0:00:02 > 0:00:06'Britain is stuffed with places famous for their antiques
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'and each object has a story to tell.'
0:00:09 > 0:00:10Hello!
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'I'm Tim Wonnacott, and as the crowds gather
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'for their favourite outdoor events around the country,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19'I'll be pitching up with my silver trailer
0:00:19 > 0:00:23'to meet the locals with their precious antiques and collectables.'
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I'm feeling inspired myself. Thank you very much.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30'Their stories will reveal why the places we visit
0:00:30 > 0:00:33'deserve to be on the Great Antiques Map of Britain.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36'Today, we're at the Dig the City Festival
0:00:36 > 0:00:38'in the middle of Manchester.'
0:00:43 > 0:00:45'Lots of eager owners have come along
0:00:45 > 0:00:48'to show us their intriguing items...'
0:00:48 > 0:00:53The absolute drama of these bright colours.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57'..which represent this area's unique antiques heritage.'
0:00:57 > 0:01:01This stuff is called fairground art and it is a collectible.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'Also of course, they want to find out what their precious objects might be worth.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:08As much as £100-£150.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10£500-£800.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11£400-£600.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Between £3,000 and £5,000.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17'And stand by for what has got us all rather excited.'
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I should think we'd be comfortably looking at about 30,000 or more.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22And I'm feeling rather starry-eyed, myself.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33'Manchester's big growth spurt began in the 18th century.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36'At the heart of it was cotton, not just spinning but all
0:01:36 > 0:01:39'the associated industries - textile manufacture,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42'engineering works to make the machines in the factories,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44'and, of course, construction.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46'But times changed.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49'In the 20th century, Manchester could boast the first
0:01:49 > 0:01:51'splitting of the atom, by Ernest Rutherford,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55'and production of the first Rolls-Royce car,
0:01:55 > 0:01:56'amongst many accolades.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00'Today, it's a cultural hub and a fabulous place to visit.'
0:02:00 > 0:02:05Do you know, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Manchester.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09I lived and worked in Cheshire for the top end of 15 years,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14and I know this place is just stuffed up with antiques
0:02:14 > 0:02:18and collectibles - it's just a question of finding your way round.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24'One of the newest initiatives here is a festival called Dig the City -
0:02:24 > 0:02:28'a lively 9-day event celebrating urban gardening.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32'So, I've brought the old rig along to dig - wait for it...
0:02:32 > 0:02:33'for antiques.'
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Well, they say you learn something every day
0:02:45 > 0:02:48and I'm certainly learning something today in Manchester,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52because ordinarily I would have walked past these
0:02:52 > 0:02:56two Victorian chairs and never given them a second glance.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01But, there again, I'd be wrong, wouldn't I, Max?
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Yes, Tim, you would be wrong. I think these are very interesting chairs
0:03:05 > 0:03:10because Riley, James Riley, was a manufacturer of chairs in Manchester
0:03:10 > 0:03:15in about 1864, and produced patents for a method of assembling chairs
0:03:15 > 0:03:19to enable them to be mass-produced and distributed widely.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24The big thing about furniture manufacture in the 19th century
0:03:24 > 0:03:27is the assimilation of styles, and what we now call
0:03:27 > 0:03:32balloon back Victorian chairs, which are loosely this shape,
0:03:32 > 0:03:37where you get a fan type shape with a curved frame, was produced from
0:03:37 > 0:03:42the 1840's, all the way through until 1910, or even 1920.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Much replicated.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48But what our James Riley did, which is what is so incredibly clever,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51is to take the standard manufactured form
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and try and make it a bit cheaper.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57And the first indication that anyone would have that they're dealing
0:03:57 > 0:04:01with a patented piece of furniture is if you turn this one around and
0:04:01 > 0:04:03have a look at the back, there
0:04:03 > 0:04:08in the splat is a branded mark and if you decipher the mumbo jumbo
0:04:08 > 0:04:13of the letters and symbols, it will give you the year that that design
0:04:13 > 0:04:15was registered and then it's protected.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19But what he's protecting is this construction method,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23where you have a bolt that goes through from the back leg
0:04:23 > 0:04:27into the frame, take the other one out, like that,
0:04:27 > 0:04:32and the chair simply comes apart, which is really rather clever.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36And what did your collection of Riley chairs cost you,
0:04:36 > 0:04:37if you don't mind my asking?
0:04:37 > 0:04:39- This was five.- OK.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43I think, I can't remember this one. £12 or something like that.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Yesterday, in Levenshulme, I bought a chair for £25
0:04:46 > 0:04:49and brought it back on the bus.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Well, the joy of these chairs that you can take apart is
0:04:52 > 0:04:55that you can put them on the train or the bus, but I think
0:04:55 > 0:04:58it's incredibly interesting. Thank you very much, Max.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59Thank you.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03'See? You can still scoop up a piece of Manchester's industrial
0:05:03 > 0:05:06'history for a snip, and sit on it!
0:05:06 > 0:05:08'You heard it here first, remember.'
0:05:14 > 0:05:16The world's first football league was set
0:05:16 > 0:05:19up at Manchester's Royal Hotel in 1888.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Greater Manchester now has dozens of football teams,
0:05:26 > 0:05:31and one is arguably the biggest in the world - Manchester United.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Although it has a global fan base,
0:05:35 > 0:05:40the local fans are perhaps the most ardent and Sean is one of them.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Well, I've collected football memorabilia for some time.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48In fact, I did even when I was a boy in Ireland.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51And I just decided I'd start really collecting more
0:05:51 > 0:05:54from the point of view of the history of the club
0:05:54 > 0:05:56and the love of the club.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Now, Sean, what we've got in front of us is an interesting little
0:05:59 > 0:06:02selection, and what I'd like to start with is the photograph.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07The gentleman in the blue top was a gentleman called Albert Scanlon,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12and Albert was a member of the famous Busby Babes.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15What a lot of people might need reminding is that
0:06:15 > 0:06:17on the 6th of February, 1958,
0:06:17 > 0:06:22when that airliner containing the Manchester United team
0:06:22 > 0:06:27landed in Munich, and then tried to take off twice,
0:06:27 > 0:06:32and then when it did take off, there was this tragic crash,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35that you would have thought would have knocked the guts
0:06:35 > 0:06:38out of the team, but our Albert Scanlon,
0:06:38 > 0:06:42he's on board, and he survives the crash
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and he goes on to play alongside the manager Matt Busby,
0:06:46 > 0:06:48who also survived.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50- I mean, it's the most phenomenal tale, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53But it was that connection that enabled you
0:06:53 > 0:06:57to buy this very handsome silver plaque.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00As a work of art, I have to say, for silversmithing,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03it's most beautifully made, with this laurel border
0:07:03 > 0:07:07around the outside. How did you come to acquire it?
0:07:07 > 0:07:11I got a phone call, and the lady,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14at this time I did not now, was a relative of Albert's.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18- Oh, right.- But she said to me she had this item of memorabilia,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21and I said I was actually an acquaintance of Albert,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25and I actually had a photograph of Albert in my home, with me,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28in front of my memorabilia, which I would take with me.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32- And that's the photograph? - And that's the photograph.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Now, tell us about this bit of autographed memorabilia
0:07:35 > 0:07:38in front of us. This is special, isn't it?
0:07:38 > 0:07:40I think it's special, yes.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Lots of people will have autographs of the Busby Babes,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and lots of people, say, for example,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49will have autographs of the players
0:07:49 > 0:07:51who've played in the 1958 Cup Final,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55which was four months after the disaster.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59I think this is special because on those two sheets of autographs...
0:07:59 > 0:08:01are both - together.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The team before Munich and the team after?
0:08:04 > 0:08:08The team in the last line-up and the team who played in the FA Cup Final.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12The truth of the matter is that football teams signing
0:08:12 > 0:08:14autographs is not a rare occurrence,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and particularly not in the post-war period.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23What's unusual is the circumstances of these two sets of signatures,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27and the fact that they're mixed on two sheets - the originals
0:08:27 > 0:08:31and the replacements - I think makes this very special, indeed.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36And whilst some of these signatures from teams can be worth
0:08:36 > 0:08:39a £100 here or a £100 there, I think this is a very special group,
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and, as such, probably the likely auction value
0:08:43 > 0:08:46would be between, say, £1,000 and £2,000.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49When it comes to the silver plaque, though, it is thought that
0:08:49 > 0:08:53that silver plaque would bring between £3,000 and £5,000.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Does that go into the back of the net or not?
0:08:55 > 0:08:58It might be a value that may interest my grandson
0:08:58 > 0:09:00maybe more than me.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13'You can learn a lot about a city
0:09:13 > 0:09:15'from its art galleries and collections.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18'Manchester is particularly proud of its association
0:09:18 > 0:09:23'with the artist Ford Madox Brown.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25'And his painting, entitled Work,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28'was the first Pre-Raphaelite painting to be
0:09:28 > 0:09:31'bought by the Manchester Art Gallery in 1885.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34'The Curator of Fine Art is Rebecca Milner.'
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Well, Rebecca, it really is a beautiful painting, isn't it?
0:09:39 > 0:09:42I mean, the minute detail
0:09:42 > 0:09:45that he's got into every square inch
0:09:45 > 0:09:49of this big picture. But it's not just a beautiful work of art, is it?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52It's sending out a very real message from the moment.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Absolutely, I mean, it's an allegory of work, so you have him
0:09:56 > 0:10:00representing every social class, here,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02from the rich MP up there on his horse,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06through to the little beggar children down here in the foreground.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10So, he's setting up lots of contrast between poverty and wealth,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12industry and idleness,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17all these things going on in the way he's portrayed these people.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20After painting this work, he was commissioned to paint
0:10:20 > 0:10:24the town hall murals, and that commission came from a friend
0:10:24 > 0:10:28of his, a Manchester based-artist called Frederick Shields.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32'Madox Brown started painting these 12 murals in 1879,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35'and took 14 years to finish them.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42'Most are painted directly on to the wall, and the artist did
0:10:42 > 0:10:45'plenty of research to ensure they were accurate.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52'At the gallery, Rebecca's taking me behind the scenes to see how
0:10:52 > 0:10:54'he prepped and practised.'
0:10:55 > 0:10:58So on this rack, Tim, we've got four of the designs
0:10:58 > 0:11:01by Ford Madox Brown for the town hall murals.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05So, it worked in those days that you would produce a mini picture
0:11:05 > 0:11:08of what you wanted to include within the murals,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12and the idea of the murals were, in the new town hall, they simply
0:11:12 > 0:11:17told the story of the prosperity and history of Manchester?
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Yes, it was quite broad themes,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21but they wanted to sort of reflect things that were
0:11:21 > 0:11:26both of national significance, but also local stories from Manchester.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29- Here, we've got the Flemish weavers arriving.- Yes.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34An important moment in Manchester's textile history.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Yes, so this is way back in the 14th century
0:11:36 > 0:11:40and, really, sort of the origins of the Lancashire textile industry.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42And what's the one, there?
0:11:42 > 0:11:45So, this is a picture of John Kay.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49This study is not finished, but he's been bundled out
0:11:49 > 0:11:53because he's the inventor of the fly shuttle, and, you see the workers
0:11:53 > 0:11:57in the window, here, who are not very happy at this mechanisation of the
0:11:57 > 0:12:01weaving, because they're all afraid they're going to lose their jobs.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04So it's kind of got a bit of a dual message, this work.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06On the one hand, I think Brown's sympathies
0:12:06 > 0:12:10are with the workers losing their jobs, but he's also celebrating
0:12:10 > 0:12:14the invention of something which obviously takes the textile trade...
0:12:14 > 0:12:18- Into another place. Into the modern world, effectively.- Yes, yeah.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22And incredibly important for Manchester's prosperity.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23'In another mural,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28'Madox Brown captured the Victorian passion for stargazing.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32'In 1903, The Manchester Astronomical Society
0:12:32 > 0:12:36'was established, and still meets weekly
0:12:36 > 0:12:38'in the Godlee Observatory.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42'Kevin has brought along a precious treasure belonging to the Society.'
0:12:42 > 0:12:46It was found in the Godlee Observatory, literally, in a cupboard.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49We don't know exactly where the atlas came from,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54but we do know that it was in our collection back in the early 1930s.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59Now, Kevin, this looks like a remarkably interesting engraving.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03In 1675, Greenwich Observatory had been founded
0:13:03 > 0:13:07with a pure task of plotting the positions of all the stars
0:13:07 > 0:13:12in the sky, to allow navigation to be simplified.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17And John Flamsteed, who was the Astronomer Royal,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19compiled a great catalogue of stars.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24In 1745, Bevis, John Bevis, who was an amateur astronomer,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28came along and decided to publish a better star atlas
0:13:28 > 0:13:32than Flamsteed had done 30 years earlier.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34So, this is the atlas that we see before us now,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38but, unfortunately, because the publisher, John Neal,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41went bankrupt, it was never completed.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46So, what we've got here is something that has been said is a ghost book.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50So, when we found one in Manchester in 1997,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53we simply didn't know what it was.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54Well, this brilliant.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58It has got some absolutely stunning charts within it,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02and it's interesting, when you get to the zodiac,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04which is this plate, I think, isn't it?
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Well, there are 51 star charts covering the whole of the sky,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12but the main 12 actually depict the constellations that we're all
0:14:12 > 0:14:14familiar with from our horoscopes.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Those are the constellation figures of the zodiac.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21- It's a road map to the sky. - It is, yes.- Brilliant.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26'It's an absolutely fascinating work, but what is it worth?
0:14:26 > 0:14:28'All will be revealed later.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31'It could, of course, all be written in the stars.'
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'In 1819, developers began the transformation of a large
0:14:42 > 0:14:44'patch of land in central Manchester,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48'into what became an early theme park called Belle Vue.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55'Derek has brought along a piece of history from one of the rides.'
0:14:55 > 0:14:59The effigy on the side of the cab was like a dragon's head,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02carved in timber, and I have one of those left.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Now, Derek, tell me about the history of Belle Vue in Manchester.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09It was magical. If you wanted a good day out,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11then you went to Belle Vue,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14and, like Blackpool, you look out for, you know,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16the first sighting was the tower.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Well, at Belle Vue, it was the Bobs, the huge roller-coaster ride.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25But they had a slightly lesser ride called The Scenic Railway,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and that's where this came from.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Well, luckily enough, you've armed me with a photograph...
0:15:30 > 0:15:32- I have, indeed.- ..of the scenic railway,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36so basically we're talking about a ride...
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- A roller-coaster ride, yeah. - ..that took you up and down slopes.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43It was made to look like a mountain range, hence "Scenic Railway".
0:15:43 > 0:15:47And how long did the Scenic Railway ride last?
0:15:47 > 0:15:50- About 50 years.- Oh, did it? - I think it was constructed
0:15:50 > 0:15:52around the late '20s, '28, something
0:15:52 > 0:15:56like that, I think it was. It had had its day by about 1980,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58so about the 50-year mark.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00And what was your association with Belle Vue?
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Did you just love it as a kid, or did you work there or what?
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Oh, yeah, I was taken there as a child and loved it,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09- but then I got to work there. - Did you?- Along with my father.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Now, where did you get this from, Derek?
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Well, believe it or not, it was going to be burnt, so I asked
0:16:15 > 0:16:19the chap in charge if I could have it, and he said, "By all means".
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Well, that was very sharp of you, because this stuff is called
0:16:22 > 0:16:25fairground art and it is a collectible.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29'But how much would a collector pay for it? Find out later.'
0:16:34 > 0:16:37'Right in front of our pitch at the flower festival
0:16:37 > 0:16:40'is the city's historic theatre. But...'
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Before it was the theatre, it was just The Royal Exchange,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49and that's the old trading board where the cotton was traded,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and cotton is what this city was built upon.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57'Of course, in the Georgian era, Manchester was part of Lancashire,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01'And the whole county was bound up in Britain's cotton revolution.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05'At Helmshore, two original textile mills have been restored,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09'And Philip Butler is Curator of Industry and Technology.'
0:17:09 > 0:17:13The story of Lancashire cotton is one of innovation
0:17:13 > 0:17:17and entrepreneurial spirit that we'd never seen the likes of before.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22The industry went very much from a handmade cotton industry
0:17:22 > 0:17:28to a highly mechanised factory system in little over 150 years.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Weaving was innovated by the Flying Shuttle,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36developed by John Kay in 1733,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39and that, in turn, required additional yarn
0:17:39 > 0:17:45to keep pace with the weavers who'd increased their productivity three and fourfold.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51Developments in spinning came with James Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55and Richard Arkwright and the water frame in the 1760s,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and Samuel Crompton bringing these elements of these two inventions
0:17:58 > 0:18:02together in the 1770's to create the Spinning Mule.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09'Lancashire's cotton industry peaked just before the First World War.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13'Now, stand by for some staggering stats -
0:18:13 > 0:18:16'620,000 people were employed
0:18:16 > 0:18:19'in over 4,000 mills
0:18:19 > 0:18:22'and produced a stupendous 4.5 million miles
0:18:22 > 0:18:24'of woven cotton cloth a year.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26'That's mind boggling.'
0:18:26 > 0:18:29All goods were traded through Manchester,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33and what we need to remember is that the Lancashire cotton industry,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35was a global market,
0:18:35 > 0:18:40but it was catered for initially just by our county of Lancashire,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43and this obviously made Manchester very rich.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Lancashire cotton industry boasted that it could close Britain
0:18:46 > 0:18:50before breakfast and then spend the rest of the day closing the world.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56'Philip is a passionate specialist in antique textiles from the area.'
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Wow!
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Look at that!
0:19:01 > 0:19:08The absolute drama of these lovely geometric and bright colours.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10I mean, this is just, Philip,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14a revelation of what you would think would be
0:19:14 > 0:19:19brand-new, modern, contemporary designs on fabric,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21but they're not, are they?
0:19:21 > 0:19:26No, everything you see in this book dates from 1845, Autumn season,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29or, as we see here, Spring 1846.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34We have this impression that the early Victorian period was sedate.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36It was anything but.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41These very loud patterns were highly fashionable.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44We see them in fashion plates of the period.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Now, the great factor in Manchester is their inventiveness
0:19:48 > 0:19:51when it comes to textile production,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55and this material is something called a delaine, isn't it?
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Yes, delaine was the English shortening of "mousseline de laine",
0:20:01 > 0:20:05which was a luxury fabric invented in France.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09The French version is all wool, but when it came to Manchester,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12it was realised that they could make the warps in cotton
0:20:12 > 0:20:16and use wool just for the weft, where it would show more.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21And after this mechanical process perfected in Manchester,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25the price per length of material presumably came down dramatically.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Certainly these would have been cheaper than the French delaines,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31they would have competed very well in the marketplace and it would have
0:20:31 > 0:20:35opened the market to the middle classes.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37And for people to buy more dresses.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Exactly. Now, Philip, you've bought two of these volumes
0:20:41 > 0:20:43from the collection at auction in 1998.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Do you mind my asking you how much you paid?
0:20:46 > 0:20:51I offered £750 and that offer was accepted.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55So what are they worth now? Find out later.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Next, we have a fascinating collection of letters
0:21:04 > 0:21:08relating to Winston Churchill, brought along by Diane.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Now, Diane, who is Mr Murphy?
0:21:10 > 0:21:13He's my uncle, my dad's brother.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16He was his dispatch rider during the war.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- Was he?- Personal dispatch rider, yeah.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22So Winston Churchill had his own dispatch riders
0:21:22 > 0:21:26and Douglas Murphy was one of those with the top secret messages?
0:21:26 > 0:21:28- Yes. Yeah. - Well, isn't that fascinating.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Yes, he's had an interesting life.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Anyway he's clearly keen on Winston Churchill
0:21:33 > 0:21:37because these three letters all relate to correspondence
0:21:37 > 0:21:41between Dougie and Winston Churchill and his family.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Here we've got a letter dated 1970 from Winston Churchill's widow,
0:21:45 > 0:21:51Clementine Churchill. And here in '63 and '62 we have
0:21:51 > 0:21:54letters from the private secretary, and the interesting thing
0:21:54 > 0:21:59is that those three letters are, of course, absolutely genuine.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05And if you use the magnifying glass and look at the form of the ink,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07you can see that it's real ink
0:22:07 > 0:22:10written in a script onto the paper.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14And one of the giveaways between a genuine autograph letter
0:22:14 > 0:22:18and something that's a facsimile is the fact that the letter is
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- written and addressed to the addressee.- Right.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25These two letters have a facsimile signature system,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28so sadly they're not the real thing.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Right.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34If they'd been real, they'd be worth a few hundred pounds. £800 - £1,200,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39- £1,000 - £1,500 but as facsimiles maybe £20 or £30 each.- Yeah.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43But I have to say, I rather like these letters, which are genuine.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48I would estimate at auction the two letters from the secretaries
0:22:48 > 0:22:50- could be worth between £50 and £80 each.- Yeah.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53And I think the letter from Clementine could
0:22:53 > 0:22:58make as much as £100 to £150 - were you to want to sell them.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Probably won't, I don't think. Keep them in the family probably but...
0:23:02 > 0:23:06- Exactly right, and that's a lovely thing to be able to pass on, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Pilkington's Pottery was produced locally between the 1890s
0:23:16 > 0:23:17and the 1950s.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22Today, it's a popular local collectible and Harper is a fan.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27There's a large variety in the type of pots that Pilkington's made.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30The range of works was so great that I'm still finding new pots
0:23:30 > 0:23:32that I never knew existed.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Well, of course, it is a most interesting factory,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39in the history of Manchester,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43and, of course, the high quality of these things is amazing, isn't it?
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Yes, I mean, it combines both chemistry of the era, getting
0:23:47 > 0:23:52these spectacular glazes, together with fine art by artists,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57who designed the shapes, designs, colours, everything else.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00- Yes. - So it's a marriage of the two.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Now, sometimes these are called bubble glaze,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07and you've got, basically, a clay pot and you're covering
0:24:07 > 0:24:13it in a glaze that you're firing in a kiln with a reduction process
0:24:13 > 0:24:16so that you can get the temperature up and then get the temperature
0:24:16 > 0:24:20down, and the changes in temperature does something to the glaze,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24which gives it this very special iridescent quality.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26I think it is absolutely gorgeous.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30I love that kind of completely haphazard splodginess of it,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34and the fact that it is an experimental glaze. Once they got
0:24:34 > 0:24:37the mixture right and they'd seen it on a pot like this then they'd try
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and replicate it on later pots and you'd then maybe produce a range.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Yeah.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45During the same period, they're producing wares like this
0:24:45 > 0:24:49which are modelled specifically in relief, in this case,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53with dragons and when it comes to an impressed mark
0:24:53 > 0:24:55they don't come any crisper than that one, do they?
0:24:55 > 0:24:58- It's about the best I've ever seen. - Exactly.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03And the most desirable, for a lot of collectors, is the lustreware
0:25:03 > 0:25:07- where you get this iridescent surface, isn't it?- Yes.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13And in this instance we've got a vase that's covered in a trellis,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17and the trellis is in one colour of lustre that sits on top
0:25:17 > 0:25:20of another lustrous colour, the pale blue underneath.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24What is truly gorgeous, and you don't twig it, really,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27until you actually handle the thing,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31this is almost like a hare's foot glaze on a piece of
0:25:31 > 0:25:36Chinese porcelain where you get this very fine streaking on it, and then,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39because of the iridescent nature of it all, the light is refracted
0:25:39 > 0:25:40in a different way.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43It's an incredibly chic and subtle colour scheme, isn't it?
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Yes, I mean, one little twitch of the brush
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- and it would have been ruined. - Exactly.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52And it just goes to show the range of wares made by this
0:25:52 > 0:25:54extraordinary Manchester factory.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58None of our owners want to sell,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01but what if they did want to cash in their treasures?
0:26:01 > 0:26:03First, the Pilkington pottery.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08When it comes to values, I guess that the big dragon vase might be
0:26:08 > 0:26:12worth as much as maybe £500 to £800, something like that.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16My big tip is for experimental glazes because these little
0:26:16 > 0:26:20pots don't make a tremendous amount of money at auction.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23You can buy an experimental glaze for £150 to £200,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and they have to go up in value.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30These chaps, maybe between £450 and £600.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Get one that's got fish on it,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34bit of seaweed and a few fish drifting around
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and even a little pot like that will make £600 to £900.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Derek's piece of Belle Vue fairground art is valuable
0:26:42 > 0:26:45salvage, rescued from a bonfire.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48I reckon that this, with its connections,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51particularly for Manchester and Belle Vue,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53could bring as much as £400 to £600.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56- Really?- Yeah.- Well, that's superb.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58- It's good, isn't it? - That's very good.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- Particularly as you got it for nowt! - Well, yeah, that does help.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05I reckon Philip's marvellous Manchester textiles catalogues
0:27:05 > 0:27:08have doubled in value since he bought them,
0:27:08 > 0:27:13so in a specialist sale, they might reach £1,500 to £1,800.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Finally, the extraordinary star atlas.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21We asked Robert Hall for his expert opinion.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Now, Robert, I know you're familiar with this book,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28could you hazard an estimate?
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Well, the last one we had made about £25,000 then but that was
0:27:32 > 0:27:35a good eight years ago or more, so I think now...
0:27:35 > 0:27:39and particularly because this one would be a very exciting copy
0:27:39 > 0:27:41to come on the market, I should think
0:27:41 > 0:27:44we'd be comfortably looking at about £30,000 or more or even
0:27:44 > 0:27:4925 to 35. I think certainly somewhere in that ballpark.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Well, that's extremely kind of you and thank you very much.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54I'm feeling rather starry-eyed myself.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56That's interesting, isn't it?
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Absolutely fantastic, but we're not going to sell it. It belongs
0:27:59 > 0:28:03to Manchester Astronomical Society and to the people of Manchester.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Thank you very much, though, for bringing it along
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and educating us some.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24What a great range of objects we've seen today here in Manchester,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28and in such beautiful floral and fragrant surroundings,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31you could say blooming marvellous.