Lincoln 8 Bargain Hunt

We've headed east through yet another daily

dose of delightful decadence.

We've come to Lincolnshire, an agricultural county,

so goodness knows what they'll "dig up."

Let's just hope they don't get "the hump." Let's go bargain hunting!

We're just outside Lincoln, at the showground which plays host

to the Lincolnshire Antiques & Home Show.

There are literally thousands of stores here

and bags of choice for our teams.

Therefore, loads of bargains, we hope.

Let's have a quick squint at what's coming up.

'Time, as ever, is the issue and the Reds feel the pressure...'

I'm just worried we're running out of time.

'..although the Blues prove rather more indecisive'.

I think we'll leave it for now. Can we leave it for a second?

Should I hold that as a comeback...?

'Now let's go and say hello.'

Today we have a team of friends and a married couple.

We have Lindsay and Becky and we have Mary and Gerry.

Welcome, everybody.

-Thank you.

-Really cracking to see you.

Now, Lindsay. How did you first become friends with Bex?

We met when our oldest children started at primary school.

We soon realised we had a lot of common interests

and we've been friends ever since.

You like a bit of a laugh? You meet up, have the odd glass of wine?

-Lots of glasses of wine.

-Possibly.

Tell me about your working career.

-I spent about 18 years in the police force.

-You never did?!

-I did.

-Oh!

Then I thought I'd have a change

and spend more time at home with my children so I started making

jewellery to keep myself occupied, found I was reasonably good

at it and now do that for a living.

But I must say, if you were ever in plain-clothes work,

the kind of police bit of your career,

nobody would ever know you were a policewoman.

You'd get away with all sorts.

-I did do a little bit of that.

-Did you?

I actually once fooled one of the traffic wardens who

worked in the same office.

Really? That's rather naughty, isn't it?

Did you get off the fine, or what?

THEY LAUGH

So, Bex, what do you do for a living?

I work two or three days a week for the family firm,

doing accounts, office work.

But I've got a bit of a creative side to me,

so the rest of my time,

always making bits and bobs.

I do cake art, where I model

and carve cake and ice it and hand-paint it.

Lovely. You like to travel a bit?

Love to travel. I wish I could afford to travel all the time.

We did go last year to New York, me and Lindsay went on a shopping trip.

-A bit of a girls' outing?

-It was fantastic.

We spent nine hours shopping in Macy's.

I think you're a thoroughly naughty team, you two.

And I think you'll do rather well today on Bargain Hunt,

which is lovely for us.

Mary, tell me, darling,

what is this embarrassing moment you had in wherever it was -

-Cheltenham, was it?

-Yes, at an antique fair.

We'd stood at a stall

and Gerry very often walks off like he normally does,

-and he shouldn't - he should stay by me.

-Quite right.

I was a bit cold and he had a short-sleeved shirt on,

so I wanted to warm my hands.

I put my hands up his shirtsleeves just to warm myself

on his shoulder and it wasn't him. It was someone else.

-Some random man?

-And he jumped a mile!

Well, he would, wouldn't he?

I tried to say I was sorry but was so embarrassed.

Gerry, it says here you're a fish and chip fan?

We bought a fish and chip shop in Barnsley.

-Did you do the frying-up in the chippy?

-Yup.

-You did?

It was just the two of us with the help of one other woman.

It's hard work, isn't it?

-That was the problem.

-Hot fat?

-It was long hours and we never saw the kids.

-No, quite. Are you ready for this?

-Oh, yes!

-And so are we.

Now, the money moment.

£300 apiece, if I can get it out.

£300... You know the rules.

Your experts await and off you go!

Very, very, very good luck.

I'm partial to a bit of fish and chips, myself.

'So, who's helping out the teams today?

'With focused vision, David Harper

'will be trying to spot a bargain for the Reds.

'And supporting the Blues is

'me old "china", Kate Bliss.'

So, you two, you've got your money, but who has the best taste?

-Definitely me.

-Me.

She said she might need reining in.

-That's for sure.

-OK.

-Lindsay's got very strange taste.

-I'll look after you.

She normally calls it "drag queen".

-Shall we get started?

-Yes.

What kind of things do you like, Becky?

-Beautiful things.

-Beautiful things?

-Shiny, pretty...

OK.

Lovely inkwell down there.

That's a big chunk of silver.

How much is the inkwell, please?

I've got 150 on that, I think.

It's a good lump, isn't it?

Is there any damage on it?

It has some age marks.

Yes, but the hallmarks are quite clear.

The inserts...

Glass.

It has that insert.

Is there any leeway on that?

I could do something on that.

Do you like that, Gerry?

Yeah, I do.

It's quite masculine, isn't it?

Do you want to have a look?

It's quite smart, isn't it?

Inkwells, although people don't use them,

they make quite nice presents.

Especially when you're battling to buy something for a man.

You've got it, Mary.

But that is quite expensive.

It will take quite a chunk of our money.

What is the best?

I can do 120.

120 on that.

I would say it's 1920s, something like that.

Shall we leave it for a second and not jump in at the moment?

I think that's a good idea.

Leave it if you're unsure, Blues.

Having teed off well, what have the Reds spotted down the fairway?

-The style of dress is 19...?

-'20s?

Yeah, absolutely.

Is it an Art Deco

bronze of a golfer?

-Gosh.

-Cos if it is,

it's worth stacks of money.

-Is it really?

-Stacks of money.

Positively stacks.

What do you think?

It is positively not...

-1920s.

-We'll move on.

This isn't going quite as well as planned.

Share your worries, Becky.

I'm just worried we're running out of time.

I can see lots of furniture-y things and I want nice,

pretty, little things.

-You want shiny things?

-Yes.

A bit of silver or something?

-A bit of bling.

-She does like bling, you see.

I like classy bling.

They are decorative but they are new. Not much age to them.

Are these chocolate or cookie?

Seems everyone's after bling today.

Coffee and hot water.

165, but a really nice size.

You see here it's stamped 95?

95 suggests to me

it's probably quite modern.

What are you thinking?

-That painting...

-Do you like that?

Becky, talk to me about that.

It's interesting. It's quite...

different. I don't know what Lindsay thinks.

I'm looking at Lindsay's face.

It's, erm, not shiny.

No. Is it shiny inside?

It's unusual, it looks a bit... Oh, it's broken.

Oh, dear.

-Does it put a smile on your face? It does me.

-It does me.

It's broken inside.

It's a restoration project, isn't it?

It's Indian.

There's the mirror on the inside and look at the age of that mirror.

That HAS got age.

I think that's more likely a 1920s thing

-someone would have brought back from India.

-Really?

Never expensive.

I think there's even wallpaper lining around the mirror there.

It was a blingy thing, really blingy,

80-odd years ago.

I wouldn't probably think,

"I can but that and do something with it."

Can you imagine that on the wall

-in my downstairs or something?

-Yeah, definitely.

Do you like the price?

£35 ticket.

-No.

-I'd like it to be slightly less.

It needs to be more reasonable to spend the time and effort on it.

-What would you like to spend?

-I think £10, £15.

That's a bit hard.

Hello, who do we talk to about prices?

Is that your dad?

Come on, Dad,

can you help us out with a price here,

on this funny little Indian thing?

Today's price, 25 quid.

-25 quid. Girls, what do you think?

-That's absolutely for nothing.

If we could make it less than 20.

Oh, she's hard.

-You're having a laugh there.

-Really?

Could you do it for £20?

Possibly with a really nice, big smile?

-Go on, then.

-Give him a nice, big smile, then.

Go on.

-Give him a big snile.

-"Snile?!"

-Thank you very much.

Well done, Reds.

That's your first item bought.

Meanwhile, what are the Blues up to?

-Is that a...?

-Little puzzle box.

Is it?!

That's quite sweet, Mary.

That bit opens like that

and then that bit

slides like that.

Is there a price on it?

24.

The only thing I would say is

I'm not sure about this big screw here.

I'm not sure

where that may have been.

I know it has a nice patina on it,

but I'm not sure if that would be later.

It's quite a harsh screw, right in the top there.

Lovely bit of mahogany, though.

-It's quite tactile, isn't it?

-This is all mahogany.

-Hi there.

-Hello.

This is nice. What would you say?

-Would you say that screw there was original?

-I do, yeah.

It's a string box.

You pull the string

through this little hole.

The price is 24. What could you do for us on that one?

What have we got on it, 24?

20.

We've got to put it into auction...

she says.

-18.

-18?

I don't want to keep thinking about things

but should I hold that as a comeback one?

-As a maybe?

-Yes.

Set it aside, Blues.

But don't "string" us along!

You'll have to make some decisions soon!

Do you like that?

I quite like how it's set out.

Lindsay, what do you think?

-What are they, though?

-Looks like spoons to me.

It's a little tea set.

I like that.

Come on! Having a cup of tea...

-What's that, then?

-Loose-leaf tea.

-What's that for?

-A little pickle something or other.

Cake. A little, tiny cake.

-How dainty would that be?

-It would be lovely.

In its original form...

I bet it's for lemon.

-They're for sugar, aren't they?

-Yes.

-And they're for lemon.

Absolutely.

You're a bright spark, aren't you?

You two are nice and posh. I didn't spot that.

I just see a fork and think of eating a bit of cake.

If it was £75, I would snatch it up.

Shall I go and find out what it can be?

I think the tea thing is what's clinching it.

In the antiques game,

all the best deals are done out of the back of a lorry.

Girls,

this is the daughter of the stallholder.

BOTH: Right.

She has an announcement for you.

Oh, right.

Your offer of £75...

-Is all right.

-Is it?

Excellent! Thank you very much!

Great! That's two purchases for the Reds.

It's two-nil now.

Time to wake up, Blues.

What have you spied, Gerry?

A glance at this one, it's an alarm clock, would you believe?

Right.

-Very light.

-Have a look, Mary.

It's French, isn't it?

There's the alarm on the bottom,

the little bell.

-75.

-75?

Let's have a closer look, Gerry.

So we have a plated case.

It's not silver, it's sort of chrome.

Then the dial is actually not in bad condition.

It's quite nice and clean, with Roman numerals.

Then you have a subsidiary dial here

for your alarm.

Presumably you have your two...

your two screws at the back

to set your alarm and the actual time.

Your winders for each.

And you can see the movement in here.

-I think 75 is quite a lot.

-I think so as well.

I would probably like to say

an auction estimate would be 40 to 60.

But I think it's a good thing, Gerry.

-Who's going to have a chat with the stallholder?

-Shall I go?

-Go in low, Gerry.

-OK.

Go and see what you can do.

We'll leave that to you.

Gerry... (Low!)

How low can you go, Gerry?

Rrrr!

Here he comes.

I think we'll leave it for now.

-60 is the lowest he'll go.

-60?

Not another one on the back burner, surely?!

It's an awkward one, isn't it?

-55, do you reckon?

-I think so.

Would you do 55?

55? Fantastic!

-I like it.

-OK.

-That's super. Thanks very much, we'll have that.

-Great!

Finally! Well done, Blues. Your first purchase made.

I was starting to get alarmed there.

So, how do the teams think they're doing?

We're about 22 minutes in, guys, and one purchase which is great.

-We're on schedule. How are you feeling?

-Quite good, actually.

-We've surprised ourselves how quickly we've managed to find things.

-I think so.

Yes, I think we've made some good decisions.

How are you feeling about that inkwell now?

Not so sure now we've bought that

because that is... I know it's not VERY expensive,

but it is quite a big item.

I don't hate Lindsay's taste.

Erm, not all the time.

It troubles me sometimes.

"Trespassers will be prosecuted." I quite like that.

Great Eastern Railway.

-What are you looking at?

-I quite like that microscope, but I don't know why.

I know nothing about microscopes.

-Oh, my word!

-Is it heavy?

-Feel how heavy that is.

-Goodness me. That's a proper working thing.

I do like the old-fashioned gadgets.

-Old-fashioned gadgets that did things.

-Right.

-Performed a job.

Right. How much is it?

-150.

-150? Well, is it worth 150, Lindsay?

I don't know because it depends how many other people would like it.

-Don't you think that would look cool on a desk?

-No. Not at all.

You're entitled to your own opinion, Becky.

-Why were you drawn to that?

-I like that camera as well.

-Oh, my gosh.

-She's off again. Right. OK.

-That you could see as a decorative item in somebody's home.

Thank you. It's coming over. Thank you very much.

-What kind of money have we got on this one?

-160.

-160 on that.

Now, again, what can I tell you about this?

I think it's beautiful, but I don't think it would make a profit necessarily.

Who knows? Who knows? Are we going to have a go at buying it

cos we're running out of time?

What do you think? Shall we think about it?

I'd rather buy something else.

Nope. Becky's not happy.

But what's this with the Blues?

They've headed back for the wooden string box.

-18.

-18. You couldn't do 15 for us, could you?

-Would you mind?

-That's smashing.

-Thanks very much. That's super.

-Many thanks.

-Thank you. I love that.

-Great. Brilliant.

-Well done, Mary.

-Beautiful. Tactile.

Not wasting any time there.

So, now both teams have two purchases in the bag.

OK, you too. We have 14 minutes left.

Let's just have a little catch-up here.

Becky, I have an announcement to make.

-You know that microscope that Lindsay likes?

-Yes.

I'm beginning to sort of like it myself.

Oh, dear. Two against one, eh?

-What are your thoughts on that, then?

-A bit troubled...

-to be honest with you.

-Do you know why I like it?

-Why?

Because I know absolutely genuinely nothing about it at all.

-Microscopes and me don't go together.

-Right.

But it does come with its big box.

As we were walking away, I did spot that it has a great display box,

something to carry it in.

And inside that box will be little compartments

and bits and bobs to go with that microscope.

Therefore, I'm warming a touch more to it...

Good sales talk, David.

..as a last resort.

It would be a major risk, but isn't it good taking a risk?

Well, it's different.

You never make money in this business unless you really risk.

You have to risk every day to make money.

-You are 110% right.

-If you stick with the safe things,

you make what we call beer money.

Who needs beer money? That's no good. We need a lot of money.

-We want New York money.

-Baby, I'm with you.

I'M with you on that one, girls.

So we either go to New York on a high

or we're down in the gutter if it goes wrong.

Or in the pub having a beer.

Mary.

Have you seen anything?

Well, I'm just looking for little sewing things for you.

There's a little tape measure in there. Madam, may we have a quick look? We're very short of time.

Oh, that's brilliant. Thank you. Now, see the little tape pulls out?

Now, this is lovely because it's got its original tape.

-Is that a magnifier?

-Well spotted, Gerry.

This is, I think, little Stanhope

which is, if we have a tiny look in there...

I'm not very good at this.

There might be a tiny... Is there a Stanhope in here?

There's no Stanhope. No, it's gone.

-But there probably would have been originally.

-Yes.

Named after Stanhope who invented them.

There'd be a tiny little picture in there

which when you hold it up to the eye, you could see.

They were made as little tourist things, little souvenir pieces.

But it's still got its original little... There you go.

You can see it's still got the markings on it.

And this little handle up here you use to wind it back in again.

-Super.

-All still in working order.

What could you do on that for us? We've got 28.

-Do 20.

-What do you think?

-Quite nice.

-This is more your sort of thing, Mary.

-But what do you think of it, Gerry?

-I like it.

-Yeah?

-I do.

-You couldn't do it for ten, could you?

-I was thinking 15.

Meet us in the middle. 12?

-12?

-Just for you.

-Just for us?

-What do you think, chaps?

-Yes.

-That's super. That's lovely.

Thank you very much.

Well done, Blues.

You've finished and with a full five minutes left.

Don't look now but the Reds are still shopping behind us.

Don't look, Gerry.

Shall we go and have a look at the box with the microscope?

-Shall we do that?

-What did he want for it?

-150-ish.

-I think we can...

-What do you think?

-I think we can bargain him.

-You two could.

-We're going to bargain him.

Go on, Reds. Haggle.

Time check. Time check. Three minutes. OK.

-Let's have a look.

-I love it.

-What's the best for us? No, not for us.

-For us!

-For those two.

Look into their eyes

-and tell me...

-135. Final.

-You see...

-Two minutes.

I think 125 would be a lovely nice round figure.

-Excellent.

-Are you going to do it?

-Thank you very much.

-We've done it.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you very much indeed. That's a real risk.

But good fun. Thank you. You're done.

You've done it. Well done, girls. All three items bought.

With a minute and a half to go.

Just in time cos time's up.

Let's check out what the Red team bought, eh?

Their first purchase was an Indian hardwood broken mirror

picked up for a reflective £20.

A boxed set of continental silver teaspoons,

strainer and forks were acquired for £75.

And finally, they focused £125 of their budget

on a 1930s microscope in a mahogany box.

Stressful but we're living life on the edge.

I like a bit of excitement.

-And it's been an exciting morning for you, hasn't it?

-Marvellous.

-Marvellous. You spent a good amount, didn't you?

-Yes. £220.

-I love it.

-£80 leftover lolly, please.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

Coming out of the old fleece, that's good. Super duper.

-Straight over to Harper.

-Thank you very much.

-All right?

-Yes, very good.

I've never seen a man look so perky, actually.

This HAS been a good morning for you. What are you going to do with your £80?

I'm not going to buy a scientific instrument.

We've had enough scientific instruments for one day,

-I promise you. None of that business.

-Spoilsport.

-You'll get up to some sort of fishy business.

-Obviously.

Marvellous. Marvellous. Relax up, girls. Have a nice cup of tea.

Meanwhile, we're going to check out what the Blue team bought, aren't we?

They spent £55 on this French chrome alarm clock.

They forked out £15 on their Georgian mahogany string box.

And finally, they stretched to £12

for this novelty Edwardian tape measure.

You might have done and you might not.

Hey, I've got a horrible rumour that you didn't spend too much cash, Mary.

-Is this true?

-Well, I was going to, but no, we didn't.

-What did you spend?

-82.

-What, on all three pieces?!

-Yes, all three.

-All three pieces for £82!

-Good pieces.

-Who's got the £218 of leftover lolly?

-Not me.

-Have you got it?

-No.

-No? Have you got it?

-Yes, I have.

-You're a joker, you are, aren't you?

Dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.

And then we've got the three. There's a fiver in there. Lovely.

Well, I'm not going to check this because I trust you.

You are quite clearly morally upstanding

-and pillars of the community.

-Right.

-I know nothing.

This small fortune gets handed across to Kate.

-Thank you very much.

-Kate, that is enough to buy half the fair.

-It is. Ish.

-And what are you going to spend it on? Blow the lot. Go on.

-Go for it.

-Quality. Quality.

OK. Anyway, good luck.

Meanwhile, we're heading off to somewhere absolutely splendiferous.

A charming Edwardian house, Lotherton Hall is located just outside Leeds.

A country residence once home to the Gascoigne family,

it houses an impressive collection

including some fabulous furniture

which is what's brought me here today.

And it's abundantly obvious that the Gascoigne family

enjoyed entertaining.

Look at this dining room.

Built in heaven, I reckon, eh?

And where better to go to furnish a dining room

than to Messrs Gillows, which is exactly what they did?

Gillows, the 18th-century furniture makers

renowned for making very, very sound mahogany dining room furniture.

This particular table is called an imperial table.

It was built by Gillows between about 1810 and 1813.

Called an imperial table because of its system of supports

which is a series of zigzag tongs which underneath the surface

enable you to either expand or contract the dining table,

depending on how many people you want to feed around it.

The interesting thing about the Gillows furniture firm

is that they supplied in addition to furniture

all the furnishings to go into a grand house.

Soft furnishings, blinds, linoleums and the like.

And also, subsidiary bits like this.

This is called a chair-back fire screen.

It dates from the 1810 or 1820s period.

It is a flat screen of woven material with a couple of hooks

that you can hang on the back of a chair

because Gillows knew that in a decent dining room

you'd have a roaring fire here

and in order that THAT man in the far corner of the dining table

didn't freeze, it got very hot over here.

So hot indeed that the radiant heat from the fire could scorch

the back of the valuable mahogany chair

and make it uncomfortable for the person sitting in it.

The other thing that the landed gentry liked to do

in the 19th century was to go hunting.

So, what's this Gillows piece of furniture

got to do with hunting, then?

Well, actually, its connection with hunting is rather after the event.

The idea being that this table would be set up

in front of a roaring fire and you would draw the curtain,

like that, and then if you're a huntsman

and you've come in cold and wet from your mighty steed,

you'd revolve the decanters on that little trackway,

pick up the decanter, top up your glass

and your mate on the other side

would simply whisk the decanter over his way and he'd have a top up.

Now, this surface is especially organised for glasses

because this little raised gallery here, or bead, is there to stop

any glasses from falling out that way,

as is this bead against the front edge.

Having studied this table closely,

the difference between the turned leg on the imperial dining table

and the hunt table leg is that this one's got a brass cap

which means that these four legs can be unscrewed.

In fact, the whole thing can be demounted

and packed up in a flat pack for transportation.

So that if the hunt was meeting

and finishing some miles away from a civilised house,

you could take the flat-packed hunt table with you,

along with the drink and the glasses

and simply set up and have a merry time

in some rough old barn somewhere else.

Now, talking of hunt, how about the other type, the Bargain Hunt?

How will our teams perform today over at the auction?

Well, we've gone from one side of Lincoln city

to the other side of Lincoln city.

In fact, we've come into the city a bit

to be at Golding, Young & Mawer's saleroom

and we're with Colin Young.

-Lovely to see you, Colin.

-Good to see you again, Tim.

For Lindsay and Becky, their first item is this Kashmiri mirror frame.

It's about the worst quality piece of Indian workmanship

I think I've ever seen. How do you rate it?

I think I have seen worse before so I'm going to remain positive with it.

We've placed an estimate of 30 to 50. It is only going to be tens.

It's not that quality that you get from the 19th century

that has that wow factor to it. It's a long way from that.

It's a long way off the wow. And they only paid £20.

-So if you get £30 to £40, Colin, you're their hero.

-OK.

-Yet again.

Now, this silver set is extraordinary

because the case is so flashy and so incredibly well presented

but it's presenting something that's very tinny and insubstantial.

I still think there will be plenty of people

that will have a go for it,

because it does look the part and I still think £40-£60.

How does that sound with what they've paid?

-Not enough. Nothing like enough.

-Oh.

Double your bottom estimate and you're in the cash. £75, they paid.

-OK.

-Last but not least is the microscope,

which is so, so much better

than one of those schoolroom bench jobs, isn't it?

It is. Nice to see it's a binocular version.

It's a good maker there - Cooke, Troughton as well.

You've got a quality item and a good case that goes with it,

some extra accessories to go with it, but it has seen some service.

So this has been something that has been

a good working tool in its home environment

and the last one that I found on the net made in the range of £50-£80.

Did it? They paid 125.

But if it doesn't go well, we're going to need the bonus buy,

so let's hop off and have a look at it.

-Now, girls, gosh, this is exciting, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

How excited are you on an excited scale, Bex?

I'd say at least 9.5.

-Are you up there too, Lindsay?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

You've spent £220, you gave the Harper £80.

He's going to show you what he spent the £80 on. Go, go, go!

Go, go, go, OK!

The excitement level might just drop here,

because you have to get with what it is first of all.

-Ooh!

-Oh, what is it?

So, it's a letter dated 19...

-25.

-25. From a chap called Russell Flint.

-Right.

Have you ever heard of William Russell Flint?

-I don't think so.

-No.

Well, he was a famous artist in his lifetime,

and a successful artist too,

and very well-known, Tim, for his lovely ladies, wasn't he?

-Yeah, mainly with no kit on.

-Yes!

-Ah!

Which makes him a very, very, very popular artist!

-THEY LAUGH

-Yes, with Tim!

Well, no! I mean, not only with me! Around the world!

This is a letter from Russell to a fellow in Edinburgh,

and he's discussing art.

How much did you pay for it?

Well, I paid £50 for it.

-Right.

-OK.

-I really like it.

It's really interesting. A one-off.

-I think the girls quite like it.

-I do. I'm really impressed, yeah.

Well, stick with that nice, warm thought, girls,

because now we're going to find out from the auctioneer

what he thinks about the Russell Flint letter.

Right, then, Colin.

What about that?

Well, that's a little interesting and different as a bonus buy.

It's an original letter from William Russell Flint.

You know, he's THE 20th century watercolourist and printmaker, isn't he?

Absolutely. It's a name that you really want on a lot of things,

particularly pictures.

How can you estimate something like this? Well, erm...

-I think however you guess it, you're going to be wrong.

-Yeah.

So I'd rather be wrong on the right side and say £25-£40.

£50, David Harper paid.

That's DEFINITELY a good buy.

And definitely worth the risk, if there is one.

Yeah, well, clever old Harper, then.

Anyway, that's that. Very exciting.

-Now onto the Blues, and we start off with the alarm clock.

-Right.

Charming little thing. Fairly standard item. £30-£50.

-£55 paid, which is probably plenty enough, actually.

-Yeah, I think so.

Next is the so-called Georgian puzzle string box.

It's oval, it's mahogany, it is old. Is it any good?

Ah, it's an interesting piece of wood,

is probably the best way of describing it.

But it's going to be worth £10-£30 of anybody's money.

OK. £15 paid, so they're OK for the cash there.

-And then you've got this little tape measure fellow.

-Yeah.

-Missing its Stanhope.

-It is.

But I'm still holding out some hope and we're at £25-£40.

£25-£40, OK. £12 paid.

So depending on how the alarm clock goes, will determine, really,

whether they're in the money or not.

They spent practically nothing,

handed over a wodge of leftover lolly.

Let's see what got bought.

-OK, Gerry, Mary, this is the big bonus buy moment.

-Isn't it just?!

You gave her a fortune at £218.

-No!

-Yes, you did!

You gave her £218, and did she blow the lot? OK, Kate.

-Show us your wares.

-Da-da-da-da!

Da-da-da-da!

-Oh!

-Oh! Oh, dogs on the end!

Yeah, dogs on the end, Mary!

-Now, somebody whispered to me that you two are dog lovers, right?

-Yes.

-And you used to show Labradors, is that right?

-Yes, yes, that's right.

This is brass. The ends come up, and we have a bookshelf.

-Oh, it does expand, yeah.

-Yeah!

-To take all your library, you see?

-Excellent.

Now, the only marks on it are a stamp on the base for Germany

and I think, actually, this is typically German Jugendstil style,

which is the name for the sort of German equivalent of Art Nouveau

at the early part of the 20th century.

-But I'm going to hand it over.

-How much did you pay for it?

-THEY LAUGH

-218?!

No, I didn't blow the lot. It was £60.

-60.

-60, right.

-And you've got the bookcase, and you've got the dog lover.

-Exactly.

And the style.

Mary, you are SO commercial!

-Am I?!

-You hit the nail on the head!

You're going to be in this business before you can say Jack Spratt!

A double appeal. There we are, you see. It's a dog's life!

-Isn't it, just?!

-Anyway, have a think about it.

But for the audience at home,

let's find out what the auctioneer thinks about the doggy book rest.

Well, well, well, well! What do you make of that, Colin?

Is it an old dog or not?

No, I think that's quite a decent thing.

It's got some weight about it,

the quality of the casting seems to be good,

but I haven't really seen anything like that before.

Where do you think it comes from, Colin?

Well, I think it's probably made in Germany,

because that's what stamped on it!

-OK!

-Which is always a valuer's first port of call!

-Yeah, no, good!

So if it's stamped "Germany", it's after 1892, probably,

-and it looks about 1900-1920, doesn't it, really?

-Yeah.

So, clever old Kate Bliss.

What sort of blissful estimate are you going to come up with?

Well, I hope she's going to be happy with an estimate of £30-£50.

-No, she will not be happy with that.

-Oh, dear!

You will be in the doghouse, Colin, if you get a penny less than £60.

-£60.

-But it's possible, isn't it?

-It is possible.

-Hope springs eternal.

-Yes.

-Thank you very much, Colin.

-OK, girls, this is exciting, isn't it?

-Very!

-Now, how are you feeling, Bex?

-Er, nervous, yes.

-You too, Linds?

-Yes.

Some say you get seven years bad luck with a broken mirror,

-but I think you've got to break it.

-Yes, you do.

That's all right, then.

If you haven't broken it, and you buy it broken,

-you don't inherit somebody else's bad luck.

-That's all right.

So, first up is the Kashmiri mirror frame

which is seriously oddball, and here it comes.

Who's going to start me on this one?

At £100. £100, anybody? 50?

-Look at her face!

-30? £30 bid, 5...

35, bid 40?

40, 45, bid 50?

50, got a bid. 50, 50, 5 now.

5, 60, 65.

70.

Unbelievable! Look at this!

80, 5, 90, 5.

-Yes!

-It is pretty.

At 95 bid, 100 now, do I see it?

95 got a bid, 100 now.

95, are we all done?

Sold this time at 95.

-Yes!

-£95?!

-It was gorgeous!

-I think you're making these things sell!

Anyway, look out, here comes the silver.

Multiple bids already. We'll start the bidding on these already at £40.

40, bid. At 45, do I see now?

45, 50, 5, 60...55, bid.

60, anywhere else, surely? At 55 bid, any more now?

Come on! Come on!

At 55, 58, 60, 60 bid, 62.

-Ooh!

-Ooh, here we go!

And 60 in the middle of the room there.

We're done and finished, and we are selling at £60.

Ah, bad luck, girls.

Minus 15 on that, which means you're still plus 60,

such is your reservoir of cash.

-You're plus 60. Hang on.

-It will all be gone now.

Right. OK.

AUCTIONEER: And we ought

to be over £100 for this.

£100, who will be first in? 100!

80? 50?

40, if you like. £40, anyone? 40?

BECKY: Uh-oh.

I'm not liking the look of this.

I'm not liking it.

At 40 bid. Somebody else hovering on the net.

Are you coming in now? No, at £40.

ALL: Aww!

AUCTIONEER: 42 bid. At 42. At £42

and it's on the net. 45 in the room.

-Yes!

-48, do I see? 48 bid?

Go on, keep at it.

No, 45. The bid's there, then.

45, then, we sell at £45.

ALL: Aww!

-Oh, bad luck!

-£45. How miserable.

Is that minus 80? It is, isn't it?

Minus 80, and you were plus 60 before.

-I'm sorry, chicken. You're now minus 20.

-Oh!

Oh, this is not right, is it?

You were right at them and then you came right down again.

-Crashing down.

-We've plummeted.

-What are you going to do about Russell Flint, then?

-We're going.

Are you? It's £50 of investment.

-I liked it.

-Nothing to lose.

-Nothing to lose, no.

-It's a lovely story, isn't it?

-I liked it, yeah. I really liked it.

You're going with a bonus buy,

and here it comes.

Here comes Russell Flint's letter.

AUCTIONEER: Lot number 196,

very interesting lot.

Who's going to start me at £100? 100?

-Cross everything, girls.

-£100.

80 to go, then. 80? 50, anybody? 50?

30?

Getting a cold feeling in the pit.

20? £20 bid? At 20.

Two, do I see it? Two, bid at two,

five, bid at five, 28, do I see it?

25, 28, 30, 30 bid.

30 bid, 32 bid, 35 bid,

38 now, 38 bid, 40.

40 bid, 42, 45.

45, 48 now.

£45 bid. 48, now, surely?

£45 bid. 48, do I see?

-At 45 bid...

-Come on!

-At 45, we're on the market...

-Go on!

48 bid from anywhere else? Thank you.

You've gone now from the net.

Selling this time, it is on

the market, it will sell, at £45.

ALL: Oh!

-Never mind.

-Bad luck, Davido. It could have been a lot worse.

-It could have.

-Somebody got a bargain.

-Still not too bad.

Somebody did get a bargain then.

So, team, you are minus £25, which is nothing in this game.

-It could easily be a winning score.

-It could possibly.

I'm sorry you went right up there, I'm sorry you came back down,

but, anyway, where you are could still see you as winners today.

-So say not a word to the Blues.

-No.

-Now, do you know how the Reds got on?

-Not a clue.

-No idea. Not a clue.

-We're after the gavel.

-You're after the golden gavel? Are you?

Nothing like aiming high.

-We don't lob them out like sweets, you know?

-Oh, right.

In fact, we'd have to dust the packet off.

It's been that long since anybody made a profit on all three items.

Anyway, there it is, Gerry.

You found this alarm clock, you rated it.

It's the first lot up. Here comes the alarm clock and stand by.

Who's going to start me at

£50 for it? £50, anyone? 50! 40?

£40, do you have for me now?

-£40, anybody? 40?

-Come on.

30? £30? £30 bid.

32 now, do I see?

£30 I'm bid, two anywhere else, surely?

At £30 bid. 30 bid, 32 on the net.

Come on. What's going on? Yes or no?

38 bid, do I see? 38 bid, 40.

MARY: Yeah. It's going up.

AUCTIONEER: 42 again now. Two anywhere else?

42 bid, 45 bid, 45.

48 now. 48 bid.

48 bid, 50. No? At 48 bid.

At 48 bid. Any more now?

50, surely? MARY: Another fiver.

AUCTIONEER: Are we all done? It's on the net at 48.

50's back in! 50 bid.

50. 55 now, do I see?

50 bid. 55 bid.

-60, do I see?

-55!

58, if it's going to help you?

At 55 bid. Eight is the last call.

At 55, we're on the net. You're all out in the room?

We're done, we're finished and we're selling at £55.

Yes! Excellent!

How about that? No profit, no loss,

no pain, no gain.

Lot number 213.

Lots of people think it's a very nice piece of mahogany,

so we'll start off with the commission bids which start at 12.

15, 18, 20.

Two, bid five, 28.

28? 30 now. 30 bid.

At 30 bid, 32, do I see?

30 bid, 32, surely?

At £30 in the second row. 32, 35, 38.

-Bid 40 now?

-Only paid £15.

38 is on the net. At 38 bid.

40, surely? At £38, it's the last call.

We're all done and finished, then.

At £38. Sold at 38.

Yes!

Now, here comes your tape measure.

214. Who's going to start me at £50?

50? 40 to go, then. £40, anyone? 40?

£20, anyone? Start me.

20 on the net.

-MARY: Do you reckon?

-Yes!

-Yes!

AUCTIONEER: 25 bid. 28, now. 28 bid.

30 now. 32 bid. That's 32.

The bid's down here at 32. MARY: Well done, you!

AUCTIONEER: Any more now? At 32. On the net, then. At 32. 35, do I see?

Selling then... No more from the room. Sold at £32.

That is another £20.

So you were £23 up on the string box,

£20 up on that. You are plus 43.

Plus 43 and a wiped face.

Now, what are you going to do about that old dog book stand?

What do you think?

-What do you think?

-No, your decision. Your decision.

-£43 is nice to go home.

-Yes.

-£43 is a good profit.

-Yeah, we'll take it.

-Is that all right?

-You do exactly as you please.

-I won't be in the least offended.

-No dogs?

-No.

-No dogs.

They're not going to go with the bonus buy. Bad luck, Kate.

Anyway, let's sell it anyway. Here comes the book ends.

Who is going to start me at £80 for it? 80?

£80.

50 to go. 50? £20 bid.

At 20. At 20 bid. 22. 22, 25.

Five bid. 28, do I see, now?

28 bid. At 28. 28, 30.

£30 bid. 32 now? 32.

35? 35. 38?

38 now. At 35 bid. 38 bid.

40. 42. 42, 45. 42, 45. 45, 48.

48, bid 50. Five.

55, no. 50 in the corner of the room.

At 50 bid. Is there five now?

At £50. In the back then and £50.

We all done, then?

Lady's bid done. 55 fresh bidder.

Yes!

Five, no. At £60 bid.

Everyone's slowing down now.

So 60 bid. I'll take two?

At 60 bid. 62? No? 60 at the back

of the room, then. Final call, then.

Lady's bid, selling at £60.

Yes!

-Well done.

-MARY: Wiped its face. Well done.

It wiped its face. Well, that's amazing, isn't it?

Two wipes in one show.

You got £43 of profits coming your way. Could be a winning score.

Don't say a word to those naughty Reds.

-Well, that was magnificent, wasn't it?

-Yes.

-Did we have a hoot, or did we have a hoot?

-We did.

-We had such a hoot.

-Well, have you been talking about the scores?

-ALL: No.

That's nice, cos it's nice and secret still. Good.

I have to reveal that the team that is running up

today by a substantial margin

are the Reds.

-DAVID:

-Oh, no!

-Yes.

-No!

-I'm afraid to say, minus £25 is your score, girls.

-We thought that was a winning score!

-We did.

One or two things just weren't on the ball for you today, I'm afraid.

But you've been on the ball, both of you.

We've loved having you on the show.

But the victors today, who are going home with folding cash -

they're going home with £43.

MARY: Thank you!

-There's £40 there.

-Gerry can have the three.

-Plus the three pounds for Gerry. There we go.

-Thank you.

You had two wiped faces, which are unusual,

for the bonus buy and for one of your items.

And you made profits of £23 and £20 on two of your items.

So, using my discretion as the adjudicator,

because sometimes I allow a wiped face to be treated as a profit,

which I'm going to do in this instance, I'm able to award you...

Wonderful, thank you!

..the ancient sort of noble order of the golden gavel.

-Which I...

-Our first one.

I know you really, really want it, Gerry.

You've got your cash, you've got your pins. Congratulations.

We've had such a great time, in fact.

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

-ALL: Yes!

I know you're sitting there thinking,

"I could have done better than that!" Well, what's stopping you?

If you think you can spot a bargain, go to our BBC website and apply.

It'll be splendid to see you!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd