Wilmslow Flog It!

Welcome to Flog It, the show where we turn your unwanted antiques and collectables into cash.

And this is the saleroom where it all happens.

But first we need to find the antiques,

so let's make our way over to Wilmslow in Cheshire for our valuation day.

Only ten miles from Manchester,

Wilmslow is home to over 30,000 people, some of them

famous footballers and actors, who've made the town their home.

Wilmslow's other famous resident is a bit older than the stars

of field and screen.

Preserved in peat bogs for 2,000 years, Lindow Man was discovered

in 1984, and is considered one of the most important

Iron Age finds in the country.

Now, I can pretty much guarantee we won't find anything as old

or important in today's programme, but we've plenty in store for you.

Well, all the locals have turned out in force

on a bright and breezy morning here at the Wilmslow Leisure Centre,

all laden with bags and boxes, ready for evaluation by our experts.

-Morning everyone!

-MORNING!

-Morning!

Those two experts are the wonderful Anita Manning and James Lewis,

and it's our job to find the best items, take them off to auction

where they'll be sold to the highest bidder.

And we'll find out later if those bidders come out in force.

It's all gone quiet.

-I can't believe it!

-This is great, isn't it? What luck.

-Oh, no.

-No.

-No.

They love it. They love it.

Before that, time's ticking away.

Let's get those valuations started and James is first off the mark.

Chris, imagine you are a 17th century lord, and you are going out

hunting for the day, and you have killed your white heron,

or whatever that big white bird was, you're coming back to a fire...

-Yes.

-..and you want a great glass of wine to drink from.

This is the sort of thing that you would have had at your table.

Probably not quite as large as this in the 17th century,

but certainly this style.

It's in what we call green forest glass,

and it's applied with what we call raspberry prunts.

And these, you think, "OK, it's a decorative feature,"

but it's also quite a practical feature as well, cos imagine you've been ripping

your duck or goose or heron to bits with your bare hands...

-Greasy hands.

-Yes, and the last thing you want to have is your valuable glass slipping from your hands.

So it has the practical support as well.

The base is hollow, and is manufactured by coiling glass,

kind of like the old coil pots you made at school, with a coil of clay,

same sort of principle,

then applied with this pearling to give it a bit of decorative quality.

But the best and most important part is the bowl,

and what we're looking at here is a 19th century German oversized version

of a 17th century rummer for drinking wine.

It was made around 1870 to 1890, but the thing that makes me

fall in love with it is the wonderful quality enamelling on the bowl.

If you were looking at this on a canvas, done in pure oil paint, you'd think it was good.

But imagine doing it in enamels that had to be heated and fired.

It's brilliant. I really love it.

So it would be a German, not an Italian?

Yeah. It's definitely German.

So, having gone over the top about how much I love it, tell me about how much you love it.

Well, I don't love it or not love it.

It originated from my late mother-in-law.

-When she died I didn't know what it was, so I didn't want it to be thrown away.

-Yeah.

So I've had it since 1997, in a plastic bag in the bedroom.

So that's where it's been, and when we heard about Flog It,

we thought we'd bring it down and let someone have a look at it.

Gosh. You've got your wife's permission to sell it?

Yes, she says it can be sold.

-Yes.

-Right, OK.

-It's a pity it's broken.

-I know.

-But it was broken when we got it, when it came out of the late mother-in-law's house it was broke.

Well, this will end up selling to someone who loves it for what it is.

-Yes.

-They're not going to be interested in a massive profit,

-because, being damaged, it doesn't have a massive value.

-No.

So it does bring us to, what's it worth?

If it had been perfect, I think this would have been £400 to £600.

-Yes.

-Something like that, but it's not.

-Still got to be £60 to £100, hasn't it?

-I'd have thought so. The enamel work is amazing.

Let's put £60 to £100 on it.

-OK.

-£60 reserve.

-Very good.

-And see how we go.

-See how we go.

-Yeah?

-Thank you very much.

-Super. Thank you.

Penny, welcome to Flog It, and I'm absolutely delighted

that you've brought along this lovely piece of Scottish jewellery.

-Tell me, where did you get it?

-My mother gave it to me, and it was her grandmother's.

-Do you wear it, Penny?

-No, unfortunately not.

No, so stuck in a drawer?

It is stuck in a drawer, yes. My daughters don't want it,

-might as well get rid of it.

-Well, let's have a closer look at it.

This is what we call Scottish pebble jewellery.

This is a little brooch in the form of a dagger, and if we look at this part here,

-and this, this is formed by polished pebbles.

-Pebbles.

Now, these pebbles would have come from the lovely burns and streams

of the Scottish Highlands, and people would go out and collect them,

-send them to Edinburgh, where they would be polished...

-Ooh!

..and then they would go on to the silversmith's to be mounted.

If we look here we have what we call a Cairngorm stone,

-which is this lovely brownish, it reminds you of the peat water of the Scottish Highlands.

-Yes.

Now, this was made in Birmingham, and if we look at the back here

we can see the anchor mark for Birmingham there.

-It's a Victorian brooch, a wee bit out of fashion just now.

-Yes.

But we still have collectors. Would you be interested in selling it?

Yes, cos it's no use to me, and my daughters don't want it, as I said.

Well, although this is a bonny wee thing,

the estimate on it will be quite low.

I would estimate it between £20 and £30.

-That's all right.

-Would you be happy to sell it at that?

-Yes, yes.

Perhaps a reserve of £18 on it, just to protect it.

-It may do much better.

-Fine, I don't mind.

-Well, I look forward to seeing you at the auction, and thank you for bringing it along.

-Thank you.

Linda, way back in the 1970s,

when I used to come home from school, my parents had been to Cornwall on holiday,

-and what my mum would unwrap were little bits like this.

-Right.

When I first trained to be an auctioneer and valuer, she said, "One day these'll be valuable."

I said, "Not a chance, they are revolting, they are horrible, they have nothing about them at all."

-I know.

-So what are your feelings?

-The same.

-Are they?

-Yes.

-You don't like them either?

-No.

-But I have gained a slight respect for them,

since they've actually had a value.

Everybody knows they're Troika. It's a great collection.

The most attractive one is the one in the centre.

So tell me the history of them, where did they come from, and what are they doing here?

They were my uncle's. He died in September,

and we were tidying the house out, and we didn't know what they were,

and my husband was actually using one of the pots to put paint in,

-and his paintbrush and for knives.

-No! Recently?

-Mmm.

-I thought everybody knew about these thanks to Flog It.

-Well, no, we didn't.

-Right.

-And his next door neighbour came in and said to us, "That's Troika," and we went, "Oh, lovely."

-Yeah.

-But we didn't know anything about it.

Well, here's me assuming that everybody knows about it.

Do you know the period, do you know...?

No, not that much at all.

Right, well it's actually not that early.

Most of it was made in the 1970s.

Let's have a... pick a couple here. This one here,

AB, Alison Brigden, 1977, 1983, '84, something around there.

Let's have a look at this one just because it's the most interesting.

-There we go, somebody's written "1983".

-That'll be my uncle.

And there we are, same initials again.

We've got a crack through there.

-It's in the firing, so it's not something that's happened by careless handling.

-Right.

It will affect it. It's not as bad as having it on the outside. But, yeah, it's a great group.

OK, now then, value.

-What do you think?

-I haven't a clue at all.

OK. Looking at the bottom end, lower estimate, £60.

Another £60 - £120.

-£40 for that - £160, and say another £60 for that - £220.

-Right.

That one on its own is worth £200, so we're there at £400.

-Right.

-Looking pleased.

-Yes, very pleased.

-Good.

So I reckon, as a group,

-£400 to £500, reserve of £350. Yeah, is that all right?

-Yeah, that's brilliant.

-I think they're going to do really, really well.

-Great.

I don't know about you, but I think there's some cracking items

and right now it's time to put those valuations to the test.

This is where it gets exciting. We're going to make our first visit to the auction room.

So while we make our way across, we're leaving you with a quick recap of the items we're taking with us.

James thinks Chris' large glass goblet is a unique piece,

but the broken base has knocked down the value to £60 to £100.

Anita has unearthed something from her neck of the woods

with this stone and silver brooch Penny inherited from her mother.

And, finally, Troika is a Flog It favourite,

but not something Linda is familiar with.

James thinks that this collection could fetch £400 to £500.

We're heading to Adam Partridge's saleroom near Macclesfield for the auction.

But before our items go under the hammer, just a word of advice.

If you buy anything before an auction, make sure you find out

what the buyer's premium is, or the seller's premium if you're selling.

It varies from room to room, from 15% to 25%, so do your homework,

factor those costs in on the hammer price,

because if the hammer goes down at £2,000 on the picture you're buying, and the commission is 20%,

it's going to cost you £2,400 when you come to pay for it.

So do factor those costs in, won't you? Now, there's something

I want to show you amongst all these rocking horses and very scary dolls,

which I do not like, cos they look like they're staring at me, is this.

It's a bit of Japanese root wood.

I don't know what type of tree, but this was a part of a stabilising root - it's not a tap root -

of a fairly old tree, but if you look very closely inside it,

you can see naturalistically there's two carved ivory snakes,

just there, one there and one there, sort of weaving their way through the hollows of the wood.

And also at the very top of the walking stick, there's two tiny little carved ivory monkeys,

and they've been fashioned beautifully, executed by a master craftsman.

The detail is exquisite.

Adam's catalogued this at £150 to £250,

which is a fair valuation, and I don't blame him for doing that.

It's going to sell, but if it finds its way back to the Orient,

it's going to make around £600 to £700 quite easily,

because this is highly sought after.

And I bet this'll walk out of the saleroom a bit later.

I'm not going to walk out of the saleroom myself just yet.

I'm keen to find out what auctioneer Adam thinks about one of our items.

Linda's Troika, you either love it or you hate it, Adam.

I can guess which! I tell you what, it travels well from Cornwall.

-Yeah, I'm not opposed to Troika.

-No, nor am I, I think it's a good investment still.

James has valued this as one lot, we've got £400 to £500 on it.

He's about right there. The plaque's got a crack in it, as you know.

Yeah, he knows his stuff, James, not much slips past him.

-The plaque's the best bit, I'm sure you've referenced that.

-£400 to £600 if it was in great condition.

Yeah, I was tempted to split it down.

I thought, "Well, because it's got a crack, we'll keep them together,"

-cos you know, the rest of it, £50, £50, £80, £80-ish.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It adds up though, there's £400 there by the time you're pointing at the other objects.

-Yeah.

-Linda didn't know the values and she inherited them from her uncle.

-A curious thing to inherit.

Because it's quite a recent phenomenon, isn't it?

-Yeah, in a way. But I mean, I'm going to inherit stuff like that, cos my mum's got a lot of this.

-OK.

-I think we'll get the top end.

-It'll certainly sell, we're doing all right.

-I mean, I think this is probably £300 or £400.

-Yeah.

And then you've got another £200 or £300. Let's say £600 to £700.

-Yeah.

-Be bullish! You with me?

-I'm with you.

-Good. Let's do it.

This is certainly a curio, it's a glass goblet, Victorian, £60 to £100 on it, and it belongs to Chris.

And it's curious for me, because it's been in a plastic bag

in the spare bedroom, because you're sick of the sight of it.

That's right, yes. My wife didn't like it.

-How long have you had this?

-Since about 1997.

But you've only decided recently to bring it into Flog It and sell it.

-Well, yes, cos my wife doesn't like it, and it just seemed pointless...

-Yeah, hanging onto it.

We thought we'd have a valuation.

What do you do with it, hide it in the spare bedroom, James? It's got a bit of damage, hasn't it?

It's got a huge great chunk out of the base.

Now really, I'm not sure that that just might put everybody off.

But £60 is not a lot of money, it should sell at that.

Good luck, and thank goodness you kept it in that plastic bag in the spare bedroom.

Onto the glassware now, which was once a lovely goblet, sadly damaged.

Painted in enamels with figures on horseback. What about £100?

£50 for it, £50 the goblet. £50, it's an impressive thing.

£50, £50.

Large green glass goblet.

-Oh, no!

-No.

-No.

Oh, well.

Not an easy thing to mend I suppose.

Sorry.

Didn't sell it.

I mean, it's an amazing thing, the quality of that glass.

Yes, this is possibly a no reserve item.

At least it's not a chest of drawers, it's easy to take home.

It's easy to take back.

Good luck, Penny, that's all I can say.

It's not big money, we've got £20 to £30 riding on this Scottish brooch,

or should I say "wee Scottish brooch".

In fact, you say it better than I do, go on.

-A lovely wee Scottish brooch.

-There, how about that, how perfect is that?

Obviously made in Birmingham, but the pebbles would have been collected in Scotland.

I know your daughter doesn't want to wear this, does she?

-No.

-Not interested.

-She's not interested in it, neither of them are.

-I know someone who is.

Well, I love these polished agates, they're so sweet with the lovely autumnal colours.

-Yes.

-I love them.

-You've got a lot, I've seen you wearing them.

-Yes.

You're not allowed to buy, but I think someone will buy here now,

because it's good, it's silver and it's quality.

It's only £20 to £30, and it's going under the hammer right now, Penny. This is it.

It's a wee bit of Scottish silver,

a little Scottish brooch in the form of a dagger.

There we are, very nice. Well, I've got £15 bid, is there £18?

I have £15. I'll take £18 this time only. £15, any more now, £15.

-Aw.

-Have £15, £18's online, £18's online.

-Oh, good!

-I'll take £20.

-Just!

-£18 online, £20's online.

-Yes!

Five is next, £20's online, £20 online, I'll take five.

At £20. Any more now? At £20, we sell this now at £20 online.

At £20. And £25. Ooh, the tension.

£25. That's quite a big jump actually.

At £25. I'll take £30. They're hovering.

£25 it is then, £25. We'll sell at £25, any more now, £25.

Yes.

He squeezed as much as he can out of it. Well done, Adam.

Good Adam. Penny, £25.

£25, yeah.

-That's not bad, is it? Spot on valuation as well.

-Thank you.

-Well, you can treat yourself and your daughter now, can't you, to supper somewhere.

-Fish and chips.

Remember Linda and all that Troika?

-It's just about to go under the hammer and you're feeling rather nervous.

-Very nervous.

It's Linda's first auction. Lots of mixed emotions.

-Very much.

-Too much to take in all at once.

-Yeah, it is.

-It really is.

-Very interesting though.

-You got here early, didn't you?

We did, yes, to have a look.

That's the key to any auction visit, get there early, then take your time looking at things.

Don't get carried away. That's my advice.

But we could get carried away cos we've got £400 to £500 riding on this Troika which James valued.

Had a chat to the auctioneer earlier, and he said spot on valuation,

even with the damaged plaque, cos that is worth around £400 by itself.

So basically if you buy the rest of the lot you get that for nothing.

-But you never know, there might be a few phone lines booked and it could do more than £500.

-Hope so.

We've got five pieces of Troika here,

and you've got that wall plaque spill vase which is a rare piece,

with a bit of a modelling crack on the back.

But you've also got a coffin vase, a marmalade pot, a small wheel vase

and a spice jar. What a great mix, a lot of Troika that is.

I'll start straight in at £400 bid, take £20, I have £400 bid.

£420, £440, £460 then, £480, £500.

-£500 on the phone.

-He's got a phone line there.

At £500, the bid's on the phone, £520, £540, on the phone, £540 now.

£560, £580... £580 still on the phone, £580, any more?

£580, any advance on this one? £580 on the phone, are you all done?

-£580 then?

-Marvellous result.

-Brilliant.

-Top end and a bit more. You've got to be so happy with that.

-I am!

-You didn't know what they were or what they were worth.

-I know.

-That's what it's about, finding out what they're worth, and there's only one way - test the market.

-Yeah.

-I can't believe that.

-Isn't that good?

-It's brilliant, yeah!

-You'll be back at the auction rooms, won't you?

-I know!

You'll be buying and selling like the rest of us.

Looks like I've got some competition on my hands. What a great result for Linda.

Well, that's the end of our first visit to the auction room today.

I don't think this lot are impressed, they didn't put their hands up on our lots.

They'll go under the hammer later.

We're coming back here so don't go away,

but before I join up with our experts to find some more antiques at our valuation day,

I'm nipping to Crewe, cos there's something I've just got to show you.

One of my biggest passions in life, apart from beautiful antiques,

has got to be cars. I love them.

And there's one car in particular that combines hand craftsmanship

with state of the art high performance technology,

and that car is the magnificent Bentley.

WO Bentley's motto was to build a good car, a fast car, the best in class.

He founded the company in 1919, and in the 1920s the cars they produced

won critical acclaim, thanks to racing successes at Le Mans.

Since those early days, the company has had its share of ups and downs,

but in the last few decades, it's rediscovered and redeveloped its distinctive brand image.

The traditional qualities remain, and every car that rolls off the production line

is made to each customer's individual specifications.

When I say "rolls off", I use that phrase really lightly,

because it can only be described as witnessing the birth of a beautifully crafted British icon.

The heart of one of these cars is its high performance engine,

which is put together by hand, and this attention to detail

continues throughout the interior.

Now, look at this for example, it's the central console you see between the two front seats.

Now this little section here has got a rolling door, very much like the tambour door of a roll top bureau.

If I roll that down, it reveals where you put your drink cups.

Now the point that I'm making is this is a section of swatch

of the different veneers available to make one of these consoles. Let's take the bird's eye maple.

The sealant they use to join these different segments

has been colour matched to match the veneer,

which is incredible, it takes hours to do

and you're never going to see it. That's perfection.

But what you do see clearly are the wooden interiors.

This is where both my passions collide. See, I love cars,

and I'm crazy about exquisitely-made wooden furniture.

And the same skills are used to create the veneer that you can see

all the way through a Bentley.

Producing the veneer is the longest process in making one of these cars.

To take a single sheet of burr walnut veneer like this

and turn it into this

takes 15 days by a team of qualified cabinet makers.

All the veneers are matched and mirrored, so they're symmetrical throughout the car.

They're attached to a base material, and the final stage is when I think the magic really takes place,

and my guide around the workshop is Oliver Whitlock.

-So this is where it all happens, then, flatten polish?

-That's right.

After the veneers are impressed on the substrates,

they're then coated with a polyester lacquer which takes 72 hours to cure.

We then have to flat down that surface

to get a nice smooth even surface, which is then polished by hand

to bring it up to that pristine high-gloss shine.

-It's almost like a mirror.

-Right.

-You can see your reflection.

Everybody's working so hard, but there's smiles on everybody's faces.

They absolutely love what they do.

A huge amount of pride in the product that we produce here.

The company started off in premises in London, but in 1946, was moved to Crewe,

where it had access to highly-skilled engineers and mechanics,

who had migrated to this busy industrial region during the war.

The great thing about the site here at Crewe is every single thing is done in one place,

and I'm talking about early pencil sketches of design to the little scale models

right up to the full size clay models and then into production,

and although there's around 3,000 men and women who work here,

it feels like a family-run business, and that's because

generation after generation of the same families end up working on production.

In each area of production, this fosters a great pride in the work.

If you take the leather that goes into the cars for seats,

steering wheels and other details, only free range hides are used,

and every piece is checked for imperfections, as well as being colour matched.

All the leather is hand stitched, and one part of the car that

embodies true perfection and craftsmanship is the steering wheel.

After all, it's the part a driver hangs on to. To tell me about it is Kevin Brown.

Hiya, Kevin. Talk me through what you're doing here.

-Start off putting the rim on.

-On a rubber mould?

-Yes.

-Not a metal steering wheel?

-It's a metal substrate inside then a rubber mould over the top.

-OK.

-That's replaced the early sprung steering wheels?

-Yes.

You cover it in leather and the owner can choose colour and fashion.

Whatever he wants, even down to the actual thread that we sew it in.

It can be a different colour to the one you see there.

How long will that take to cover?

I would imagine around four to five hours from start to finish.

-How long would it take to train somebody to do that?

-12 weeks.

-Really?

-Mm-hm.

I've got to say, it's very neat and accurate. How do you get the holes evenly spread apart?

Cos all that's cross-stitched?

This comes in first of all with holes already punched in on this particular area.

Just to actually make sure those holes are correct...

-Use a fork from the canteen?

-Yes, yes, we do.

-THEY LAUGH

-It's as simple as that?

-It is.

If I put that onto where I've sewn the thread,

-you'll see that marries up all round.

-That's incredible!

-And this should last the lifetime of the car?

-Oh, yes.

-You can hardly see the join where the leather butts together.

-That's the beauty of it.

-With a bit of wear, that'll be invisible.

-That's right.

We actually tap that down all the way round,

-so it will drop in all the way round there.

-Yeah, you wouldn't believe

that amount of detail and attention is spent on the steering wheel.

-It's the first thing you see.

-I guess it is, and you're always looking at it.

-Mm-hm.

Extreme care and attention is given to every level of production,

right up until the cars leave the factory in tip-top condition.

Everything on the car goes through test after test after test,

but the ultimate test has got to be a little road trip.

They've kindly lent me the keys to this Bentley Azure T.

I'm going to take it out and let you know how it is.

If ever there was a car that was meant to be driven,

it's got to be the Bentley.

And I'm thoroughly enjoying this.

It's a car to get noticed in, that's for sure.

There's such a feel good factor about being inside it.

I've got to say, this is the best car I've ever driven.

Well, it should be really, it's the most expensive.

One day, I will own a Bentley.

Well, I can always dream. For now, it's back to reality in Wilmslow,

where more people are coming through the door to get their treasures valued.

-Pat, welcome to Flog It.

-Thank you.

-And thank you for bringing along this big clock!

SHE LAUGHS Tell me, where did you get it?

-At a car boot.

-Oh, this isn't going to be a car-boot sale story?

-Yes.

Oh, I love these! How much did you pay for it?

-£20.

-That's a bargain.

Well, it looked a lot of clock for £20.

And what drew your eye to it?

I like the coloured marble, and also the animals.

-I'm not sure what they are, but I thought they were attractive.

-Yeah.

Did you have a place for that clock?

I thought possibly on the mantelpiece, but once it was there, it overtook the fireplace.

-It was too big.

-And too heavy.

It was too big and too heavy. Well, let's have a closer look at it.

-OK.

-Initially, it was screaming at me Art Deco,

but it's a wee bit later than the 1930s, it's a French clock,

-and I would say it was 1940s, 1950s possibly.

-Oh, right.

It's made of black marble, and this wonderful onyx.

We have white onyx here with bands of a mottled brown.

The face with gilt figures and again an onyx background.

-Here we have two I'm not sure what type of animals.

-I'm not.

Impalas or whatever, but the whole thing has an African look about it,

and there was interest in things African in Paris during the 1930s.

-Ah, yes.

-With the Art Deco style. So, we've established that it's

-Art Deco style rather than Art Deco...

-Art Deco.

-..of the 1930s period.

It's not going to be worth a huge amount of money.

-Right.

-We could put it into auction with an estimate maybe

-of £40 to £60 on it, would you be happy?

-Yeah, yeah, that's fine.

-And you'll still be making profit on there.

-Yeah.

And it will appeal to someone,

someone, Pat, with a bigger mantelpiece.

Yes, with quite a big mantelpiece!

Faye, I am so pleased you've turned up with some porcelain,

because do you know, this so far is the only porcelain I've seen today,

and if you bring porcelain, what better than Royal Worcester,

probably the most sought after of the English porcelain.

It's highly collectable, but this isn't true porcelain, it's a hybrid,

it's known as Parian ware, and underneath all this sort of yellow, nice warm glaze

is a white body that was originally invented to copy Carrera marble.

And here we have a dessert service with 12 plates, two stands.

The date, if we look on the back, above the R and above the D,

we have ten dots altogether, 1891 plus ten, 1901.

But my goodness it's grubby, where's it been?

-In a cupboard.

-In a cupboard? For how long?

-40-odd years.

Well, my goodness. It really is good for it to see the light of day.

Each individual plate is different, so it's a really pretty set.

-But this is sort of lurking in the middle of it all.

-Yes, Mr Skinks.

-Mr Skinks, is that, is that what you call him?

-Yes.

-And where did he come from?

-He was a wedding present, 60 years ago.

-Was he?

-Yes.

-OK. Well, he's earlier than that! He was second hand, then!

Well, winter of 1949, you didn't get much new china.

-Well, this... I guess it's just post-war, isn't it?

-Yes.

Yeah. This one was made around 1870, 1880,

and it has this wonderful tarnished gilding here, it's lovely.

Really do like it, very unusual.

-And, of course, it's marine, this nautilus shell.

-Yes.

Raised on a mad outcrop of coral,

with, as you can see, a skink on the top of it.

-I don't know what, but call it...

-A skink or a lizard. A lizard.

-Yes.

-OK, do you like it?

-No.

-But he's not dirty.

-No.

-He's been out somewhere.

Well, he's been sitting on the top of a display cabinet.

-He's been there for the last 60 years?

-No, cos in London,

he was sat in, in the second toilet on the windowsill.

-So he's been promoted from the toilet to the top of a display cabinet.

-Yes.

-Oh, dear, I shouldn't have asked!

-No, no.

-Poor skink.

OK, well, all Royal Worcester, but definitely we need to split them up into two lots.

-Yes.

-This one needs to go on his own. He will go to a different buyer,

or at least I'd imagine he'd go to a different buyer.

-That's worth £200 to £250.

-Oh, is he?

And the dessert service... Well, these plates are worth,

say £500, just under £50 a plate probably.

So around £500 there. These two, £100 each,

£100 to £150, so that's £700, so if we put an auction estimate

-for the service of £600 to £900, and £200 to £250 for that.

-Yes.

Reserve of £160 on that, and a reserve of,

-I think we should have £600 on this.

-Yes.

-Will you buy more Royal Worcester with it?

-I don't think so, I'm downsizing, I've got my house on the market.

-Have you?

-Bill, can you tell me where you got this little lot from?

-They've been left to me by an elderly gentleman.

Are they things you or members of your family would have used or worn?

-No.

-No, no.

-No.

-And where have they been, in your house?

They came to me earlier this year, and since then, they've been tucked in a drawer.

Tucked in a drawer. Time to, time to let them go.

-Yeah.

-Well, let's have a wee closer look at them.

First of all, we have this very pretty little pin.

I would say that it dates from the early 1900s, possibly up to 1920.

It has a green stone, and this stone is a peridot.

-Right.

-Next we have this enamelled watch,

and this is quite a pretty thing. It has this red enamelled face,

and on the back, we have this fleur-de-lys pattern.

French watch perhaps, it's 14-carat gold, we've looked at the back plate.

Thirdly, we have a sovereign, and the sovereign is dated 1912.

So all quite nice items.

If they came to my auction, I would put them together

-as an interesting and a good wee lot.

-OK.

Your sovereign will be worth £100 anyway.

-Right.

-Could be up to about £110, £120.

-In this lot here, I'm sure we've got near enough another £100.

-OK.

I would say auction estimate £180 to £220,

-in that region. Would you be happy with that?

-I would, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, uh-huh. We'll put it in with a reserve of maybe round about £150.

-Yeah.

-Shall we go for it?

-Sounds fair, yeah.

-Let's go for it. And I don't think you're going to miss them, are you?

-No, not at all.

-Let's flog them.

We'll take our second lot of items to Adam Partridge's saleroom now,

and what an eclectic mix we've got for him.

As well as Bill's job lot of sovereign, watch and pin,

going to auction is the Worcester dinner service that's been collecting dust for many years,

and the vase Faye affectionately calls Mr Skinks.

If the bidding goes the way James hopes, she could be heading home over £1,000 richer.

Although it's too big and heavy for Pat's mantelpiece, Anita's adamant

that the Art Deco clock could get somewhere in the region of £40 to £60.

It's not only our owners' items that are filling up the auction room,

it's absolutely jam packed, and I love looking around at all the interesting lots.

Have you met our new researcher? No, only kidding!

She's for sale actually later on, but this is what I want to show you.

It's a scratch-built live steam model of a locomotive and tender,

configuration four six two.

If you look at the wheels on the locomotive, a set of four, set of six, set of two.

Some chap has spent hours and hours and hours in his garden shed making this from nothing,

and that's why they're called scratch built today.

And I think it's just charming, it's divine.

Somebody very clever with their hands has made this.

Not a woodworker, otherwise he would have done a carving, but an engineer, a plumber,

a tool fitter, a pipe fitter, somebody with access to the right tools and off-cuts of metal.

And it's built with passion, it's built with enthusiasm and it is built to scale as well.

And I'd say this is sort of circa 1920, 1930, somewhere around there.

And it actually did work.

Paraffin would heat up the boiler, it'd heat the water in the boiler,

which would turn to steam, the steam would then drive the cams,

push the wheels along.

These are the academic things that you can't really put a price on.

Adam's put £60 to £100 on this, which is pretty fair.

It is a little bit tatty, but I tell you what, it's all there,

and you could get this working.

You couldn't build it for £60 to £100.

The man hours alone would probably set you back £2,000 today.

In 100 years' time, let's say, when this comes up for sale again in another auction room,

it's going to be catalogued as 20th-century folk art, and the key is folk art,

because when we look at 18th-century folk art,

naive little carvings are selling for £3,000 to £4,000,

because they're one-offs, they're so individual, and they're charming

and tell something about the period in which the piece was built in.

And this is going to do the same, and I think it's worth every penny

of £500, even today. I think this is a very good investment.

Things like this will become great investments, because nobody today

will ever build something like this again. Nobody has the time.

Nobody has the time.

Well, time is definitely up now for Pat's clock, the Art Deco clock is

-just about to go under the hammer. It's only been two years?

-Yes.

-Didn't get that attached to it.

-No.

-LAUGHTER

-£20 you got this for in a car-boot sale.

-Yeah.

We've got a valuation of £40-odd, hopefully £60.

-I'd like to go for the top one.

-That would be brilliant.

-Top one!

Did you think when you bought it, it was just right for the mantelpiece?

I thought it might be, but I wasn't sure,

and then I did try it, and it wasn't right at all.

-OK, so where's it been, then?

-Just stored away.

-Just stored away.

-Well, you're better off selling it.

-Yes.

-And have you been back to the car-boot sale since?

-No.

-No?

-Been too busy.

-Too busy.

OK. Good luck and, hopefully, you'll get Anita's top end. Here we go.

..onyx case mantel clock there, circular clock with a deer on it.

There we are, deer on it. Very decorative thing.

-Start me at £50, £40, £20. Get in on £20.

-There!

-£20 bid, take five.

-At £20, £20. is there five?

-Five.

-£25, £30 now, at £30 bid. Five now.

At £30, £35, £40, £40 here.

-At £40, I'll take five. At £45, do you want £45?

-Yes!

-£45!

£50 now, £50, OK, patient.

£50 here. At £50, take five. I'm at £50, £55, £60.

-It's going in the right direction!

-60 bid, take five online. £60.

-Five.

-£65, £70. £70 still here.

-Yes!

-At £70, I'll take five.

-Five.

-£75, £80 still here.

At £80, we're going strong, £80, I'll take five, £85, £90.

-It's not dear at £90. Five?

-Great! They love this!

-£100 bid, take ten.

£100 the bid, £100, I'll take ten at £100, any advance now?

£100 in the room and we sell at £100, are you all done? £100.

-Delighted!

-Good, good!

-Well done, Adam Partridge!

He's done us proud on the rostrum.

-Excellent, pleased with that.

-That was good. That was a wonderful buy for £20.

-Just a bit.

-You should get back to the car boot.

-It certainly was!

-Yeah, definitely go back to the car-boot sale.

-I will.

-Keep investing in antiques.

-Definitely.

-Recycling them.

-The more of these programmes I see, I know what to buy.

-Exactly.

-Happy with the result?

-Oh, yes!

-It's all about information. If you know what to look for...

-This is the thing.

-..it's easier to pick up a bargain.

-It is.

-Congratulations.

-Thanks.

-Well done.

Well, this next lot has been in the cupboard for years and years!

It's never seen the light of day, but it is worth £600.

It belongs to Faye and it's that collection of Royal Worcester.

James, will we get that £600?

I hope so. I mean, there are loads and loads of bits there.

You know, we've got plates, we've got dessert stands.

-By the time you split it up, it only works out at £50-£60 a piece. It's got to be worth that.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Take it from James. Here it is going under the hammer. Good luck, Faye.

More Worcester now for you, it's a good set.

Late 19th-century with a pair of comports.

-It's all gone quiet!

-14 in the lot, good dessert service, start at £600.

I'm bid £400, take £20, £420, £440, £460. £460 bid, any more now?

At £460, £480, £500.

-£20?

-We're getting there.

-£520 bid, any more?

£520, any further now? £520.

-Oh...

-No, needed a bit of discretion there.

We've got the shell vase, hang on, we've got the shell vase.

So frustrating, so close.

343 is a Royal Worcester cornucopia vase, 343 this time, a shell

surmounted with a salamander. 343. 1884 this one is.

Am I bid £100 to start, I'll take £10, £110, £120.

£120 bid, £130 now. £120 bid, any advance on £120?

£120 here, £120...

So close.

Well, you've just seen it yourself as well.

-The hammer didn't go down.

-No.

-One of those days.

-Maybe the buyers were here, but kept their hands in their pockets.

-Well, it can't be helped.

-Can't be helped. That is auctions for you.

-It is.

-Some you do win, and some you lose.

-It's been a good experience.

Oh, well, look. All I can say is the cupboard is still bare, isn't it?

-Yes, it is, it'll go back in.

-OK.

I've just been joined by Bill in the nick of time in this packed auction room here.

This lot is a mixed lot of gold, it's a great time to sell gold now,

because prices are so high, because the economy is suffering so much, everybody seems to be selling it.

Why are you selling this?

-Well, one's a ladies' watch, my wife doesn't wear one.

-OK.

And there's a little stick pin and I don't wear ties.

-No, I can see that. OK.

-Time to get rid.

Silly question, but the money's going to come in handy

and I think we'll get the top end of Anita's estimate quite easily.

-I really do.

-Well, sovereigns always do well.

-The watch is a divine little thing with an enamelled back.

-Yeah.

And the stick pin, nice wee aquamarine thing... A good lot.

Yeah. And the trade's here. They're here to buy silver and gold

and this will be no exception. Let's hand it over to Adam.

Good lot here, we've got a 1912 sovereign and a 15-carat stick pin,

and a continental ladies' watch with an enamelled case

of fleur-de-lys design. Three in the lot. £150 straight in.

£160, £170, £180, £190.

-They love it! They love it!

-£200, £210, £220, £230, £240 in the room.

£240 in the room, £250 now. At £240 in the room, £240 in the room.

Are you finished now? £240.

All done now, nice to see a smile, at £240, we're done at £240.

-GAVEL BANGS

-I think we're all smiling!

-We're all smiling.

-Excellent.

-I am so happy, such a good result.

-Thank you very much.

-What'll you do with the money?

-Er...

Some of it'll go to a treat for my wife, I think.

-Good, good, always treat the wife.

-Oh, yeah.

Then you know you won't get in trouble. Be in the good books.

Well, it's all over for our owners and it brings us to the end of another wonderful auction.

We've had a great time here. OK, hands up, we didn't sell everything,

but everybody's gone home happy, and that's the main thing.

If you've got any antiques and collectables that you want to sell, we would love to see you.

Check your local press, cos we're coming to an area near you soon.

So, from Cheshire, until then, it's cheerio.