0:00:02 > 0:00:07Over the last 30-plus years, there have been a few secrets locked away about a much-loved programme.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11We're ready to share those. Welcome to Priceless Antiques Roadshow.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36I've been asking viewers why they enjoy the Roadshow,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39as I've travelled around over the last year.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42They use expressions like "fascinating objects",
0:00:42 > 0:00:45"great stories" and, of course, "surprise values".
0:00:45 > 0:00:49But one consistent response from everyone is "brilliant experts".
0:00:49 > 0:00:53And I agree. Someone who's watched and admired them for eight years
0:00:53 > 0:00:57is Michael Aspel. So who better to pay tribute to our experts' abilities to spin a good yarn?
0:00:58 > 0:01:02All the experts seem to have this hidden gift. They're actors.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06They've trained in the theatre of gentle sadism.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Michael reveals some of their crafty tricks.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15Also, we follow one of our longest serving specialists, Paul Atterbury,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18on his annual pilgrimage to the battlefields of the Somme.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Paul's passion for the place suddenly made sense
0:01:21 > 0:01:23when he rediscovered a family heirloom.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Plus, what's the oddest place to discover a valuable antique?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I have to admit that part of the thrill of a Roadshow day for me
0:01:36 > 0:01:41is watching our team at work. It's not just their fantastic knowledge, though that's impressive enough.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I love seeing them piece together a gripping story.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48And drop the bombshell of an unexpected valuation, too.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50But there's another talent which draws me in.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54It's when they take an unsuspecting owner on a journey of revelation.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Often with a few diversions along the way.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Michael Aspel watched some of the arch exponents of these
0:02:00 > 0:02:03tantalising techniques for eight years.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11Here we are in Crawley. And who should I bump into but our very own Eric Knowles?
0:02:11 > 0:02:13This is the dish that I was holding at Biddulph Grange
0:02:13 > 0:02:17and I brought it to have an expert tell me what it's all about.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Would there have been a ceramic spoon protruding from here?
0:02:20 > 0:02:25The appeal of the Roadshow for the great percentage of viewers is not,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27it is the object, of course, and it is the value,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30but it's that dramatic climax to the encounter
0:02:30 > 0:02:35between the expert and the subject, not victim, I suppose I should say.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Wow. Now that is something special.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40That is amazing.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I would think somewhere around
0:02:42 > 0:02:43£8,000 to £10,000.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48- You don't mean it!- I do mean it.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50- Really?- Yes!
0:02:50 > 0:02:52My goodness!
0:02:52 > 0:02:58There's no doubt about it, the BBC likes the explosive estimate
0:02:58 > 0:03:03with the client fainting in coils all over the place.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Oh, my goodness!
0:03:06 > 0:03:09And we lead up to it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12So what ARE the tactics?
0:03:12 > 0:03:15They were found in two individual boxes when I was sorting out my
0:03:15 > 0:03:19aunt's house when she passed away at the beginning of the year.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23- When you unpacked them, what did you think?- They were stunning, amazing.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26- You like them, do you?- Yeah.- They came in with a collection of stuff
0:03:26 > 0:03:28they'd got no knowledge of.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30It's going to be worth around...
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- £600 to £1,000.- Its stunning, isn't it?- I love it.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36- You like it?- Yeah, it's beautiful.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- Best?- Yeah, we love it.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42OK. Would you swap it for that?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48- Obviously, it's worth more, I think. - The way you're coming across.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50- You reckon?. - It's like playing chess.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52He'll move the pieces around
0:03:52 > 0:03:56and apparently discuss what he thinks is the best.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00And almost dismiss the others and the owner who thought,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03"Well, I thought he was going to choose that one", will be confused,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08which is just what he wants. That is what I call the Battie Smokescreen.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Works every time.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13That's worth £4,000 to £6,000.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17You're joking?! You're joking?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19- £4,000 to £6,000.- No!
0:04:21 > 0:04:24I actually failed to put a price on this stuff, didn't I?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27- Yes.- Well, another £15,000 there.- No!
0:04:27 > 0:04:29You're joking?!
0:04:31 > 0:04:32I think I need a gin!
0:04:35 > 0:04:40- If somebody made you an offer, what would you sell it for? £20?- £3,000.- £100?
0:04:40 > 0:04:42- £4,000.- £500?
0:04:42 > 0:04:47David also employs the auction technique.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50- Are you getting tempted? £500?- Yes.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51£1,000.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53- £2,000.- Yeah?
0:04:53 > 0:04:55£10,000?
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Jeez...
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Well, I think I may have been the first person
0:05:00 > 0:05:03to introduce the auction scenario.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I remember back in the early '90s, I had a fabulous piece
0:05:07 > 0:05:09of French Champleve enamel.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13It was a wonderful bowl on a stand
0:05:13 > 0:05:17that was in simulated bamboo and it was the bee's knees.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19It was by a firm called Christofle.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22When it came to giving the value, I actually said to them,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24"Has anybody given you a valuation?"
0:05:24 > 0:05:29Um, as a guess, it's from about £2,000.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32At auction, I would probably see the bidding going...
0:05:32 > 0:05:35At £2,000. And then going maybe...
0:05:35 > 0:05:37£3,000. £4,000...
0:05:37 > 0:05:38To 5, and then 6.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42£7,000, 8,000, 9,000, £10,000.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44At £10,000,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48at £10,000 I think it's fair to say you just might see it go.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Eric used the Poker Face technique
0:05:56 > 0:06:00extremely well on one particular occasion I remember at Kelvingrove.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04A lady had brought in a couple of paintings. One was by Rennie Mackintosh.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08The other was not. And the one that was not, was the one that Eric chose,
0:06:08 > 0:06:09of course, to go on about.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12When thinking about the Glasgow School of Art
0:06:12 > 0:06:16and the activities there, there you had the likes of
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Jessie Newberry and you've also got Ann MacBeth.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23These are big names as far as the Glasgow Girls are concerned.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26When I first turned up at the Kelvingrove art gallery
0:06:26 > 0:06:29for the Antiques Roadshow,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33they almost said, "Oh, we want one of our experts to look at this" right away.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37And Eric came over and he said, "Oh, these are interesting, yes".
0:06:37 > 0:06:41When I was looking at this picture, initially, in my head,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45sirens were going off, klaxons were going.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Fireworks were exploding.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49All behind this deadpan face.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50And then you find this.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53In the same, obviously, in your loft.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Yes. You see, it was rolled up in a scroll.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58You can see, I wondered whether I should iron it.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00No! No, don't iron it!
0:07:00 > 0:07:05- OK. Well that's... OK.- I knew they were local, probably local,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08so that would be certainly helpful.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Um, but he didn't say at that point exactly what they were.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Had I been ultra-religious, I'd have broken down on both knees
0:07:15 > 0:07:17and clasped my hands in prayer.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22It was just, thank you so much, thank you for this wonderful gift.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27So it's all in the initials, isn't it? CRM.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Oh, yes.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31As Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Well, that wouldn't be by him, though, would it?
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Well, why not? Why not? There's every reason it's by him.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43And of course the lady was in...relative disbelief.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45If I go into a gallery to buy this today,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49it's somewhere, let's say, between £2,000 and £3,000.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54And you think it is Charles Rennie Mackintosh?!
0:07:54 > 0:07:56I do.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Never play poker with me.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03As I've often said, and everyone agrees anyway,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07- there's a lot of detective work in the Roadshow. - Do you know what it is?
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Do you know what they are? Have you thought of the value?
0:08:10 > 0:08:14- Do you like it? - I think of them as animals, in a way.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Stealthy animals, going in for the kill.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19David Battie would be the tiger.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23He doesn't always just tease them along, he'll cuff them around the ear and roll them around a bit.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Eric, Eric Knowles, he's much more cuddly,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31I see him more as a Labrador, but no less keen on getting the result.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Lars Tharp is more cat-like, he purrs along.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40A lot of twitching of the lips and sitting back a bit and drawing them into the joke.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44There's a lot of detective work. Lars uses this technique.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49- I bought it in a junk stall about two years ago.- Why?
0:08:49 > 0:08:53I was just fascinated by the fact that it had one little handle.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58Now, I didn't know in my mind how much research she had done.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Have you done any research on it since then?
0:09:00 > 0:09:04- I believe it might be a bleeding bowl.- Right.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Well that sort of scuppered me for a while because
0:09:07 > 0:09:10I was looking forward to revealing that this was a bleeding bowl.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Now, date.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15I think it's old!
0:09:15 > 0:09:20It is old. She's done her research, she knows it's early 18th century,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23I'm not going to be able to surprise her. Do you know what it's worth?
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Well, I know my husband tells me, "Don't buy any more rubbish".
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Thank you very much. Well, don't listen to your husband,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34at all, because you've done very well, this is probably worth somewhere in the region
0:09:34 > 0:09:37of £5,000 to £6,000.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42And you'll note the pause between 5 and 6 and 1,000.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Five to six...thousand pounds.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47No!
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Because that's, that is another little trick,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54everybody's copying it now from me, of course.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Which is to keep the denomination up your sleeve.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Really?!
0:10:00 > 0:10:03I'll just move it to one side.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06And, of course, she went to pieces.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Which is really quite nice on camera.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- Are you sure?!- I am, yes.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15'All the experts seem to have this hidden gift.'
0:10:15 > 0:10:20They are actors. They've trained in the theatre of gentle sadism.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23And they've qualified with flying colours.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I'll be watching out for those crafty tricks in future.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33Talking of smart moves, we've asked our experts to reveal their top tips
0:10:33 > 0:10:35for canny buys in the credit crunch.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Opening honours go to ceramics specialist Will Farmer.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43I get asked on virtually a daily basis,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45"What would you put your money into?"
0:10:45 > 0:10:49And, whilst I do like the greater majority of all the people who ask,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52if I had that answer I wouldn't probably be stood in
0:10:52 > 0:10:56front of them talking, I'd be a very rich man and a million miles away.
0:10:56 > 0:11:02But one of my tips and one of the things that I still really rate
0:11:02 > 0:11:08is a very small, very short period of pottery history.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Which is Poole Freeform.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16And the Poole pottery works have one of those very long histories,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19in terms of the pottery industry.
0:11:19 > 0:11:241953, 1954, you've got two seriously talented designers
0:11:24 > 0:11:29who team up in Alfred Read and Guy Sydenham.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Every single one of these that you ever pick up
0:11:32 > 0:11:34is hand-made and hand-painted.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Hand-decorated.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39So each one is individual, each one is unique.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42While the patterns are recognisable,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47each one has its own little charm and characteristics.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51When you look to the underside, you've basically got everything that you need,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56which is the Poole dolphin, "hand-made" and "hand-decorated".
0:11:56 > 0:12:01So everything's there. You can become an expert very quickly.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07A vase like this could be bought comfortably
0:12:07 > 0:12:08for £50 to £80.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13However, I do feel that it is criminally undervalued.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18I mean, it's just lovely. You know, this stuff is lovely.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22I think that's a fairly sure-fire tip, if I don't mind saying so.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28More advice on clever collecting from our team in the coming episodes.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32But monetary value is just one way of assessing the value of an object.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Miscellaneous expert Paul Atterbury is fascinated by pieces
0:12:36 > 0:12:38which have powerful past lives.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43In recent years, he discovered that the Atterbury family have just such an object themselves
0:12:43 > 0:12:48and Paul's annual trip to the battlefields of World War I suddenly made sense.
0:12:48 > 0:12:54Thanks to this family heirloom, his walks along the battle lines have now become a personal pilgrimage.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Paul first travelled to the battlefields of the Somme in the 1980s.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10That initial visit had a powerful effect on him.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13He found himself drawn there again and again.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I then became, in a sense, a pilgrim.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20I have to come here every year. At least once.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24And it's only a 35-mile front. You can walk it in an easy three days.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26It all comes to life.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Walking the Somme is just a sequence of extraordinary and powerful and emotive sights.
0:13:31 > 0:13:37This is Mametz Wood. It was over this ground between the 7th and 12th July
0:13:37 > 0:13:41that the 38th Welsh Division bravely fought to capture the wood.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44They had to attack from behind, over there, over open ground,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47the woods were full of Germans, thickly defended.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51There were machine guns over there, there were machine guns behind me.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Cutting into them sideways, but they fought on.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58The wood had to be captured because this was one of the things that stopped the advance.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03The great roll-on that had started on the 1st July had to continue eastwards.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06And the Welsh were the ones who were given this ghastly task
0:14:06 > 0:14:09and they fought and they fought and they fought.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13In the end, the wood was cleared of Germans. But thousands of Welsh had died.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17And I have to say, of all places in the Somme, there are probably
0:14:17 > 0:14:19more ghosts here than anywhere else.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31But what first brought Paul to these battlefields, 50 miles from Lille
0:14:31 > 0:14:35were not ghosts but the work of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40It was in about 1916 that what became the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was set up,
0:14:40 > 0:14:46with a view to dealing with bodies and memory after the First World War.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50And Lutyens was appointed in 1917 as one of the principal architects
0:14:50 > 0:14:56and his job was to go to France and think about the permanent establishment
0:14:56 > 0:15:00of battlefield cemeteries, graveyards and memorials.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05One of the original briefs was that there should be a series of huge
0:15:05 > 0:15:08memorials that simply were vehicles for carrying names.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And that, of course, brings us here to Thiepval.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20I first came to Thiepval in the mid to late '80s,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23really pursuing Lutyens as an architect.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27I knew I'd see him at his best - a wonderful eye for detail,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29a wonderful sense of geometry and space.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33The beautiful interplay of red and white stone and brick, the fantastic
0:15:33 > 0:15:37piercing of the arches. Above all else, his eye for detail.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40He loved wonderfully, precisely cut stone work.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44He loved minimal decoration.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46In some ways, he's a sort of modernist.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49But all that, actually, was rapidly overshadowed by the need to think
0:15:49 > 0:15:53about what it is really about. It's not just a building.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57I had to move from the building into the site, into the battle,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59into the whole story that brought it into being.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08Thiepval is simply the memorial to the names lost in the Somme
0:16:08 > 0:16:10campaigns, 1916 to 1918.
0:16:10 > 0:16:17Over 70,000 people just in one battle who'd vanished into thin air.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20At some point in the 1990s, on a visit with a friend, simply
0:16:20 > 0:16:25showing them what there was here, we were on our way back to the car,
0:16:25 > 0:16:31having done the visit, and I was compelled to turn round
0:16:31 > 0:16:35and go back to the memorial. To open the cabinet
0:16:35 > 0:16:39where the list of names is kept and to look up my own name.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43I've never done this before and what did I find?
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I found Second Lieutenant Atterbury, LJR.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51The book tells you where to find the name on the memorial,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53out of the thousands that are here.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55It led me to this pier and there it is -
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Second Lieutenant Atterbury, LJR.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I was mystified by this because I didn't know who he was.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05I knew he was a relative.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09And I went home and I asked my father and I said, "What is this?"
0:17:09 > 0:17:12He said, "Oh yes, that was my uncle. I was named after him".
0:17:12 > 0:17:17Louis John Rowley Atterbury - my father is Rowley Atterbury.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20I said, "Why didn't I know this?" He said, "I don't know."
0:17:20 > 0:17:23He suddenly said, "I think I've got his watch somewhere.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24"Would you like it?"
0:17:24 > 0:17:26I said, "Yes, you bet I would".
0:17:26 > 0:17:30And so he rummaged around and he produced a watch, perfectly ordinary
0:17:30 > 0:17:35silver watch and, on the back, my great uncle's initials.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Of course, this is just like being on the Roadshow. Suddenly,
0:17:38 > 0:17:43here is an unimportant object taking me away into a great history.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46So the watch becomes crucial to me.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48I bring it back with me every time I come.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50So, in a sense, the watch
0:17:50 > 0:17:55and the photograph of him which I've luckily discovered and treasure,
0:17:55 > 0:18:00is my link emotionally and physically to Thiepval.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04In a way, I sometimes think, is this why the Somme means so much to me?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08I can only think that up there, somewhere, he must have
0:18:08 > 0:18:12watched me come ten times and think, "What is this boy doing?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15"Why doesn't he come and visit me?"
0:18:15 > 0:18:18One day, he made me do it.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Since then, it's become a sort of a matter of reverence, really.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26I have to come and visit, not just Thiepval, but my great uncle.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33I'm eternally grateful that what started out as a bit of architectural fanaticism,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36anorak architecture spotting,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39in a sense turned into something that has really changed my life.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42I've got a journey that is forever ongoing.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45It doesn't matter how many times I come back here or to these sites,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47the journey continues.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51It's something that is very, very powerful and very important to me.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03There's something eerie and moving at the same time
0:19:03 > 0:19:05about Paul's discovery of his uncle's watch.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Just like so many of the stories we feature on the Roadshow,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12value isn't everything. One thing we do love is a good mystery story.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14At the end of a long day's filming at the Roadshow,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17some of the most talked about objects
0:19:17 > 0:19:19are those that turn up in the most curious places.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29At the Children's Roadshow in 2003, Bunny Campione unearthed
0:19:29 > 0:19:33a collection which had literally been pulled out of the ground.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37- How did you find the first one? - It started when I was about four.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41I was walking along the field and I just found a really small one about
0:19:41 > 0:19:44the same size as that. It just started it off.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48I wanted to go again and I'd go round to different fields.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51- I don't believe it. All round here? - Yeah.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56She had a whole lot of farmers all around her that went off and
0:19:56 > 0:19:59found dolls' heads in their fields.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The farmers are very supportive of me doing it
0:20:02 > 0:20:04because I'm not damaging anything.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08So did they ring you up and say, "Hey, we've got another head"?
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Actually, they do. They get to know what I'm collecting and they do.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14They let me know if they've got any and they collect them for me
0:20:14 > 0:20:17if they see any while they're out on the tractors.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Why would anybody want to tip their dolls' heads into the ground?
0:20:21 > 0:20:24I just don't know.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28One of the heads she had, probably the only one that didn't
0:20:28 > 0:20:33have any acid brown markings on it, was one I put £200 on.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35So she was thrilled.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38I never, ever expected it to be that much.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I can't believe that so many were put into the ground!
0:20:43 > 0:20:48Our next owner had a most unexpected catch while out fishing at his local beach.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Did you know what you found?
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I knew it was some sort of jug but,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56to be honest, I thought it was a special garden feature.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Actually, what you've found is a medieval jug.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05You're looking at a piece here that dates from the 14th century.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07- That early?- That early, yes.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12The main thing about the Antiques Roadshow, everybody wants to know the value.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14That's the main reason you go there.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19And from that point when there is sort of a flurry of activity
0:21:19 > 0:21:22and everybody said, "We'll push you straight through",
0:21:22 > 0:21:24I thought, "This is starting to excite me now".
0:21:24 > 0:21:27It still smells of seaweed. Why's that?
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It was actually covered with seaweed and full of silt
0:21:30 > 0:21:32when I found it on the beach last week.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35There's a real excitement in pulling a piece out of the ground
0:21:35 > 0:21:39and realising you're the first person to see this for centuries
0:21:39 > 0:21:42and to ask questions, to think, "How did it get there?
0:21:42 > 0:21:46"What sort person made it and owned it, all those years ago?"
0:21:46 > 0:21:51Underneath the barnacles, which I'm sure will clean up, you've got a typical bib of green glaze.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54That is glaze, is it? It's not seaweed or anything?
0:21:54 > 0:21:56No, the green colour there is the natural glaze.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Right the way down to that last minute, he actually says, this is the value of it.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03The expectation is rising and rising and rising.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08All the time, you're thinking, "How much is it worth? Do I ring the bank manager or what?"
0:22:08 > 0:22:15It's pretty damaged but, even so, after a bit of repair and work,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17a jug like this is going to be
0:22:17 > 0:22:21- somewhere between £1,000 to £2,000.- That much?
0:22:21 > 0:22:24That's not bad at all.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26So did they sell it?
0:22:26 > 0:22:30The monetary value, from the research I've done, goes out the window.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35The pot is now on display in my wife's china cabinet.
0:22:35 > 0:22:42It won't go. I don't think any amount of money now would tempt me to sell it now.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44A life-changing moment for one owner,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48who's gone on to collect thousands of pieces of pottery from the beach.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52John Benjamin, our jewellery specialist,
0:22:52 > 0:22:56is an absolute magnet for items found in the strangest of places.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00A woman came in, whose husband turned out to be a plumber.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04This man, who is working as a plumber, he's fixing someone's
0:23:04 > 0:23:09cold water tank or a septic tank, something like that.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11He's sticking his hand down.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14I had this image of putting his hand down in the tank.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18He feels something floating deep down underneath, picks it up
0:23:18 > 0:23:24and it's a solid gold Victorian bangle, studded with lapis lazuli. What?
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Was it wrapped up or anything?
0:23:25 > 0:23:28I honestly don't know.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32He'd had it for a long while and he'd had it in his tool box.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35- From your point of view, you've been wearing it ever since?- Yes.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41- We're looking at a bangle that's worth £1,500 to £2,000.- You're joking?!
0:23:41 > 0:23:42No.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48But John's ultimate odd find came in 2001.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Cliveden, Buckinghamshire.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Sunny day, filming outdoors.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Woman comes in with a metal tin.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00"Can you look at this stuff?" "Yes".
0:24:00 > 0:24:06Takes it out on the table and it was a jamboree bag of assorted jewellery.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Where did you get all these from?
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Well, I've been running a tip for about 17 years, just over.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15I've got it through the years, chucked away on the tip.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17I've got salvage rights for whatever comes in.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19I pay for, it belongs to me.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Chatting away, very relaxed, to me and she's with
0:24:23 > 0:24:26this young man, sitting next to her.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Turns out that the young man is her son.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31These are the accumulation of jewellery
0:24:31 > 0:24:35and bits and pieces and cigarette cases that people have thrown out?
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Yes, I've found them in rubbish.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41We've had to dig deep or look in rubbish
0:24:41 > 0:24:43that some people wouldn't think about touching.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Usually, that's where you find a bit.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Opals, sapphires, jade.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54Fabulous things. Chunky bits of expensive Bond Street jewellery.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58The main pendant is going to be worth, I would think,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01something in the region of £1,000 to £1,500.
0:25:01 > 0:25:07The opal earrings here, they must be worth about £800 to £1,000.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10£800 for that one, I should think.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15So this set is going to be worth at least £3,000.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19The woman herself was as good as the jewellery. She was great on camera.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21She was relaxed, she was funny.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Find yourself a woman, you can have them.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26LAUGHTER
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Get off my back!
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Well, the things I've got here amount to
0:25:33 > 0:25:36something in the region of £4,000 to £6,000.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Thank you very much.
0:25:38 > 0:25:45For me, I think that that was a microcosm of what makes
0:25:45 > 0:25:48the Antiques Roadshow the programme that it is.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Before we go, one more secret about life on the Roadshow.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56I like to think we're a close-knit and friendly team.
0:25:56 > 0:26:02Every now and again, there's a bit of healthy competition among the experts about who will discover
0:26:02 > 0:26:05the most exciting objects on the day, the one that got away.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11Tonight, miscellaneous expert Hilary Kay reveals all about a day she'll never forget.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I tell you, when a Gibson Flying V guitar comes in,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19I want to be the one that films it.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Here we have a photo of Marc Bolan with a Gibson Flying V.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26A historically important guitar in the history of rock. It's one thing
0:26:26 > 0:26:32looking at the photograph of it but what to hold the real thing?
0:26:32 > 0:26:34The real thing's here and I can hold it.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37To me, that is absolutely unbelievable.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39So if we open this case...
0:26:41 > 0:26:44On the day, Mark ended up filming it.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47I'm a huge rock fan, always have been.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51I guess I feel slightly territorial about rock 'n' roll memorabilia when
0:26:51 > 0:26:56it comes into the Roadshow, because it was me that held the first ever
0:26:56 > 0:26:58auction of rock 'n' roll memorabilia
0:26:58 > 0:27:02when I was working at an auction house back in 1981. I sort of feel,
0:27:02 > 0:27:07quite wrongly, that it's my right to film all the rock 'n' roll stuff.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11What can I say?
0:27:11 > 0:27:13I'm holding a piece of rock history.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18He set a trend which was a huge influence on British rock music.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21What about the sailor top here, as well?
0:27:21 > 0:27:27It's important because Marc started off as a hippy, Tyrannosaurus Rex.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30This was the first item he wore on Top Of The Pops in '71
0:27:30 > 0:27:32to do Hot Love on the BBC.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36You can say, historically, that this was the turning point
0:27:36 > 0:27:39to the new phrase that we know as glam rock.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42# La, la, la, la-la-la-la... #
0:27:42 > 0:27:44He filmed it absolutely beautifully.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47There's absolutely nothing more he could have said.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49It's just, I wanted it.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52I apologise to the great man himself but I have to do it,
0:27:52 > 0:27:57just to say I've strummed Marc Bolan's guitar.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02Do you know, the best bit was, Mark didn't even let me strum the guitar afterwards?
0:28:02 > 0:28:04SHE TUTS
0:28:07 > 0:28:11That's it for today. I'll be back at the same time tomorrow for more
0:28:11 > 0:28:14secrets from behind the scenes as we reveal the very best finds
0:28:14 > 0:28:15from the Antiques Roadshow.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Eric Knowles takes us back to his days in short trousers
0:28:18 > 0:28:20when he first joined the show.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25Like it or not, you can't ignore it. It really is very, very individual.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Owners reveal some of their pet hates about their family treasures.
0:28:29 > 0:28:35I've never liked it hugely. The fact that other people didn't like it hugely either didn't surprise me.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37Didn't offend me either!
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Until next time, bye bye.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:48 > 0:28:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk