0:00:02 > 0:00:05'Britain is stuffed with places famous for their antiques
0:00:05 > 0:00:08'and each object has a story to tell.'
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Hello!
0:00:10 > 0:00:12'I'm Tim Wonnacott,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15'and as the crowds gather for their favourite outdoor events
0:00:15 > 0:00:16'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.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30'Their stories will reveal why the places we visit deserve to be
0:00:30 > 0:00:33on the Great Antiques Map of Britain.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35'Today, we're in historic Cambridge,
0:00:35 > 0:00:37'at the Town And Country Fair.'
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'Lots of eager owners have come along
0:00:47 > 0:00:49'to show us their intriguing items.'
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Would you call it an obsession?
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Er, yes, I think it is.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56'Which represent this area's unique antiques heritage.'
0:00:56 > 0:00:59The maker, Thomas Wilson, Cambridge.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Oh, it's Thomas, is it? I wondered what the T was for.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03'Also, of course, they want to find out
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'what their precious objects are worth.'
0:01:05 > 0:01:06£60-£100.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08£600-£800.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11£3,500 and £5,000.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14'And here's today's mystery object.'
0:01:14 > 0:01:16That, to me, looks just like a boat.
0:01:20 > 0:01:21Hello!
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Cor, look at all these bicycles.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Have you ever seen so many bikes?
0:01:29 > 0:01:30It's unbelievable.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36They say that this city is dominated by the university.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Well, they're absolutely right.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Do you know there are over 15,000 students here?
0:01:44 > 0:01:47And not one of them is doing any work.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48'Only joking!
0:01:48 > 0:01:52'The university was founded in 1209
0:01:52 > 0:01:56'and has become world-famous for the high standards it achieves.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59'For a start, no fewer than 90 of its affiliates
0:01:59 > 0:02:02'have been Nobel Prize winners...so far!
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'The city sits on the banks of the River Cam,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09'with rich agricultural fenland fringing it to the north
0:02:09 > 0:02:12'and London just 50 miles to the south.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16'In this hi-tech age, it has become known as Silicon Fen,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19'thanks to a boom in software, electronics
0:02:19 > 0:02:21'and biotechnology companies.'
0:02:25 > 0:02:27'I've parked up on Parker's Piece,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29'a 25-acre common in the centre of the city,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33'the venue for the annual Town And Country Fair.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39'No time to lose.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44'First off, meet Stafford, who's got a thing about clocks.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46I got into collecting clocks through my brother
0:02:46 > 0:02:49who was in the business and had his own business.
0:02:49 > 0:02:55And...erm, I used to watch him repair them and I got fascinated by them.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00What's nice about the clock is that it is of a type.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02It's called a skeleton clock
0:03:02 > 0:03:06and that's the term for revealing all the works.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11And, this one, I would describe as being gothic,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13with these pointed finials at the top.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17So, it's got a kind of decorative nature to it.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22The maker, Thomas Wilson, Cambridge, is inscribed on the chapter ring.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Oh, it's Thomas, is it? I wondered what the T was for.
0:03:24 > 0:03:25Yeah, T for Thomas,
0:03:25 > 0:03:31and he was a clockmaker in Cambridge between 1830 and 1858.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And I bet it looks jolly handsome on your mantelpiece, doesn't it?
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Yes, indeed.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38If you were to ever want to sell it,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Cambridge is the place to sell it,
0:03:40 > 0:03:45and the same applies, really, with this dial timepiece,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49because this is the type of timekeeper that was made
0:03:49 > 0:03:54to go in all sorts of commercial locations across Britain.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58This is a very late-19th or early-20th-century example.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01What can you tell me about Laurie & McConnal?
0:04:01 > 0:04:06It's a department store that was in Fitzroy Street, Cambridge.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12- At its time, it was a top...- Was it? - ..departmental store, yes.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Well, how interesting, because Laurie & McConnal
0:04:14 > 0:04:19would have had these timepieces around the department store
0:04:19 > 0:04:21to indicate when it was time to go home
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and throw the customers out, actually.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26It's another example of something
0:04:26 > 0:04:29that will make far more in this locality,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32and, even in Cambridge, I think you wouldn't be likely
0:04:32 > 0:04:34to get more than about £150-£250 for it.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37- Oh, more than I thought. - That sort of amount.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42The skeleton timepiece is more interesting, really.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45'But you'll find out how interesting value-wise a bit later on.'
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Now a quirky collectable that was made in Cambridge,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and it's owned by Malcolm.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I was out for a ride in the car out in Suffolk,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01and I saw a car-boot sale,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03so I thought I'd just pop in and have a look
0:05:03 > 0:05:07and I went in and I saw this Pye radio underneath the table.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10I can remember as a child,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13I don't know whether you can, my parents warming up the set.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18- I do indeed.- And you'd have to go to the radiogram, turn it on
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and wait at least three or four minutes
0:05:20 > 0:05:22for the valves to do the business
0:05:22 > 0:05:25and then, by a miracle, you'd get some sort of signal and off to go.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Now, tell me, this Pye mains radio,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32you bought it because it took you back in time
0:05:32 > 0:05:35to a period when you actually worked for Pye in Cambridge.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37I did, I've worked for three Pye factories in Cambridge
0:05:37 > 0:05:41and I just wanted something to remind me of those days,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- and so, I've got very fond memories of working for Pye.- Yes, exactly.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49Well Pyes date, correct me if I'm wrong, 1896 to 2003,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52- so, over a century of manufacturing.- Yes.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56- Essentially, headquartered here in Cambridgeshire.- Yes, yes.
0:05:56 > 0:05:57And at their peak,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- they employed the top end of 14,000 people.- They did indeed.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02- And you were one of them?- I was.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- So, as far as this particular set is concerned...- Yeah.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07- ..it's a valve set.- Yes.
0:06:07 > 0:06:13- It's contained in a walnut veneered plywood case.- Yes.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18- Now, this discolouration on here is by heat.- Yes.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21- So, at some time, this has got pretty hot, hasn't it?- Yes, yes.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- Is that in your time or...?- It was discoloured before I got it.- Yeah.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I would say that this damage to the case
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- does knock it in terms of its value.- Yes.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31So, if you ever had a friend in
0:06:31 > 0:06:35a cabinet-making, French-polishing line of business
0:06:35 > 0:06:37it would be a good idea to get that sorted out,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- top and bottom really.- Yes.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44And if it was sorted and the case is in pretty spanking order,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I can see this mains radio set,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50probably made here in Cambridge in 1953,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54- making the top end of £60-£100... - Goodness me.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55- ..in brilliant condition.- Yes.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58- But you've got to get it into brilliant condition first.- Yes, yes.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07'Cambridge University is made up of 31 autonomous colleges
0:07:07 > 0:07:10'where many a fine brain has been educated.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13'Adjacent to all that is Cambridge School of Art
0:07:13 > 0:07:15'with its own illustrious son,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19'the celebrated cartoonist Ronald Searle
0:07:19 > 0:07:21'whose work is now highly-collectable.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25'You may know him from his hilarious St Trinian's cartoons
0:07:25 > 0:07:29'which inspired a series of films.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32'The college has amassed a fascinating archive
0:07:32 > 0:07:33'and I went to have a look
0:07:33 > 0:07:37'with professor of illustration Martin Salisbury.'
0:07:37 > 0:07:40So, Searle was here in 1938, 1939.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Was he a good student?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Erm, well, not according to his marks.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48He seems to have just about scraped through,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50failed some of them, passed others
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and just about managed it. I should say, at that time,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55the approach to drawing was a very formal, traditional,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57academic form of drawing,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00so, perhaps he was already a little bit too interested in the caricature.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06Well then, could be. So, he finished here at Cambridge in 1939
0:08:06 > 0:08:08and he joined up, is that right?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10He had joined the Territorials
0:08:10 > 0:08:12and then, a year into his studies,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15he was called up properly, the Royal Engineers.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18And that was not a happy experience for Searle, was it?
0:08:18 > 0:08:19Not a happy experience at all.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23He set off on the troopship without knowing where they were going
0:08:23 > 0:08:25and we're getting into 1942
0:08:25 > 0:08:29and they were told on the journey that they were heading for Singapore.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- They arrived on the very day that it fell to the Japanese.- Oh, no.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38So, he spent the rest of the war in Changi jail,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41where he spent most of his time drawing.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45He lost most of his comrades and friends to cholera and malaria,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49and he himself suffered from cholera many, many times,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53- but somehow survived.- Yeah, must have been a tough buzzard,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56but out of those wartime experiences,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58how many drawings survived?
0:08:58 > 0:08:59I think there was well over 300.
0:08:59 > 0:09:05They were drawn on scraps of paper, toilet paper, anything he could cadge
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and we have the book here, which is now very rare.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10But, not only that, we have the blocks,
0:09:10 > 0:09:12the original letterpress line blocks
0:09:12 > 0:09:14- that were used to print it.- Right.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18So, if we take this extremely gruesome image,
0:09:18 > 0:09:23you can see the pain and agony in that person's face, can't you?
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Absolutely, he wanted the world to know.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28I mean, this was his motivation for drawing.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33He felt that there was no other way that this story would get back
0:09:33 > 0:09:34to the wider public.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'Searle was very much a line man,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41'using fountain or dip pens.'
0:09:43 > 0:09:45These are the actual nibs he used, are they?
0:09:45 > 0:09:50They are. He was very fastidious and almost obsessive about it,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53so has written the name of each nib and its properties
0:09:53 > 0:09:55and here you'll see in his sketchbook, he's trying them out
0:09:55 > 0:09:58with little calligraphic swirls and drawings,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00just to see the property of each nib.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04So, did Searle maintain his connections with Cambridge
0:10:04 > 0:10:07- to the end?- Very much so. I mean, towards the end of his life,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10he set up an award for students via him,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12the Ronald Searle Award for Creativity,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16and he gave us some of these bits and bobs for the collection
0:10:16 > 0:10:18- to be back in Cambridge. - Well, isn't that marvellous.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22All in your archive and beautifully preserved here, I have to say.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33'Ronald Searle gave his friend Rachel one of his pictures.'
0:10:33 > 0:10:35And how lovely is this?
0:10:35 > 0:10:36Rachel, so kind of you
0:10:36 > 0:10:40to bring an original Searle work of art with you.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42- Pleasure.- Tell me about it.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Well, it's Grand Central Station in New York.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48It has lots of the elements that are actually there.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51I guess that's the ticket office and the clock and the tower,
0:10:51 > 0:10:56but the main focus is the commuters, who are desperate to get home.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58- So, it's the mania of commuting... - Exactly.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01..that Ronald Searle has captured here.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05- Pastiche of the building.- Right. - Elements that a New Yorker
0:11:05 > 0:11:08- or anybody who's been through the station would recognise.- Right.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13- But re-arranged in the way that Searle could only do.- Exactly.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17But what I love is the ant-like quality of these people,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20- except ants are disciplined in their commute...- Yes.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23..this lot are out to kill, aren't they?
0:11:23 > 0:11:25- I mean, the bared teeth.- Yes.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Flying attache cases,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32the anger, trampling people to the ground.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34- And the sort of mad staring eyes.- Exactly.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38But, so, he's absolutely captured that.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41And we've been lucky enough
0:11:41 > 0:11:44to look at Searle's collection of nibs
0:11:44 > 0:11:49and when you look at the density of the drawing within this work,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53you can quite appreciate how you do need that number of nibs
0:11:53 > 0:11:56- and varieties of ink to create these effects.- Absolutely, yeah.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59'So, what would you have to pay
0:11:59 > 0:12:03'for a highly-collectable original Searle like this?
0:12:03 > 0:12:05'Have a guess and you'll find out later.'
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Now, if you go digging around in any town,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15you would probably unearth some kind of quirky relic.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Cambridge has proved a veritable treasure trove.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24In 1852, a hoard of Tudor goodies was discovered by workmen
0:12:24 > 0:12:26in rooms at Corpus Christi College.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28The cache is now in the city's
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and curator Dr Jody Joy knows all about it.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38So, what exactly was in it then in toto?
0:12:38 > 0:12:41So, we had a white leather glove, as well as a comb,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45and a large collection of footwear and these two wonderful plaques.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And it was reported to the local Cambridge Antiquarian Society
0:12:48 > 0:12:49in their volume there.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51So, that's how we know all the details about it.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Weren't they marvellous, though?
0:12:53 > 0:12:55The fact that they'd make the report,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57produce a copperplate engraving,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59include it in a finely-bound volume
0:12:59 > 0:13:02and, you know, this is all quite serious stuff
0:13:02 > 0:13:04- for these historians isn't it? - Exactly.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07So, oddball group then, really.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10It is a strange group and to be found under the floorboards.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12In the Elizabethan time,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15you wouldn't expect to be leaving valuable items like this behind,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17so you wonder how on earth they got there.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Yeah, exactly. Now, these shoes are fun, aren't they?
0:13:19 > 0:13:22There's something quite modern about them.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Yeah, they almost look like modern-day sandals in a sense.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27They have got this beautiful slashed decoration
0:13:27 > 0:13:29which is very characteristic of the Elizabethan period.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32They would've been to show off the stockings underneath
0:13:32 > 0:13:34which might've been brightly-coloured.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Almost a sort of ballet dancing pump-type shape, aren't they?
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Funny you should say that, pump is the correct term
0:13:38 > 0:13:40to describe these objects.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43- They're tight-fitting leather garments worn around the foot.- Yes.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46However, these look a bit more utility, don't they?
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I think so, I think in a muddy Elizabethan street,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51this would be just the job, raised above the muddy surface.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53And they have a higher heel.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55The Elizabethans actually invented the heel,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57so, we have them to thank for the high heels today.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00This is rather a suspicious-looking object here.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02It's a purse made of white leather
0:14:02 > 0:14:05and, obviously, the drawstring would have been in there.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Now, white leather was used for some shoes
0:14:07 > 0:14:09for, kind of, aristocratic people,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11so white actually does have some affinities
0:14:11 > 0:14:14- with sort of higher-class people. - Yes, exactly.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15And for me, I have to say,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18these Romaine masks in the roundels
0:14:18 > 0:14:20are absolutely fantastic, aren't they?
0:14:20 > 0:14:24They are beautiful. Obviously, carved in the relief.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27You've got the wonderful headdresses of the man and the woman,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29maybe some kind of military regalia,
0:14:29 > 0:14:33but not necessarily what people would have been wearing everyday.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36- Maybe something more stylised looking back into the past.- Yes, exactly.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38So, Jody, why do you think that these things
0:14:38 > 0:14:40might have been squirreled away?
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It's really difficult to know.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46I can imagine a situation where someone stores away their precious
0:14:46 > 0:14:49items for safekeeping under the floorboards and, for whatever reason,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51they don't ever return back to collect them.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54What's interesting, though, is that Corpus Christi College was founded
0:14:54 > 0:14:56to train priests
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and these items here, some of them are actually quite fancy
0:14:59 > 0:15:01and I know at the time,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04there were particular people with certain religious beliefs
0:15:04 > 0:15:07who thought that Elizabeth... Elizabethan fashion was scandalous.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12So, all that sort of pomp and grandeur might, in a puritan mind,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15be seen as something completely offensive.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Exactly and, I mean, this is pure speculation,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21- but could that be a reason for hiding the material away?- Exactly.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22There's a thought for you.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28'You learn such a lot about a place through its buried treasure.'
0:15:28 > 0:15:29'Back at the fair,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33'Mark is something of an expert on the Cambridge bottles
0:15:33 > 0:15:35'he's, quite literally, dug up.'
0:15:35 > 0:15:37My wife is quite understanding about them,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41but she does now and again remind me that I've got rather a lot
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and I can't keep collecting them, because we're running out of space.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48HE LAUGHS
0:15:48 > 0:15:49Oh, dear, which we are, yes.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52How many bottles have you got in your collection?
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Roughly between 500 and 1,000.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56- Have you really?- Yes.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- That is quite a rough approximation, isn't it?- Yes.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02So, can you remember the first bottle you ever dug up?
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Yes, it's this little F Hills bullet stopper
0:16:05 > 0:16:07which I found in a ditch in Cambridge.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Found that and I was very thrilled to get it
0:16:10 > 0:16:11and that's what started me off.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13And how old where you?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I was 'round about 11-12 years old.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Just the moment then to get a boy enthused about something.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- That's it, yes, indeed, yeah.- And I suppose, as a kid, you liked the
0:16:22 > 0:16:24- idea that you just dug it up and it's free...- Yes.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27- ..which appeals a lot to a child, doesn't it?- Appeals a lot.
0:16:27 > 0:16:28Yes, that's right.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Well one of the oddest-looking bottles, I always think,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34are these things that look like torpedoes.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36- You can't stand the thing up, can you?- No.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40But this was a deliberate idea, so that the thing would lie down.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Before that, most of the bottles stood upright.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47The corks, then, would shrink in the bottle
0:16:47 > 0:16:51- and that would let out the gas and the drink inside would go flat.- Yes.
0:16:51 > 0:16:52So, this guy, William Hamilton,
0:16:52 > 0:16:57came up with this idea of laying the bottle on its side
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and then the cork would be in contact with the liquid all the time,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02- thus, swelled in the neck... - And it wouldn't shrink.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03No, it wouldn't shrink.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06And he came up with his invention very early in the 19th century
0:17:06 > 0:17:10and then they went on using this shape of bottle
0:17:10 > 0:17:12right until the end of the century.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14But there've been some cunning inventions, haven't there?
0:17:14 > 0:17:16And you've got three examples here of something
0:17:16 > 0:17:19that are called Codd bottles.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Tell us about the history of those.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Well, the guy who invented them was a guy called Hiram Codd.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29He was actually born in Bury St Edmunds 'round about 1838,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32He come up with the idea of just inventing a new bottle
0:17:32 > 0:17:37- with a marble in, as...could be used as a stopper.- Exactly.- Yeah.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40So, his patent took the neck of a bottle like that
0:17:40 > 0:17:46and it pinched it, so that you get a corridor that runs through the neck
0:17:46 > 0:17:50and then, very cleverly, where the aperture is at the top,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- a bit of rubber was introduced as the seal.- Yeah.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56So, you fill the thing with carbonated water,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58- which is fizzy and whatnot.- Yeah.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00You then invert the bottle
0:18:00 > 0:18:03and the marble runs down that corridor
0:18:03 > 0:18:04and gets jammed at the bottom.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And give it a shake, slight shake
0:18:07 > 0:18:09and that increases the pressure in the bottle.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11When you turn it upright like that,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14the marble stays jammed against the rubber ring.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Ram that into the bottom of the Codd
0:18:17 > 0:18:19and you open up the bottle and can have a swig.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23There is a substantial value to some of these bottles, as you well know.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24'Load of old codswallop?
0:18:24 > 0:18:28'Well, you may be surprised at how substantial those values can be.'
0:18:34 > 0:18:36'I'm having a whale of a time.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38'Chatting away to the locals at the fair...'
0:18:38 > 0:18:39How do you do?
0:18:39 > 0:18:41'..and looking at as many of their treasures as I can.'
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- Well, this is a rather fun-looking little pot.- Thank you.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Hello, you. It's a formidable work.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50'Stan is a local antiques dealer
0:18:50 > 0:18:52'and he's brought along an intriguing find.'
0:18:52 > 0:18:56I purchased this punt gun at a local car-boot sale
0:18:56 > 0:18:58early on a Sunday morning
0:18:58 > 0:19:00and several people had walked by it,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04cos a lot of people thought it was a washing line pole.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07So, on closer inspection, it turned out to be a punt gun.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13One of the marvellous things about Fenland, generally,
0:19:13 > 0:19:20is that, historically, this place has been a haven for wild fowlers,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and they do it in punts,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24and the punt has mounted on it,
0:19:24 > 0:19:29usually, the most enormous cannon-like bit of armament,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33a punt gun, which looks remarkably like this thing.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37But I have to tell you that I have a slight suspicion about this.
0:19:37 > 0:19:43Most punt guns have a system of ignition down at this end,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47which is usually flintlock or, sometimes, they're wheel lock.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Now, this one simply has a shallow pan here,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54into which you'd prime it with some gunpowder,
0:19:54 > 0:20:01and there is a breed of this very long, large, bore piece of armament
0:20:01 > 0:20:03that's called an Indian war gun,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07which are designed to go through the slit in a wall
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and they're very crudely made,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11hence, in iron, like this one.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And the sighting arrangements are crude.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16You have a simple little hole like that
0:20:16 > 0:20:19that you line up with a nail down at this end,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23so that when the invader is coming into your fort,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26couple of hundred of you chaps armed with these
0:20:26 > 0:20:29would cause a considerable amount of damage
0:20:29 > 0:20:31out there in the field of fire.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34So, I bet you a quid, Stan the man,
0:20:34 > 0:20:40that this thing started off life in India defending an Indian fort.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43- OK.- And what are you going to sell it on for, Stan?
0:20:43 > 0:20:47I'd like to say £400, something in that region.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Yeah, why not. Whether it's a punt gun or whether it's a wall gun,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52I think it's a jolly interesting object.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01No-one can dispute Cambridge's academic pedigree,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06but it also has a considerable sporting history.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Where I'm standing is a piece of ground called Parker's Piece
0:21:09 > 0:21:14and it was here that the rules of Association Football were born.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17'And there's more.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22'The nearby Fens have been integral to another winter sport,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24'fen skating.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27'And all sorts of fun and competitions used to take place
0:21:27 > 0:21:29'when there was enough ice.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34'Fen skating paraphernalia has been collected by The Norris Museum,
0:21:34 > 0:21:35'where Richard Carter is an expert.'
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Well, we're not 100% certain how fen skating started.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43It was probably a product of environment and necessity.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Out here in the Fens, you get an awful lot of water.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47When winter came and it froze solid,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50boats and other things were totally useless,
0:21:50 > 0:21:51so they had to find another way
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and that's probably how skating started.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58French and Dutch people first came to the Fens to help drain it.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04They had great experience in turning their low-lying waterlogged land
0:22:04 > 0:22:05into good farmland.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Various types of skating were developed
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and that led to skating for pleasure,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17but then that led on then to speed skating or racing,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20and then long-distance skating and then team sports.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23'Racers would bomb along at top speed,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27'whilst others were rather more sedate.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30'Look at that, a skating policeman from 1955.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34'And you'd be amazed by the variety of skates from days gone by.'
0:22:34 > 0:22:39This one just here is a bone skate from the Middle Ages.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43The point about bone skates is you tend to glide across the ice,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45the skate doesn't cut into the ice.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49The skate just here is a skate that's imported from Holland
0:22:49 > 0:22:51and is from the 18th century.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55And the big innovation here was the use of metal or steel
0:22:55 > 0:22:57in the skate runner, which meant you cut through the ice
0:22:57 > 0:22:59and you could go a lot faster
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and you can see a very fancy curve on there.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05This particular skate is a speed skate.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09The Fenmen found that the longer your skate, the faster you could go.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14And then the top skate here is a skate for distance skating.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17There are no screws to hold it onto your boot,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21the straps were designed to be released quickly
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and then put back on quickly.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25'But it's becoming a bit of a distant memory,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28'because, latterly, we just haven't had cold enough winters
0:23:28 > 0:23:31'for Cambridgeshire folk to take to the ice,
0:23:31 > 0:23:32'and that includes Peter,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36'who has inherited a pair of Victorian fen skates.'
0:23:36 > 0:23:41My grandmother gave them to me many years ago,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45and I think I was the only sort of young male in the family at the time,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48so she thought I might have more use of them than she did.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52That to me looks just like a boat.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54- You've got a prow to the thing... - Yeah.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56..a keel, which is made of steel,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00and then the superstructure of the boat is beautiful crafted
0:24:00 > 0:24:01in stained beech,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03and beech is a great timber
0:24:03 > 0:24:06cos it's very strong, it's very close-grained,
0:24:06 > 0:24:10it's very light, it's very easily carved and so-forth.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15And the skate maker will have created this thing
0:24:15 > 0:24:19especially to take a screw-on heel and sole,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and I've never seen these little pins before,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25which finally locate your shoe on the skate.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27And then, you've got the leather straps
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- which feed through to tie you down, so to speak.- Yeah.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35These were made by Marsden Brothers, makers in Sheffield.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Specialist steelmakers, cos you'd want to sharpen up the edge of these
0:24:39 > 0:24:42so that they'd scoot along pretty well.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46And I can reliably date them to before 1895,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50cos, in 1895, the Marsden firm was taken over,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53so they were no longer Marsden. So, they're definitely pre-1895.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55- They've got Portland Works on them, haven't they?- Yes.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Which, I think, opened in 1877 so...
0:24:58 > 0:25:03Well, that would crack...crack the dating period.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06But they're very nice sculptural objects
0:25:06 > 0:25:09- and a memento of your family, really.- Yeah.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11- Not worth a great deal of money.- No.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13I think they'd scoot off, if you were to sell them at auction,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17for about 40 or 60, maybe £50-80 for the pair.
0:25:17 > 0:25:18- Thank you very much, Peter. - Thank you.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25'All the fun of the fair is capturing the attention
0:25:25 > 0:25:27'of the young ones around here.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30'My eye has been caught by this gorgeous painting
0:25:30 > 0:25:33'brought along for valuation by Elsa.'
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I first saw the painting in a gallery in Southwold,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39and at the time, I had children of a very similar age,
0:25:39 > 0:25:42who one of them had just taken her first steps.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44I just mentioned it to my husband
0:25:44 > 0:25:46that I'd seen this just lovely, lovely picture
0:25:46 > 0:25:49and, six months later, it was my birthday
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and he bought it for me as a surprise.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Well, this artist is a Dutchman, Bernard de Hoog,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59and there have been, across the centuries,
0:25:59 > 0:26:03quite a few artist families sharing that name,
0:26:03 > 0:26:09but the Bernard bit indicates that he was born around 1867,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and he moved to a village
0:26:12 > 0:26:16where there were lots of traditional interiors to cottages.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And for a few years,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21he painted a lot of what are called genre interiors
0:26:21 > 0:26:23and this is exactly what this is.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27So, this is a very ordinary Dutch household,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32but celebrating that wonderful flush of family life.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35And what I like about him is that
0:26:35 > 0:26:37the treatment of light is very nice, isn't it?
0:26:37 > 0:26:40You can see the net curtains, they're all illuminated.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43It's summertime, there are summer flowers in the jug.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46The light hits the cap that this little child is wearing
0:26:46 > 0:26:47and illuminates that,
0:26:47 > 0:26:52- and then the face of the little toddler, the first step.- Yeah...
0:26:52 > 0:26:55- Like the first step your daughter... - Yes.- ..was taking that year,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58when your husband bought you this painting, which is marvellous.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- And you have it hanging in your Cambridgeshire home?- We do, yes.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04And every time you go past it, it takes you back to a special moment.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08It does it makes me smile. I mean...it's...it's just beautiful.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10'And the value of such a cracking painting?'
0:27:10 > 0:27:17- My valuation would be between, I suppose, £3,500 and £5,000.- Wow.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19'Some of Mark's bottles may surprise you.'
0:27:19 > 0:27:23That bottle can be worth the top end of £120.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27That one could be worth the top end of £600-£800,
0:27:27 > 0:27:32and a mid-teal Codd bottle can be worth £800-£1,200.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37'That makes Mark's entire collection pretty valuable.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40'So, does that inspire YOU to do a bit of digging?
0:27:40 > 0:27:42'What about Stafford's skeleton clock then?'
0:27:42 > 0:27:45400-600, locally.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46Really? As much as that?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49And finally, Cambridge-born-and-bred Ronald Searle,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and Rachel's marvellous Grand Central Station cartoon.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57We video-called specialist dealer Chris Beetles for his opinion.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59He was the most influential
0:27:59 > 0:28:04and, certainly, the most famous illustrator/cartoonist in the world.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09That would be in the gallery between £4,500 and £5,500.
0:28:09 > 0:28:10Thank you so much.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Well, what a busy day, hey?
0:28:15 > 0:28:20I've certainly learned something in this hallowed seat of learning.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23With this mad bevy of objects,
0:28:23 > 0:28:28how could Cambridge not be on the Great Antiques Map of Britain?
0:28:28 > 0:28:29Cheerio.