VOICEOVER (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts...

I've got it, I've got it.

VO: ..behind the wheel of a classic car... Ooh!

VO: ..and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.

Argh!

VO: The aim - to make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

Doubled up there!

VO: There'll be worthy winners... £1,700.

SERHAT: Yeah!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

Oh, no!

VO: Will it be the high road to glory... Loving it, loving it, loving it.

VO: ..or the slow road to disaster?

This is the Antiques Road Trip.

VO: En garde!

VO: Howdy, folks.

It's the start of another cracking Road Trip.

We're motoring through the Wiltshire countryside this morning, with the affable gent, James Braxton and the feisty firecracker, Irita Marriott.

IRITA: I feel like it was yesterday we started.

It's disappeared, hasn't it?

IRITA: It's just flown by!

JAMES: Well, good times go quickly, Irita.

IRITA: I know.

JAMES: Good times.

IRITA: I know.

VO: They're embarking on their fourth leg in Swedish style, driving the 1968 Volvo 1800S.

What are you like on plants?

The green things that I put in a pot and they always die?

JAMES: Oh, rubbish... IRITA: Yeah, I'm...I'm pretty good at that... Do...do you know the secret to that?

Go on.

JAMES: Put a bit of sugar in the water.

No!

Yup.

Who doesn't love a bit of sugar?

VO: No sugar for me.

I'm sweet enough!

VO: Last time out, James gave the Braxton weight test a vigorous outing... Just steady yourself.

VO: ..while Irita spent big, trying to catch up with James.

IRITA: I am willing to give you...

SELLER: Yes?

..230, and keep hold of £6.52.

VO: And neither one had much joy at auction.

Sold away this time, for £75.

I think it's more tea than champagne.

VO: At least today the sun is shining, and they get another crack of the whip.

This is making me smile, after... JAMES: Good.

..the bloodbath of auction that we had, James.

It wasn't a pretty sight, was it?

IRITA: No.

VO: Both started with £200 in the kitty, and after three auctions, Irita has topped hers up to £254.20.

VO: But James is still out in front, with £421 in his piggy.

You're still, what, £180 or so ahead?

Oh, don't embarrass me!

How much was it?

VO: James and Irita are scouring for antiques on an epic journey across England's south coast.

Today's shopping spree will kick off in Salisbury, Wiltshire, all before concluding, finally, along the coast in Exeter.

Salisbury Cathedral has the largest church spire in Britain, and it's 404 feet high.

Who needs Google when you've got James Braxton?

VO: Yes, he's rather good also to have on the pub quiz team.

The bunting is up, because our duo's first stop is Salisbury Antiques Market.

JAMES: Lots of lovely goodies in here.

Look at it!

That looks so good!

VO: Housed over three floors in the heart of Salisbury, and with over 60 dealers displaying their wares, if they can't find anything in here, well, I'll eat my hat.

What do you think?

Whoops!

VO: Better hold on to that, Irita.

So many items.

Isn't it lovely?

There's got to be some treasure in here.

Look at all this.

Oh, what's this?

Is it silver?

Oh, it says it's silver!

Now, what is your first guess?

What do you think that is for?

It looks a bit like a toilet-roll holder.

But it's not, I can assure you.

I think that is for blotting your ink from your letters.

This would definitely date from late 1800s.

The detail of this is quite nice.

£60.

It's quirky.

It is from good material.

This is definitely one to keep in mind.

I'll be back for this.

I'm going to pop it back now though.

Look, a bit of pokerwork.

That's rather fun, isn't it?

What you've always got to look for is the unusual.

There we are, here's quite a nice thing.

What's this?

"Early 20th century wooden Japanese "design tray for Liberty's".

Now, Liberty's were an incredible retailer.

So they'd go around the world, source all these fabulous things, bring it back to that incredible black-and-white building off Oxford Street, in the middle of the West End.

This is made of wood.

It's quite light.

I would say it's sycamore.

It says early 20th century.

It could be anywhere from the 1880s onwards.

Er, rather nice.

It's priced at £50.

Hopefully, I can do better.

VO: Dealer Jonathan is the man to speak to then.

JONATHAN: Yes, James?

Hello, Jonathan.

Now, I really like this tray here.

Would £35 buy it?

JONATHAN: Yes, it would, James.

JAMES: Would it?

Yes, it would.

That's really kind, Jonathan.

I'll leave it and I'll come back and pay, if that's... JONATHAN: No problem.

JAMES: ..alright?

Thank you.

VO: Make sure you don't forget it, James, old chum.

Ah.

What's all this then?

IRITA: I've seen this, and I was just wondering whether it's actually amber.

So you just rub it.

IRITA: You can do it with tissues and anything but I haven't got a tissue, so I'm just going to... JAMES: Yeah.

IRITA: ..rub it on my leg.

JAMES: Yeah.

IRITA: And then see it on my hair.

Would amber pick up your hair...?

IRITA: Yes.

Yeah, it would make it static and it would kind of lift your hair up.

Thank you for those tests.

I never knew about... Hey!

JAMES: I knew the color.

Don't use my tricks against me... JAMES: It's coming my way... VO: Now, now!

It's all fair on the Antiques Road Trip.

Something caught your eye, Irita?

IRITA: Oh, I like that!

I love a good gong.

I mean it.

I love a good gong... That was a bit louder than I expected!

I have seen a few of these that are signpost gongs, because it says "this way".

And look, there's a little girl sat on the bottom!

It has a registration number, and when it has five digits, it dates to around 1884-85.

£69.

I think that's got to come with me.

VO: That's two items she's put aside for later.

Keep track.

What's James up to?

Now, amongst a cabinet full of penknives and plated flatware, here, two little jewels.

Here we are.

So we've got two brooches here.

That looks Scandi, doesn't it?

It's silver.

This one...again, is silver.

What I love about this is, do you see the enamel?

It's translucent.

That has a name, called "plique-a-jour".

VO: Plique-a-jour is French for "open to light".

It's an enameling technique where the enamel is applied in cells, but with no backing so light can shine through, like a miniature stained glass.

These two are an exercise in enamel.

One is quite common, and one is not very common.

I'm going to go and speak to the lady who owns these.

VO: That would be dealer, Charmaine.

Hello, Charmaine.

Oh, James, hello!

Can I help you there?

I've found these two lovely brooches.

JAMES: Now, could these be bought for 45?

Well, I was hoping for more than that.

I can do 50 for you, James.

JAMES: 50?

CHARMAINE: Is that OK?

JAMES: Yep, I will do 50.

And I owe Jonathan some money as well.

VO: That tray?

Price agreed - £35.

Thank you very much indeed, Charmaine.

CHARMAINE: Thank you, I hope you do well.

Bye bye.

VO: That's £85 for the lot, leaving James with £336.

And while he moseys on, Irita's still rummaging around.

They're quite sweet.

Now, Oriental porcelain is something that is very, very difficult to date.

However, there is a telltale sign.

If it has character marks on the base, you know it is something more than just an export piece.

VO: These characters, known as reign marks, correspond to the Kangxi period of the 17th century.

But the vases were likely made in the 19th century, or even later.

Still collectable.

IRITA: I really like the decoration of these.

Ooh!

That one has suffered in wars.

Absolutely knackered.

So really, you're buying just one vase.

£62 is not a lot of money.

Hm.

Maybe, if the price is right, that could be an option.

Peter?

Oh hi, Irita.

Hi.

There is a pair of Chinese vases that I looked at.

IRITA: I think they were priced at 62.

What would be the best on those, please?

50.

OK. Then the next was, er, the dinner gong.

That was priced at 69.

What can that one be?

That could be 60.

And the last and not least is the roller blotter.

PETER: Sure.

IRITA: A silver one, and that was priced at 60 as well.

Yes.

Erm, 50.

OK, so 50, 50 and 60.

So £160.

PETER: Sure.

Ooh, that's not bad, is it?

That's the money for you.

I'll definitely be back again.

VO: That leaves Irita with £94.20.

VO: 45 miles south, James has made his way to Kimmeridge on the Jurassic Coast.

For hundreds of years, fossil hunters have scoured this stretch of coastline for secrets of prehistoric life.

VO: James is at Kimmeridge Bay, a picturesque rocky cove... ..long thought to be of little significance.

However, thanks to one man - retired plumber Dr Steve Etches - it's now world famous for the fantastically preserved fossils it contains.

JAMES: Ah, the great fossil hunter!

Hello, Steve... STEVE: Hello, James... ..how are you?

JAMES: Very good, very good.

What are you after in there?

Well, I've just found...

It's a squashed ammonite.

It's... JAMES: Ammonite?

STEVE: Yeah, yeah.

And what...

Presumably... ..an ammonite was something to do with a sort of fish?

STEVE: It's a squid in a shell, believe it or not.

JAMES: A squid in a shell... STEVE: Everyone thinks they're a snail, but they're not.

They're actually a squid that lived inside the shell.

JAMES: Is there a particular method, Steve, you use?

STEVE: Yeah, just angle the chisel away.

You're cutting a trench around it.

JAMES: So how long have you been doing this for?

STEVE: 40 years.

JAMES: 40 years?

VO: Steve's passion for fossil hunting started at the tender age of five, and he is entirely self-taught.

He's following in the footsteps of the pioneering paleontologist Mary Anning, whose discoveries in the 19th century helped shape our understanding of prehistoric life.

Steve has special permission to search for fossils in the privately-owned bay.

STEVE: See, it's starting to move now.

There you go.

Right, that's it, don't hit any more.

Now just lever it up.

That's it.

Right, get your hands in.

You've got to get your hands dirty.

That's it.

So there's the ammonite.

JAMES: There we are.

STEVE: Yeah.

Oh, bit wet now, but there you go... JAMES: Bit wet!

(LAUGHS) It's under there somewhere... STEVE: Yeah, now you can see it... JAMES: We'll just give it a wash... STEVE: Yeah, now you can see it.

Look at that!

That is history in my hand.

STEVE: It is.

So I know ammonite lived here, but what else would be feeding on those?

You get all sorts.

You get reptiles, all sorts of fish.

So reptiles, pliosaurs, which were the top of the food chain.

They were huge, great carnivorous reptiles... JAMES: Yeah.

STEVE: ..with four big flippers, a very short neck and a huge, great skull, with skulls up to two and a half meters long.

Wow!

VO: The Kimmeridgian clay is uniquely suited to preserving fossils in exceptional condition, and Steve's collection of over 2,500 fossils - housed in its own museum - is regarded as the finest ever found from the Kimmeridgian period.

JAMES: Are these all your finds, Steve?

STEVE: Most of them, yeah.

And all the fossils in this museum are from the Kimmeridge Clay, which is from a time period in the Upper Jurassic, dated 157 to 152 million years ago.

All this material is from that five million year period.

JAMES: What do fossils tell us about what was happening in the sea?

Well, they're evidence of what was living in the sea, basically.

Normally, what gets preserved is just the bony structure or the skeleton, but here at Kimmeridge, it's quite unique, that we also get soft tissue preserved.

VO: Like Mary Anning before him, Steve's discoveries - such as the world's first ammonite eggs, or new species of ichthyosaur - have helped us understand prehistoric life.

And his wonderful collection can be enjoyed by the public for years to come.

VO: From coast to country, Irita's back in the Volvo.

Oh!

Oh my goodness!

I think I just pressed the turbo button!

Blimey!

VO: She's putting the pedal to the metal all the way south to Swanage, on Dorset's coastline.

Just on the high street is Old Forge Antiques.

Inside, Irita will find eight rooms full of vintage and retro delights, managed by Julia.

Irita still has just under £100 in her pocket.

Now, look at these goodies!

These just scream Royal Worcester when you see them.

And technically, they do have a little bit of Royal Worcester in them.

And that is because the company who made these were actually opened in approximately 1770s, if I'm not wrong, by a chap who was apprentice in Royal Worcester.

His last name was Turner, and the factory was Caughley.

Now, what I'm looking for is some marks, because the mark will determine whether I'm right or wrong.

Hey!

Now...now we're talking!

VO: The letter S stands for Salopian - an alternative name for the Caughley factory.

I'm very excited about finding these.

Very excited.

And to find six in such a good condition, it is just fantastic.

£28, for all of that!

I'm so excited!

This might be my ticket to catching up with James Braxton.

VO: The porcelain queen is back, baby!

Ooh!

Now, I love cherubs, everybody knows that.

I like gold, everybody knows that.

I love this color.

Oh my gosh!

Oh, they are fantastic!

These were made in Bohemia, which was part of Czech Republic, and I would date these between 1930s and 1950s.

They are basically a molded glass.

But to find them in perfect condition, in that size, and a pair...

I've never seen them before.

£22.

And there isn't one, there's two of these!

I mean, it's an absolute no-brainer.

These will be coming with me to an auction.

VO: As attractive as the day they were made - could do well at auction.

Time to cut a deal.

Julia!

Julia!

How can I help?

There is a pair of quite tall blue vases and they're priced at 22.

And there's also six cups and saucers, blue and white ones, and they're priced at 28.

Now, what could those be?

Er, on the glass vases, they'd have to be 15.

And on the blue and white china, £10.

Are you... Are you definitely sure?

JULIA: Definitely.

IRITA: Thank you.

VO: Very generous, Julia.

That leaves Irita with £69.20 to shop with tomorrow.

Day one, done and dusted.

I never buy retail.

JAMES: Pretty well everything, bar my underpants and socks... IRITA: That's good to know, James!

..I'll recycle.

IRITA: That's good to know!

JAMES: I'd never dream of buying a new jacket.

Problem for me is, you know, I can sit here in linen and velvet corduroy.

If I went to a shop, I'd be shrink-wrapped in Lycra, wouldn't I?

IRITA: Ah, James!

VO: Something else for the shopping list tomorrow then.

Ha!

Nighty night.

VO: Up and at them!

It's another glorious day for antique shopping.

James and Irita are well rested and in the Volvo.

New day, new beginning.

I'm refreshed, ready.

The hunter is ready.

VO: Yesterday, this mighty hunter bagged a sycamore tray and two brooches.

So many items!

VO: But old moneybags Braxton still has £336 to spend.

Irita has £69.20 left, after buying a silver roller blotter, a silver-plated dinner gong...

I love a good gong... VO: ..a pair of Chinese vases, a pair of Bohemian vases, and a group of Caughley porcelain.

I think I might have a sleeper, James.

No!

It might be my ticket to catching up with you.

JAMES: No!

A-ha!

Oh!

Bring it on!

VO: Ooh, someone's had their porridge!

VO: So, after dropping off Irita, James has carried on to Dorchester... ..and De Danann Antiques Centre.

Clocking in at just under 2,000 square feet, and arranged over two floors, James is going to get his steps in rummaging around here!

Now this is my sort of backroom.

Isn't this fun?

So we've got lots of copper and brass.

I'm sure everything's going to pass the weight test in here.

Look, we've got a lovely big basin.

So these were for washing your hands or your face in.

Em, nice, quite early, big basins.

And you would have a ewer next door to it, you know, something like a jug here.

This is a lot later though.

This has some age here.

I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't 18th century.

This is very much late 19th century, early 20th century.

And you'd pour the water in there, and then you would wash yourself.

And big enough to wash your face in.

Really nice.

Nice item, that.

So, I'm interested in that.

And then you've got lots of things like here - you've got pictures.

What else is trendy?

Lighting's quite trendy at the moment.

Er... That's probably a little too trendy for me, but... ..behind it...

So we've got great materials.

It's a bit droopy, isn't it?

This is the sort of thing you'd see in a period drama, isn't it?

And we've got this rather nice shell-shaped shade here.

It's a desk lamp, an early desk lamp.

Em, and you could adjust it.

There we are, we've got the adjustment there.

Age-wise?

I think it's got a real sort of slightly American feel to it, doesn't it?

It's like a Wells Fargo post office.

So I'm interested in this desk lamp and this 18th-century basin, brass basin.

So, copper and brass.

I'm in heaven.

VO: Time to get down to brass tacks with owner John.

Oh... John, the hunter returns.

JOHN: Oh, you've found something?

JAMES: I've found something, in your lovely private parlor up there.

JOHN: Unpolished!

Unpolished!

JAMES: I've got this lovely basin.

JOHN: It's nice.

How much do you want for the basin?

25.

I'll buy that, thank you.

And what about the rather nice lamp?

20.

I'll take both.

JOHN: Yeah?

Right, thank you...

So thank you very much indeed.

£45.

There we are.

Thank you.

That's 45, John.

Thank you.

JAMES: Thank you.

JOHN: Right, thank you.

JAMES: Bye.

JOHN: Bye bye.

VO: With that little pile bought and paid for, James is left with £291 to shop with.

VO: Elsewhere, Irita has made her way to Shaftesbury.

It's hard to picture it now, but a great medieval abbey once stood here - five times larger than the Victorian church today - its walls soaring high above the town below.

Founded by Alfred the Great over 1,100 years ago, it was the first religious house solely for women.

Irita's at the museum which is bringing this ancient abbey back to life.

She's meeting local historian Claire Riley to learn more.

Hi, Irita.

Lovely to see you.

Morning, Claire.

What a fantastic view you've got here!

CLAIRE: Absolutely amazing.

You can see such a far way.

Would you like me to show you round?

Yes, please.

CLAIRE: Do come on in.

VO: The abbey stood for 650 years.

Kings and queens worshipped here.

Some were even buried here.

But now, all that survives are the foundations.

It was a magnificent building, about 90 meters long, in the shape of a cross.

CLAIRE: And the remains we're looking at now stem from the Norman period.

They were started in about 1080 and finished about 1120.

But before that, we think there was an earlier abbey - possibly two abbeys - built by Alfred the Great for his daughter in the ninth century.

Alfred founded a little town here, called a burh, in about 880.

And about 10 years later, he built this abbey for his daughter, Aethelgifu.

He was a very, very important king for uniting the country against fighting the Vikings, and he fought them successfully.

And once he'd established peace in the country, he also established law and order.

He introduced education, and he was very keen on giving women some sort of equality with men, in terms of their opportunities.

He's the only king we've got who's called The Great.

What were his reasons for building the abbey in the first place?

Well, Alfred had succeeded in battles with the Danes.

He had a decisive battle at a place called Edington, and he wanted to give thanks to God.

He was a very religious man.

So he founded two abbeys - one at Athelney in Somerset, and this one in Shaftesbury.

The Athelney one was for men, and Shaftesbury was built for women.

And in fact, he installed his own daughter, Aethelgifu, as the very first Abbess.

VO: By installing his own daughter in a position of power and ensuring the abbey was exclusively for women, Alfred pioneered an early form of women's rights.

Five other royal nunneries soon followed and over the next centuries, the abbey established itself as one of the wealthiest religious houses in the country.

What was the life like for a nun in this abbey?

Their life was really ruled by two things - prayer and work.

The nuns would have worked in the infirmary, making medicines.

They would have grown herbs.

They would have been teachers.

They would do embroidery.

There were actually lots of activities they were involved in.

They...they would have had to be quite strong and independent.

CLAIRE: I think they actually loved that independence.

I think coming here was one of the few places where you would actually have a role where you could make decisions for yourself.

Em, you could help people, you could live by the rule, but you also were given a lot of freedom.

VO: As the burial site for Edward the Martyr - a young king murdered in 979, whose remains were said to perform miracles - the abbey became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in England.

At the peak of its wealth and fame, the abbey seemed set to last forever.

Now, what happened to it?

Well, in the middle of the 16th century, the dissolution took place, which is when Henry VIII quarreled with the pope in Rome and decided he was going to close all 900 abbeys that were in the country which were under the control of the pope.

They were giving him money, and Henry wanted to break that link.

So the abbey was destroyed in 1539, stone by stone.

And much of that stone actually is around the town, in new walls and buildings.

VO: For the next 300 years, the abbey lay forgotten in ruins, until the first archaeological investigations of the site began in 1816.

More recently, a new excavation project is trying to discover Shaftesbury's abbey, and its place in Alfred the Great's Saxon hilltop town.

Archaeologist Julian Richards is leading the project.

What have we got here?

First one is this amazing carved stone head.

And when we first saw it, we first saw the folds of the hair and thought, you know, that's something out of the ordinary.

And then the face appeared, and then we realized that it had a crown.

And so it's a royal figure, dating to about 1320.

Are you telling me this is 700 years old?

JULIAN: Yeah.

Yet it looks so clean and pristine.

JULIAN: So the reason it looks so fresh is that, of course, it stood there, in pride of place.

They smashed it up.

The bits ended up buried in the rubble, and they've stayed there safe for the last 700 years, which is why it looks so...so clean and fresh.

And I've always felt that, you know, if an object could talk, what story would that tell?

You know, quiet prayer in the House of God, and then all the destruction and the nuns being evicted and everything.

You know, that object, that little object, could tell an incredible story.

IRITA: We have that common ground there, cuz that is exactly how I think when I pick up an antique.

It's, what could it tell you?

JULIAN: Yeah.

The history that it has had.

Eh, who owned it...?

IRITA: Yeah.

Who broke it?

Who lost it?

Yeah, all of those amazing stories are there, aren't they?

I'm glad you share that with me!

You'll have to come along and give us a hand, and have a try at archaeology!

VO: We'll leave these new besties to it and get back on the road with James Braxton.

I'm thoroughly enjoying Irita's company.

She's great fun.

She's definitely going to test my mettle, that's for sure.

VO: James is en route to Sherborne, and Acreman St Antiques Centre.

Here we go, more antiquing.

VO: He has just shy of 300 smackers still in his wallet.

I do love a cheese bell.

Who doesn't love a cheese bell?

Probably made by Wedgwood.

And it keeps your wheel of cheese in perfect order the whole time.

And merely, what you do with cheese is, it's in the bell, you start eating it, and you merely transfer the shape to yourself.

OK?

So, what was once there is now on your hips.

OK?

So, it's a cautionary tale.

VO: Ha!

Ticket price is £135.

I'd be all over it, buying that, if it was sort of 50 or 70.

But, you know, this has got to go to auction.

To use a bell analogy... you know, I would be out on the canvas and the bell would be ringing, wouldn't it, really?

It'd be a knockout, I'm afraid.

VO: You're the expert, James.

Far be it from me to disa-Brie.

Ha!

23 miles south, Irita's in Bridport.

Her final shop is South Street Antiques, established in 2010.

It's a family-run business.

Good old Bill is minding the floor today.

Irita still has £69.20 to spend.

Oh, look at this shiny lamp.

Bill's so good at polishing.

VO: She'll be hoping to find something that will make her top dog.

Now, when I first started as a rookie in an auction house, I used to be given a house clearance and I had to sort it.

And we used to make up giant job lots of these.

Oriental stands.

If we had 50 of them in one clearance, we would put the lot together, and it probably made 10, 15, 20 quid.

Nobody wanted an Oriental stand.

Now, fast forward seven, eight years, these can make megabucks.

£500, £600, £700, £800 apiece.

Always watch out for things that are not making a lot of money, because you never know.

Five years down the line, that could be the thing that makes you the fortunes.

VO: Let's check in with James, in Sherborne.

JAMES: Oh, look at this.

This is...

This is up my street.

Nice bit of Chinese... Er, so, very Anglo, isn't it?

You know, whether the Chinese sit down and have occasional tables like we do for cups of tea.

Very English, isn't it?

Or maybe a drink.

We've got this rouge marble, this red marble, and then this fabulous hardwood running around here.

And sometimes, this is known as huanghuali, the hardwood, which is rather...

It's a great name, isn't it?

And then sometimes, they'll have a shipper's name, or a retailer's name, beneath.

In this case, we've got various markings because they were shipped sort of flat-pack.

You know, these boys got here before Ikea, I tell you that.

It's probably been imported here into the UK, sort of 1890s, 1920s, something like this.

VO: And it's just as usable as when it was first made.

What have they got on it?

They've got 180, retail.

If I could get it 120, 130, max 140, no more.

Because second hand goods, what's the price of a second hand good?

It's willing buyer, willing seller.

I'm off to see that lovely lady downstairs.

VO: Let's see if Gwen is a willing seller, after all.

JAMES: Takes me back to my portering days, this.

GWEN: Oh, wonderful.

Lugging things around.

GWEN: Yes.

JAMES: Oh!

GWEN: Maybe having a marble top makes it heavy... Ah!

That's it, isn't it?

GWEN: Mm.

All the wood...

Anyway, it's got 180 on it.

Would 120 buy it?

We can do it for 140.

Er...I'm happy to pay that... GWEN: I think you'll do well with that.

JAMES: I think they would do well.

Mm.

VO: A generous discount.

Thanks, Gwen.

And with that, James' business is concluded.

I wonder if Irita's had any luck.

Oh.

Now this could be something that takes my interest.

When these were made, to create the tree-like patterns, they used a mixture that was referred to as a tea.

But it wasn't a regular tea, by any means.

It was a mixture of a few things, including stale urine, tobacco juice and serpentine.

Isn't that weird?

I mean, who came up with this?

"Oh, yeah.

Let's wee in a bowl "and stick a bit of tobacco in it.

Try it on pottery."

IRITA: But these are very, very collectable, and they are referred to as mochaware.

This particular one would probably date from early-1900s, I would have thought, and it's in really good condition.

Now this is priced at £85.

To be fair, if I would put that in an auction, I would probably say 60 to 80.

So, you know, if there is a tiny bit of maneuver, it could be a goer.

Yeah... ..let's do it.

Bill?

I've spotted your mochaware.

BILL: Ah, lovely.

It's quite...nice, isn't it?

That's my favorite type of china, actually.

IRITA: Oh, really?

Yeah.

It's £85.

Any... BILL: I can, actually...

Anything that can be done?

I could do it for £50 for you.

Yeah, that's a deal.

BILL: Alright, great.

I am not grumbling.

Let me give you your £50.

Good luck with that one.

I think it will do really well.

See you later.

See you, Irita.

VO: And with that, she's all shopped up.

Time to find James.

VO: Another day of antique-hunting draws to a close.

Are the nerves kicking in for auction yet?

There's no predicting what's going to happen.

No.

But it'll be a jolly journey for you, won't it?

I think we both have bought really well.

Yeah.

We need a good auction to go into the last leg with plenty of, erm, dosh!

VO: That's the ticket - positive mental attitude.

Time now for shut-eye.

VO: Wakey-wakey!

It's auction day.

James and Irita are en route to their final stop of this leg - Bennetts Water Gardens in Weymouth.

Now, who'd have thought we'd have Monet's gardens in Weymouth?

His gardens are in Giverny, northern France.

IRITA: Have you been?

I haven't.

My daughter has, and they're beautiful.

And this was the inspiration to do all his water lilies - and you can see it, can't you?

VO: Now you've seen the Monet, let's make some mon-ey.

James and Irita will be tuning into the auction on their tablets.

Their items are north, in Penkridge Staffordshire, at Cuttlestones Auctioneers, where they'll be up for sale to bidders online and over the phone.

Irita spent £235 on six lots.

What would auctioneer Ben Gamble take a punt on?

Going then at 170...

So, the pair of vases, em, they're so big and colorful and awful, I think they'll actually do quite well.

There is a bit of interest in them.

I think they're terrible, but if I think they're terrible, that means somebody else will love them.

So yeah, they'll do...they'll do fine.

VO: A ringing endorsement there!

Ha!

James paid £270 for his five lots.

Which does Ben fancy?

The Chinese table stand, we get quite a few of these through.

It's a really interesting piece.

A lot of pre-sale interest.

It is quite badly damaged, which I think will go against it, but strong hopes on this one.

VO: All bets are off on this one.

Oh James, I'm so nervous!

Don't be nervous.

Don't be nervous.

Good luck.

VO: First up, Irita's set of Caughley porcelain.

At 15, I'm only bid... At 20.

25, tempt you all at 28.

30.

At 32... See, we're going up now.

BEN: At 32.

We're bid 35.

With Harry at 38.

Still with Harry at 38, 40, and five.

At 45, I'm bid.

50, and five.

It's jumped, at 55...

Jumping.

BEN: With Ollie at 55...

It's not flying, but it's jumping.

BEN: At 60 bid, and five... JAMES: That's alright.

At 65.

70.

And five.

At £80, we're bid.

BEN: £80... IRITA: No!

BEN: And five... IRITA: Don't put... BEN: ..still going at 85.

Do not even dare to put the hammer down... BEN: At 85.

Are we sure?

90.

At 95.

It's 95 there, to go and be sold at 95... VO: Well, that's a good way to kick things off!

That's £85 profit.

That's still... IRITA: Yes.

..good news, isn't it?

When you put it like that, it's good news... JAMES: It's good news.

VO: Next, can James' lamp shine at auction?

£65... IRITA: Hey, James!

BEN: We're in at 65.

I'm bid at 65. Who would like 70?

IRITA: Come on!

At £65.

70.

At 70 on the other platform there, at 70.

At 70 now.

Who's five?

JAMES: Oh, he's struggling... BEN: At 70... Hey, now, it's a good profit.

Are we done?

Going there at 70... VO: Excellent!

I think we're in for a good day here!

That's alright, isn't it?

I'm happy with 50 quid.

You're so calm and collected about a profit!

That's, eh, that's £50.

I'm really pleased with that.

VO: Will Irita's gong summon another profit?

£32 to start.

At 32.

And five, and eight.

40, and five.

55.

60.

IRITA: Yay!

BEN: 65.

JAMES: Well done.

BEN: 70.

75.

Oh!

Another good profit.

Who's 80 for it?

80.

At £80 now.

At 80, and five.

At 85.

90.

IRITA: Yay!

JAMES: You're unstoppable!

What you are is unstoppable... BEN: 90.

IRITA: Sh-sh!

Ha!

Are we done?

Any more?

Going at £90... (GAVEL) VO: Ding-dong!

She'll be happy with that.

Profit in the pocket!

That's very good.

VO: James will be needing his table to do well now.

£75.

My bid.

80, five.

90, five.

It's going quite quick... My bid still, at 95.

Bid on the phone at 100.

At 110, I'm bid.

At 110.

120.

It's on the telephone.

130.

On the net at 130.

There's a phone line, that's always a good thing... JAMES: It's creeping.

BEN: 140, thank you, at 140... JAMES: 140.

Come on!

BEN: At 140.

Go on, one more... BEN: 150.

At 150.

150.

IRITA: Yay, you got it... BEN: At 150.

160... JAMES: Yeah.

You're out?

170.

Are we all done?

Are we sure?

Finish there at 170... VO: Money back, and profit on top.

Well done!

So, that's good.

VO: Irita's silver roller blotter is next.

On the net there at 25, I'm bid.

At 25.

My commission's out.

28.

At 28 now.

At 30...

Please!

BEN: ..32.

35.

38.

IRITA: Well, it's moving.

JAMES: That's good, isn't it...?

IRITA: Moving the right way.

And five.

At 50, and five.

Who would like 60?

She's thinking...

Yes, no?

Goes at 55... (GAVEL) VO: Another profit!

Irita's on a roll.

You're on line to sell everything at a profit, which is no...no mean achievement, that, is it?

Even if it's a fiver, it all adds up.

VO: James' brass basin is up now.

Straight in at 30, and two.

At 32, I'm bid.

At £32.

And five.

At 35, at 35.

At £35... 35.

At 35... One more, one more.

At 38.

At 38.

At 40 if you will.

40... JAMES: 40...

Slowly and steady.

Are we done?

And we're going there at 40... (GAVEL) VO: More than washed its face JAMES: A profit... IRITA: Yes.

..but not a great profit.

VO: Irita's Chinese vases are next.

BEN: £12.

IRITA: Ha!

BEN: At £12... BEN: ..I'm only bid at £12... IRITA: Hey!

50, 60, on the other platform.

This is a chance.

70.

At 70, I'm bid.

With Ollie's platform, at 80.

At £80.

90.

100.

100!

At £100.

120.

IRITA: Double my money!

BEN: At 120, I'm bid, at 120 now... No!

BEN: ..120.

140.

At 160.

On the net at 170.

And selling.

Be sure, at £170... (GAVEL) VO: Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Definitely catching up now.

This lady's on fire.

Well done.

Can you see this?

I'm sizzling!

(LAUGHTER) VO: Next lot - James's plique-a-jour and Scandi brooch.

Harry's in at £45 for the two.

At £45 there.

55.

Straight in at 55.

And 60.

At 60.

70.

Oh!

BEN: 80.

At 80.

90.

IRITA: That's a quick mover... 100.

110, with Harry.

120.

140.

At 140 bid.

140.

All done at 140... (GAVEL) VO: Good show!

You should be cheering, happy.

JAMES: I am real happy... IRITA: Where's your... JAMES: I am happy!

IRITA: James, where's your happy dance?

I just don't like dancing.

I'm English, aren't I?

I don't... VO: With interest on the phone, the Bohemian vases are already at £150.

At 160, bid.

IRITA: Oh my God, no way... BEN: 170.

At 180.

IRITA: What is going on?!

190.

I've taken the phone first.

200 on this.

IRITA: Two hun... What is going on?

210.

220.

230.

240.

250.

260.

270.

Get in!

At 270.

At 280 now.

At 290.

300.

And 20.

You're out on the net, no mistakes, on the phone at 320...

I think my hand's shaking!

At £320.

300... And I sell, be sure, at 320... VO: And she's taken the lead with that monster profit!

Woo-woo!

Woo-woo!

Woo-woo!

(LAUGHTER) VO: Ah, James' final lot.

What can his sycamore tray serve up?

BEN: £8, to go... IRITA: Eight?!

BEN: Only bid at £8.

IRITA: No... JAMES: Doesn't sound... BEN: 20, here we go.

Five, eight... At 28, it's with Ollie... IRITA: Oh, that's a bit better.

30.

32.

At 32.

At 32.

Are we done?

And five.

Still there at 35.

At 35... JAMES: Oh, just!

IRITA: Ooh!

JAMES: Just!

BEN: At 35...

Saving some blushes.

35's the bid to go, at 35... (GAVEL) VO: Even-stevens on that one.

IRITA: Shame.

JAMES: Shame.

Cuz it could have done really well.

VO: And last up, Irita's mochaware tankard.

At 55, we have.

60.

At £60...

Surely, there's a little bit more left in it... BEN: That's with Ollie's platform at 60.

At 60, are we five... JAMES: Well done.

We do not like sweet and short.

Mm-mm-mm... At 60 bid, here to go.

Selling at 60... VO: Not a bad little profit to end on.

What an auction, James!

Fabulous auction, wasn't it?

It was just amazing!

JAMES: He did so well, did so well.

Anyway, we're amongst these beautiful gardens, water lilies.

Very Japanese-y, isn't it?

IRITA: Mm.

Do you want a... Cup of tea?

..little beaker of green tea?

IRITA: Oh yeah, come on!

JAMES: Green tea.

IRITA: A cake to go with it?

JAMES: I'm sure they'll have a cake.

VO: James started out with £421 in his piggy.

After a decent day out at the auction, he's made over £100 and - minus saleroom fees - his total is £524.10.

But it's been a barnstorming auction day for Irita, as she finally gets in front.

She started this leg with £254.20 and, after commission, she has tripled her money to £667.

IRITA: Come on, shut that door.

I'm taking you to do more shopping.

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