Hungerford 26 Bargain Hunt

Ah! It's that time of the day again, viewers.

Are you ready for another dose of antiques action?

Then let's go bargain hunting!

'Our venue for today's one-hour shopathon is Hungerford in Berkshire

'and what a place to hunt for bargains!'

This looks pretty innocent, doesn't it?

But this £300 can cause our teams an enormous amount of trouble

deciding which three items to buy.

Let's have a look at what's coming up.

'We've got two couples scouring the antiques centres for their prize buys.

'Over at the auction, Christopher Ironmonger in racing through the sales.

'All this and I get to visit Snowshill Manor in the stunning Gloucestershire countryside.

'So, let's get to know the teams a little better.'

-For the Red Team we have partners Karen and Mike. Morning.

-Good morning.

-Very nice to see you.

How did you two meet, Mike?

-We were at school together.

-Really?

-We were. We met at school.

-Did you meet behind the bicycle sheds?

-Only after youth club.

-THEY LAUGH

Early love. How lovely. What sort of hobbies do you have?

I used to be a footballer. I used to love football.

I like, now, going into the country, walking.

-You go to auctions quite a lot?

-Oh, yes. There's an auction in our village once a month.

-And have you ever found anything any good?

-There was one day we went there

and they had this lovely dining table, six chairs, two carvers,

inlay, everything, and it was the last thing of the day

and it went for £25 and I sold it for £300.

-Did you? Is that what you're going to do on Bargain Hunt today?

-Hopefully.

-We'll try.

-That'd be lovely, wouldn't it?

-Karen, how did you become interested in antiques?

-I used to work for a removal company

and we were sent in, the women,

to pack priceless antiques and so forth.

And, basically, it started from there.

What sort of antique floats your boat?

-Well, Clarice Cliff.

-Oh, right.

-I love Clarice Cliff.

But some pieces are very expensive.

So your old man's going to be going for dining suites for £25 to turn into £300

-and you're going to go for Clarice Cliff today?

-If I can find some.

We hear this brave talk quite often on Bargain Hunt at the beginning of the show. Very good luck.

And for the Blues, we've got married couple Carol and Brian. Welcome.

Very nice to see you. Brian, you've been married for 50-odd years?

-40 years. 44 years.

-40 years, 44 years.

-44.

Let's get it right.

-And still counting.

-And still happily enjoying it.

That's lovely. What's the recipe, do you think, for your long and happy and successful marriage?

Have a good fight every now and then. Clear the air.

-Is that it? Lance the boil.

-That's it.

-Brian, you've been in Britain for a long time, but you're not originally from here.

-I'm from South Africa.

-What dragged you over?

-Well, all sorts of things.

One of the things was the apartheid system, which I hated.

One of the things was I needed to get a degree and my maths was lousy

-and in South Africa, you had to have maths to get into a university.

-Right.

So I came here and went to Kings, studied theology.

Carol, this is a multilingual team that we've got today

-cos you speak umpteen languages, don't you?

-Well, ish.

What do you mean ish? How many languages do you speak and which ones?

-I was brought up bilingually, Welsh and English.

-And what else?

Well, I went to school and learned French and it seemed quite easy.

I went to university to do French, but I took up Spanish and so I've been teaching French and Spanish.

-And you went on and you have taught throughout your career?

-Yes.

That's all I've done, really, teaching.

And now I teach little bits, a bit of coaching,

a bit for people who want to learn languages.

-Even friends, a glass of wine, a bit of Spanish.

-Yes. Give them a leg up.

-Yes.

-Before they head off to Andalucia.

-Exactly.

-Brilliant.

OK, now the money moment. £300 apiece. Here we go, £300.

There's your £300. £300. You know the rules. Your experts await.

And off you go! And very, very, very good luck.

Gosh! We're going to have fun today!

'Leading the teams we have two experienced experts.

'For the Reds, Colin Young imparts his words of wisdom.'

I think you don't need to look so serious. It's not that painful.

'Whilst James Lewis hands out advice to the Blues.'

That is actually not as old as it looks.

'Time is money, teams, and the clock is running.'

-See what they've got for us.

-This one?

-Too modern.

Not what you like, what's going to make you a profit.

-Is this something that either of you like?

-I don't like it.

-Old fashioned.

It's good workmanship. I'm not sure if I like it that much, James.

-I don't like it.

-You don't like it?

-No. Do you?

-No, I don't.

-Don't like it at all.

'They certainly know what they don't like!

'And James isn't keen on some of the prices, either.'

How much? £235? That's insane!

-See what Karen thinks to that.

-HE LAUGHS

-How you doing?

-I found something, I think.

-Ah!

'Value for money is proving hard to find.

'But has Mike taken it too far?'

Yeah. I mean, really, it's sort of brand new.

You're just not going to get any money out of those at all.

'Best to avoid modern tat, then.

'Are the Blues having better luck?'

Everything there is about £1,000 more than our entire budget.

I reckon we're out of our depth here.

'That would be a no, then.'

It's comedy, this is. Common.

'The Reds are first to find something worth writing home about.'

-There's something on there. Ask Colin what he thinks.

-Yeah.

One there which we liked.

-Right.

-Paper knife there.

-So, hallmarked. Birmingham assay.

-Looks absolutely fine.

-Like the price.

-Ah, what have they got on it?

-33.

-£33. Seems all right.

For that sort of money, there's a chance you can make profit.

What do you think of that, James?

-That silver cigarette case?

-Well, it's slightly worn. And it's 65 and it's worth 20.

-Good day, sir. How you doing? We noticed this in one of your cabinets.

-Yep.

You've got 33 as the price.

-I noticed it's got a little bit of damage on it.

-Yeah.

Would you come down a bit?

-25?

-Ooh! No, I don't think I can do 25.

I could probably squeeze 28 for you.

27?

-Go on.

-It would make a nice, sort of...

..reasonable discount at 27. 27.

-Deal.

-That would be the...

-Shake hands.

-OK?

-Done.

-All right.

-Thank you.

'Nice persuasion tactics, Mike. But not everyone's happy.'

-You didn't look impressed by that purchase.

-No.

-Don't worry, two more to go.

-That's right.

-We'll find something good.

-20 quid would've been better.

-I tried.

-You did try, did you?

-I said 25.

-You're slipping.

'Ah, well, at least you've got one item in the bag.

'Pressure's on, Blues. You're lagging behind.'

-Let's start up here. Gives us a bit of space.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-This is 28 quid. It's quite cheap.

-It is, but it's not very old.

-It's not very old.

-Yep. It's useful if you've got a Chinese takeaway.

-Yes.

-OK, how about that?

-Have you found something?

-Oh, that's lovely.

-Do you like it?

-Yes, I do.

-Ohh.

-It's missed its well.

-It hasn't got a well in it.

-But...

-What is it made of?

-Pewter, isn't it?

-Pewter, yeah.

-Pewter's good.

-How much would you think that would be?

-20, 25. What are they asking?

-14.50.

-Oh!

-Oh, yes.

-14.50 is not huge, is it?

-No.

-A tenner. We could offer a tenner.

-Somebody might be attracted to it.

-We can ask.

'Ask and ye may receive.

'Let's hope the stallholder can do them a deal.'

A flapper-type dress.

-See what Karen thinks to that.

-HE LAUGHS

'The Blues need a buy and James has found something unusual.'

-Bit of a novelty item.

-What does he do?

-Open the lid.

-It's Black Forest.

-It's Black Forest?

-Yeah, made in the sort of Austrian, German...

-A lot of these were brought back by tourists in the 1920s.

-Mm.

-I guess he's getting on for 100 years old, so he's got a fair bit of age to him.

-Oh, I like that.

But I'd like it better if it was 15 quid off.

15 quid off? That would make it 23.

-It's not hugely expensive, but it's a novelty, so...

-It's a novelty.

-Now, the other thing I spotted earlier is that.

-Mm.

Which is... This is known as a dump.

It's made in Stourbridge, 1850, 1870.

Often you get a spray of flowers

and the floral ones are always much better than the ones with just the bubbles, like this.

-It's got a bit of age to it.

-It's also got a bit of a price to it.

68, yeah. Should come down, though. That's another potential.

'Two more maybes. They're not exactly throwing caution to the wind.'

-This is what I was looking at.

-Not that old.

-OK.

It's more likely to decorate a Chinese restaurant than it is to set alight the Chinese market.

I knew he'd spot that.

£68, travel clock. It's not over the top, is it?

What's it going to make at auction? Is it going to make 20 or 30? Yes, every day of the week.

Will it make 120? Probably not. Safety again. It's whether you want to go with safety

or carry on shopping and try and find something a bit more exotic.

-Yeah. Carry on?

-Let's go for the money.

'Careful, guys. Safety first might mean you finish second.

'So what was the verdict on the inkwell?'

-Hi.

-I've spoken to the dealer.

-Yep.

-And she can do that for £12.

-Oh.

-£12, OK.

-We looked at other things. Would she do a deal on more than one?

-Definitely.

-If we got that as well?

-Yes.

-That and the well.

-Right. How much would you want to pay?

30 the two. See if we can do that. 30 the two and we'll go for it.

-I'll go and phone her now.

-Brilliant.

'That's more than £20 off the ticket prices. Crikey.

'But will the dealer go for it?'

This is nice and comfy, isn't it? Nice armchair. Side table.

I feel a gin and tonic coming on.

Were you to put anything substantial on this table, though, you'd find it's a bit wobbly.

Why's that? Because this thing didn't start off life as a table at all.

This thing started off life as a pole screen.

That heavy triangular base did sit on the ground when this was made in 1810 or 1820.

It then had a great thin shaft sticking up like this

and hanging on that shaft was this thing, but vertically.

The idea was, you'd put this gadget between you, if you were a woman with a pleasant complexion,

and the fire, because the radiant heat from the fire might make your cheeks go pink

and that would not do if you were an aristocrat,

cos they liked to be absolutely pale white.

So, what's happened here is that the shaft and fittings have all broken,

they've cut that down, they've taken off this screen,

they've turned up a new plug, like that,

and they've shoved it into that rough old hole to make it into a table.

What I would do is to take this top part,

which is, I think, very pretty.

I'd remove the needlework picture, I'd insert a bit of mirror instead

and make myself a perfectly pleasant and usable period-looking mirror.

Easy. This bottom part,

if you look very carefully, you'll spy that this thing

has got absolutely spectacular feet.

They're Regency. They date from 1810 to 1820

and they're mounted on these blocks that would easily unscrew from underneath.

Each is worth between £80 and £120,

so you've got more or less £300 worth before you count anything else.

What are they asking here in the antiques centre

for the whole thing as a wrong piece of furniture?

Well, it could be yours for £55.

Now that's what you do if you want to make money.

'Well, making money is the name of the game,

'but it only works if you spend some, James.'

-That's crazy, really.

-James, the dealer will happily do this one for £25.

But, unfortunately, her best one on the inkwell would be £8 because she paid a lot of money for it.

-Hm.

-£8?

-Hang on a second, I've just noticed something.

-What?

-Look.

-Yes. There's a bit missing there.

-It's had a chunk out of the side, as well.

-Yeah. We can't pay £8.

-That makes the decision easy, doesn't it?

-Yes.

-What do you think to him?

-Yep.

-He's fun. He's all right.

-Do you want to go for him?

-Yeah.

-Yes?

-Yes.

-Deal done. £25. Thank you.

And no for that one. Thanks very much.

'Deal done indeed, and well done, Blues.'

-What do you think of these?

-Ah.

Brooches. Not a great deal of age to them, unfortunately.

That's the problem. They've certainly got the look.

Once you've got these photographed and illustrated on the internet,

on a big screen in the saleroom, these are going to look really good

and I'm sure people will spend a little bit of money on them.

They're either going to make £10 or they're going to make £35. You just do not know.

-Why don't we just say £15?

-Go on, then.

-Grab a bargain?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-'Worth a try.'

We think they're 70s.

Realistically, we'd be doing ten percent

so that'd bring it down to 26.

-And you're not liking that, are you?

-No. Not at all.

-What are you liking?

-I was looking at £15 for the two.

-'Pushing hard.'

-No.

-I couldn't... No, I definitely couldn't do that.

-No?

I could say £23.

Shall we say 20? Go on.

-Hm.

-Go on, £10 each.

-£10 each.

-Make my day.

-I'll tell you what...

-Please?

-Give me a little bit of chance to escape with my life and make it £21.

-Go on, then, 21, you've got a deal.

-If you're happy at 21...

'He didn't stand a chance. Nice work, Karen.'

-It's Arts and Crafts, which you love.

-Yes.

It's also this Japanese influence,

flowering lilies, dragonflies. We had this chap called Commodore Perry, who was an American admiral

who came over and signed the Treaty of Edo in 1858

and that basically opened the doors to the West

and free trade between Japan and the Western world started again.

And it caused the aesthetic movement to start in the UK, which was totally influenced to Japanese art.

-So that's what we're looking at.

-It's lovely.

-What would you pay?

-I suppose I'll go for £100.

-As an ornament, you'd have to have it.

-75?

-So would you pay 70 for it?

-Yes.

-I would.

-Good.

-£70 it is.

-Ooh.

-Do you want it?

-Yes.

-Yep.

-I think it's worth going for.

-Can we get it for 70?

-Yeah.

Good. I'm grandfather was born in 1870, as well.

And I live at number seven and every house I've ever lived at is number seven.

-Isn't that odd?

-We've got to have it, then.

-Let's go for it.

-And I'm 73.

-Lead the way.

'Lucky number seven, eh? Let's hope it doesn't leave them at sixes and sevens in the auction.'

I must admit, I'm getting quite concerned now that we've bought a couple of low-value items

and safety really isn't in the spirit of the game.

I think we need to find something, bigger money, bigger gamble

-and really go for it. What do you reckon?

-Yeah, I do, too.

-Let's go for a gamble lot, then.

-Let's go.

'Whilst the Reds are talking tactics, the Blues are getting on with their shopping.'

When we were looking at the Stourbridge glass dump,

I mentioned how occasionally you find sulphur inclusions

and they made flowers and busts of important politicians of the day.

And there you see a really good example of one.

Again, the same sort of period, 1870, 1880.

This time, though, with one, two, three, four, five big flowers.

And it's got a friend.

This is a really poor example in comparison.

But I think that these are going to be far more popular and easy to sell than the other.

-I think so.

-So if we can get this for anything like the price of the single one, it's worth a bash.

-I think so. That's much more beautiful.

-I think so. And I think it appeals, doesn't it?

-Mm.

-So I'll go and have a word and see what I can get them for.

-Great.

-Well done, James.

-You two aren't jumping out with loads of ideas.

-No. Sorry.

-I can't find anything.

-OK.

-James, what?

-Right, guys.

-The two for £65.

-Oh, that's excellent. That's much better than we hoped.

-I think they're worth that.

-I do.

-If they don't make a profit at auction, there's something wrong.

'Down in the dumps? I don't think so!

-'That's the Blues finished.'

-Brilliant.

I didn't know they were behind us.

-'But there's only five minutes left on the clock, Reds.'

-We're across.

I've got this wonderful plan. What we're going to do is try and salvage the situation.

The shop up the road has a lot of architectural salvage. See if that gets us out of trouble.

'I see what you did there, Colin.'

What about a garden bench? Spring's on the way.

-I don't like that price, though.

-485.

-That.

-That looks all right.

-Yes.

-Nice bit of retro.

-Yeah.

-And I've had these make anything...

Well, we'll keep quiet, but I've had them make well over £100 before.

So there is a chance that, if it can be bought at good money,

it could stand a bit of a profit. I suppose there's no harm having a gamble, offering them 75.

If you can get it for 75, I think it's worth doing.

'Quickly, Mike. Only three minutes to go.

'No such panic for the Blues, though. They're just browsing for fun now.'

The thing is, spring time is the perfect time to buy garden stuff

and it does well at the auctions.

-'And with seconds left...'

-I have a deal.

-Yeah?

Cash, shook hands, £60.

-£60?

-£60.

-What a star, man!

'Phew! Just made it. That was a close one.

'Time's up. Let's remind ourselves what the teams bought.

'Mike and Karen ummed and ahhed

'before settling on the silver-handled letter knife at £27.

'Karen haggled like a pro to get the two Art Deco brooches for £21.

'And in a pulsating final dash,

'they got the 1960s retro heater for a cool £60.'

So. 57 minutes of tension there.

What did you spend overall? Oh, noisy with all these motorbikes, isn't it?

-We can tell you what we've got left.

-£108 we spent.

-£108 we spent.

-£108.

-£108.

-That's not much, is it?

-No.

-£108.

-We had the money in our pocket and just couldn't give it away.

All right, fair enough. I would like, please, £192, on that basis,

-which is a lot of money.

-£190.

-£190. And here's my two. Thank you very much.

-Goes across to Colin Young.

-Thank you very much.

-The legend.

-What you going to spend it on, Col?

-Well, again, do I blow it all?

Do I just spend a small amount? Safety or gamble?

Very, very good. Meanwhile, why don't we remind ourselves what the Blue Team bought, eh?

'Carol and Brian adopted a more leisurely pace

'and bought the novelty box for £25.

'They all agreed the claret jug was good value at £70.

'And finally, got not one but two Stourbridge green glass dumps

'for £65.'

-Successful was it, Brian?

-Very successful.

-How much did you spend all round?

-160.

160. So I want 140 of leftover lolly, please.

-Do you want it now?

-Yes, I do, I want it straight away.

Don't worry, I'll trust you. No need to count it.

Goes straight to James Lewis. He's also very trusting.

Where are you going to go off and have a bit of a poke? Across the road or in here?

-Back in here. Definitely.

-Get away from all these beastly motorbikes.

Anyway, very good luck with that. Meanwhile, we're heading off to the depths of Gloucestershire

to Snowshill Manor. Ooh-ahh.

Cor! This is not as easy as it looks. Ooh!

No bone-shaker, this.

But I tell you, Penny Farthing-type principle,

no free-wheeling on the front wheel,

you are attached to this baby no matter how fast it goes.

Anyway, I'm off up the road to a manor house

that's got more wheels attached to bicycles

than you've had hot lunches. Here we go.

Not so easy. Ooh.

HE HUMS

'Get ready for something unusual.

'Snowshill Manor was bought in 1919 by Charles Paget Wade,

'who spent the next 50 years filling it to the rafters with objects that intrigued him.

'And when I saw rafters, I mean rafters.'

I mean, how many roof spaces are crammed with this number of bicycles?

It's completely crackers, isn't it?

But there is a chronological progression

in the development of bicycles

which can be illustrated out of all these machines.

The earliest design dates back to about 1818

and the design for the machine

is known as a hobby horse.

If you look at it, it's got no pedals, zero suspension.

You've got a handlebar-type device to be able to steer with.

But actually, this pad, this oak pad which might have had a cloth on it

or some sort of padding,

was what you'd used when you straddled it

to literally run with your feet.

And when you came to go downhill, that's when it really got fun

cos you'd oink up your legs and put them in these two iron troughs at the front

and literally whizz down the hill.

Did these things catch on? Actually, they were used as rich men's toys. But things did develop.

And I suppose it was the use of metal

which was the evolutionary process

that led to something that looks a bit more like the bicycle we use today.

Indeed, it was Monsieur Michaux

in Paris in 1861

who came up with the first velocipede design

where you get a peddle directly attached to the wheel.

We've still got wooden spokes, but the wooden spokes connect to a metal outer rim

and into the metal outer rim, some rubber has been inserted.

The frame itself has got a lot more metal in it.

You've got a leather-padded seat that sits on a springy bar there

that would take up some of the vibration.

And you've still got the troughs in front,

into which you'd insert your legs when you're going very, very fast downhill.

There is, however, by now a rudimentary brake.

That's this piece of string here.

You yank that and through that eye, it pulls on that bar,

and at the other end, there's a flat plate that would rub against the rubber, slowing down the back wheel

and no doubt producing the most incredible pong.

The first reference to the word bicycle

is actually in 1869, which coincides with the year

when these things were invented,

called the ordinary bicycle, and later nicknames the Penny Farthing.

Penny because it relates to the larger wheel at the front

and farthing for the little wheel at the back.

Still we have peddles attached directly.

No chains, no gears.

But at least one revolution of the peddles, because of the larger wheel,

covers a lot of territory on the ground.

It looks much more like a bicycle, though, doesn't it,

with wire spokes

and a lighter construction all round.

What I like about this one is that it's even got its headlight attached.

Look at that. That's a oil japanned metal lamp.

How much light would you get? A miserable amount.

How likely would you be to fall off a Penny Farthing? Quite likely.

If you fell off this one when the lamp is lit,

you'd have the reassurance of not only breaking your leg

but also starting rather a nasty fire.

The big question today is, of course, are our teams over at the auction ready to go either?

That is, breaking their necks or starting fires?

'Let's hope that there are no injuries or fires as we hot-foot it to the auction!'

Well, we've got 85.3 miles

roughly northwards from Hungerford to the heart of Warwickshire.

In fact, to Stratford on Avon to be at Bigwood's salerooms with Christopher Ironmonger.

Good morning, Tim. A very warm welcome.

Thank you. We always get a warm welcome here. It's lovely to be here.

-Mike and Karen's first item is this so-called letter knife.

-Right.

Well, it's... It's obviously silver-mounted, Birmingham 1920.

Sometimes they call them page-turners.

A little bit of debate over that.

But I think it's quite a well-presented item,

reasonably good condition and I think we've said £30 to £40.

Well, that's good. £27 was paid. So they'll be delighted with that.

Next are the two Deco-revival brooches

which I think probably come from Taiwan yesterday.

I think so, yes. We've catalogued them as reproduction.

-They are what they are.

-Plastic.

Yes. They're not very inspiring. We've said £5 to £10, I'm afraid.

And if you get £1, you might be struggling.

It's difficult, isn't it? £21 they paid. They've got the look

-but intrinsically, age-wise, material-wise, there is no value to those at all.

-No.

People are just going to buy those just cos they think they look appealing but for no other reason.

We'll see what happens. Their last item in this miscellaneous trio is the heater

which is, I suppose, a radiant heater and a convector heater, so it's quite clever.

Yeah, it's quite a design statement item.

I think we've catalogued it 1950s. It's evocative of that period

and probably quite an ingenious appliance at the time.

-It's in good nick. I mean, it's not been dented.

-Oh, no.

-Apart from rewiring, it's in good state.

-What's your estimate?

-50 to 80.

-£60 they paid.

-So we're in the right frame.

-They're in the right area.

-Brilliant.

So, will they need their bonus buy or not?

I suspect they may, in which case, we'd better go and have a look at it.

Now, Mike and Karen, we are going to reveal the bonus buy.

You gave Colin Young £192 of leftover lolly.

-Colin, what did you spend it on?

-Well, can you guess what it is yet?

-Er...a picture?

-OK! There's going to be no surprises here, then, is there?

Let's have a look at what we've got.

It's a late 19th century oil on canvas.

It's a landscape with shepherdess just wandering through a country path.

It's signed Barclay. Just need a light clean

to take a little bit of the gunge off it. I thought it was something worth a gamble.

-OK.

-How big a gamble?

-How much did you give me?

-£192.

-Oh, yeah, I blew the lot.

-Really?

-Yeah! Of course!

-OK.

-Would you expect anything less?

-That's a gamble.

-It is a gamble.

Three years ago, this did actually go for auction.

It made £170.

There's been very little change in this market over the period,

so we hope that it's going to do OK.

-Good for you. It gives you some choices, though, doesn't it?

-It does.

-You were modest in your expenditure, £108.

-I know.

He's blown the lot, bought a quality item,

speculated for you.

But you won't decide until after the sale of your first three items.

But for the viewers at home, let's find out what the auctioneer thinks about Colin's oil.

Well, well, well, Christopher, here's a challenge for you.

It's a furnishing picture, in my view.

I don't see it as having great artistic merit.

But somebody might like it just as a wall filler.

We've said £20 to £30. It might do a little bit better, but I can't see if doing a lot better.

-Listen, £192 was expended on this oil by Barclay.

-HE LAUGHS

It's supposed to bail out this team in case they're in trouble.

-Well, I think they might be better to bail out on the picture.

-You're quite right.

And now for the Blues, Carol and Brian.

Their first item is the piece of Black Forest.

Yes, it's quite fun. Quite popular, these sorts of novelty items.

We've said £15 to £20. Might do a little bit more.

-But £15 to £20 is an estimate.

-£25 they paid.

-Yeah.

-Next up is the so-called claret jug.

We've catalogued it as a claret jug. I have to admit, it's probably more likely a water jug from a tea set.

-We've said £20 to £30.

-I think you're probably spot on.

£70 they paid, so that's going to be a bit of a dead loss, I fancy.

And their last item are these two dumps.

They do sell well. People like they, they're appealing on the side

and they're something that has maintained its interest.

I think we've said, perhaps a little meanly, £30 to £40, but I've seen some sell at £50ish.

Each? So they paid £65 for the two.

Good. Well, if you're wrong and they're right, they might make a profit on that.

But I don't think they're going to make up for the losses on that so-called claret jug,

in which case, they'll need their bonus buy. Let's have a look at it!

Now, Carol and Brian, your bonus buy. £130 went to James Lewis. What did you spend it on?

Well, I spent your money on...

-Oh, yes!

-OK?

They're big, they're decorative, a pair of Japanese terracotta vases.

-Gosh, James! Where did you find these?

-And tell us what you paid.

Well, I'll tell you where I found them first, right on the top of a corner cupboard

and it had a price tag of 140 crossed out,

100 crossed out,

it was left at 80 and I got them for 50.

-That was a bargain.

-I think they're big and their decorative.

-They do make a statement.

-They do. There's no great quality about them, but they're there.

-I like them.

I hope we'll be looking at £80 to £100, something like that.

-It could be spectacular.

-Yes.

They've got little bits of gilt, as well, to highlight them.

-Yeah.

-They've got...

-I think you're a born again star.

-Ah.

You've got your fan base all around you, James.

Let us find out, at least for the viewers at home, what the auctioneer thinks about James's vases.

Right, Christopher, here's another challenge for you.

Well, erm, I have to say, not exactly something that appeals to me greatly.

The figures and the whole decoration, although it's fairly profuse,

it doesn't excite, I have to say.

They seem to me to very much have the feel

of a Derbyshire pottery. The old Bretby ware.

-You could well be right.

-But they're decorative.

-They're decorate, I suppose. We've said £50 to £70.

-Fine.

Well, James paid £50 for them.

And if he, as a Derbyshire auctioneer, doesn't recognise them as being Bretby,

then I'm probably barking up the wrong tree. Well, probably barking, actually.

-HE LAUGHS

-The barking bit's for certain. The tree is different.

Anyway, that's fair enough. Are you feeling like doing a bit of barking yourself today?

-Yes, I'll be on the rostrum.

-Barking away.

-I will.

34. 36? 36.

38. 38. 40.

42. £40. 40!

Now, Mike and Karen, how are you feeling?

-Looking forward to it.

-Are you?

-Yeah.

-You go to auctions a lot, don't you?

-We do.

-Would you be encouraged by a nice crowded room like this?

-Yes.

-Me, too.

-It's great looking at a busy room like this

rather than people just leaving bids, on the telephone.

Bodies on the ground are what you want at sales.

Right, first up is the page-turner-cum-letter-knife.

Birmingham 1920. Who's got £30 for it?

£30? £20, then.

-£20. 20 I'm bid. 20. 22? 22. 24?

-Come on.

-26.

-Oh, thank goodness for that.

-28.

-£1 profit.

-30. 32?

£30 seated. At 30. Last chance at 30.

Not so much. £30. He's quick with the hammer.

That is plus £3, thank you very much. £3 profit.

-We'll build on this.

-Here come your brooches, darling.

£20 for these. 10 to get me going.

10 I'm bid. 12. 14? 14.

16. 18?

16 on the stairs. 18.

16 with you, sir. 18 is it? £16, it's going to go.

All done at 16? On the stairs at 16. 3388.

£16 on the stairs. That is minus £5.

Minus £5, which means minus 2 overall.

That's nothing! Now, here comes the heater.

Quite the fashion or design statement there.

Who's going to give me £50 for it?

Start me at 30, then. £20.

-Start me at 10.

-Ohh.

I've got to sell it. Come on! Somebody give me £10.

-£10.

-It's on the sign. They said no good.

Come on. £10, get me going.

I can't believe this.

A fiver! Oh, dear. All right, £5 I'm bid. 5. At least he started me.

-Come on, 10 surely!

-Oh, dear, oh, dear.

Are you done? You've disappointed me, but it'll have to go.

-HAMMER BANGS

-Thank you.

So, you are minus £57. What are you going to do about the bonus buy?

Are you going to go with it or are you going or bank your losses

at minus £57? What's it going to be?

Erm, I think we'll bank our losses.

-Stay as we are.

-Yeah.

I don't think they're going to get the money for the picture and we'll going to gain a bigger loss.

No bonus buy, then. Well, you can ring-fence your losses at minus 57.

Meanwhile, we're going to sell the painting anyway, and here it comes.

A lot of bids of this, which means I can start at £60. On the book at 60.

At 60. 5 do I hear? At 60.

65. I've got 70. Will you go 5, sir?

75. I've got 80. Will you go 5?

80 with me on the book. 5 might do it, you never know. £80.

Here on the book at 80. One more do you want to go?

At £80 on the book. 85. I've got 90. 95?

-£90. On the book at £90.

-HAMMER BANGS

£90 is minus £102.

-But you didn't go with the bonus buy.

-No.

That means you are at minus £57, which could easily be a winning score.

-So don't say a thing to the Blues, OK?

-OK.

-Now, Carol and Brian, how are you feeling?

-Bit nervous.

-Are you?

-Very nervous.

-You're not the nervy type.

-No! It's a bit of fun so it doesn't matter.

-It doesn't matter that much

-but it's always nice to win.

-It is.

-Do you know how the Reds got on?

-No.

-No idea.

-That's good.

Now, first up is the Black Forest box and here it comes.

Late 19th, early 20th century continental

carved and painted softwood tobacco box. £20.

15, then. 10 I'm bid.

At 12 if you like. 12. 14?

14. 16. 18. 20.

-That's it, keep going.

-£20, I'm going to sell it at 20.

Any advance on £20? Bid's on my left. Are you done?

£20. That's a shame. Minus £5.

Still, let's not get hysterical. Next up is the claret jug.

Interesting item there. And I've got a bid on the book at £20.

20. 5. 30. 5. 40 is it?

At 35. 40. 5.

45. 50. 55. 60.

60. 5. 70.

75. 75. 80. 75.

Right at the back at 75. All done and finished at 75?

That's brilliant! That is so much better than I thought.

Plus 5. You had minus 5. Now you've got absolutely nothing!

-THEY LAUGH

-It's down to the dumps!

-Down to the dumps, yes.

Fashioned with internal flower and another paperweight, similar.

And I can start the bidding on this at £40 on my book.

At 40. And 5. 50. And 5. £50. And 5 do I hear?

At £50 only and it's going to go at 50.

55. 60 is it? 55, new bidder at the table at 55. 60 do you want to go?

-Go on! Go on!

-Go on!

Last chance at 55.

-Ohh!

-Oh, dear. 55.

That was so close. Minus £10.

Overall, you are minus £10.

-And that's really not too bad, is it?

-No.

-It's not too bad. I'm disappointed about the glass items.

-Mm.

I just hope you're not too much down in the dumps.

-What about the terracotta vases? Are you going to go with them?

-Yes, I think we must do.

-Total confidence.

-We're going to trust James.

-Really?

You've made your decision, we're going to sell them and here they come.

Who's going to give me £50 for them?

Give me 30, then, let's get going. £30.

£20. £20 I'm bid. 5. 30. 5?

£30 at the front here. Is it 5 now?

At £30. Only bid at £30. 35 if you want to go on.

-30 I've got.

-No!

-Last chance at £30.

-HAMMER BANGS

Uh-oh. £30. We're compounding an error here.

Minus £20, which means overall you are minus £30.

-That could be a winning score.

-It's not a disaster.

It's not. Well, it could've been better,

but it could be a winning score, so don't talk to the Reds, all will be revealed in a moment.

-Well, what a lovely day we've had today. Have you been chatting at all?

-ALL: No.

Well, there's not much between you. There should be no secret

to the fact that no team is walking home with any cash today, sadly.

You're both in the red, so to speak.

But the team that is marginally more in the red...are the Reds.

-Ohh.

-But it's only marginal, so don't be depressed.

Your total score is minus 57.

And it started off so beautifully with that nice little profit

on the page-turner-cum-letter-knife

and went down gradually from there.

-Karen, have you had a nice time?

-I've had a wonderful time. Thank you.

It's been lovely seeing you, Mike. Keep up the collecting in Wales and Herefordshire.

Anyway, thank you very much, Colin, for your assistance. Brilliant.

But the victors today, who win by only managing to lose £30,

are Carol and Brian.

Well done, team. Congratulations. Always nice to come marginally ahead.

And just shows what I know about anything cos I predicted that your claret jug would do very badly

and it was the only thing you made a profit on. So I go away humbled, too. But we had a lovely day.

-Join us soon for some more bargain hunting, yes?

-ALL: Yes!

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