Nantwich Flog It!

Today, Flog It! comes from the medieval market town of Nantwich in Cheshire

and I'm surrounded by timber-framed buildings.

But this market town is internationally renowned for something else.

And it's this - cheese.

There's an international cheese festival held here in Nantwich every year.

-Which one shall I try?

-Try this one, Paul, it's from Cheshire.

-All right.

Mm. That's good. Help yourself.

The Nantwich International Cheese Festival attracts thousands of visitors each year

and is well over 100 years old.

I'm hoping to find something around that age as well

but I'm talking about antiques, of course.

It looks like I've come to the right place.

Just look at this massive queue,

people laden with antiques and collectables,

hoping they'll be chosen to go off to auction.

We're outside the Nantwich Civic Hall.

In fact, the queue snakes all around the building.

I think it's time to open the doors, don't you?

Let's get down to business.

The hall is filling up quickly and the people of Nantwich have turned out in force.

Here to help in search of treasures today are our experts,

Kate Bliss and Will Axon.

And it looks like Will has already found something of interest.

Well, Maurice, you've brought in something that's right up my street.

It's a delightful portrait miniature, pencil drawing.

-Is this a relation of yours?

-It's not a relation of mine.

It's a relation of a friend of mine,

who gave the portrait and the daguerreotype to him in 1980.

The lady married this gentleman.

Right, so that's the connection between the two.

And this gentleman was an admiral in the Royal Navy

at around about the time of Nelson.

-So, just to get it straight, this young lady in this portrait...

-Yes.

-..is the wife of this gentleman.

-Yes.

-So he was an admiral in the Royal Navy, obviously very well to-do.

-Mm-hm.

Would have, perhaps, I suspect, commissioned this portrait miniature,

-maybe to take on the ship with him.

-Probably, yes.

-It's beautifully drawn.

-Yes.

-The detail is lovely.

But if we look down here at the bottom, it says, "Miss Wa"

-and it stops.

-It's a mystery.

If we look closely at her face,

when I first saw it, I thought perhaps she had a rather large patch on her nose,

a beauty spot or perhaps a mole

-but I had look under my glass, that's actually a drop of ink.

-Ah.

And I suspect this is going to be late 18th century.

-Generally, they're from around 1800, that's where they date from.

-Yes.

Yes. Just five years before Trafalgar.

Well, exactly, yes.

-And this daguerreotype, have you got the original?

-My father has.

-Your father has.

-Yes.

So this is a copy that you have

to keep with the portrait to keep the story going.

I mean, value wise, have you any idea?

-Well, we've been told about £100.

-I don't disagree with that.

£100. I think reserve it at £100

and I think on the day, with a bit of a write-up

and a bit of history behind the catalogue description,

I'm sure we'll get it away.

Well, it's always great to see diamonds on Flog It!

and this is a really neat little ring, isn't it?

-Has it always been yours?

-No, it was my mother's.

-Right.

-And it's been lying in the drawer since she died.

-Right.

-And so I decided that it could go.

-So was it actually an engagement ring?

-It was but not when she got engaged.

It was bought, I think, in the late '70s, around '80

and she didn't have an engagement ring, so she bought it at a later date when they could afford it.

-Well, that's very sensible. How interesting.

-Yes.

Well, diamonds are forever, as they say,

and they have become a symbol, if you like, of eternal love,

so they're used often for engagement rings.

But also, they are the hardest substance on earth as well,

made of carbon

and in a piece of jewellery, they are a very good stone to choose

-for a piece you wear every day because they simply don't wear.

-Right.

This is a brilliant-cut stone, which refers to the way it's been faceted.

And it sits quite low in the claw setting here,

which you can see from the side.

-I would say the ring dates from about the 1920s.

-Yes.

The stone is what we call illusion set

because the white metal completely surrounds the stone

and actually makes it look much bigger than it actually is.

The white metal reflects into the stone,

giving it an illusory size, if you like.

So diamonds are actually valued according to four major things.

The cut, as we've talked about,

-the colour of the stone, the whiteness...

-Yes.

the clarity and, of course, the carats, the weight of the stone.

And taking into account all those factors and the setting of the ring,

I would say, at auction, a little ring like that would fetch between £200-300.

-That sounds OK.

-Does that sound reasonable?

-That's all right with me, yes.

-Well, I suggest that we put a reserve at the lower estimate, at £200.

-Yes.

I would hope that we'd certainly get mid-estimate for you, if not a bit more.

Very nice.

OK. Thank you.

Well, Roy, I love what you've brought in to Flog It! today.

-A Hornby train, a clockwork train.

-Yes.

Now, it looks in remarkable condition, bearing in mind its age.

Has it not been played with or...?

Not been played with since my dad left it to me and I don't think he played with it much.

-So it was your father's?

-It was.

-So this is going to date from around that sort of... The late '20s.

-I think so, yeah.

-It's possibly early '30s. I think you've done some research, haven't you?

-Yes. It was 1929.

Frank Hornby, he brought out this range of toys

under the banner of Hornby

as British toys for British boys.

And we can see that here you've got two rather nice carriages,

each named - Arcadia with the crest, here.

-They look like first-class carriages.

-They do, yeah.

-And then you've got this LMS, I suppose it's a...

-Horsebox.

-A horsebox, something like that.

-Yeah.

-And then this little working crane.

-A rig, yeah.

What's nice about them, though, is you've got this original transfer printing

and the original paintwork to the carriages.

-Passed down to you from your father.

-Yeah.

No grandchildren? No children you could pass it on to?

-I've got one son and he's never shown any interest.

-He might when you tell him what it's worth.

-He might take an interest.

-He's had it. It's going to the lounge fund.

-The lounge fund?

-Yes.

-Nice comfy chair?

-New ceiling.

-New ceiling?

-And decorating.

-Serious work, then.

-It is.

Well, I think, you know, estimate wise, let's see if we can get close to your new ceiling.

I would think... I mean, there are some chips and some slight losses.

It has been played with but the basics are there.

I would say you're looking at £200-300.

-I don't know how you feel about that?

-Yeah, fine, fine.

You're happy with that? Shall we reserve it at that bottom figure?

Yeah, I think so. 200, yeah.

So let's say 200 with discretion, 10% either way for the auctioneer.

So he'll sell it at £180, that sort of level.

-But I'm confident that on the day, we should get more.

-More for it.

-Thanks.

-See you on the day.

-We will.

Well, this is quite a romantic little figurine.

Tell me all about it.

We bought it a couple of years ago at an auction in Chichester.

And er... we moved, we relocated up here

and it doesn't quite fit in with our decor now.

-It's ended up in the garage in a cardboard box.

-Oh, dear!

So we thought we'd get rid of it.

Do you know what this kind of china is called?

-Er...

-Parian.

-Parian.

-Parian, that's exactly right.

It's called Parian ware. It's actually named after a Greek island, the island of Paros

and the name Parian comes from the white marble

that was quarried on the island of Paros.

The detail, as you'd expect in Parian ware, is lovely.

You can see the flowers in her hair, the lace edging to her dress

and here, the detail of the feather in his hat.

Tip it up and we've got a factory mark on the base

and there we have the Royal Worcester mark.

Dating from the 1870s, I would put this anywhere between 1870 and 1880.

Now... that's all the good news.

-The bad news is we've got a little bit of damage here.

-I'm afraid so.

In her very elegant long fingers, we've got one finger missing.

-What can you tell me about that?

-Well, here it is.

Ah!

It was perfect this morning when we packed it away to come here

but when we unpacked it, her little finger was missing, I'm afraid.

-Oh, dear.

-Sorry about that.

-It happened on the way here?

-It did, yes.

I have to say, looking at her hand, you say it was perfect before

but I can tell, looking at her fingers,

that actually, there's been some restoration here

and I think that little finger which came off on the way here

-has actually been off before.

-That makes us feel a lot better.

It's been restored, so don't feel so badly about it.

-Actually, the more that you look at it, you notice that his feathers have been restored...

-OK.

..and his sword has been broken here

-and also on the very tip at the end down here.

-Right, OK.

So just where you would expect, at the most vulnerable places -

-feathers, fingers, anything that's sticking out, if you like - there's some damage.

-Yes.

If it hadn't been restored, if it was in perfect condition,

we would be looking at several hundred pounds.

But in the condition that it is in today,

with the restoration and with the finger, obviously, that's come off,

I would say at auction... I'm going to be realistic

-and say it could be anywhere between £50 and £100.

-Right.

-Is that in the region you were looking for?

-That's fine.

-Yes, we'll let it go at that.

Let's say 50 to 100. Would you like to put a reserve on it

or are you happy simply just to let it go through?

-Well, let's say 50. It's only reasonable.

-I think that's sensible for a good Parian figure like that.

And it's a lovely romantic subject, isn't it?

Well, let's say a reserve of 50 and hope that we get towards £100.

-Absolutely.

-Thank you very much.

-Not at all.

-That's great.

That's the end of our first lot of valuations

and later, I'll be finding out how a famous local authoress

caused a stir with one of her novels.

There were those who were deeply shocked

and some members of the congregation of the Unitarian church in Manchester burnt it.

But first, let's have a quick reminder of all the items we're taking off to auction.

Now, will the bidders sniff out Maurice's miniature portrait

of a lady with an ink spot on her nose?

Barbara has fallen out of love with her diamond ring

but I think it'll make a new conquest.

Well, diamonds are forever, as they say,

and they have become a symbol, if you like, of eternal love.

Roy's Hornby train set has been languishing unloved in the attic

but now it's heading off for a new destination.

And, oh dear! What has happened to Sue and Nicholas's Parian ware?

It was perfect this morning when we packed it away to come here

but when we unpacked it, her little finger was missing, I'm afraid.

Will the damage affect its pulling power?

Well, let's find out as we head off to auction.

And this is where we're selling all our items today, in a packed auction room

at North Rode, just outside Congleton.

On the rostrum we've got our Flog It! favourite.

He's just set himself up in business here - Adam Partridge.

As you can see, the sale's underway, so why don't we get on with it?

420, I'm bid. One more if you want.

420. At 420. Have you all bid now?

440, we're in the room. At 440. Selling. This one away. All done?

Well, they say diamonds are a girl's best friend.

We've got Barbara here, she's selling her diamond ring.

£200-300. I hope there's plenty of females left here bidding.

The diamond is illusion set, as we talked about,

which makes the diamond look a little bit bigger.

It's quite a classic setting, so I think it's still quite a commercial piece today.

A good trade lot, as well. Fingers crossed, here we go.

1920s, illusion-set diamond solitaire ring.

There it is there, £200.

£200. 130, I'm bid. At 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190.

-200. 210?

-You've sold it.

-£200, lady's bid.

At 200. Are you all done now? At £200. Shall we sell this at £200?

We just did it. We got it away at £200.

-That's very good.

-It was close.

I'll take 500. I'll take 20 now.

At 500, I'm bid.

Next up is a lovely miniature. It's an 18th century pencil drawing

and it belongs to yacht surveyor Maurice here,

-who looks absolutely dapper.

-Thank you very much.

-Where did you get this jacket from?

-It was a present, actually.

Tell me about the drawing. We've got £100 on this. Can we do any more?

Hopefully. I've had a look at the sale and there's a few other miniatures in the sale,

which always helps, when you're selling amongst other pieces.

It's a lovely little drawing, it's gorgeous, and it's unfinished and quirky.

-Why are you selling this?

-It actually belongs to my father.

He was given it. He...

It's sitting in a drawer, he doesn't like it, actually.

It doesn't have any family connections.

-My father would like to buy some more antiques.

-OK.

-Well, let's send it on its journey.

-Mm.

Let's hope we get more than £100. Good luck. Here we go. It's going under the hammer now.

Margareta Waddington.

Here we are and I'm bid £100. Take 10.

100 is bid on this one. At £100. Is there 10 now?

110, 120... No, 120, here.

-120. Any more now on this one?

-Let's see some hands going up.

Are you all done? I'm selling. 140. On-line at 140 now.

140. We've got an on-line bidder at 140.

-I'm out and we're all done.

-On-line bidder.

On-line here at £140.

-Yes!

-Excellent.

-£140.

-Excellent, absolutely. Wonderful.

Wonderful.

Hopefully... What will your dad invest in? What do you think he'll buy?

Well, first of all, I think we want to buy all our friends in the Black Horse a drink.

-OK.

-And if there's any money left, I think a piece of glass. He loves glass.

-He likes early glass, does he?

-Yes.

-And also...

-Snuff boxes, things like that?

-That's quite affordable at 100.

-Old cameras, he's very interested in.

-So...

-Mm.

-An eclectic mix.

-Absolutely.

45 bid. 50 now. 45 seated down here. 45. Any more now?

We've had Parian ware on the show before and it has made good money, so fingers crossed.

-I know there's a bit of damage...

-Yes.

-..but I think you'll make a profit.

-Sue, you got this for £65, wasn't it, in auction.

-That's right.

-Down in Chichester.

-Yes.

You've both now relocated up to Cheshire. Do you like it here?

-Yes, we do, yes.

-Oh...

-Sunny Cheshire, you see.

-Sunny Cheshire.

Good luck. I think the damage may put some people off

but I can see this doing over £100 quite easily.

Well, I don't know. I hope you're right but I think...

A lot of it's been restored

and the restoration hasn't been done particularly well,

so that might put people off

-and it's all on the vulnerable bits.

-Fingers and...

Well, now's the moment of reckoning, isn't it?

-I've given Adam a wide berth.

-Have you? We'll see what we can do.

The Parian ware figure, the Worcester one, there.

That's £50, surely?

£50 to start me there for the Parian figure group.

£50 to start me on that, please.

50 I'm bid. 5, now? At 50. £50 and 5 anywhere?

At 55. And 60?

65. 70?

65. Front row, now. 65. Any more, now?

Are you all finished and done at £65?

-GAVEL BANGS

-Thank you.

-Sold it.

-It's gone.

-Yeah! That's good.

-You were right.

-It's the damage, it's a bit of a killer but it's a lovely group, so...

-Well done.

-I'm pleased with that.

-We'll be all right.

-That's lunch.

-That's what we said.

-We said we'd go for lunch.

-Lunch in Cheshire.

£50. 50's bid, take 5.

At 50, I have. 55, now? 55?

This next item is a classic example of something that's been left in the loft for 25 years,

untouched and boxed.

It belongs to Roy, it's a Hornby train set.

-A typical kind of attic thing, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

It's great. If you've stopped playing with it or you don't want to use it,

store it away, it doesn't take up much space, put it in the attic.

25 years later...

-We moved it three attics.

-Three attics?

-Yes!

Well, 25 years later, it's worth, hopefully, £300, maybe more.

-We've put 200-300 on it, haven't we?

-Yeah.

I think the carriages are sort of where the value is.

Nice that it's in its box.

Anyway, it's going under the hammer, Roy. Good luck.

A good Hornby train set, this one and I'll sure you'll agree

and I've got a range of bids again.

And I suppose that means I can start at £280 bid.

-290 now, please.

-Fingers crossed.

-290, 300, 320.

-Straight in at £280.

-..380, 400, 420, 440,

460, 480, 500 and 20. 520 in the room.

520. Can I see 540 now?

At 520. At 520, I like it.

At 520, we're all done and selling at 520.

That's absolutely fantastic.

Don't forget, there's 15% commission to pay here.

That's more money than we all thought. What are you going to spend it on?

-Hopefully, my new ceiling, Paul.

-How about that?

-That'll get that, a plasterboard ceiling and a bit of emulsion.

-It should.

-You could say, we've hit the roof.

-I like it. Very good.

-Or gone through the roof.

-Gone through the roof.

And later on at the auction,

it looks as though somebody could be in for a very nice surprise.

I really hope it makes 1,000 plus

and it should hit the 1,000 mark.

Where it goes from there, we'll find out soon.

Well, that's the auction action over for the first part of the show

but we are coming back here later on in the programme.

But you can't come to this part of Britain

without exploring one of our great literary figures

and that's where I'm off to now,

to Knutsford, which isn't far from here,

to unearth the story of a rather incredible woman.

Today, Knutsford is a busy, modern, bustling town,

which has many upmarket bars, restaurants and shops.

However, it still retains much of the charm and architectural features

it boasted nearly 200 years ago,

when it was home to the town's favourite daughter.

I am, of course, talking about Elizabeth Gaskell,

the Victorian authoress,

a contemporary of Charles Dickens

and a great friend and biographer of Charlotte Bronte.

Her works have survived to give us hours of reading pleasure.

It's clear that the people of Knutsford had a soft spot for Elizabeth Gaskell

because her name has been immortalised in stone

in this tower, which was built in 1907

and it's aptly name the Gaskell Memorial Tower.

Mrs Gaskell was born Elizabeth Stevenson

on 29th September 1810 in Chelsea, London.

She was the daughter of William Stevenson,

a Unitarian minister, and his wife Elizabeth,

whose father farmed at Sandlebridge, near Knutsford.

Tragedy struck young Elizabeth's life at the tender age of 13 months,

when her mother died.

Her father was left bewildered and unable to cope

and so young Elizabeth was sent to live with her mother's sister,

Mrs Hannah Lumb, in the town of Knutsford.

Aunt Hannah was like a mother to Elizabeth

and they both lived here very happily in this very impressive town house.

Just look at this. What an architectural delight.

And back then it was called the Heath

but it's since been renamed Heathwaite House.

Look over there - the aspect.

Well, that hasn't changed that much, really.

The cars on the road wouldn't be there

but that would've been one vast tract of grassland

and to find out more about Elizabeth in the early years,

I've come to talk to one of the Gaskell biographers,

Shirley Foster.

Shirley is a senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield

and has written extensively on the subject of Mrs Gaskell.

Shirley, thank you very much for meeting up with me today

and talking about Elizabeth, here in the garden she grew up in,

which is lovely, isn't it?

What sort of childhood did she have here, growing up?

Well, as you know, she came here from London

and she was orphaned - well, virtually orphaned.

Her father remarried and she was brought up by Aunt Lumb

-and I think she had a very warm and...

-Embracing.

Embracing. Family around and, obviously, other families close by.

I think she really enjoyed it.

-Did she have a good education?

-She did indeed,

which was rare or unusual in the period.

She went to a good girls' boarding school in Warwickshire

-and she had a good literary background and music and...

-Ah!

That was going to be my next question.

What inspired her to become a writer?

Well, I think partly because she read so much.

In Manchester library, they have what's called her commonplace book

and she copied out folk songs and stories and things.

-Was this is a teenager? 12, 13, 14?

-As a teenager.

She was about, sort of, 13, 14, 15

and then between 16 and 19, she did visit back in London.

But we do know that when she was at school,

-she went to visit a house called Clopton Hall...

-Where's that?

-In Warwickshire.

It was a school visit. And she wrote about it and it was published later, in 1840,

and it's a great account.

It's full of lovely, grisly detail about a girl who's buried alive.

-She had a great imagination.

-She had a great eye for good stories.

Well, the people of Knutsford, in the past, embraced her, they've taken her to heart.

How does Knutsford feature in a lot of her work?

It's the background to quite a few stories - obviously, Cranford.

-That's the big one.

-That's the big one.

But also it's Duncombe in Mr Harrison's Confessions,

which is a novella.

It is Hollingford in Wives And Daughters.

It also appears in a short story called The Squire's Story,

-which is about a highwayman who lived next door.

-Really?

And she has some lovely stories about Cranford old ladies, you know,

and obviously she had a real ear for picking up gossip

and details, little details, that were going to be interesting.

What do you think of Cranford? Because you're very close to Gaskell.

I enjoy it very much

and I think it did bring out the way in which it's a light touch

but it's a serious book, it deals with some serious issues

but it's got a lovely light touch.

-It's stood the test of time.

-It has.

-It's not just a sort of dated, old-fashioned story.

-No, not at all.

I think you really do sympathise with the people. She's done it very well.

-It's a classic.

-It is a classic, absolutely.

In her adult life, Elizabeth devoted much of her time to helping the poor.

She married a Unitarian minister and moved to Manchester,

a city worlds apart from the quaint, sleepy town of Knutsford.

Her early upbringing and religious beliefs

equipped her with the compassion she needed to take on this new role.

And this is where Elizabeth worshipped as a young child, when she grew up in Knutsford.

It's the Brook Street Unitarian Chapel.

Shall we go inside? After you, Shirley.

What were the particular beliefs and doctrines of the Unitarians,

compared to other Christian denominations of the day?

Well, apart from the fact that they didn't believe in the divinity of Christ,

it was a religion of what you might call rational benevolence.

They believed in the essential goodness of everybody

and the potential for everybody to be good

and also rejected the idea of damnation.

How did religion shape her novels?

Well, you find it, I think, in an emphasis on love,

compassion, again, and forgiveness.

In several novels, characters work out their own salvation

-and that includes learning to forgive other people...

-Mmm.

..and forgiving themselves, too.

-She was compassionate towards the poor...

-Yes.

-..in life,

but also in her novels, especially in Ruth, the fallen woman.

It is a novel about a young girl who is seduced, becomes pregnant

but then is allowed to be redeemed by her own good life.

But what was shocking was that people felt it was something that shouldn't be written about.

It was something that they all knew about

but they didn't want brought out into the open.

And, of course, by doing that, she was doing a very brave thing.

-It was very progressive, really.

-It was. It was very radical.

And how was that reviewed by the critics of the day

and also the readers?

Yes, well, I mean, some readers really responded well

and people like Charles Dickens, I think it's important to note,

did think very highly of it because he much respected what she'd done.

But there were those who were deeply shocked

and some members of the congregation of the Unitarian church in Manchester burnt it

and a famous instance is a librarian who took it off the shelves

because it was not fit for family reading.

So that was one of the things. It's very hard to understand today.

On the 12th November 1865, at her retirement home in Hampshire,

Elizabeth Gaskell suddenly died in mid sentence.

It later transpires she died of heart failure.

Elizabeth was only 55 at the time.

Her body was brought back here to Knutsford,

to the town she loved in her formative years

and she often wrote about in her more gentle novels.

Elizabeth would have never thought that she'd end up

being one of the most highly regarded Victorian novelists

and some 150 years after her death,

people are still enjoying reading and looking at her works.

And back at Nantwich, it's still all go at the valuation day

and Will has spotted an item that's caught his imagination.

-Sue, hello, there.

-Hello.

You've brought in something today quite unusual, something I've never seen before,

this Burton Union System model, for want of a better word.

-What can you tell me about this?

-It's from the Swan Inn at Whinbury.

The landlord, when he retired, Malcolm Groom, asked me what I'd like when he left and I picked that.

I had my own pub and it went on the wall there.

Sadly, five years ago, I came out of the trade

and it's been in my loft ever since.

This would've been something from the brewery.

-Marston's, in this instance...

-Yes.

..would've presented it to a landlord,

who would display it in the pub as almost like a promotional piece...

-Yes.

-..for this Burton Union System, which I've never heard of.

Luckily for me, it's all here in black and white, shall we say.

It's seems to be the way

that these are mounted on this cross trough

and a top trough

means that they can ferment a lot more barrels than normal.

-Yes.

-I think that seems to be the gist of it.

It's a difficult thing to value.

Have you ever thought of what it would be worth?

Not really because it deserves to be on a wall somewhere, not in a loft.

I don't think we're going to be able to come in too strong, estimate wise.

I think, you know, the market will decide where to settle, value wise,

but I would think, you know, certainly with its nice glass case,

it's got to be worth around the £50 mark.

I mean, if you were happy to let me put it in at £40-60 as an estimate,

I think it'll generate interest.

I think people who collect this type of thing, unless they've been to your pub,

-won't have seen another one.

-No.

So hopefully that'll generate interest.

-How do you feel about that?

-That's fine. I just want to see it on a wall somewhere.

-What about reserve figures?

-I'd like £50 for it, I must admit.

You've put me in a tricky spot. The reserve can't be higher than the bottom estimate.

-Can I go for £40, then?

-You can. But that's an interesting point.

The estimate, the reserve, they have to...

The reserve can't be higher than the bottom estimate,

as a matter of law,

because you're advertising that something can be bought for between 40 and 60,

whereas in fact it can't.

-So it's an interesting point to remember at auction.

-Yes.

-We'll reserve it at £40 so we can put that £40-60 estimate on it.

-Thank you.

And hopefully there's a few Pedigree bitter drinkers

at the saleroom on the day and we'll get it away.

-OK, thank you very much.

-No problem.

Malcolm, I've had the pleasure

-of valuing one of these before on Flog It!

-Yes?

I think so has Philip Serrell as well.

-We both like our boy's toys.

-Yes.

But this is a classic little Schuco car,

typical of tin-plate German toys from the early 1900s.

-But this one has got a gear-shift stick.

-Yes.

And you know, as well, how that works, don't you?

-Do you want to wind him up?

-OK.

What's the story? How long have you had the cars?

Erm, about 65 years.

-Yeah.

-They came to me as presents...

-Really?

-..in about 1941, '42.

-And it's something you're thinking of selling?

-Yes.

Why? They've been with you most of your life.

They've been with me for many years

but my children are not interested in them, children or grandchildren.

-You've never played with that one, have you?

-I have but not too often.

Not as much as this one!

-What have you been doing to that one?

-That's been in a few crashes.

-Have you got the other front wheels?

-No, no. It's a bit sad, really.

Go on, let this one go. Let's watch it work.

-It's incredible.

-Yes.

And it's gone into reverse?

Hey presto. Look at that.

-And it's got articulated steering.

-Yes.

You can turn the steering wheel. Look at that. Reversing into my pen.

-Handbrake on.

-Handbrake on.

Beautiful.

Normally, it's a litho transfer print for the colour.

-This is spray-painted on, which is quite nice.

-That's right.

If I turn this over...

you can see the litho print saying Schuco.

It's in such good condition, this little car

-and that's all credit to you...

-Well...

-..for not bashing it about.

-Yes.

Any idea of value?

Erm, probably about £100 or thereabouts - 120.

Yes. Definitely.

-And I'm hoping that's the low end.

-Oh, good.

-I'd like to put this into auction with an estimate of £100-200.

-Right.

This little one will sell in the same lot as this.

That's... That's the value.

-Here is, hopefully, £180 on a good day.

-Very nice.

-OK. This one, we'll throw in.

-Yes.

If a collector has a lot of these Schuco cars,

he'll use this one to break up and use the spares.

OK. That's fine.

-Well, let's put them into auction, then, at £100-200.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

This is a really exciting find for me.

-It may be small but it's beautifully made, isn't it?

-Yes.

Now, in 21st century terms, this would be called a matchbox.

But when it was made in the 19th century,

it was known as a vesta case, when matches were called vestas

and this was a little box made to keep them.

I'm very envious that it belongs to you.

Tell me, how did you come by it?

Well, it's been in the family for quite a while

and I've inherited, really.

This is how it comes to be in my possession at the moment.

I don't know an awful lot about it

but we just wondered if maybe it was something quite valuable.

-So we brought it along here for valuation today.

-OK, lovely.

It's a little vesta case, made for matches

and these boxes were made out of metal or more elaborately, of silver.

And you see them in novelty shapes

and sometimes, even more collectable, enamelled.

This one not only is a novelty shape but it's also enamelled

and it's also by a very sought-after maker.

-Right.

-Let's talk about the maker first.

-Because it's hallmarked on the inside just here.

-Yes.

And you can see that it is silver, with that hallmark.

-It's dated to 1886, so it's Victorian.

-Right.

And the little initials SM there stand for Sampson Mordan,

who is a very sought-after silversmith -

whose work, I should say, is very sought-after - of the late 19th century.

If we close it up, you can see that the box itself forms this lovely sentry box shape

and on the front here, perhaps the most exciting bit,

is this beautiful enamel work of the guardsman,

standing there in his sentry box wearing his bearskin.

And the detail is absolutely exquisite.

So what are we going to say about value?

Well, I haven't seen another one like it.

The quality is superb, and the detail of the enamelling.

There is a tiny, tiny bit of damage just to the corner of the enamel

but it really is small.

Otherwise, it's in super condition.

Lovely that the lid still snaps shut and the hinge is all intact.

I'm going to be conservative and say, at auction...

a very realistic estimate would be £200-300.

But I wouldn't be at all surprised if two people fell in love with this.

So my suggestion would be to put a reserve at the £200 mark,

-an estimate of £200-300 and keep our fingers crossed.

-Right.

I haven't seen another one like it. It's a super, super thing.

Thank you very much.

Before we see our lots go under the hammer,

Adam has some thoughts to share on Wyn's vesta case.

-I really like this item.

-There is damage to the enamel.

Yeah, there is.

-There's a big premium on novelty silver, isn't there?

-It's extremely popular,

the little pin cushions and things like that.

And really, I expect this to make an awful lot more.

With the benefit of further research, we've put 500 to 1,000,

-which is a wide estimate...

-That's very wide.

And I'm... I'd be absolutely astounded if it made less than £1,000.

-If that was in perfect condition...

-It's 2,000.

-2,000.

Yeah. Best part of.

Why is that so much money?

It's extremely desirable novelty silver

-and I suppose the military connection...

-Puts the value up.

..is also a secondary interest, so it has cross appeal.

I really hope it makes 1,000 plus

and I'm sure it'll hit the 1,000 mark.

Where it goes from there, we'll find out soon.

Attention, please!

Watch this go under the hammer

and let's hope it does over the four figures.

I really hope it does. I think it will.

-Lovely.

-Take it away.

Adam wasn't alone in getting excited about the vesta case.

I haven't seen another one like it. It's a super, super thing.

We are also selling Malcolm's two Schuco cars,

which he's had for 65 years.

Will we get a lucky bidder to drive them away?

Ex-pub landlady Sue feels strongly about what happens

to her brewery promotional item.

It deserves to be on a wall somewhere, not in a loft.

Well, let's find out if it'll sell.

220. Are you all done?

Next up we've got some pub memorabilia

and at the rate pubs are shutting down, Sue,

I think this could be quite valuable.

We've only got £40-60 on this.

I've never seen anything like it. The value is a stab in the dark.

It's got to be worth 40-60, I think we said,

and I think to the right person, it's probably worth that.

-It was something that trade gave to freehouses.

-That's right.

So anything like that can be limited as to how much is on the market,

-because it wasn't given to the public.

-Yeah.

-So that could help it.

-Bit of a rarity, then.

-Hopefully.

-Hopefully.

-Fingers crossed.

We're going to find out now. It's now down to this packed saleroom.

Let's see what they think.

There's the brewery display case. Who'll give us £40, there?

£40? Surely £40, bit of fun, bit of interest.

40. Start me at 20, let's get on.

£20, 20 bid. 25.

30, 35.

40, 45.

40 in here, 40 towards the back. 45? Are you bidding?

-No? You're out already?

-They're not interested.

45? At £40 then, we sell at £40. Where will you find another?

-40.

-Well done.

-Sold at 40.

-Well, you were right, Will.

-You said 40-60.

-Bit of a guestimate.

-We got it away. You happy?

-I am. It's going on somebody's wall.

-It's better than in the loft.

That's right, yeah. Thank you.

£50. 50's bid. Take five.

At 50, I have. 55, now. 55.

It's now my turn to be the expert

and next up it's those two lovely Schuco cars.

One is in incredible condition.

They belong to Malcolm. We've got the cars here but we don't have Malcolm.

He's cruising the Caribbean but we've got his daughter here, Elizabeth.

-Hello.

-You can remember these as a little girl, can't you?

I can. I can the remember the little red car, yes.

I had to put it back in the box afterwards.

I don't blame Dad for making you do that, as well.

-That was his pride and joy, wasn't it?

-Yes, he loved his cars.

-Do say hello, won't you, and let him know how it's gone.

-I will.

-It's going under the hammer now.

-OK.

The Schuco 4001 Examico clockwork car

and a Schuco Studio red tinplate racing car, racing number 9.

Two Schucos in the lot, there.

Let's try £100 for the two Schucos. 100?

100? 80?

60 bid. £60. Take 5 now.

At 60. At £60. I have 5.

70 bid. At £70. 5?

80 now. 80 bid. 5, then? 85.

90 bid? 85 we have.

-85 is the bid. Is there 90?

-We're close.

At £85... 90. In the room at 90.

At £90. Is there 5 now?

We're selling at 90 in the room. All done at 90?

-He's used discretion, the 10%.

-That's fine.

-That's OK.

-We just about got them away.

-Yeah. Brilliant.

-He'll be happy, he'll be happy.

-He will be happy.

Except when I spend his money.

Oh, well don't tell him that, will you?

-And say hi from us, won't you?

-I will do. Thank you.

-Thank you.

£80. At 80. £80. At 80. Expertly valued. 85.

90, 95.

This next little item is pure quality.

It belongs to Wyn and it's been in his family, well, for how long?

-Well, quite a number of years.

-How many, do you think?

-I would say probably the best part...

-Since the First World War.

-Sorry?

-Since the First World War.

-Yes, since the First World War.

It's a silver vesta case.

It's a novelty with a sentry on guard in his little box

and it is just stunning.

I know you loved it as well.

Initially it was sort of 200-300.

-I know you've come back.

-Yes.

-You've revised the value, you talked to Adam.

I have to say, it was the nicest thing I saw on the valuation day.

Not only that but it's the nicest thing I've seen for a very long time.

I'm very interested in silver and it really is a little cracker.

Adam said when I had a chat to him

that the revised estimate is 500-1,000.

Right, so it's even better.

But he actually did say it's going to do well over the £1,000 mark

and it could be close to two, even with a bit of damage.

-Goodness gracious.

-This is what we've been waiting for.

This is what auctions are about. How exciting is this?

Don't go away. Here we go. It's going under the hammer.

What a lovely item, I think my favourite item in the whole sale.

This little Victorian sentry box, the silver and enamel vesta case

in the form of a sentry box.

Enamelled with a standing sentry of the Grenadier Guards

by Sampson Mordan, London 1886.

I can start straight in with a bid of £1,000. I'll take 50.

-We're already at 1,000.

-50, now?

At 1,000. Is there 50 anywhere? At 1,000. 50?

1,100. And 50?

-1,250.

-1,250 did you say? OK.

1,250. I'm out, now. 1,250's on the phone, is there 1,300?

1,300. And 50?

And 50?

1,400. 1,450.

1,500. 1,550.

1,600? 1,550 on the phone, now. 1,550.

Are you all done on this one? At 1,550. Any further now?

1,600. 1,650?

1,700?

They like it! They love it.

£1,650 for this lovely little vesta case. It's gonna be sold now.

At £1,650.

1,650. Cor!

-How about that, Wyn?

-Wonderful, wonderful.

-That's a lot of money, isn't it?

-It is. There's 15% commission to pay

-but, you know...

-Yes, yes.

Yes, I realise that, yes.

-You can go shopping now.

-Yes.

What were you going to spend £500 or £600 on?

500 or 600, I'm sure I would've put it towards a holiday.

Er, both of us could've shared it, my partner and myself.

Well, you can still have the holiday and have £1,000 in the bank.

-Yes, yes.

-Can't you?

-Yes, yes.

-It's been a great experience.

-Thank you for bringing it in.

-I know it made Kate's day at the valuation.

-Yes, I know.

-Little cracker.

-Something you'd love to own.

-Absolutely! Yeah.

50 I have. At 55 now? 55.

60, 65...

Well, that's it. It's all over. Another day in the saleroom

and some wonderful Flog It! moments.

We've made a lot of people happy today

and I hope you've enjoyed watching.

So until the next time, from Cheshire, cheerio.

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