antiques experts... Let the Road Trip begin!

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

IZZIE: Ooh!

DAVID: You hit the roof then!

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

Pump yourself up... with antiques.

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

But it's no mean feat.

That's a top job, isn't it?

VO: There'll be worthy winners... AUCTIONEER: £400.

RAJ: Fantastic!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

I'm screaming on the inside.

VO: Will it be the high road to glory...

The gloves are off.

VO: ..or the slow road to disaster?

The gearbox has gone!

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip!

Kookaburra!

VO: Welcome back to Wiltshire and the continuing saga of antiques adventurers James Braxton and Natasha Raskin Sharp.

(THUD) NATASHA (NS): What was that noise?

JAMES (JB): I think that was our undercarriage.

And it's got nothing to do with the fact that I'm sitting on this side.

Nothing at all.

I will not have that slur put against me.

VO: Wouldn't dream of it!

But like their 1970 Porsche 911, our pair's progress so far could best be described as scraping along.

We really need to bring this back, don't we?

NS: We need to turn it around.

JB: We need to bring it back.

VO: And quickly.

Goodness me.

(CHUCKLES) VO: Last time, James opted for items with a few condition issues.

There is the criminal!

Its very soul has been taken away.

VO: Natasha went for an eclectic mix...

There we go.

VO: ..which included a fair amount of seating.

Cannot believe I bought another chair.

VO: At the auction, James's busted bits went down well.

£50.

Thank you for that bid.

(CHUCKLES) VO: But Natasha's foray into furniture was a bit of a flop.

These two selling for 20.

VO: I feel a verse coming on.

Auction three.

Oh!

Best forgotten.

Though in the antiques world, all's fair.

But I'll tell you now, hell will see snow before I purchase another chair.

VO: Well, if she had heeded those words last time, Natasha's initial £200 budget wouldn't currently look like £94.52.

Yikes!

James is faring a little better.

After starting with the same amount, he now has £160.72.

But three auctions in, it might be time for a bit of a rethink.

Well, we're not doing so well as antique dealers.

What do you think we should have done with our lives, James?

What should we have been?

I don't think people generally...

Unless you go into a profession, I think it's more likely that you have a portfolio career, isn't it?

So our time in antiques is only temporary, is it?

On our performance, it's probably shorter than we think.

I think we need to go speak to the careers adviser.

(THEY CHUCKLE) VO: You just need to stick at it and try harder!

Our journey thus has taken in Devon, Somerset and now Wiltshire.

It'll continue eastwards, ending up in Oxford.

On this run out, we tick off a few more counties as we shop towards Eversley in Hampshire, but our tale today begins in Melksham... ..birthplace of Henry Moule, inventor of the dry earth closet, a forerunner to the flushing loo.

And it's where our man Braxton has actually been let loose on his own.

His first shop is Two Little Ducks at number 22, naturally.

An eclectic mix of antiques and collectables, just the thing for the man who likes a rummage.

Just keep walking around and around and around, and it's amazing how something new will pop out.

I need something to pop out.

VO: Nothing so far, but give it time, eh?

My word, look at that fellow.

The educational poster.

That's striking a pose, isn't it?

What is it?

It's straight down there.

I can feel the sinews tightening.

And up here.

Do you know, he must be a forebear.

The pose comes very naturally.

Oh!

VO: Well, he said something would pop out.

Dear, oh dear.

I think I've pulled something.

VO: So while he unkinks, let's catch up with Natasha... currently heading to the market town of Royal Wootton Bassett.

VO: Her first shop is Old Bank Antiques.

In an old bank, obviously.

And look, Natasha, look at all the lovely things you simply can't afford.

Clarice Cliff plates - they're staying put.

A Faberge egg?

Not a chance.

And that doesn't look cheap, either.

This is an original painting by Eugene Boudin.

VO: Get away!

French Impressionist, 1824 to '98, the beach at Trouville was one of his favorite subjects.

NS: It's stunning.

It's exactly what you want from a Boudin.

I'm a little bit blown away.

I have £94 in my budget.

You might want to add a few zeros to this.

Not worth quite £1 million, but not far off.

VO: If only you'd done better at the auctions, eh?

Back up in Melksham, how's the search going?

It's quite amusing, isn't it?

Dog cocking its leg.

VO: It's novel, I'll give you that.

I think that's got age.

I think that's 19th century American.

It's got rubbed legs, it's made of cast iron.

It's quite simply manufactured because it's molded and then just screwed.

It's of a Scottie, isn't it?

Scottie dog.

And I must say I've never seen one before.

VO: Can't say I've ever looked, mate.

£20 on that.

I like that.

I like that and I'm probably going to buy that.

VO: Well, no time like the present.

Anne's in charge today.

Anne.

Found this rather strange cocking dog.

DEALER: He is cute.

Do you know much about Mr Cocking Dog?

Um, I believe it's a doorstop.

It's got the weight, hasn't it?

It has, yeah.

We've got 20 quid on it, Anne.

Would you take a fiver?

No.

What about 10?

Have to think about that one for a moment.

Um...

While you think, I'm just going to get the cash out.

Let's help you.

Cuz it's you, yeah, you can have it for 10.

That's really kind.

There we are.

JB: I'll leave the tenner there.

DEALER: Thank you very much.

And I'll bid you farewell.

JB: Thanks a lot.

Bye.

DEALER: Good luck.

VO: Very generous, Anne.

Just over £150 left.

Now, back to the bank, where Natasha might be onto something too.

I'm always attracted to a planter.

Can't deny it.

I live in a household with over 40 house plants, so I'm always attracted to a planter.

It's a Dutch style.

I think that, at this size, you really need a little bit of extra flounce.

And providing that, some paw feet and the lion mask handles with these rings.

So I think it has appeal.

It has age.

It's probably about 150 years old or so.

The whole point is, is that it's not the most expensive thing in this shop.

VO: But at £58, it's still more than half your budget.

You know what I have to do, and I can't really deal with it.

Look at that.

Big gulp.

Genuinely makes me nervous.

I have to just go in hard with an offer.

I think it's going to begin with a two.

Wish me luck.

VO: You can do it, Natasha!

Jon's the man you'll need to strong-arm.

Jon, hi.

Hi.

I've seen a little planter that I like.

So I have very little money to spend in your fine shop.

What I'd like to spend on it is £20.

JON: Right.

NS: Is that possible?

How about if we nudge you up to 25?

Of course.

£25 is a cracking discount.

Thank you so much.

VO: That wasn't so hard, was it?

Just under £70 left in your account.

Thanks so much.

Right, here it is.

I'm off.

Cheerio!

JON: Bye-bye.

NS: Thanks, Jon.

VO: Yes, time you made a withdrawal.

VO: Meanwhile, James has left the shops for now in search of a rural idyll, and surprisingly he's come to the busy Wiltshire town of Swindon to find it.

This is the Old House at Coate, the childhood home of a prolific but largely forgotten author whose ideas about the natural world are particularly relevant today.

James is meeting Mike Pringle, the director of the museum here.

Hello.

Hello, James.

Who lived in this lovely thatched farmhouse?

This was the birthplace and home of Richard Jefferies, a nature writer from Victorian times.

VO: Born in 1848 to farming parents, Richard grew up in what was, at that time, rural Wiltshire, but it was a family tragedy that really spurred his love of nature.

When he was a toddler, his elder sister, when she was five, she was killed by a horse out on the road.

But the impact that had on the parents, of course, was very, very severe.

And I think Jefferies was left a bit to his own devices.

And luckily for us, I think that's probably what led him to just go off wandering in the countryside and start to develop this passion for nature and the world around him.

What was his education?

Surely as a writer, he would have been educated.

Although he lived here in sort of rustic Wiltshire, he also spent a lot of time with his very well-to-do aunt nearer London.

She gave him a very, very solid education, so he had this constant mix between society, countryside, you know, well-to-do.

So he got his skills from the town and his material from the countryside.

Very good, yes.

I think that sums it up nicely.

VO: This education inspired him to pick up a pen, and he would spend hours writing here in this attic room.

His first job, aged 17, was at a local newspaper.

Then he began writing articles for The Times.

And although his subject matter was rural life, he upped sticks from Wiltshire and moved closer to the capital.

Strangely, the further away he moved from Swindon, the more he started to reminisce back to his days here in the countryside.

And partly because, of course, the things that were bringing him success were those tales of his country life.

So, rather like Jane Austen or Beatrix Potter, was there a breakthrough book?

There was The Gamekeeper At Home.

He shadowed a local gamekeeper, and he poured out lots of fantastic stories, and that became a bestseller.

VO: Many more books followed, all with the overarching theme of nature and mankind's effect upon it, from autobiographical works to what is thought to be the first post-apocalyptic science fiction novel.

But perhaps his best-loved work was a tale of children's adventure.

MIKE: He wrote a book called Bevis... JB: Yeah.

MIKE: ..The Story Of A Boy.

And that's all about adventures out on the lake.

And he wrote this almost simultaneously as Mark Twain was writing about Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on the other side of the Atlantic.

How interesting.

So he, you know, Jefferies was sort of doing the same thing over here.

Slightly Swallows and Amazons feel, or...?

Well, it's interesting you should mention that because Arthur Ransome actually wrote Swallows and Amazons because he'd read Bevis as a child... Ah!

..so it inspired him, too.

VO: Sadly, Jeffries' life was cut short.

He contracted tuberculosis and his health deteriorated.

He became too ill to write, dictating his final works to his wife from his sick bed.

Jefferies died in 1887, at the age of 38.

His books, once bestsellers, gradually fell out of print, and were all but forgotten.

But the relevance today of his themes of ecology and conservation mean he's being rediscovered by a new generation of readers.

We're sitting under the mulberry tree.

He called this the tree of life, and described how he spent his childhood playing under it, and then falling in love, and, ultimately, death itself.

That's the story of everything that Jefferies wrote about.

It was all about the natural world and the cycle of everything.

Yeah.

In a way, what he was writing back then was sort of an early attempt at what we would now call ecology.

This is what Jefferies was essentially sort of pulling together for us, and saying, "Look, guys, this is our planet.

"We're part of it.

It's not a different thing".

No.

It's not something else, something other, and it's up to us to actually make it work for us.

VO: A man with ideas ahead of his time.

Now out about in all that nature, someone's feeling less than tranquil.

I know that the dealers are expecting us to haggle.

I know that.

It's just not in my nature.

It's like, but I have to keep haggling like this, and I don't like it!

VO: Well, the best way to conquer your fears is to face them.

VO: So let's head off to Hungerford and do it all again.

VO: In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, William of Orange was offered the crown of England in the local pub.

Definitely beats bar snacks!

Hungerford Arcade, here I come.

VO: Time to stiffen the sinews, gird the loins and dive straight in.

You've got this, girl.

This is absolutely chocka.

There are just... so many antiques.

VO: That's what we're here for.

Home to over 100 dealers, it's a biggie, so there's bound to be something for your remaining £69.52 to spend on.

Now, where to begin?

All the way to the back.

It's the only way to do this - methodically.

VO: Sounds good to me.

This couldn't be anything other than Poole Pottery.

"Poole, England".

OK, good.

Tick.

Poole.

Great.

Didn't make a fool of myself.

A Delphis vase, OK, from the Delphis range.

Painted by Rosina St Clayre, 1971 to 1973.

OK, so I would prefer for it to be larger.

If it's bigger, I can't afford it.

If it were orange, I don't think that I could afford it.

And I would probably prefer for it to be a '60s piece of Poole.

VO: That would be the more collectable stuff.

That's still very Poole, though - ha - and only £18.

I think sometimes you have to have faith in something that is instantly recognizable.

(WHISPERS) And let's face it, pretty cheap.

I wouldn't even have to be too cheeky when haggling on this one.

VO: Which is good.

Let's see what else you can find.

Oh!

Half price.

Delightful.

Love it.

Love a bit of half price.

VO: Half price means less haggling again.

This really stands out.

Are you kidding?

For the cat person who has everything, an enamel cat bracelet.

Looks tiny.

I have a humongous wrist.

I'll confess to you, I have, I'm going to call it a butcher's wrist, OK?

It's huge.

(CHUCKLES) Let's see.

Oh, it's just too small.

Could that be for a child?

A bit of enameled silver?

Hopefully it is silver.

Yes.

Ah!

A couple of good things going on in the back.

Meka, sterling, Denmark.

I think that's mid 20th century, you know?

I think we're talking '50s, '60s.

VO: Ticketed at £89.

Even with the half price discount, that's still a fair chunk of your money.

I just think I have to be bold.

I just think I have to do it, claw away at that price tag.

Mm.

VO: You'll need to talk to Adrian, one of the dealers.

Let's hope he's a pussycat.

Ha!

Oh, Adrian!

You are waiting in the wings, I love it.

I am.

And I have amassed a very disparate, eclectic collection.

A Scandinavian bracelet, formed of little cats heads in enamel.

So cute!

You know it?

I do.

Now, it's in the half price cabinet.

It's marked up at £89, so right now, we're at £44.50.

I'm wondering if you have the authority to go any lower than that?

I think we could probably do that for £20.

That's amazing.

I would be daft not to say "thank you so much" at £20.

Then, there's a bit of Poole Pottery, early '70s, Delphis vase, do you know the one?

Do you know the dealer?

I think I do.

You're looking at him right now.

Oh, you're the dealer?

It's your lucky day!

Oh, no!

Maybe it's not your lucky day!

Or maybe not my lucky day!

It's marked up at 18.

Would you take 10?

How about £10?

Would you do it for £10?

I'd do it for £10.

NS: Er, yes please.

That's fab.

DEALER: Pleasure.

DEALER: Absolute pleasure.

NS: Thank you so much!

VO: She might hate to haggle, but she's getting rather good at it.

Just under £40 left.

Er, how long was I in there?

VO: It's past James's bedtime, that's for sure.

Nighty-night.

(MOOING) VO: Up and at 'em, Road Trippers, for another day of adventure.

Guten Morgen.

JB: Guten Morgen.

NS: (CHUCKLES) VO: Someone went for the continental breakfast!

We have crossed county lines.

I know.

We're all over the place.

I have never known so many counties adjoining each other.

I confess, I am confused, but I have it on good authority that we're in Berkshire.

VO: Hey, gold star in geography to that girl!

Ah!

VO: And, while traversing this, and the other counties yesterday, there was a spot of shopping, in which James only managed to procure one item.

Dog cocking its leg.

It's quite amusing, isn't it?

VO: That only cost a tenner, so he still has 150 smackers to play with.

Natasha's day was more fruitful.

She's got just under £40 left, after picking up a copper planter and a very yellow vase...

Tick.

Poole.

Great.

VO: ..and one other item that she's brought along to share.

Check out my little Scandinavian silver pussycat brooch.

VO: It's a bracelet, Natasha.

JB: Oh.

NS: Isn't that lovely?

And it fits your wrist alright?

We're all dealt a hand in life, and I've been dealt some seriously chubby wrists.

(THEY CHUCKLE) So I can't decide if it's for a child, or just for the ladies slighter of wrist.

For your cat, I'll raise you a dog.

What did you buy?

I think it's in the footwell somewhere there.

Are you serious?

Why did you buy this?

Is it a doorstop?

It's a doorstop.

I just thought it was funny.

Look at it from underneath!

That's daft.

Looks like a wing.

That's very improper.

Allow the poor dog some decency.

That's terrible.

VO: Don't mince your words, Natasha, eh?

VO: Later, Fido and all the other items will be swanning off to Stroud for auction, but today we begin here in Berkshire at Newbury.

VO: Town motto - "Floruit floreat", which means "may it flourish as it has flourished".

It's also the little prayer our experts say before every road trip.

Mr Braxton is going solo this morning at the Newbury Emporium, and they're not short of stock in here.

Ho!

Cabinets galore, and more besides.

Plenty for our man to get his mitts on.

Well, that's an unusual piece.

It's a fabulous little miniature long case clock.

And it's made out of a spelter, which is a sort of lead-based alloy.

You've got all this sort of stylized floral stuff, arabesque.

And then you've got this barley twist here.

Incredible decoration.

You know, if you wanted something Victorian, this is it.

The only minus is the dear battery-operated movement at the back.

VO: Not the original, then.

Anyone else getting deja vu?

I did quite well in the last auction with, er, with that rather nice arts and crafts clock.

And that, funnily enough, had a quartz movement.

Maybe it's an omen.

But the dial's right, the hands are right.

VO: And the price could be right.

£25 on that.

So that's a definite candidate.

VO: No messing about today, oh no.

What else can you find?

Look at this!

VO: Eh?

Look at this!

VO: Think on your knees, James.

Here's something that's quite sort of trendy.

I always like a combination of materials, and we've got here a jade-colored bracelet with gold-colored mounts, you know, and you hope that that is jade.

And you hope that the mounts are actually gold.

And it's got a hidden catch, and I think that's probably it.

We've got a little marker, and that...

It opens quite nicely.

It's probably bought in somewhere like Hong Kong.

It's got a sort of very stylized bamboo-like decoration, Chinese decoration.

And the materials are very Chinese, aren't they?

Jade.

VO: No price on that, but it's right up his street.

I'm... Oh, that was like a giraffe.

All the elegance of the gazelle.

VO: It's a comparison that's often been made, James.

Anything else?

And there is a very nice, rather fun object, isn't it?

I think it's the toucan.

I think that's crystal.

And I think his body is crystal, and I think his tail is crystal.

And I'm just going to quickly look at his eyes.

Yeah, they're little gem set cabochon eyes.

A little...red stone there.

Yeah, I don't see why that isn't crystal.

If you are a bird person, you'd love that, wouldn't you?

I think that's great.

I think that's a really lovely object.

VO: And even lovelier is the price - £15.

VO: You'd be hard-pressed to buy a couple of ready meals for 15 quid.

It's been a rich seam here in Newbury.

VO: Indeed.

Let's find Gary, the owner, to see if there's a deal to be done.

Gary, I've had a lovely time.

I've found a rather nice toucan, a bracelet and a long case clock.

And looking at them, I think it comes down to price.

The miniature long case clock is 35.

What could that be?

That'd be a 30.

JB: 30?

DEALER: Mm-hm.

I'm happy with the bird, the toucan, 15.

And the bracelet, could you do that at 30?

I was thinking 35, but as... Today, we'll do it 30.

I'm going to take the clock, the bracelet and the toucan.

75 quid.

Yep.

Thank you.

It's been easy.

VO: It shows with that little haul, and he still has over £75 left.

Thank you.

The roads to riches.

VO: And you just make sure you look both ways before you cross, eh James?

Now, Newbury, of course, is a big horse racing town, having its own racecourse.

But it's to another of Berkshire's racehorse rendezvous, Lambourn, that Natasha is headed.

For nearly 300 years, this village has played a big part in the sport of kings.

Nowadays, it's the place to train for elite equines.

But it used to host some of the earliest horse races.

Up on the Mandown Gallops, Natasha's meeting historian Penny Stokes to find out how it all began.

Take us back to the 18th century.

Paint us a picture of a racehorse meeting here at Lambourn.

The first recorded races that we know about were, I think, 1731.

It was all amateur in those days, and in fact, the riders were usually the owners, so they tended to be portly country gentlemen and squires.

So it was very, very different.

I mean, the horses were not today's thoroughbreds.

They were smaller, very much sturdier, and they had to have much more endurance power because the races were run as a series of three-mile heats until one horse had won twice.

So a horse might run for 12 miles.

VO: These races were the brainchild of William, the 3rd Baron Craven.

He owned all this land and indeed quite a lot of Berkshire.

He sponsored the first meetings, and for the next 150 years, the Craven family continued to play a big role in the races here.

That is, until the 1st Earl of Craven, also named William, had other ideas.

PENNY: Lord Craven decided to set up racing in Newbury instead, so that really rather finished Lambourn as a regular place for racing.

Racing, meanwhile, had become much more professional because of the Jockey Club, which started to insist on minimum prizes, minimum standards of courses and so on.

And that meant the little country racecourses dotted around here and there, they just weren't viable any longer.

VO: This standardization of the sport meant bad news for Lambourn.

That is until the 1840s, when the gallops at the home of horse racing, Newmarket, were hit by a severe drought, making the ground too hard for the horses to train on.

So the owners and trainers were looking around, saying, "Where have they got some decent turf?"

and they found Lambourn.

And Lambourn's never really looked back since.

Were any big names, big winners trained here?

Berkshire's first Derby winner, Wild Dayrell, winner of the Derby in 1855, was trained at Lambourn, but not by a professional.

He was co-owned by Lord Craven, of course.

VO: The 2nd Earl this time, and yet another William.

And rather than employ a professional trainer, the horse was trained by a groom, a chap by the name of Rickaby.

Wild Dayrell went to Epsom and won the derby by two lengths.

And the Jockey Club was, of course, absolutely appalled, because, I mean, that wasn't supposed to happen with amateur horses.

VO: Since then, hundreds of race winners have come out of Lambourn.

It's been estimated that nowadays horse racing accounts for one in three of the jobs in the local economy.

Natasha's meeting Will Riggall, the operations manager here, to see just some of the 700 thoroughbreds who train here.

That was fast, but that wasn't top speed, was it?

That would have been about 85, 90%, I think.

NS: They're keeping some of their powder dry.

WILL: Yes, two days out of seven they'll do what we call working, which is, um, close to full speed.

And then the rest of the days they're just doing routine canters, routine exercises.

VO: And it's all a bit more scientific than in Lord Craven's day.

We have about 10 miles of grass gallops here, which are the preferred surface for galloping horses on.

But when the grass isn't up to scratch, it might be too firm because of a lack of rain, or it might be too soft, we use these artificial gallops.

That's not turf?

WILL: No.

NS: So, hold on... Oh, actually, as soon as I bent down, you can see.

It feels...

When you start to move it around, it gets a little bit stuck together.

Yeah, it's wax-coated and it's designed to ride the same every day of the week, give or take rain, shine or whatever the weather.

VO: And the welfare of the animals themselves has also improved.

What happens to the horses after they stop racing?

Racing's governing bodies are working very hard to ensure the welfare of our equine athletes, from the minute they enter the sport to the moment that they leave the sport.

And they're well looked after, so the owners will often take their horses back off the trainers and look after them on their own stud farms.

Obviously, the horses have a certain lifespan, but it seems that Lambourn just goes on and on and on.

Do you foresee centuries to come, here at these grounds?

As long as there are racecourses in Britain, there'll be horses trained in Lambourn.

It's very proud of its racing heritage, and racing itself is very proud of Lambourn, yeah.

VO: And it's no wonder that this whole area has been dubbed "the Valley of the Racehorse".

And out and about in his own thoroughbred, James is in a chipper mood.

I've got £75 cash in my pocket.

I feel no pressure to spend all the money.

I'm in a position where I can just put a little aside for a rainy day.

VO: Blimey!

Well, that's a first on this trip.

He's hoofed it into Hampshire, heading to Eversley, and his last shop.

VO: Eversley Barn Antiques is the place...

There we are.

Good.

VO: ..and a lovely place it is, too.

Let's have a rundown of what's on offer, James.

Lots of cabinets, lots of copper, lots of Staffordshire silver.

It's an antiquey place.

VO: Well, it is an antique shop.

One that you won't have to yourself for long, it seems.

Of course he's already here.

I really am always one step behind.

VO: I wouldn't worry.

Nothing much has happened so far.

Look at that.

There's a lovely roll to the green, if I might say so.

Is this how it feels to be so relaxed and streets ahead, with all that profit, that you're just playing tabletop... Oh, just through.

..croquet?

Work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, doesn't it?

Come on.

Let's play.

Right, here we go.

NS: Oh no!

JB: Oh!

OK, I'm going to do a mallet drop... Mallet drop.

..and I'm going to say enjoy yourself.

I need to get serious.

I need to find antiques.

Don't worry, I will find your ball.

Keep looking!

VO: And while he's distracted, you get first dibs at the goodies!

What can you find for your remaining £39.52?

That's quite cool.

Is that Rembrandt's The Night Watch?

It is!

I love that.

Look at this.

On either side of this letter rack, that is Rembrandt's most famous painting.

VO: Indeed it is.

The Dutch master's largest work of art, measuring 14 feet across, now hangs in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

It's valued at slightly more than the £50 price tag on Natasha's version.

Ha!

NS: So here we have some continental silver marks, import marks, I think.

19th century.

It's very light.

At auction, it's so much about the gage of metal, and there's not a lot of it.

But what about the art historians out there?

They need this, they need this Dutch silver letter rack that celebrates Rembrandt's finest work.

I wouldn't want to pay too much for it, but that truly appeals.

I love that.

VO: I think she's keen.

Meanwhile, James is having a natter with the lady in charge, Judy.

Look at that chair!

It's a lovely chair, isn't it?

Good, wide seat, isn't it?

Yeah.

This is for a person who sat on a horse for most of their life.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense, doesn't it?

The spreading bottom.

DEALER: Yeah!

JB: OK. And that is lovely.

It's very comfy.

It's a very comfortable chair.

I eat my lunch at that chair every day.

JB: Do you?

DEALER: Yes, I do.

It's a nice seat, but, you know, my heart, really, Judy, is with the bamboo.

VO: Yeah, he's a big fan, you know?

Rather grand hall stand there.

I've been beating the drum for 20 years on telly about bamboo.

VO: I know.

I've had to listen to you bang on about it.

I like this sort of crescent moon mirror... DEALER: Yeah.

JB: The stick stand there.

It's missing its drip tray.

Yeah, it's a bit...

Bit wibbly wobbly.

Bit wibbly wobbly.

And how old do you think that is, James?

I think it's probably Victorian.

DEALER: Yeah.

JB: It's sort of very Oriental, Japanese-y.

So, Judy, what could this be bought for?

For clearance?

20 quid.

20 quid?

I will buy it at 20 quid.

You've got a good buy there.

I've got myself a deal.

Fabulous.

James, stop smiling.

(CHUCKLES) VO: He's very excited.

£20 paid, 55 left for rainy day money.

And I will send my man to collect it.

Fabulous.

Thank you very much.

Judy, thank you very much indeed.

DEALER: Brilliant.

JB: Goodbye.

Bye-bye.

VO: One happy bunny.

How's the other one getting along?

Bit of Worcester, which I normally wouldn't be able to afford.

So... let's take a closer look.

VO: Yes, let's.

Instantly I have spotted on the label "AF", so we know that's "as found".

So there's damage... somewhere.

I haven't found... Oh!

Is that it there?

There is a hairline crack.

That is living up to its name.

Absolutely tiny, but I think importantly, not interfering with the decoration.

This rural, hillside scene of some rams grazing on the mountain's edge.

Very evocative.

The palette is absolutely what you want it to be for Worcester.

VO: £20 is the price on that.

Signed as well, look.

So we have a 1913 E Baxter original painting on this Worcester cabinet saucer.

A shame it's not the cup.

Were the two together, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

I'm still going to haggle for it.

That's what I came here to do, right?

Have a haggle.

VO: She's warming to it now.

Gird your loins, Judy!

NS: Judy.

Hi.

DEALER: Hi!

NS: How are you?

DEALER: Very well, thank you.

NS: Are you braced?

DEALER: Yes.

So, let's start with the bit I can see right now.

It is a little Dutch silver letter stand... Oh yeah, cute.

..over there, and the little Worcester saucer.

£70 for the two.

Would you be open to an offer that didn't even start with a four?

(GASPS) OK!

Would you take £10 for the saucer... OK. ..£25 for the silver... £35 in total.

What do you think?

No, that's fine.

That should give you a chance of a profit.

Very generous of you.

Thank you so much.

VO: Yeah, very kind, Judy.

And that £35 deal means Natasha still has a tiny bit left too.

Just under a fiver.

Now, how was that for you?

We've done it, James.

We've done it.

It is what it is, it was what it was... And... And it will be what it will be.

And all winners?

Of course.

Of course!

VO: Well, we'll soon find out at the auction, after some shuteye.

Nighty-night.

VO: All aboard!

We're getting up a head of steam for our pair's penultimate auction.

I hope they've got their tickets.

Let's hope we get an upgrade.

NS: Oh!

My goodness.

JB: Eh?

Well, we look smart enough.

A cheeky weekend upgrade.

VO: Oh, I think we can do better than that.

JB: I think this is a royal carriage.

NS: Are you sure we're allowed on here?

Of course we are.

VO: Our auction spotters have disembarked at the Railway Centre at Didcot, but their goodies have taken the onward journey down the Golden Valley line to Stroud in Gloucestershire... ..pulling into Stroud Auction Rooms, with bidders poised in the room, on the phones and online too.

We're selling to the net at 45... VO: James spent £105 on five auction lots.

But does today's gavel-meister Stuart Maule fancy the chances of any of them?

The toucan.

Really nice decorative piece.

It's set with little stones for the eyes, which is a nice touch, and nicely mounted on that boulder.

It will be a very popular item.

VO: Natasha's five lots were bought for a mere £90.

Let's have your thoughts, Stuart.

The Danish enamel bracelet, really popular.

Danish jewelry, huge collectors' market for it.

Not too fussy, not over the top, understated, and that seems to be popular in the jewelry market at the moment.

VO: Right, time for some online auction action.

All first-class, hopefully.

This is incredible.

Isn't this lovely?

Oh, I feel like part of the royal family.

But it's so comfortable, isn't it?

So comfortable.

This is our fourth auction.

You're doing so much better than I am... JB: Yeah, but not... NS: ..but we are both NS: below £200.

JB: We're hemorrhaging money.

We are!

I've got a feeling in my waters this could be your auction.

VO: Let's find out, eh?

Starting with Natasha's kitty cat bracelet.

Definitely not a brooch.

This is a profit.

I must say, that's quite gung ho.

And £48 opens the bidding.

Ooh!

You were dead right.

At £50, do I see five?

Yay!

At £50, looking for five.

At £50 then, if we're all done?

At 50... VO: Wow!

Well, that's a better start than we're used to.

(SIGHS) Relief!

You're back in the room, Natasha.

Back in the carriage!

(THEY CHUCKLE) VO: Can we keep it going with James's doggy doorstop?

It's a wee one!

There's something generally wholesome about that, isn't there?

Something you can relate to.

(CHUCKLES) STUART: £30 opens the bidding.

NS: Oh, £30!

£30 bid for the Scottie dog.

STUART: 32, 35.

NS: (EXCLAIMS) 38, 40's with me.

42's on the net.

£42 and the bid's on the net.

42... Well done.

VO: Another good profit.

Fido looks relieved.

He-he!

£42 for a little dog having a pee.

That's, er... Yeah, a peeing dog.

Well, that's the future, isn't it?

(CHUCKLES) I'll be keeping my eyes peeled.

VO: Next up, Natasha's copper planter.

She haggled hard for this.

STUART: £30 starts the bidding.

NS: Oh, it's started!

£30, 32, 35, 38's with me.

At 38, it's now on commission with me.

£40 then we're selling to the net.

42, 45... NS: Oh!

Oh!

STUART: 45, 48...

I love this guy!

I'm loving it.

We needed an auctioneer like this.

If we're all done, at 45... VO: Seems to be going rather well so far, doesn't it?

That's a wee profit.

Well done!

Winners all the way.

VO: Let's see if "tou-can" play at this game.

Ha!

See what I did there?

And interest straight in at £70.

£70 starts the bid.

Seven-zero?

75, 80, 85, 90, 95... Keep going!

Three figures.

At £95... VO: The ornithologists swooped in on that one.

I think "jammy" comes into it, doesn't it?

You beast!

What do they say in Scotland?

A wee jammy?

VO: I don't think they do.

It's Natasha's bit of Worcester now.

Her cup-less saucer.

Does it have a hairline crack?

NS: It does.

JB: Where?

Just underneath the signature.

Interest straight in at £60.

Oh-ho!

65 and 70... Oh, wow!

..five, 100, 110... NS: (SQUEALS) It's on commission with me at £110... VO: Do you know, I'm starting to think that these two actually know what they're doing.

Wahey!

I cannot believe that.

That's a big profit.

VO: Time for James's tiny long case clock.

Let's see if the free battery can swing it for him again.

And interest straight in at £32.

JB: Ooh!

STUART: In with the bids at 32.

32, do I see five?

At £32 then, it's on commission.

At £32, if we're all done?

At £32... VO: Still, not a loss... but not what we've gotten used to.

JB: Oh... NS: OK. JB: Oh... Oh.

NS: A profit's a profit.

JB: A profit is a profit.

VO: Natasha's Night Watch letter rack next, slightly smaller than the original.

Not by the hand of Rembrandt, but a follower.

And £55 opens the bidding.

£55 on commission.

Do I see 60 anywhere?

(SCOFFS) I'm getting worried!

Don't you worry.

..it's on commission with me... Go on, put it down!

No!

Keep going!

At 55... VO: Someone is now the proud owner of a Dutch master!

Wow, Rembrandt, my favorite artist.

(CHUCKLES) VO: Bracelet number two now, James's jade one.

Interest straight in at £60.

Oh!

£60 starts the bidding, 65, at 65, do I see 70?

Go on!

Let's get a rhythm!

£65, do I see 70 anywhere?

STUART: 70 bid on the net now.

NS: Ooh!

£70, do I see five?

We're selling to the net at £70... VO: Well, that was worth knackering your knees for.

NS: Solid.

Solid.

JB: £70.

It's not bad, is it?

VO: Natasha's final lot now.

Not big, not orange, but definitely Poole.

£42 is bid.

42, do I see five?

At 42, 45...

I think my lead is being threatened.

The bid's on the net at 45, do I see eight?

That's great!

We're selling to the net at 45... VO: Hey!

A clean sweep of profits for her!

That's more like it!

You could have bought that for two!

Dear, oh dear!

Come on, Natash... What, you would have haggled on 10?

Course I would!

Who are you?

Mr Nasty.

(CHUCKLES) VO: Well, let's see if Mr Nasty can also make it five for five.

His bargain bamboo hall stand is last under the hammer.

They gifted this to you.

In fact, I'm slightly regretting not haggling over this now.

JB: (CHUCKLES) Interest straight in at £120.

£120 starts the bidding, do I see 130 anywhere?

JB: Come on.

NS: Yeah!

NS: Oh, my goodness!

JB: I want a scrap!

Do I see 130?

Come on.

At £120 then, if we're all done?

At £120... VO: Hey!

Bamboo Braxton is back, baby!

What an auction, eh?

JB: Forget the tea.

I think it's straight to a bottle of champagne, don't you?

Yes!

Yes!

I loved that.

VO: It was rather good.

Natasha started out on this leg with just under £95, but after auction costs, she's back from the brink!

She now is sitting on a much healthier £254.62.

Nice!

But James, who began with £160, made more.

After saleroom fees, he now has £350.10.

And for the first time on this trip, they're both in the black.

JB: Lovely light now, isn't it?

NS: I know.

It's the magic hour, and we magicked up so much money.

I'm so proud of us, you know?

What shall we spend it on?

BOTH: More antiques!

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