also got...

the piece of cake!

Anthony has decided to split them up and I don't really blame him so that's coming up a little bit later,

but first, let's find out what the bidders think. Here we go.

On next is the painted metal nameplate for the Queen's horse, Burmese.

I'm bid £400 for it, against you all in the room at £400.

At 400, 20 if you want it.

At £400 then. Anything in the room at 400?

At £400 then, and 20, 440, 460, 480...

Fantastic!

Now at £500. And 20, 540.

560, 580.

600, and 20.

At £620 here, then, at £620...

-Fantastic!

-Isn't that good!

-Yeah!

-All done!

It went to a bidder on the phone!

-£620!

-Well, I knew it would make that!

That's brilliant, isn't it!

Isn't it great when that happens? You've got to be pleased with that.

-Yeah.

-It made estimate, but we'll all settle for that.

What are you putting the money towards?

I'm gonna donate some of it to the RSPCA, the Queen's the patron of the RSPCA.

OK. Well, let's see if we can add to that, because we've got the piece of cake coming up right now.

That was a piece of cake, wasn't it? Here we go.

Next is a chance to own a box slice of Prince Andrew's and Sarah Ferguson's wedding cake.

This should be interesting. We've never sold a piece of cake before!

And £20, £25 for that at 25, eight, 30. At £30 now, take two if you like.

32, 35, 38. At £38,

in front of me at £38, take 40.

All done at £38 then. Quite sure?

It's gone!

-£38!

-That was short and sweet!

-I've just learnt something!

I would never have known what a piece

of Andrew and Fergie's wedding cake would be worth but there you go!

-Now we all know! 38 quid! Unbelievable!

-I hope they don't try it!

Unbelievable! You've hung onto that for a long time!

-Never tempted to eat it?

-No, no!

-I hope they're not!

-I have visions of every "Flog It"

valuation now people are arriving with pieces of cake saying, "What's this worth?"

It's Victoria sponge!

Well, who would have believed it!

A total of £658 for the royal memorabilia!

It just goes to show, you can't always tell what things are worth!

Well, that's it, it's all over. One minute the auction room is

jam-packed and the next, as you can see, there's a mass exodus and everybody's gone,

but what excitement we've had today and I've gotta say, I've loved being back in the West Country.

I hope you've enjoyed the show, so until the next time, from Plymouth, it's cheerio!

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