Bodmin Flog It!

No, don't turn over the channel - it's not a natural history programme.

This is Flog It! and today I'm in Bodmin in Cornwall,

where it's said there's at least one mysterious beast prowling around.

I think it's time for our experts to sharpen their claws.

Bodmin Moor is a wild and rugged area steeped in history.

Ever since 1983 there have been over 60 reported sightings of a big cat,

as well as stories of farmers' livestock being hunted down

by what's been dubbed the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

A leopard's skull was found in 1995, but after further investigation,

it was thought to come from the head of old imported rug.

And in the same year, an official investigation was carried out

into the sightings and the attacks, but it was found to be inconclusive,

so is there really something out there?

Well, I think it's going to remain a big mystery.

We have our very own big cats prowling around St Petroc's Church in Bodmin today

hunting for a very different prey.

They're our experts Catherine Southon and Mark Stacey, who are hoping to get their teeth into

the best antiques and collectables they can find, before selling them at auction.

And coming up, Catherine is impressed with Cecilia's painting.

Well, Fred used to be a friend of ours and he actually...

-Oh, you knew Fred Yates?

-I knew Fred.

-Wow!

-Quite well.

And at the auction, Prue's expectations are more than exceeded.

Brilliant! Well done.

-That's all right. That's OK.

-Thank you very much indeed.

As St Petroc's Church starts to fill up, it looks like Mark is already having kittens about one item.

-Hello, Jan.

-Hello, Mark.

I must say, all the women in Cornwall are so glamorously dressed here today.

-Oh, thank you!

-Come out in your best outfits to see us!

-Oh, yes.

-Wonderful.

-Best bib and tucker.

And they've brought some wonderful objects and this is another cracking item, so tell me a bit about it.

-It belonged to my late husband's family and, as far as I know, it was at one time a pair.

-Yes.

But with the large Victorian families, they got separated.

Absolutely.

-Do you like it?

-I do like it up, but I'm going on holiday next year.

-Are you?

-To China.

-Oh!

So I would like a little bit of pocket money.

You haven't got room in a suitcase for a small one, have you?

-Maybe.

-Well, if it makes enough money.

That's right.

Well, I'll tell you a little bit about it because you don't know that much...

-No, no I don't.

-Apart from it's a blue and white vase.

-Yes.

It's from a period in English history that we called the aesthetic period.

It's towards the end of the 19th century and we've got influences of

Japan and the Orient here, and we've also got influences of the aesthetic period

-that it incorporated, people like Oscar Wilde, you know, it was that great time of change.

-Yes, yes.

Of course, on this side we have these wonderful flowering Prunus,

and that lovely sort of circular willow pattern which looks like a little plate that's stuck on there.

But as we turn it around we see the other side,

again, has got flowering branches, but with these wonderful sort of circular

designs that we call mons, and then you've got this lovely gilt and blue design here and these weird legs.

And this shape, this sort of flattened circular form, is known as a moon flask shape.

In terms of date, as I say, it's right about 1870 I suppose, something like that.

-There's no marks on it as far as we can see...

-No, no.

So it's very difficult to pin it down to a factory.

My best guess is between two factories, Doulton or Minton, and

if it was either of those then, you know, they are important factories.

And I like... The quality is there.

-Yes.

-You know, the detailing here's wonderful and these lovely little feet it stands on.

-Yeah.

Again, I'm not quite sure with the feet because they look as if

-they want to walk off in opposite directions...

-Yes.

-Don't they?

Now, having said all that,

-what's it worth?

-What is it worth?

-What are you hoping for?

Well, round about £200 would be very nice.

You are greedy, aren't you?

-You want money for your holiday.

-Oh, I do, I do.

I want to tweak it a little bit lower than that.

-I would like to say an estimate of between £150 and £250.

-Yes.

-So it which straddles your 200.

-Yes.

-With a reserve of 150.

-Yes.

-Are you happy for us to do that?

-Yes, that's fine.

-We'll put a fixed reserve of 150.

-Yes.

Thank you so much, Jan, it's been a pleasure to meet you...

-Thank you very much.

-And I look forward to seeing you at the auction.

-Yes, OK. Lovely, thank you.

Jan's hoping that selling the moon flask will contribute to her trip to China.

Christine is all also hoping her gold watch will be a high flyer at the auction.

Christine, welcome to Flog It!

Thank you very much for coming along today and for bringing along

this beautiful pocketwatch, or should I say wristwatch.

Tell me a little bit about it.

I really don't know very much about it.

It was left to me by an elderly lady who has now passed away.

-Right, OK.

-And I really don't know any history of it at all.

Right, so it's only just been left to you?

Well, about five years ago, but we've never sort of gone into any of the jewellery that was left.

-Oh, right, so she left some other items to you...

-Oh, yes.

-And this was one of the pieces.

-That's right, yes.

Well, let's just have a little look at it. I said first of all pocketwatch-stroke-wristwatch because

as you may well be aware it was a lady's pocketwatch which has actually been converted later to a wristwatch.

-Oh, yes.

-We can see there it's got the sort of brackets where you would put the strap in.

But what we can also see is there the 12 is pointing this way, rather than upwards.

Obviously if it was a wristwatch, the 12 should be pointing upwards.

Have you any idea of where it's come from, its origin?

No, no idea at all.

Well, I don't think it's actually English, although it's certainly high Victoriana.

I think it's probably going to be Swiss made.

Let's just have a little look at it.

Oh, wow, that's beautiful!

That's absolutely lovely.

Can you see that it's been...

-It's got coloured enamel.

-Yes.

It's got this lovely floral work on the back and it's got this beautiful green enamel work.

I mean this really dates it to high Victoriana, so really we're probably

looking at about 1860s, 1870s, when ladies would have worn these little pocketwatches.

I mean, it is quite a pretty watch, but later obviously,

probably in the 1900s, 1920s, this has been converted to a wristwatch.

Now, let's have a little look, try and open it up.

Yeah, this confirms straight away, you can see there,

I don't know if you can see, but it says 14 K, telling us it's 14 carat.

14 carat isn't an English carat so it's going to probably be Swiss made.

Let's just have a little look at the movement.

It's quite a straightforward movement. Unfortunately it's not signed or anything.

It looks to be probably a seven... Maybe a seven-jewelled movement.

Its value really lies in its... In the gold.

If I said to you a value of about £100 to £150, how would that sound?

-Yes, that would be fine.

-Would you be happy to sell at that?

-Certainly.

I think put a reserve on of £80. I can feel that there's not...

You're not sort of attached to this.

-No.

-So you'd be quite happy to let it go.

No, there's not any sentimental value at all.

-What would you put the money towards?

-I'd put it towards a ShelterBox, which is a charity set up in Helston

and they send these boxes all over the world when there's a disaster

and these ShelterBoxes go to help people that are absolutely homeless who've had terrible disasters.

Well, I think that's love... A lovely story.

I think that would be great to...

To know that this is going to a worthy cause.

-Well, I hope that it makes top estimate for you.

-I hope so.

-And thank you very much for bringing it along to Flog It!

-You're welcome.

And let's keep our fingers crossed!

It's a busy day and I've been having a dig around, too.

An unusual piece of militaria brought in by Prue has caught my eye.

Prue, it's great to see you and thank you so much for bringing in a little bit of militaria because

it really is a boy's toy

and I'm quite privileged to be holding this and talking about this.

How did you come by this?

My father brought it home with him

at the end of the Second World War.

He was a gunnery captain in the war and he came home with a few items, and that's the last of the items.

So it's been in the family for a little while.

-Yes.

-You don't...

-Longer than me!

-You know it's a percussion cap pistol.

-Yes.

It's not...

let's say a fanciful duelling pistol, unfortunately.

It's a working serviceman's pistol.

I'm looking at a marking here.

-Can you see Mutzig here?

-Yes.

-De Mutzig.

That's a region in the north east of France and it's a military region and there's a lot of small factories

around there that made arms and they made lots of weapons.

And this is a standard military issue and it's sort of our Regency period.

It's sort of around about 1810 to 1820.

I'd love to think

it was used at the Battle of Waterloo, sort of circa 1815.

There's a possibility, we're in the right regions,

aren't we, really, let's face it?

-I imagine so.

-It's a holster pistol, basically.

There's its belt clip. It's a crude pistol.

Yeah.

Nevertheless, it could do a lot of damage.

Look at the bore there, that really is quite frightening to think a ball would come flying out of there.

You'd ram the ball in with your gunpowder, put the powder in,

ram the ball in, there is your ramrod, and once that's sealed,

there is your little entry for your percussion cap which would send

the spark from the cap straight into the powder

and shoot that bullet out with such velocity.

I'll put my finger on the trigger. We'll point it at the table!

It's in perfect working condition.

I like the little sight on the barrel.

That's not really necessary because you're not going to shoot great distances with this.

It doesn't have to be that accurate, it really doesn't.

Any idea of value?

Not really, no.

I think it stands a chance of getting around £200 to £300.

-OK.

-And I'd like to put it into auction with that kind of estimate

with a reserve at 200, if you're happy with that.

If it was a... If it was a flintlock we'd be looking at £400 to £600.

If the reserve is definitely 200, yes.

-Happy with that?

-Yes.

-Sure?

-Yes.

I'd like to see it do the top end, I really would.

So would I.

Prue has decided to part with her family heirloom.

Now, on to another heirloom that's been brought in by Caroline.

Mark takes a closer look.

Now, good old Doulton here, but we've got quite a special figure, I think, haven't we?

Well, this belonged to my grandmother, and when

I was little, my mum used to take me to visit her on a Sunday

and this used to be on her mantelpiece in her parlour

and while my mother talked to my grandmother, I used to sit there and look at the...

-Admire it.

-Admire the figurine.

It appeals to me for its fun nature.

I mean, I think if you look at the horse there's a lot of feeling in the horse, of movement.

The boy riding it there bareback is just having such a wonderful time on the horse.

If we look underneath, we have a typical Doulton mark.

We have the name of the figure, The Farmer's Boy, registration number

when it was first registered, and then an HN number, 2520, which all Doulton figure marks have.

Now, we've looked it up and this particular figure group

was produced between 1938 and 1960.

I mean, some of them are produced from, you know, 1938 to 1998.

So this is a fairly short run, so that should help the value.

Now I think in your research, you found out that normally the figure is a brown horse.

-Yes, that's right, yeah.

-But on this of course we've got a dapple grey, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-And that might make it a rarer colour.

-Are you into horses yourself?

-I am, yes. I have three myself, so, at the moment.

-Three shires?

No, I have one Irish draught, who's a grey, and two thoroughbreds, ex-racehorses.

I can't believe you're going to sell it! With your horsey connections, why have you decided to sell it now?

I'm scared to death of breaking it.

I'm not really an knick-knacky type of person.

We've got three dogs in the house and I just know I'm going to knock it and break it, so I...

I've got much better use for the money than...

Now, the tricky question, value.

What's your feelings, what have you found out about it?

Well, a friend told me a couple of years ago, he looked it up in a book,

and said that the book value for insurance purposes was around £2,000.

I know that it's not worth that in reality, in real life, but I've no idea really what it would fetch.

It's a very good point you made there.

There is a guidebook for this - several guidebooks, actually,

and they will give you a book price for them.

If you're going to insure them, it should be for that price or a bit more,

but then we have an auction estimate.

It's difficult to say what this is worth until two people want to buy it.

My gut feeling tells me that we ought to put something like £400 to £600 on it.

Now, I might be wildly out and it might make £1,000. On the other hand in today's market,

where the Doulton figures market is a little bit tricky, it might not sell at all.

But I do think we ought to protect it with a reserve.

Would you be happy with that figure of £400 to £600?

-Yes, yeah, I'd be very happy with that.

-And a reserve of...?

-About 400, I would think.

-Yes, 400 fixed reserve on it.

-Yeah.

-Hopefully, it'll charge off in the saleroom and we'll all be smiling like him.

Hopefully.

Well, we really are having a fantastic day here in Bodmin.

We've got a packed house but right now it's time to put those valuations to the test.

We're making our way over to the saleroom and while we do that,

we're leaving you with a rundown of all the items we're taking with us.

Jan is going to China and wants to sell her moon vase to get some pocket money for the trip.

Christine is selling her gold watch to raise money for charity.

And Prue is hoping her pistol will make a big noise at auction.

And, finally, Caroline is selling a horse, but will it make the top end of the estimate in the saleroom?

Let's find out.

I'm excited because in a moment, we're putting our valuations to the test

under the hammer at Jefferys Auctioneers And Valuers in the heart of Lostwithiel.

It's a picturesque little town full of antique shops and hopefully,

the saleroom will be jam-packed as well.

Let's get inside and find out.

Our auctioneer today is Ian Morris,

and first under the hammer is Jan's moon flask.

You're selling this because you want to go to China.

Yes, I would like a trip to China, yes, and a bit of spending money...

-Yeah.

-Would be very nice.

-Well, we've got £150 to £250 put on by our expert, Mark.

-Absolutely.

-It's very you, isn't it?

-It's so me.

-Very sort of Oscar Wilde.

-Very me. Oscar... Very flamboyant.

-Yes.

-Wonderful quality.

-I always like quality.

-Yes.

-It's not marked. It could possibly be...

-Minton.

-Minton. It's certainly one of those good factories because the quality is without doubt.

-Yes.

It's got the look, you know? We always talk about the look, don't we?

-It's got the look.

-And I think at 150 to 200 it's got the look,

it'll satisfy the buyers and it'll give Jan a Chinese takeaway or two.

And Jan's got the look, as well.

Let's hope... Let's hope the bidders put their hands up for this. We're going to find out right now.

-Good luck, Jan.

-Thank you.

-Here we go.

Not 74 there is the nice Doulton style aesthetic designed, a gilt willow patterned moon flask there.

£100, the bid's with me.

At £100 is bid. I'll take 110 to get on. At £100.

At £100. 110 now. At 110. 120. 130.

140. 150. 150 in the front row. At 150. At 150. 160 or not?

Are we done at £150?

-Lower end. It did sell.

-Excellent.

-You're pleased - excellent!

I'm pleased I didn't have to take it home with me.

-You were worried about that.

-I was, yes.

There's commission to pay, but there's a bit of money

-towards this big trip now, the trip of a lifetime.

-Yes.

-I think that's lovely, don't you?

-Have a great trip, won't you?

-Yeah.

-Thank you very much, yes.

-Exciting.

And next up, Christine is selling her gold watch for a good cause.

Christine, good luck because I know we're raising...

We're trying to raise, put it that way, lots of money for ShelterBox, a charity you're involved with.

We're just about to sell the wristwatch which was converted from the pocketwatch, quite cleverly.

-Absolutely.

-So hopefully we'll get that £150.

-Well, I hope so.

We're going to find out right now.

Time definitely is up. Here we go.

A lady's 14-carat gold wristwatch in a highly decorated case.

I've two bids there and I'm going to start at £75. At £75. 80. 85. 90.

I'm out. At £90 to the left. At £90 I'm bid. I'll take...

-Come on, a bit more.

-Come on.

-Are we done at £90?

-He's selling.

-He's put the hammer down on £90 just, but we're happy with that, aren't we?

-Yes, very happy.

Yes? And how much does one box cost?

£490 each box. So these are big boxes

full of supplies that literally just get dropped into these countries with tents, washing equipment.

So it is something towards it. And it is all

fundraised by charities, you see?

-Keep up the good work.

-Thank you.

Right now, one of the greatest names in ceramics, Royal Doulton, it's up next.

It's that wonderful bay course. It's a heavy horse and it belongs to Caroline, but unfortunately

she can't be with us today, but we do have our expert Mr Mark Stacey, another great game in the business!

What business, though!

I couldn't possibly comment, Paul.

But it is a lovely thing.

This is rare. You've really got to know what you're talking about.

-You do.

-It's so difficult.

-Very difficult, particularly

with the more modern Doulton, Paul, because the book price is well over £1,000 on this, but is it worth that?

I don't know. We've put four to six on it as a, hopefully, a conservative estimate.

-You liked it, I liked it.

-And Caroline was happy with that.

-Very happy.

-It's a packed saleroom.

There's lots of ceramics here, a lot of trade here.

-I think this will do well.

-I hope so. Fingers crossed.

The Royal Doulton figure group, Farmer's Boy.

I have four bids on this and I'm going to start at £430.

At 430. At 430. At 430. 440 now.

At 430, the bids are with me.

At £430 I'm bid. 440 or not?

Are you all done? With me at £430.

-Just...

-Just over.

-Just. Just within estimate.

I think she'll be pleased with that though, Paul, because they were worried about getting it damaged.

Again there's another thing with those modern collectables, I mean,

if there's damage on that it's not just taking a small bit of the money off,

it destroys the value of it.

-Yeah. Wasn't exactly a trot or a gallop, was it?

-No.

Walk on, walk on!

At 340. 360? 360's bid.

It's my turn to be the expert now and I'm in the firing line

because up next we've got the percussion cap pistol. Early 19th century one.

It belongs to Prue and, hopefully, for not much longer.

Now I know we said at the valuation day around £200 to £300.

That's what I'd like to see.

We've got a reserve of £200 and I know you've had a chat

to the auctioneer and you've dropped the reserve back a bit to 150.

I'm still hoping for the 200 to 300.

-So am I.

-That's what I want.

I'm afraid it does stand alone. I've looked in the saleroom today, there are no other weapons or militaria.

So, fingers crossed it's been spotted, that's all I can say.

Lot 285, there.

It's the early 19th century percussion large-bore pistol.

I have four bids on this and I've got to start it at £280.

-There you go.

-Great! Wonderful!

-At 280. 280.

300 now? At 280. At 280. 300 or not?

At 280. 300 or not?

300 there. 320. 340. 340 with you.

I'm now out. At 340. 360? 360. 380?

380. 400. 420? 420. 440? 440. 460?

At 440. 460 or not. At £440.

At £440.

Brilliant! Well done.

-That's OK.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-I was a bit...

-I was a bit disappointed when you said it would only do 150, the auctioneer said.

-So was I.

But, you know, on a good day... On a good day that would make good money because the condition is exceptional

and three or four people thought that.

-Well, it certainly went with a bang rather than a dead squid!

-Damp squib!

And we'll be heading back to St Petroc's Church

to find some more antiques in just a moment, but first I want to explore an ancient Cornish practice.

The rugged landscape of Cornwall is steeped in tradition, folklore and history

and through the ages, the people have fiercely clung on to their identity and culture.

While some of the long-established industries like mining and fishing are in decline

and the language has virtually disappeared,

there is one traditional pastime that still clings on - Cornish wrestling.

Wrestling is one of the oldest of the martial arts.

Cornish wrestling has its origins far back in time.

It's thought that one of the first wrestling matches here goes back to the days of myths and legends.

Around the year 1,000 BC Corinaeus, the first chief of Cornwall, defeated a giant named Gog Magog

by throwing him into the sea from Plymouth Hoe.

Wrestling was thought to have derived from hand-to-hand combat

during battle when soldiers got so close together they couldn't use their weapons,

and outside of warfare, soldiers would practise this type of fighting as part of their training.

As testament to the tough nature of the sport, it's traditionally played on grass in all weathers.

Three referees, called sticklers, oversee the contest and keep scores.

Cornish wrestlers had a fierce reputation.

At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, they led the English army into battle,

and right up until the 19th century, wrestling has been the most popular sport

here in the county, with tens of thousands of people coming to see the wrestlers fight in competitions

and the champions back then would have been household names.

The heyday of Cornish wrestling has sadly gone now,

but it does continue to flourish in a small part of the county,

just a few miles from Bodmin in St Columb.

Historian Gerry Cawley is a retired heavyweight Cornish wrestling champion

and I've come to a historic site in Bodmin to find out what's keeping the sport alive today.

Firstly, Jerry, I've got to ask you - what is the significance of this spot?

Well, this particular site is the area that's been used for the ancient wrestling ring for Bodmin.

We know it's not far from here they had meetings in Saxon times, but for many hundreds of years,

this is the site of the Bodmin wrestling ring.

How has it survived all these years?

Is it a testament to the sort of Cornish character?

Well, in times gone by it was an integral part of Cornish life.

-When the... Before the other modern sports, there was just purely hurling and Cornish wrestling.

-Yeah.

And Cornish wrestling being the most popular and the national sport for Cornwall.

Talk me through a typical bout. I mean, how different is it,

let's say, to the wrestling that we see on TV?

Well, there's no choreography.

-OK.

-It's real man-to-man wrestling.

The contestants, they strive to pick up the man and throw him cleanly on to his back.

To better understand the subtleties of Cornish wrestling, I need to get to grips with the rules, literally.

The object of the sport is to throw your opponent so he lands flat on his back.

-That's his two shoulders and his two hips at the rear, not on the sides, but completely at the rear.

-OK.

-So like a book landing flat on a table.

-Yeah.

When that occurs, that's a knockout throw and that's what the wrestlers are striving for.

If nobody obtains a back during the bout, there's a simple points system.

A point for a pin, so if you get thrown on one shoulder...

-OK, yeah.

-That's one point and so forth.

You call that a pin, that a pin.

Yes. You always shake hands between each hold.

Whenever they fall or break they shake hands before they restart.

There's a front crook gone in.

-OK, I can see that.

-Crook... Crook the leg up with...

Bolt the toe around and pull his man in under use the... A strongman's throw there, under heave.

That's... That's completely down like a book, isn't it?

Yes, you completely put him head over heels, that's a bit of a strongman's lift.

If you're not aware you can quickly get snatched by the ropes and be over

-his head and heels before you know...

-That was a nice move.

He used his legs to sort of take the other guy off balance, so you can do that, can you?

Yes, because you can't grab a man below the waist.

It's easy to get a man down if you can grab his legs. So... Oh!

There's a telly bag heave gone in there.

-A tally bag heave?

-A tally bag.

Just like... One collar, one sleeve and just like lifting a tally...

Potato sack off the wagon.

You could imagine this going on for four hours, couldn't you, because no-one could get somebody else

-on their back?

-There we've got a sprag on. That's a countermove.

One wrestler has been lifted, another one sprags the legs so he can't do anything with them.

The lifter ultimately gets tired and has to replace the man down and

the man in front is in the better position then because he's sat in his lap.

I would have a go, but I'm just, you know, they're the wrong weight.

Out of this class, purely by weight.

Yeah, I think so!

Good on you guys for doing this, it's freezing cold up here.

Yeah, a bit chilly, but it makes you feel alive.

Cornish wrestling has a history of golden eras, ebbing and flowing

between the sport of kings and falling back into a rural sport.

The two World Wars had a devastating effect on Cornish wrestling.

The sport is largely handed down from generation to generation and so the impact of the loss of

virtually a whole generation of fighting men was profound.

More recently, an explosion of interest in other forms of martial arts

has meant that youngsters now have a much greater choice of sport to follow.

Why is it so important now, especially for you, to keep this sport going?

-What's it all about for you?

-Well, it's come...

Come too far now to let it stop.

-I wouldn't like to be part of a generation that sees it die out...

-Yeah.

Because it's been going so long and each man has laid hands on the next man to teach him how to do it.

So there is that living link, that unbroken chain throughout the millennium.

So what's happening today, what are you doing to ensure this?

Well, presently the wrestling association has got a couple of clubs in the county and we've traditionally

not had a set-up for training because it was traditionally handed down within families, but now we

realise that in the modern times, we need to teach the youngsters to ensure survival in a more modern way.

It seems the key to the survival of this most rugged of sports lies in the passion inherited

through the generations,

and I'm sure that somehow, the sport will be around for many years to come.

We're back at St Petroc's Church in Bodmin, the largest parish church in Cornwall.

It was built in the 15th century, making it the perfect setting for all the antiques brought in today.

Angela has brought in an unusual item from the Far East.

Angela, I have never, ever seen shoes like this before

and I think they are absolutely incredible.

These are Chinese...

women's shoes.

-Yes.

-Not doll's shoes...

-No.

-Women's shoes.

-Yes.

I mean, how on earth did Chinese ladies put these on their feet?

I don't know, but they have been worn, as you can see.

It's incredible.

So, the idea goes back to the 10th century.

-Young girls, when they were about four years of age, their mothers used to bind back their toes...

-Yes.

-With cotton... so that they had small feat...

-Yes.

-Because they were considered to be pretty.

-And those are minute.

-The standard size of foot was considered to be three inches.

-Yes.

So... Which is probably about what that is, about three inches.

It looks like it.

But these as objects, aside from that, whether it's right or wrong...

-Yes.

-These are absolutely beautiful.

I think they are silk, with this wonderful embroidery along here.

And look at this, it's so intricate.

-Yes.

-It looks like it's sort of like a gold thread

of flowers all round here. Where on earth did you get these from?

Well, my in-laws had lived out East from the mid-'30s.

-They certainly date from the 20th century.

-Yes.

I mean this idea of binding feet, binding children's feet, was actually

-outlawed in 1911, but it still went on a lot longer than that.

-Yes.

It's very, very difficult to put an exact date on something like this.

Are they something that you like?

No, they've lived in the cupboard for the past...

Well, since we had them in '72.

Right.

I mean, it's very, very hard to put a price on these, to be honest, because I've never seen another pair,

and our estimates are usually based on whether we've seen something similar sold and what it made

so I'm a bit tied, but I would suggest probably putting a reserve on of £50 because I don't think

they should go for anything less than that.

And probably an estimate on them of about £80 to £120.

-But, who knows, I mean, they could make a lot more than that.

-Yes.

-Shall we take them to auction?

-Yes.

-Great.

Angela's shoes have been hidden in a cupboard, gathering dust for many years.

Roy has also brought in some items that he wants to sell because he hardly ever uses them.

-Hello, Roy.

-Hi, Mark.

Thank you so much for coming in to visit us in this lovely church,

and you've brought in three really nice pieces of silverware here.

Tell me how you came by them.

They came from my mother-in-law, who passed them on to my wife,

and she got them from an old lady from the Hampton Court area.

-Oh, right. Oh, so from the nice area of West London.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And I suppose...

-Do you entertain on a grand style?

-No, not really. Sausage and mash!

-Well, you can't beat sausage and mash! With onion gravy?

-Onion gravy.

-I think if we have a little look at the pieces. What do you know about them?

-Nothing at all, really.

-I know they're silver, but that's about it.

-Each one is hallmarked.

-Yeah.

-They're all hallmarked in London...

-Right.

But if we start, I think, with probably the most interesting piece, which is this.

Now, you look, with your lovely white beard there, you look a bit of an old sea dog,

-and this is actually for serving fish.

-Right.

And the liquid, once you've picked the fish up, would drain through these holes.

This is really nicely pierced there, but on some of the really good ones

they even pierce and chase the shape of a fish...

-Oh, right.

-In there. So this is quite a straightforward one.

-Yeah.

-This is hallmarked actually in London in 1798.

-Really?

-It's a very late George III.

-Yeah.

This one is a really nice soup ladle, but somebody's drilled a little hole there,

unfortunately, many years ago,

obviously to hang it up in the kitchen.

That's hallmarked for London 1850.

-Oh, right.

-So, again, still George III.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Now this small ladle is for cream or sauce...

-Oh!

-And that's also hallmarked in London for 1870, so all the pieces actually are George III.

-Lovely.

Interestingly enough I think this one and this one are the same family initials,

but the middle one is a little bit more complicated.

And I think they would go to a dealer, a specialist dealer in silver.

They're not terribly rare pieces.

-In terms of an estimate, I'd like to keep it conservative, to drum up the extra bids.

-Yeah.

Maybe put an estimate of £100 to £150 with a reserve of £100.

Would you be happy to do that?

-Yeah, yeah. I'll trust your judgement on it.

-Oh, well, I wouldn't... Careful!

-What I would hope would happen is that we'd get the £200 mark.

-Right.

-But I think we need to generate that interest in it.

-Yeah, OK.

-Well, thanks again, Roy.

-And you, Mark.

-And let's hope they make a good price.

-Absolutely, yeah.

Catherine has spotted a painting by 20th century English artist Fred Yates,

who died in 2008, but it's on a rather unusual canvas.

Now, Cecilia, looking at this from one side, this looks like a 50p wheelbarrow

that you might find in a charity shop or at a car boot sale.

We have woodworm, we have no wheel and it's quite badly cracked,

but turning it around tells a completely different story.

It's got a lovely painted oil scene of Fowey by none other than Fred Yates.

-Exactly.

-Now, tell me, where did you get this from?

Well, Fred used to be a friend of ours and he actually...

-Oh, you knew Fred Yates!

-I knew Fred quite well.

-Wow!

Most of Fowey knew Fred because Fred painted in Fowey for about 10 years.

But I came to live in Fowey at the end of 1970

and he was around then and he painted the wheelbarrow for my kids.

So he actually painted it for you?

-Yes.

-Well, for your children.

-Yeah.

-He was a bit quirky.

-So did you...

You had the wheelbarrow anyway?

My mother-in-law used to run a beach shop and she sold little wheelbarrows.

-Right.

-So he took a wheelbarrow and said, "I'll paint a little scene for you."

After he left, the kids got very excited

that they had this famous artist, or he wasn't famous at the time...

so they put it back in the shop thinking that it would fetch a lot of money, but it never sold.

But it never sold! Oh, my word, I hope you never told Fred that.

I don't think Fred noticed things like that.

Well, I think today it will be a completely different story.

-Exactly.

-If you put it back in the shop today...

-Exactly.

-It definitely would sell.

-Exactly. He used to just paint all the time.

-Everybody saw Fred paint.

-Yeah, absolutely.

And it wasn't until Fred went to Switzerland that he started selling work for more money.

But, I mean, he was born in 1922, but this was probably painted in the '70s when your children were...

-Yes, in the late '70s.

-Right, OK.

-Value-wise...

-It is very hard to know.

-I don't really know what to put on something like this.

-I mean, obviously we're selling in Cornwall and I'd like to see it make around £100, £100 to £150.

-OK.

-How does that sound to you?

-It's OK.

-Are you happy to sell it at that?

-Yes, yes.

Shall we put an £80 reserve on?

-OK.

-100 to 150.

-OK.

I think we might do rather well with this.

I just think we've had it long enough. Who is going to take it?

-I have several children...

-Right.

So, you know, let's just get it away.

And they don't want it, even though it was painted for them?

I don't think they do. For them, which one should have it?

-That's true. Best thing to do, sell it, split the money and they're all happy.

-Yeah.

-Maybe I won't split the money, maybe I'll just run away with it.

-That's a better idea!

Well, I think if we put it in auction, £100 to £150, I think it could make top estimate.

-OK.

-I think a lot of people, a lot of Cornish people are going to go for something like this.

Well, we'll see. If it doesn't, I'll take it home.

There have been hundreds of objects coming through

our doors today, but here are the lucky ones going off to auction.

These Chinese boots brought in by Angela are a real curio and a symbol of less enlightened times.

They're going into the saleroom at £80 to £120.

Roy is hoping to make some good money by selling these unused silver utensils.

And Cecilia's wheelbarrow has been made more valuable because it was used by English artist Fred Yates

as an unusual canvas for one of his paintings.

We're back at Jefferys Auction House, where auctioneer Ian Morris

has something to say about the Fred Yates wheelbarrow.

OK, remember Cecilia back of the valuation day?

She brought along this little wheelbarrow without the wheel, but look what's on the side, Ian.

A bit of Fred Yates' work.

For me, that is one of the nicest little panels I have seen in auction for years and years and years.

This is my favourite lot in the whole saleroom.

Everybody nowadays is looking for something quirky, or what they call quirky,

and that is exactly what everybody's looking for.

Yeah. Fowey, look at that.

-Completely different.

-Isn't that lovely?

That is just so tactile and I don't want to touch it because I might ruin it, but we've got £100 to £150

auction estimate on this with a reserve at £80.

The vendor, I must admit, was...

When she went home and thought about it in the cold light of day, was a little bit disappointed and...

I don't blame her, actually.

She's upped that to £200 and, to be fair, I feel that that's still a good value for money piece.

-Yeah.

-I would hope that that is going to make £300.

I think I know what Catherine was doing.

She was doing one of your sort of

little teasers, where everybody has a chance of buying it.

It's more of a "come and buy me", but it is a dangerous game because

if only two people bid against each other and one dropped out then it goes for the lower end.

I don't blame Cecilia for putting that up, actually.

I think this is £200 to £300 and hopefully a bit more.

It's Fowey, which is obviously very local to the area, which is obviously good for us.

His work, unfortunately since he's died, as obviously most artists do, it goes up in value.

OK, put me out my misery - has there been much interest?

There has been some interest.

-There's got to be, surely.

-But...

But no firm bids as yet.

-No bids on the book.

-No bids on the book yet.

-OK.

-So we're...

-This is going to be exciting.

-A stab in the dark.

-It's not very often something like this comes up

for sale and now all you've got to do is get up there on the rostrum...

-I'll try my best.

-And Flog It!

I think I'm going to do that.

But before the wheelbarrow goes under the hammer, it's time to sell Angela's Chinese boots.

Up next, a very unusual little tiny pair of shoes, something like I've never, ever,

ever seen before, and that's the beauty of doing Flog It, isn't it?

We come across all sorts of curios when we're out there on the road.

Angela, it's great to see you again.

So let's hope we can send you home with lots of money, shall we? The top end of the estimate, come on.

-I hope so, I hope so, but I just don't know.

-Nor do I.

-I'm curious.

-We're going to find out, because this is it.

Right, lot 386 there. A pair of Chinese embroidered silk lady's shoes there, Lot 386.

Can I say £80 away? £50 away?

£30 I'm bid. At £30 bid. I'll take five to get on. At £30 I'm bid. 35.

At 35. 40 now. At 35.

40? At £40. 45.

This is interesting.

50. At £50. At £50 is on the phone.

At £50 bid. I'll take five now.

At £50. Take five now. Are we all done at the £50?

Yes, they've gone! Only just. There was somebody on the phone.

-There was.

-He would have been pushed if somebody else was in the room.

-We'd have got the 80, but it went right on the reserve.

-Yes.

-Happy?

-Yes.

-It's gone.

-I'm happy.

-OK.

-Yes.

Now the great thing about Flog It! is we get out and about

all over the British Isles and find things of local interest and it doesn't get much better

when you're in Cornwall, not only bumping into Cecilia here, but also having a bit of Fred Yates' work.

Sadly, he's an artist that died in 2008, but his work will live on.

We've got some here right now and it's painted on a little wheelbarrow that Catherine found.

The reserve has gone up to £200.

This is the right place to sell it.

I'm very envious of you, Cecilia, and you met the artist, as well.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Well, most people in Fowey met him in those days.

-I think he lived in Fowey for about 10 years.

-Yeah.

-A long time.

Painted everybody's houses and then knocked on their doors to say "You've got to buy this."

He did. That's how I met him.

-He's an entrepreneur. That's how artists make their money.

-Exactly.

-Yeah.

-All over Fowey.

-Well, it's going to sell right here, right now because this room

is packed full of Cornishmen and it's going under the hammer. This is it.

Lot 791, the Fred Yates painted on a miniature wheelbarrow, there.

What do you say for that very quickly? Can I say £200? £100 away.

I've got the book at £100.

At £100 I'm bid. I'll take 110 to get on.

110. 120. 130. 140. 150. 160.

170. 180. 190. 200.

A bid on the book, look.

-Good grief.

-At £200 then. The bid is going with me at the £200.

-It's sold.

-It was right to put that reserve up, then.

-Well done.

Thank you so much for coming in...

-Thank you.

-Because you put a smile on my face...

-Absolutely.

-And told us all about Fred Yates.

-Good, good. I'm really pleased.

Great story.

Raising the reserve on the wheelbarrow was the right thing to do

and Cecilia goes home £200 better off, minus commission.

Roy has added an extra spoon to his silver cutlery collection,

but will it leave him better off when it goes under the hammer?

We've got £100 to £150 put on by our expert, Mark,

but in my notes it said you got them from Hampton Court.

Yeah, an old lady that lived along by the river at Hampton Court.

So, why are you selling the silver?

Well, my wife's engagement ring, which is white gold, the clasp

on it is beginning to wear, so we put it in to have it repaired and it's about £110 for repair.

-That should cover it.

-No, we should easily do that, Paul.

-Yeah.

Because it's really nice collection, actually.

Well, look, good luck both of you. It's going under the hammer right now.

Some Georgian silver ladles, London hallmarks, basting spoon etc.

That's with me at £100.

110. 120. 130. 140. 150.

160. At 160. 170 now? At 160.

170 now? Are we done at £160?

-Great.

-Well, that's not bad, is it?

-No, no, happy with that.

-Fantastic. 160.

-That should cover the cost of the ring.

-Oh, yeah.

-Brilliant.

-Even taking the commission out, that's going to well cover that.

-Yeah.

And my petrol getting there and back.

Well, that's it, it's all over.

That brings us to the end of another show.

I tell you what, there were some nail-biting moments there, weren't there?

But we managed to get things away.

All credit to our experts because it's not easy.

They were on the money today and I hope you've enjoyed the show.

So, until the next time, from Cornwall, cheerio.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd