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

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

I'm always in turbo.

VO: And a goal - to scour Britain for antiques.

Hot stuff!

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

IZZIE: (GASPS) VO: But it's no mean feat.

There'll be worthy winners... PHIL: Cha-ching.

MARK: Oh, my goodness!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

DAVID: Bonkers!

VO: Will it be the high road to glory... You are my ray of sunshine.

NATASHA: Oh, stop it!

VO: ..or the slow road VO: to disaster?

(GEARS CRUNCH) Sorry!

VO: This is Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

There's a strong sartorial vibe in the Triumph Herald today.

IRITA (IM): Do you like my hat?

MARK (MH): I do like your hat, it's your color.

And it goes with the car, too.

Well, you know what they say?

You want to get ahead... MH: Get a hat.

IM: ..get a hat.

VO: Now, I wouldn't say that dealer Irita Marriott is copying expert Mark Hill, but he is the OG chapeau-wearer around here.

IM: See?

MH: Better.

Now, that's good.

You might get ahead now, well...

It's going to take more than wearing a hat for me to get ahead, Miss Moneybags.

Well, you know... VO: Yes, it's all going rather well for Irita.

Our Derbyshire dealer has played to her strengths with ceramics and is currently top of the class.

What do you think, with honors?

VO: Could be a 2:2.

No dunce's hat for Mark, either.

Our Surrey-born clever clogs has done quite well with his beloved 20th-century treasures, amongst other things.

Body parts, Jack the Ripper, eat your heart out.

But he's got a bit of catching up to do.

There isn't actually that much between us, I have to say.

Well, it's nearly the amount of money we started with, what do you mean?!

It's very sweet of you to say, thank you, but it's a blatant untruth.

VO: Ah, well, he does have a point.

Mark started this trip with £200, and with three auctions down, he's grown that figure to a healthy £345.70.

But Irita, who began on the same amount, has pulled quite a bit ahead.

Her coffers now stand at a very nice £486 and tuppence.

But Marky Boy doesn't give up that easily.

There's plenty more to come.

Good, you're talking game now!

I am talking game now.

I'm rather worried!

(CHUCKLES) You SHOULD be!

IM: (CHUCKLES) VO: This trip started in Surrey and scooted through the Home Counties en route to East Anglia.

Eventually, we'll head south again for a final battle in Sevenoaks, Kent, which will be nice.

Whee, woohoo!

VO: On this leg, we'll be heading to Norfolk, shopping all the way to Hunstanton.

But let's start things off in Lincolnshire and Stamford, where they're just whizzing by their first shop of the day, St Martin's Antiques Centre.

Ooh!

Are you ready for this?

Oh, wow!

OK, which way are you going?

IM: I'm going that way.

MH: I'm going this way.

See you later.

VO: Blimey.

Hats off and gloves off - they mean business.

With 70 dealers touting their wares in here, there's an awful lot of fun antique stuff to get their mitts on.

(EXHALES) £400!

We're going to need a forensic approach to make sure they don't miss the good stuff.

Anything leaping out on you yet, Mr Hill?

I do love fountain pens, and last time, for my first Road Trip, I did really well with fountain pens so this is a feast for my eyes.

So what have we got?

OK, we'll take this one out... That's a no, that's a no... Oh, nice, but I'm afraid a no.

VO: Take your time, Mark, we'll wait.

So what we're looking at is a pen by an American company called Eversharp.

It's a pen called the Skyline, and it was meant to have a revolutionary feed inside it, which meant that the ink would be fed to the nib just as efficiently up in a, sort of, jet plane as it would be on the ground.

So there was a sort of sense of romance and excitement about it.

It's a little bit damaged, a bit NIBBLED, dare I say, on the end of the barrel.

VO: £35 is the price on that.

Let's see what's in the box.

Oh, that is pretty.

So we have a Conway Stewart "Dinkie" and it was meant to be for ladies.

You could just slip it in your handbag or your purse.

Nice, small and handy size.

What a little stunner.

And it's got its original box.

VO: The dealer's asking £24 for that.

I think I'm just going to pop these in here and carry on looking and have a chat later on.

VO: Let's hope they don't leak, then!

Ha-ha!

At the other end of the shop, Irita is also being very thorough.

I've just spotted something.

Bear with me.

Don't judge me.

VO: Let's have a look, then.

Oh, my Lord.

Erm...

I know what you're thinking... And you're thinking, "What on Earth?"

VO: Well, yes, something along those lines.

What is it?

A Spelter-built carriage with little glasses, and it appears there's all six.

So it's basically a liqueur set.

It's 1940s and there's even... (JINGLING TUNE) VO: Ooh, so kitsch!

That... (MUSIC STOPS) That is awesome.

I mean, come on!

It is that kitsch and that out-there... that I absolutely love it.

Oh, my gosh!

It's £35.

There is no chance am I leaving this behind.

It's coming with me.

Whether you like it or not.

VO: I am saying nothing.

Let's leave that - ahem!

- desirable object with Anne at the till and browse on.

IM: (LAUGHS) MH: Don't mind me.

Still wounded.

Mortally wounded after the auction.

Are you going to carry those with you for the rest of the trip?

Darling, they're going to carry me for the rest of the trip until I have a good auction.

You're such a drama queen.

VO: Seems like Mark could do with a bit of a sit down.

Very aptly positioned, this, because I could imagine sort of sitting here reading a book, whiling away my wintry hours with a glass of wine on this rather nice Victorian brass and wood stand.

So we've got this brass top with this embossed and cast form, and the foot is nice and heavy.

Let's have a look.

Oh...

So we've got Miller & Sons here.

Now, I know Miller & Sons is a very good quality manufacturer of oil lamps, so actually that makes this an oil lamp stand.

But, you know what, I'm going to stick with my original thought of a glass of wine or a gin and tonic or something like that.

Because for me, this is a wonderful example of how something that's very antique could still fit and be used in today's homes.

It's practical, it's decorative, and it's very, very unusual.

VO: It's also £48.50.

I think that's got some potential.

I like that a lot.

VO: OK, let's have a word, then.

You'll be dealing with Lucinda today.

MH: Hello.

DEALER: Hello Mark, how are you?

Amazing shop.

DEALER: Thank you.

MH: Fantastic.

So I found this stand and I found these two rather lovely pens.

We've got 35 on one.

DEALER: Yeah.

MH: 24 on another and £48.50 on the stand.

OK, so I could probably do... How does 38 sound?

OK, so it's 38 for that, and how about my two pens?

Your two pens, OK, well, the one at 24 we could do at 20.

MH: Mm-hm?

DEALER: And you said DEALER: the other one was 35.

MH: 35.

How does 27.50 sound?

VO: It sounds like £85.50 in total.

MH: Could you do 80?

DEALER: Yeah, I'll do 80.

Thank you very much, Lucinda, in that case, that's a yes.

Thank you very much, I'll take all three.

DEALER: Lovely.

MH: Thank you.

VO: So, £35 for the stand and 45 for the two pens.

And with 265 still in hand, our happy wanderer is off.

Back inside, Irita is on the horns of a dilemma.

Keep losing money on silver, even when it's incredible quality.

Oh, why am I holding silver...?

Because it says Asprey, and Asprey has been around since 1780s, believe it or not, and this is a piece of it.

It's basically a pourer, so you would put the cork part into the top of your bottle, which could be vinaigrette or oil... ..and you can pour it.

VO: Drizzle your very posh salad.

It is beautifully hallmarked, and another clue that gives an age away is the fact that it has engraving.

Somebody received it for Christmas.

25th of December, 1927.

This was their Christmas present.

Am I going to be really disappointed when I look at this price tag?

22.

£22 can buy you a fabulous name, a piece of silver.

Oh, I'm happy!

VO: Let's take it to Anne, who's still looking after that carriage thingy.

IM: I'm back.

DEALER: Hello.

I found something else.

IM: How cute's that?

DEALER: Very pretty.

A little pourer.

So, 22 for that, 35 for this, um... (WHEELS SQUEAK) ..incredible thing.

DEALER: This beauty.

IM: (CHUCKLES) So that adds up to £57.

For the two items, I can do them for 50.

IM: Are you sure?

DEALER: Yeah.

I wasn't going to even ask for a discount, but if one comes with it... DEALER: Exactly.

IM: ..I won't say no.

VO: Of course not.

20 for the pourer and 30 for the kitschiest thing in the shop.

And still £436 left, wow!

IM: I'm so happy.

DEALER: Good.

Thank you, Anne, have a lovely day.

DEALER: Take care, bye-bye.

IM: Bye!

VO: Yeah, your other carriage awaits, ma'am.

Meanwhile, Mark has headed into Cambridgeshire towards Peterborough.

He's halted his hunt for antiques for now and has come to the outskirts of the city to see something much, much older.

This is Flag Fen Archaeology Park, home to an ancient structure that has changed our perception of life in Bronze Age Britain.

And to take him back to 1300 BC, tour guide Stephen Robshaw.

Steve, hello, thank you very much for having me here.

You're very, very welcome.

So what's the significance of here?

Well, back in 1971, prior to Peterborough new town being constructed, archaeological surveys revealed the existence of an almost complete wetland basin.

Further excavations revealed timbers, which ended up becoming a very, very important archaeological site.

VO: Back in the Bronze Age, this low-lying part of Britain was partially underwater.

The resulting boggy marshland was not only perfect to preserve Flag Fens' hidden treasure for millennia, it was the reason it was built in the first place.

So this is it, I can see sort of bits of wood submerged deep in the water there, what on Earth is this?

This was the superhighway of its time.

The means of getting from one piece of high ground to the other was either by boat or by building a causeway.

And that's what we're looking at the remains of.

STEVE: That's what this is.

MH: And it's 3,500 years old.

Row one over there, it's about 3,500 years old.

Over a period of about 500 years of use, repair, redevelopment, we end up at row five.

VO: This excavated section, kept constantly wet to preserve the wood, is only a small part of the causeway.

The whole thing was a kilometer in length, constructed from an estimated 60,000 upright timbers, with about a quarter of a million planks making up the walkway.

How on Earth did they do it?

Do you know how it was built?

STEVE: No.

MH: (CHUCKLES) It's the honest answer.

Um, slowly and with pride, because it's lasted as long as it's lasted.

So has our understanding of the Bronze Age changed because of what we're looking at here?

We probably thought they were unintelligent.

Sorry, far from it, they had engineering minds.

Well, they constructed causeways to get from one place to another.

It's totally revised our view of Bronze Age life.

VO: To give a flavor of that life, the park has a couple of Bronze and Iron Age dwellings, modern replicas, but built using the exact same construction methods as 3,500 years ago.

Time to flex your DIY skills, Marky.

VO: Dan can show you the ropes.

DAN: Here's your daub.

OK, I get quite a lot of daub.

DAN: The content of this is mostly soil.

The spiky bits are what's left of the roof.

But, come on, I know there's some other ingredient in here too.

DAN: In this particular one, it's horse manure.

MH: OK, nice, OK.

So you literally just, like, chuck it at the wall like that.

DAN: Chuck it on the wall and then massage it into... MH: OK, ooh, massage, not beat it into the wall, I don't want to destroy your house!

DAN: You can give it a good beating as well, but... MH: OK. VO: Do you know, I don't think I'd get him round to do any plastering at my place.

I'm going to leave the rest to you, so have fun with your dung.

DAN: Thank you very much.

VO: Ha!

Whilst these roundhouses may seem primitive, they're actually quite sophisticated constructions, sporting the very best in Bronze Age mod cons.

STEVE: Welcome to my humble abode.

MH: Home, sweet home.

My goodness.

The roof itself, there's a layer of turf with the roots facing upwards, on top of which is another layer of turf with the roots facing downwards.

When the two sets of roots grow together, you get a waterproof seal.

The smoke from the fire kills off all the bugs and... ..you have a ready-made food preserver.

Of course!

So you can preserve your food.

MH: I see.

STEVE: You can smoke your meat, you can smoke your ducks.

So they're actually quite a sophisticated culture.

Oh, very much so.

They didn't go to school, but they were very clever people.

They had the ability, the skills and the materials, and they used them to their best advantage.

VO: And with archaeologists still exploring the area, there may be even more to learn about our ancient ancestors.

Now, out and about in the Fens, Irita's on the move.

She's making her way towards Whittlesey, and her next shop of the trip.

And this is it, Stratton Oakford Antiques.

Let's get in, eh?

Inside, there's not a surface that's been left un-antiqued.

It is chock-a-block with interesting things, vintage goodies and assorted curios.

Someone with, let's say, £436 could have a field day!

Now, I feel I need to be sat down to even look at this item because I might get a bit faint.

VO: Oh, sounds ominous.

It is a portable surgeon's amputation kit.

VO: Oh, Lordy.

You've got two hooks, you've got,,, ..the saw part... And what you do is you put it on the hooks and you have a bone saw for amputations.

And then, once you've amputated and you need to stitch up, are you ready for this?

That is your needle.

I wouldn't want that anywhere near me.

Look at the size of it.

VO: Do you know?

I don't feel well all of a sudden.

It is complete.

Every single piece that is meant to be in that box is still there.

It was made by a company called Coxeter, which, if I'm not wrong, was going from about 1830s to 1930s, and they made quality.

VO: Well, you'd hope so, wouldn't you?

No price on that.

IM: But it's so macabre.

MUSIC: "Danse Macabre" So weird and wonderful and there's a lot of people out there who will think exactly that.

VO: Yeah, they'd give their left arm for it!

Ha!

Now, how about something less scary?

I rather like the look of this.

A French sundial.

I would say that is probably circa 1880s, 1890s.

You would put it outside in a garden and tell the time from it.

VO: And it's still as accurate as the day it was made.

It makes me wonder whether it started life like that, though, because the base is spelter rather than bronze, and this, the actual sundial itself, is a bronze because when you put your hands on it, it stays cold, but this part does not, it warms up.

But even if it did not start a life together, it's a rather cool combination because garden things can be quite popular at auction.

VO: £95 is the price.

Another one to talk to owner Chris about and his young assistant, Noah.

CHRIS: How can I help you Irita?

IM: Hello.

Oh, never mind, Chris, about you.

IM: Hello.

NOAH: Hello.

I feel like he's going to do a better deal for me.

He might give you a slightly heavier discount than me, but he'd also get in trouble.

(LAUGHS) VO: Nice try, Irita.

Let's enquire about that unpriced amputation kit.

That's not long come in, um... Of course it hasn't.

CHRIS: (CHUCKLES) Um, that's got 120 on it.

Oh, blimey.

Is there any movement in that?

Probably £70 would buy it.

OK, what about the French sundial that you've got 95 on?

That I could do for £40.

To give you the best chance, I'd do the two for... 90.

IM: Are you sure?

CHRIS: Yeah.

Well, you're definitely not stitching me up with that one, IM: are you?

CHRIS: (LAUGHS) VO: No, he lopped a fair bit off, ha-ha!

That makes 60 for the medical kit and 30 for the sundial.

Thank you so much.

Would you have given me more discount?

NOAH: Yeah.

CHRIS: (LAUGHS) Thank you so much, Chris, thank you, Noah.

No worries.

Thanks for coming.

IM: We'll see you later.

BOTH: Bye.

VO: And with £346 still in the kitty, let's head off and pick up your fellow hat enthusiast.

Do you know, I'm quite happy with what I bought today.

IM: Are you?

MH: Ever positive, ever hopeful.

IM: Well, to put you at ease... MH: Mm.

I'm very happy.

What did you get?

That would be telling, darling.

Let me just put it this way, I think I'll sleep well tonight.

VO: And on that note, time for some shuteye.

It's another gorgeous morning.

Perfect weather for tootling about in the Fens.

I've been in this neck of the woods many, many times.

There was once an arts center in King's Lynn, which I was a patron.

Oh!

VO: Get you, Mr Fancy Pants.

And what do you think, have you been around here before?

Oh, yeah, many times, I love it.

IM: It reminds me of Latvia.

MH: It reminds you of Latvia?

It's so flat, just like back home.

MH: FLAT-via.

IM: (LAUGHS) VO: Silly man.

Yesterday, our Mark made a good start to his shopping, picking up an oil lamp stand and a couple of fancy fountain pens.

Oh, that is pretty.

VO: That leaves him with £265 for today's fun and games.

Irita's budget currently stands at £346, after she plumped for a silver pourer, a sundial and amputation kit, as you do, and this little beauty, well... That is awesome.

I mean, come on!

VO: Yeah, but does anyone else share her vision?

I think it's so tacky, so gorgeous...

I know!

MH: ..so wonderful.

IM: I know!

I'm so glad we're on the same lines with that.

Oh, yes.

Tacky is just amazing, isn't it?

MH: It is.

VO: Well, that's one convert.

Let's see if anyone else agrees, when it whizzes off west to an auction in Shropshire.

But for now, we keep heading east.

Next stop is Wisbech, where, having deposited Irita en route, Mark is up for a spot of solo shopping.

"Granny's Cupboard."

I wonder what Granny's got for me today?

VO: Chilblains?

Only one way to find out, let's raid it, shall we?

Well, this is one cupboard that certainly isn't bare.

There's so much stock that it's a bit of a squeeze to walk around.

Should keep our rummager entertained for a while.

I'm like a pig in muck, this is amazing!

And it's all looked after by Richard, who I'm not sure can get out from behind that counter, actually.

Alright, Mister, let's dive in.

Hello, I think I've spotted something lurking down... Easy does it.

VO: Good, steady hand, there.

So what we're looking at is a piece of bohemian glass.

So Bohemia was a region of Europe that became incredibly famous for really high-quality glass cutting.

So it's cased with a very thin layer of differently-colored glass.

And then the glass cutter would cut that back to reveal this high-quality, colorless glass underneath.

But the style really shows me that this is 20th-century, and I think this dates specifically to about 1930, so bang smack in the middle of the art-deco period.

VO: It's got the look, doesn't have a price, though.

I do notice there are a couple of scratches and nicks here, but just look at how that sparkles.

It does everything that cut-glass should do, sparkling in the light.

I think that's just a really great quality piece of glass, so I'm going to pop it back into its hiding place.

VO: Gently does it.

Now, there's a whole other floor to look at.

And, yes, it's just as packed as downstairs.

Ha-ha-ha!

VO: Steady on.

Now, that makes my heart sing.

What a fantastic style.

It's a little bit art deco, it's a little bit mid-century modern, and I think it's cool and contemporary as well.

VO: Yeah, it goes on an Aga, lovely.

What we're looking at is a piece of Picquot Ware.

It was designed in 1938 by Jean Picquot and this K3 kettle, that's what it's called, was exhibited in the Britain Can Make It Exhibition of the Victoria And Albert Museum, a landmark exhibition in 1946.

VO: Manufactured by Burrage & Boyde of Northampton.

They also made vacuum cleaners in the same factory, hmm!

MH: And it's not just collectable and cool, it's also completely practical - you could still fill this with water, put it on your hob and use it to make your cup of tea today.

For me, it's got everything... ..except a price tag.

In that case, let's head downstairs and have a chat.

MH: Richard.

DEALER: Hello.

This, you might have noticed, I'm clutching close to my heart.

Yes.

How much is the unpriced kettle?

Uh, 20.

£20, OK.

I've spotted something else.

There's a red bohemian vase, sort of, art deco-y type thing.

DEALER: I know the one, yeah.

MH: Yeah?

MH: How much is that?

DEALER: 45.

45.

So if I said that, unfortunately, there are some scratches on there... 50 for the two.

Do you know what?

I really can't argue with that.

VO: It would be rather churlish.

£35 for the vase and 15 for the kettle.

Thank you very much, kind sir.

DEALER: Bye-bye.

MH: Thank you.

VO: Time to take your remaining £215 and head off.

No shopping for Irita just yet.

She's landed in the historic Norfolk town of King's Lynn and is heading north to the docks.

She's come to find out about a close-knit community that for centuries played a vital role in the prosperity of the town.

North End fishermen.

IM: Morning, Lindsey.

LINDSEY: Good morning, Irita.

VO: She's meeting Lindsey Bavin, the curator of a museum dedicated to these hardy fisherfolk.

King's Lynn was once the third most important port in the country.

We used to have all this trade coming through.

There's wine, we had salt, furs, pitch, timber, all of these goods coming into the town, but one of our biggest imports and exports was fish.

VO: With river access to the North Sea, fishing has been important to this place since it was first settled around the 11th century.

Some 500 years later, a proclamation by Elizabeth I granted the town's fishermen free and uninterrupted use of the fisherfleet forever and ever.

It was a living, but not one without risks.

Every time the men went down to their boats, the women would have no idea if they'd be coming back at all.

They never learned to swim because they considered it to be bad luck.

And they had loads of different superstitions because, thinking about how dangerous it was, every little step that they could take to try and increase their luck.

So if they saw a pig on their way to the boat, they turn back.

If they saw a nun, they turn back.

Oh, my goodness.

LINDSEY: It's amazing they made LINDSEY: it to the boat at all.

IM: I know!

Here in the North End, the fishermen and their families built a community.

They lived in yards, collections of cottages, surrounding a communal open space.

By the 1850s, there were 35 yards in the town, home to almost 1,800 people.

But today, True's Yard, now part of The Fisherfolk Museum, is the only one left.

Is this one of the fishermen's cottages, then?

This is actually two.

Two?!

Wow!

They're a lot smaller than I imagined.

All the yards, all dotted around the North End, would have been a hive of activity.

You would have had net mending, you would have had people in the yards working on the sails.

And there was about 100 families all living in them, some having as many as 15 children.

IM: Inside one of these?!

LINDSEY: Mm-hm.

VO: Let's pop into number five, and meet Brian Chase, a museum trustee who grew up in the North End.

IM: Oh, my goodness, this is rather claustrophobic, isn't it?

I should think it's very cozy when the heating is on, with the fire.

You're a born and bred King's Lynn man, aren't you?

BRIAN: Yes.

IM: Fisherman family?

Yes, my father was a fisherman for, well, I think it was 54 and a half years.

IM: Wow!

BRIAN: And my brother went into the business with him.

Were you ever tempted to be a fisherman?

BRIAN: Tempted?

Yes.

IM: (CHUCKLES) VO: By the turn of the 20th century, this historic industry was in decline due to dwindling fish stocks and other economic factors.

And in the 1930s, an Act of Parliament aimed at improving basic living conditions meant that the yards of the North End were no longer seen as fit for habitation.

LINDSEY: They bulldozed... BRIAN: Hundreds.

LINDSEY: ..hundreds of houses... BRIAN: Hundreds.

..and the cottages here, that were opposite, were demolished in 1935.

Why?

Because they didn't have a kitchen or a bathroom, which by modern standards meant they were no longer considered houses.

They were essentially a slum.

They were all demolished apart from these two, which survived.

IM: Why did these survive?

They were part of the shop on the front, which was where the museum is now, and these were used to store for the shop and that.

So it would have been filled with cabbages, I understand.

VO: Within a generation, King's Lynn's fishing community was lost, with True's Yard the only physical reminder of this once-thriving way of life.

But surprisingly, the memory of the town's fisherfolk also lives on in the form of classical music.

The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams came to King's Lynn in search of folk song.

Someone directed him to the North End and the fishermen.

Now, one of the people who sang to Vaughan Williams was a gentleman by the name of Dougie Carter, and he sang a song which was called The Captain's Apprentice.

It's quite a grim song, it dealt with the mistreatment of a young apprentice at sea who sadly died.

Vaughan Williams was inspired by this.

In fact, he said it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard, the tune, and that was what he took and incorporated into his Norfolk Rhapsody.

VO: And, for as long as that piece is played, Lynn's fishing history will be remembered.

Meanwhile, Mark has also made it to Norfolk.

He's heading to the village of Setchey, and this place, his final shop today.

Well, they weren't lying - it's a warehouse.

VO: Yes, it's sort of in the name, isn't it?

And as you imagine, inside is huge.

Over 100 dealers sell their wares from here, everything from retro to really old stuff and plenty in between.

Of course, a shop this size brings its own set of problems.

I don't know where to start and stop.

Chicken, headless chicken.

VO: Just take a breath, Mark.

You'll be fine.

Meanwhile, our other shopper is also on the move, heading to Hunstanton.

Her destination, Cider Barn Antiques.

Sounds intoxicating.

Let's pop in and say hello to Sarah.

IM: Hello.

DEALER: Hello.

IM: Hello.

VO: Hello.

This place might be a wee bit smaller than Mark's emporium, but there's still an awful lot to pick over, some of which might tempt Irita to dip into that £346 of hers.

Better get busy.

If you've got a library and you need a statement piece that screams classical... ..there it is.

It is after the Michelangelo's Dying Slave.

VO: The original is in the Louvre in Paris.

It is made, however, out of wax.

I would say this is really late 1800s.

And wax was very, very expensive.

All you need is a wick in the middle, and you've got one big whopping candle.

VO: Sacrilege.

And for £670, you'd expect it to be scented!

Now, back in Setchey, let's see if there's any sign of success yet.

Pretty.

Now, that catches my eye.

VO: Oh, he does like a bit of glass, our Mark.

So this morning, I bought a wonderful art deco-style vase produced in Heyde, or Novy Bor, in Czechoslovakia, in about 1930.

Jump forward another 30 years, and that's the sort of thing that region was producing.

So gone are the cuts and in is this sort of sense of flowers and nature.

This looks like an opening bud with this curling petal coming up here.

And this design was produced in 1957 for a company called Harrach.

I'm looking around it to see if it's badly scratched.

And I think we are very happy.

£20.

I'm even more happy now.

I'm having that.

VO: Keith will be the man you need to see about that.

Hello there, how can I help?

MH: I would like to buy that.

KEITH: Certainly.

It's got £20 on the bottom.

And I tell you what, I'm going to take it.

Thank you very much.

I'm not even going to negotiate.

KEITH: Excellent.

MH: 20 quid, MH: excellent.

KEITH: Thank you very much.

MH: Thank you, bye-bye.

VO: No messing about there, eh?

And that last purchase leaves him with £195 in his pocket, and he's off!

Over in Hunstanton, Irita has got her mitts on a few furry friends.

These are just adorable.

They're German-made by a company called Schuco.

VO: We should probably see if they still work.

Try before you buy, eh?

Oh, they're dancing!

Oh, that is so sweet.

They have been played with and, yes, they're a bit tatty and worn.

At the end of the day, these were made to be enjoyed.

And after 100 years, they still make me smile.

Look, look, he's... (GIGGLES) Look at him!

It's like Mark in a form of a mouse, with his long limbs and everything.

VO: That'll be the one to go for, then.

£65 is the price on him, but let's see if there's a deal to be done.

Nice.

IM: I have been browsing... DEALER: OK. ..here, there and everywhere.

So many lovely things.

Thank you.

But my heart is calling for the mice.

So if I take the grubby one, you tell me the best price... OK. ..and I will either buy it or I will walk away.

Alright, OK.

Rock-bottom would be 40.

OK, I'll go with that.

DEALER: OK. VO: Very kind, Sarah.

And with £306 left over, that's her done, too.

Uh, time to catch a lift, I think.

I can hear you rustling over there.

What are you rustling up?

A sugar rush.

MH: Oh, darling, thank you.

IM: I got you a sugar rush.

Mm.

(MUFFLED MURMURS OF APPRECIATION) I think we can skip dinner after this.

I know, with all this much of a sugar rush, I'll be running round the gardens, making horse noises.

IM: (LAUGHS) VO: Off you trot, then.

Nighty-night.

The day of reckoning is here.

Time to see if their purchases pay out.

Here it is, another auction!

IM: (LAUGHS) MH: Stop laughing.

Are you excited?

I'm nervous.

Whoo!

Our duo have done a thorough sweep of the Fens and are on their way to Ipswich in Suffolk.

Meanwhile, their items have headed west to Newport in Shropshire, for sale at Brettells, with bidders online, on the phone and in the room.

Irita shopped canny, spending £180 on five auction lots.

Let's see what Jemima Brettell, today's woman with the hammer, makes of it all.

Quickly bid if you're interested, because I'm selling, here we go.

So my star lot of the day is definitely the medical saw and the needle.

Hours of fun with this one.

We've had interest on it and it's one of the most watched lots, so I'm looking forward to this one.

VO: Mark shopped even cannier.

Only £150 for his five lots.

Any standouts, Jemima?

The Picquot Ware kettle, it's got a good look, it's sleek, it's sophisticated, but as I said before, it is a kettle, um, so we'll have to see where the market is for, um... for kettles these days.

VO: Whatever happens, we'll be watching it all unfold via the wonders of technology at the Ipswich Transport Museum.

Never been here before.

MH: And full of buses.

IM: It's amazing.

A couple of ambulances over there.

I might need them later when I faint.

VO: Loves a bit of drama, doesn't he?

Let's start with a bit of his bohemian glass.

The 1930s one is up first.

JEMIMA: Start me in at 30?

MH: Oh, my.

Start me in at 20, then?

JEMIMA: Any interest?

MH: Oh, my.

JEMIMA: 20?

IM: No!

JEMIMA: 10?

IM: Don't ask!

£10 is bid.

JEMIMA: 12, 15, 18.

IM: Oh!

We've had 18 bid, now, can we get it 20, anywhere?

£20, now?

JEMIMA: Can we get it two...?

IM: Oh, no.

It's a lovely thing, at £20.

It IS a lovely thing.

IM: Come on.

JEMIMA: All online here... That is so cheap.

£20, now I'm looking for two.

Go on, one more.

IM: Come on.

Go on, you know you want to.

22 is bid now, at 22.

MH: Hallelujah.

JEMIMA: 25, at 25, then.

IM: Come on.

JEMIMA: Are we sure?

For £25.

Here we go, at 25.

IM: Pff!

MH: Pf-f-f-f-f-ff!

(CHUCKLES) My six-year-old does that when he doesn't get the chocolate he wanted!

I didn't get the chocolate I wanted.

VO: Very mature.

Ha-ha!

Bad news on the vase, though.

It deserved more than that.

Someone got a very beautiful vase for a very good price.

VO: Time for Irita's sundial next.

£30, start me in at 30.

Don't start it like this.

You've got a bid, though.

JEMIMA: £20.

IM: No, no!

Oh, no!

That was wishful thinking.

JEMIMA: At £20... IM: Oh, she got £20.

Oh, you're there now.

25.

At 25, 28.

At 28, 30 bid.

At 32 now bid, 35.

IM: Come on.

MH: Well, you're in profit.

MH: That's good news.

JEMIMA: One more.

38.

At £40 bid now, where's two?

IM: Come on.

JEMIMA: At £40, then.

Is that hammer going to go down?

Twice... Third and final time.

Final warning at 40.

IM: You can't.

(GAVEL) £40 - profit.

It's a profit.

VO: And GNOMON can take that away from you.

That's what the sticky-up bit's called, by the way, a gnomon.

MH: Well done.

IM: I'll have that.

I won't grumble, I won't grumble.

Next up, Mark's stand for oil lamps - or anything else you fancy.

At 40, two, five.

At 45.

IM: Straight in profit.

MH: Hooray!

At 45 online now, can we get to eight?

Come on.

JEMIMA: At 45?

Nice thing, this.

IM: Come on.

IM: She likes it.

MH: I think that's done.

At £45.

(GAVEL) IM: That was one-hit wonder.

VO: Well, it was a hit.

Well done, Mark.

MH: Teeny tiny little... IM: £10!

Teeny tiny little profit.

£10 is not tiny.

VO: Irita's clockwork mouse now.

Remind you of anyone?

It's the long arms and the limbs.

Yeah.

And it was doing, like, roly-polies with the straight arms.

Start the bidding in at 15 bid, at 15 bid.

IM: Oh.

MH: Ooh!

18 if you want to go.

At 15 bid now, where's 18?

Please don't stop.

JEMIMA: At 15 bid now.

18.

IM: Come on.

JEMIMA: 18 bid.

MH: Come on.

Final warning.

At 18 bid online now.

IM: No!

JEMIMA: 20, if you want to go.

Away at £18.

(GAVEL) IM: The hammer hit.

VO: He looks terribly cross about it.

Well, I'm delighted that I actually contributed towards you making a slight loss.

That's good news.

IM: Oh!

MH: Ha!

(CHORTLES) Oh... Oh, when you put it like that.

Yeah.

VO: Time to see how buoyant the kettle market is.

Mark's Picquot Ware now.

Straight in at 20, two... IM: That's low.

JEMIMA: ..five, eight, 30, two, five, eight... IM: It's like a song.

JEMIMA: 40, bid.

JEMIMA: Two, at 42.

IM: Come on, come on.

JEMIMA: Five, eight, 50.

MH: Come on, come on.

JEMIMA: Five, 60.

MH: Crawling, crawling.

IM: Come on.

JEMIMA: 65 now bid, JEMIMA: where's 70 anywhere?

IM: So cheap.

And the kettle's being sold for £65.

(GAVEL) MH: Yes!

VO: That's a smashing result.

Things are boiling over now.

That's very hard to get my head around.

What, me making a profit?

I completely agree with you today.

VO: It's the turn of Irita's little pourer with a big name.

At £20 bid, 22 now.

Oh, you're in, and you're in profit.

At 25, 28.

MH: It's moving.

JEMIMA: £30.

At 32, 35.

JEMIMA: At £38, in we go?

IM: Come on, one more.

40.

Hey.

Double your money.

45, keep going.

48.

Has she got 48?

50.

55.

JEMIMA: At £60, now.

MH: Woohoo!

JEMIMA: At £60, in we go.

MH: Now we're talking.

I thought 50 was going to be optimistic, but 60!

It's great.

Final warning for £60.

(GAVEL) MH: Well done.

I am well happy with that.

VO: It's like all her Christmases have come at once.

It just shows that for £60, which isn't that much money, you can go and buy the best.

VO: Time for another crack at 20th century glass.

The '60s one now.

Starting at 10, 12, 15 bid.

It's going.

So there are two bidders who share my passion.

At 18 bid now.

Can we get it 20?

IM: Yes, you can.

JEMIMA: 18 bid online here.

IM: Come on.

JEMIMA: Where's 20 anywhere?

At 18 bid, then.

Once, twice.

Third - final warning, I'm selling.

Taxi.

Do they have taxis in here?

VO: Not everyone shares your passion, Mark.

Oh-ho-ho...

I'm fine, really.

Honestly.

VO: We've all been looking forward to this next one.

Irita's roll-along musical liqueur set.

It's in the form of a carriage.

How fun.

Anyway, I can start the bidding in at 12.

That was a bit dismissive.

"How fun."

18, 20... Oh, I got a bid!

At 22, at 22... She's finding this amusing.

Well, who wouldn't?

It's a great thing.

At 22, wheel out your drinks, wheel them back in.

At 22, then, final warning, I'm selling.

JEMIMA: Are we done?

Are we sure?

(THEY LAUGH) MH: Very enthusiastic.

At £22, I'll ask you one more time.

I cannot believe that made a loss.

They didn't get your vision, m'dear.

VO: But it was worth it for all the joy it gave.

I want to buy it back.

It's too late now.

Carriage is gone.

VO: Mark's final lot now.

Let's see if his pens are anything to write home about.

42 bid.

At 42 bid.

OK, a couple of pounds more.

At £50.

At £50 bid now.

OK, I'm in profit.

I'm happier.

55 now.

Can we get it...?

60 bid.

MH: Good.

JEMIMA: At 65.

At 65 now bid.

It's going.

Now you're coming in at 70 bid.

Are you coming in at five?

75.

JEMIMA: 75.

At 75.

80 bid.

IM: Oh, Mark!

At £80 bid, then.

Once, twice, third... And this is it.

Here we go.

For £80.

Five.

Hey!

Last-minute bids - we do love them.

90.

At £90.

Come on!

Come back again!

£90, then.

Here we go.

Once, twice, third... IM: No!

JEMIMA: Five!

MH: 90!

JEMIMA: 90.

This is what an auction's for.

JEMIMA: 100.

(THEY CHUCKLE) At 100 bid.

At 100 bid.

IM: Oh!

MH: Oh, fantastic!

At £100, and I'm selling.

Here we go.

Final warning online for £100.

Come on!

It's your time.

Timing!

Come on!

Come on!

IM: No!

JEMIMA: 10.

MH: (LAUGHS) IM: No!

110 bid now.

110 bid now.

Oh, goodness!

Here we go again.

At £120 now.

IM: Oh, I told you!

JEMIMA: Once, twice.

Forever hold your peace.

All the way.

120.

IM: Is that it?

(GAVEL) That's an amazing price.

Well done.

I'm really pleased with that.

VO: As you should be.

What an emotional roller-coaster that was.

I'm going to look for some pens in the next shop.

Just saying.

VO: And lastly, Irita's amputation kit.

Not for the squeamish, this one.

At 85 bid.

85.

There you go!

I'm in profit!

100.

100 with me on my commissions.

110.

Fantastic!

120.

130.

140.

(CHUCKLES) At 140.

It's going and going and going.

JEMIMA: 150.

IM: Yes!

MH: Oh, well done!

JEMIMA: At 150.

JEMIMA: 160.

IM: Oh, my goodness!

At 160 now.

Can we get it 170?

Yes, you can.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on!

170.

180.

JEMIMA: At £180, then.

MH: It's flying!

I'm going to sell, then.

£180.

MH: Fantastic.

(GAVEL) MH: That's great.

IM: Woo-woo!

IM: That's all I'm saying!

MH: (CHUCKLES) VO: What a result, eh?

Trebled your money.

I think you won this leg.

Well, you see, I think exactly the reverse - I think you got this leg.

BOTH: Hmm.

VO: Just don't amputate it, eh?

I do know who won this leg.

Mark started with £345, and after auction costs, he made a very respectable profit, so his budget now stands at £419.56.

Nicely done!

But Irita, who began with £486, made a wee bit more.

After saleroom fees, she now has £568.42, and her lead grows that little bit bigger.

IM: Come on, let's go and get a cuppa.

MH: Absolutely.

Well done, dear.

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