VOICEOVER (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts with £200 each...

I love that.

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

Yipee!

I can see better with those.

VO: The aim?

To make the biggest profit at auction, but it's no mean feat.

There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

Come to have a row.

VO: So will it be the high road to glory or the slow road to disaster?

Thanks!

He's just about killed that, hasn't he?

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip!

VO: Yeah!

VO: It's the fourth leg of our road trip and experts James Lewis and James Braxton are once again hitting the highways in a 1983 Beetle convertible, as they discuss their fortunes so far.

JAMES BRAXTON (JB): I think there is a small ocean between us.

JAMES LEWIS (JL): Well, you're on the up, though, you're on the up.

You've come back.

JB: Hot on your heels.

JL: (LAUGHS) VO: The comeback kid, James Braxton has 20 years of experience in auctioneering but as the road trip takes its toll, he's starting to suffer delusions of grandeur.

JB: I think I might buy this for James, chauffeur's peaked cap.

When he's driving me in said yellow Beetle he could pop this on.

I think he's got a bigger head than me, though.

VO: Maybe it's because he's beating you hands down, James?

I'll give that to James when I'm driving round the country.

VO: The cranially challenged, James Lewis, is also a seasoned auctioneer with his own business in Derbyshire and is highly competitive.

JL: (MIMICS SKEWERING) VO: He's on a roll and is going for bust... quite literally.

VO: James Braxton has had a difficult run so far and made more losses than gains.

From his initial £200 he only has £176.30 to play with.

VO: James Lewis, on the other hand, has been coining it in, winning three out of three auctions and growing his initial £200 to £781.74 to spend on today's road trip.

How does he do it?

VO: The route for the week takes our happy campers from Ampthill in Bedfordshire over the channel to Jersey and back to the final destination in Leamington Spa - covering almost a thousand miles.

Crikey!

VO: Today's trip begins in Barham in Kent and ends up at auction in Tring, Hertfordshire.

(ENGINE RUMBLES) VO: Barham in the Kent Downs is an area of outstanding natural beauty.

But in days of yore, travelers in these parts were terrorized by the notorious highwayman, Black Robin.

VO: Today, you'll just have to make do with James Lewis and James Braxton.

JB: So, you've got considerably more money than I have.

JL: Yeah.

Had a bit of luck.

JB: Bit of luck.

VO: Let's see if it continues!

The two Jameses are en route to their first shop of the day, Stablegate Antiques.

But the old Beetle isn't meeting Lord Braxton's very high standards.

JB: Why can't we have a bloody Bentley, like normal people?!

JL: (LAUGHS) VO: Normal people, James?

Ha!

VO: Champagne tastes on a beer income.

I'll say no more.

JB: Antiques.

JL: Come on then.

VO: Stablegate Antiques is a family affair, based on a farm, and run by Michael Giuntini, and his son, Christian.

Ah, hello guys.

Nice to meet you.

JL: Good to see you, I'm James.

JB: Hello, another James.

CHRISTIAN: Pleased to meet you.

JL: So, is it one room or two, or..?

We've got two rooms.

This is the main showroom.

JL: OK. JB: Thank you.

CHRISTIAN: And then we've got another store.

JL: Store?

CHRISTIAN: A store.

JL: Store sounds good to me.

CHRISTIAN: Not quite as elaborate as this one, but... You want to push him into the elaborate one, he's got quite a lot of money, this man.

VO: Not that he's bitter, you know!

JL: Swine!

Right, let's have a look in here.

CHRISTIAN: The Aladdin's cave.

VO: You'd better rub an old lamp and hope for a genie then!

Go for it, James!

What... What could that be?

£70?

How about a cheeky 50?

Oh, I might have to consult the management about that one.

VO: By 'management', he means his dad.

Whilst he does that, why don't you enlighten us on your find, James?

JL: It's a clock that is in the French style.

This brass and tortoiseshell is known as boulle work, that was invented by a chap called Andre Charles Boulle, who was cabinet maker for Louis XIV.

JL: This one lays the brass laid into the tortoiseshell... VO: I've said it before and I'll say it again.

It's been illegal to work with tortoiseshell since new laws were introduced in 1947.

But anything produced before that time can still be traded.

VO: There we go.

And the way it works is that you have the sheet of brass and the sheet of tortoiseshell together and you cut the two pieces out, so you have a positive and a negative of each which is called partie and contra-partie and the brass is inlaid into the tortoiseshell, and the tortoiseshell is inlaid into the brass.

So somewhere there is another clock exactly the same but the opposite if you follow.

VO: Clear as mud, James, thank you very much.

And just in case the first clock is too expensive, he's found a second one and this one in lacquered walnut.

CHRISTIAN: Alright.

What news?

It'll be 60, £60...possibly.

JL: £60?

How about that one?

CHRISTIAN: About the same sort of figure...around the £60 mark.

JL: 60... What's happened around here at the front?

JL: Is it just...is that do-able do you think?

JL: That lacquer?

CHRISTIAN: It's a bit of water damage, maybe a little bit of polish on there, maybe?

If I just...a little bit of spit normally... JL: (LAUGHS) CHRISTIAN: Spit's always good.

If in doubt, spit on it!

VO: How disgusting!

Stop spitting and start buying!

He's thinking though.

Something's ticking.

VO: He's thinking.

Yes.

Oh, he's thunk!

Don't drop it.

I think I'm gonna leave that one.

VO: Well, that was worth the wait, wasn't it?

JL: That's worth about £40 to me, but I can understand if you don't want to take that.

JL: I'll give you fifty for that one, if it was any good to you.

OK. We'll do it for 50.

JL: 50?

You've got yourself a deal.

CHRISTIAN: Thank you very much sir.

JL: Brilliant, thank you.

There you go.

CHRISTIAN: Thank you very much, sir.

JL: Thank you.

CHRISTIAN: Thank you.

I've got forty in hand... Is forty any good for you on the other?

I think we can do that for 40.

JL: Could you?

With the... With the water damage, yeah.

In that case, hang on, I won't put that back in my pocket.

There's some more.

CHRISTIAN: Thank you very much.

JL: Alright.

CHRISTIAN: Cheers.

JL: Thank you.

Pleasure doing business.

JL: And you.

VO: Meanwhile, James Braxton is slumming it in a barn with Christian's dad, Michael.

JB: What about this fella?

MICHAEL: Well, you know, I wrap myself at night in that just to keep warm.

JB: (SNEEZES) VO: Bless you.

JB: Yeah, well, it would keep you warm wouldn't it?

MICHAEL: Yes it would.

Yes, yes, it's... Is that the moth or the dust playing up with me, Mike?

I should say it's the dust probably, but nice colours.

VO: Kilims are produced by nomads for use as carpets, bags and tent curtains, that kind of thing, with different tribes doing different designs.

VO: Nice - but dusty!

JB: Just raw wool isn't it?

Sort of totally unbleached, you've got a bit of damage there.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

JB: Terrible old damage, but I did notice, here we are...a magic carpet beater.

MICHAEL: Oh yeah!

JB: See look at that.

You keep a well stocked garden shed I must say.

I usually get hit with that one!

JB: (LAUGHS) JB: We don't want to know about your hobbies, Michael.

MICHAEL: (LAUGHS) VO: Cheeky!

How much is a blanket these days?

MICHAEL: Oh, I don't know something like that, MICHAEL: Sort of 10... JB: Fiver?

Yeah.

Five, ten pounds, I suppose.

Yeah.

JB: I think I'd be happy to give you a fiver for this.

MICHAEL: Good, good.

You know, I...

I am known for my generosity.

MICHAEL: Yeah, well I'm sure you are.

MICHAEL: I can get an upgrade, I can get an upgrade carpet for a fiver, well done.

Thank you very much indeed.

MICHAEL: Well done.

JB: Thank you.

VO: Seems to me it's Michael that's taking a beating a Kilim rug for a fiver?

Ha!

Whilst they finish spanking the rug, at the bottom of the beautiful Kentish garden, James Lewis is growing impatient.

Come on James.

JB: Cor, what are you doing sitting down?

I've been buying.

JB: Have you been buying?

JL: Yeah.

JB: You've bought?

JL: Yeah.

JB: How many?

JL: Ah... 27 objects.

JB: You've done well.

JL: No, I haven't, I've bought two.

JB: Well done.

JL: How about you?

Take a pew.

I've bought one.

Oh right, OK. JB: One little chirpy little bit of textile, really.

Ah... you've bought a carpet, haven't you?

A magic one.

I heard you banging it.

JB: A magic one.

I've been giving it a jolly good spanking with that carpet beater.

VO: Oh Brackers, you're giving the game away!

If you don't shush up, it'll be you getting the spanking.

JL: This rug?

JB: Yeah?

JL: How exciting is it?

I...

I don't want.. it's not very exciting, don't you worry.

JL: (LAUGHS) JB: Don't you worry.

Tell me about your rug, James.

JB: Goodbye.

JL: James?

I've got the keys.

VO: Does James Braxton know something about that rug that he's not letting on?

The old fox.

JL: James?

VO: James Lewis will just have to wait and see.

James?

VO: From Barham our boys travel 16 miles across country to Faversham in the Swale district of Kent.

This market town grew up around the ancient seaport of Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England - more about that later on.

JL: Well, good luck.

JB: Thanks a lot.

JL: Remember, no smoking.

VO: Boom, boom!

First, James Braxton has some shopping to do at Squires Antiques run by Ann and her son, Conon.

JB: (SIGHS) Little Mouseman.

God that's a well used breadboard that, isn't it?

JB: And it's still fabulous.

There's the little mouse.

JB: Thompson of Kilburn was a very famous maker in Yorkshire and he created furniture and these were more his novelty things - so breadboards, but his signature was putting a mouse on an item and that's how the name was coined...Mouseman.

JB: And is there some dramatic movement on the price there, Conon?

CONON: Oh I'm sure there can be yeah.

JB: Really?

CONON: Yeah.

If you had that for 45 there's a good chance you will... JB: Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?

CONON: Yeah.

JB: Lovely piece, that.

JB: Have you got anything market fresh?

Something you've bought recently snuggled away?

ANN: I'm going to let you look at...

It's very small.

JB: Very small.

A little locket, believed to be gold, but of course it's not marked, but it's a pretty little thing.

JB: That's very pretty isn't it?

JB: How much do you want for that, then, Ann?

I think if you had it for £35 there might be a profit.

It's sweet and tiny and its size is a novelty isn't it?

ANN: Mm.

JB: Very pretty.

Anything else market fresh?

Em... Well we've just put this out this morning.

This is collectable because it's LNER.

VO: Oh yeah, that's the London North Eastern Railway to you and me.

It's a railwayman's lamp.

JB: We have Cheshunt.

Do you think that might be man who owned this?

CONON: I suggest that it's probably the name of the station.

Ah...is there a station there?

Could be couldn't it?

Cuz it's on a plate that's been put on after the event.

JB: It has, hasn't it?

JB: I might just see if there's a train station.

VO: Don't you just love smart phones!

New technology to research the old - good move, James!

VO: He's our modern man, you know.

Ches-hunt.

Cheshunt station Hertfordshire.

VO: Which is where the auction is.

JB: Spooky!

JB: It's funny how the stars align occasionally, isn't it?

JB: Stars align.

And what did you think on that?

CONON: I can do you a similar price to the locket, that could be 35 as well, do you a good discount on that.

JB: Yeah?

CONON: Yeah.

JB: Right.

Could I do the whole lot for 110?

ANN: Isn't much profit left for us, is there?

(LAUGHS) But then we've enjoyed having you here, so... JB: Well, no, no, no.

JB: If...if, if, if there isn't, I'm very happy to do... well, shall we split the difference?

Give me 115 then.

115.

I'm very happy to do that.

That's really kind.

Thank you very much indeed, Ann.

VO: So that's the rail lantern at £40, the Mouseman cheeseboard at £40 and the gold locket for £35 - nice work!

JB: Thank you very much indeed.

And thank you, Conon.

Thanks a lot.

Bye.

CONON: Bye.

VO: With time to spare, James is off to find out about the town's explosive past.

Faversham was once the center of gunpowder production in the UK and also the site of the biggest tragedy the industry has ever known.

VO: James has come along to meet local historian, Arthur Percival.

JB: Hello.

ARTHUR: Hello, James, and welcome to Chart Mills.

Well, thank you very much indeed.

Chart Gunpowder Mills.

JB: I see some fabulous sort of old installations here.

ARTHUR: Yes, it's the oldest gunpowder mill in the world in fact.

JB: Really?

Well, it dates from 1759, but there was a mill on this site way back in the 16th century and Faversham is said to be the cradle of the gunpowder industry.

So, why Faversham?

Did you have some raw materials here?

ARTHUR: We had water power, which you can see down there.

JB: Yep, yeah.

ARTHUR: We had woodland around us, and you need a lot of charcoal... JB: Right... ..to make powder.

And we are a port.

That's to say we had access by sea, because of course everything went by water in those days, not by road.

JB: Yeah.

So the Elizabethan fleet was kept in gunpowder and... ARTHUR: Yes, and we're quite proud of the fact that powder from here must have gone to Nelson at Trafalgar.

JB: Right.

And to Wellington at Waterloo, so it's played its part in national history.

VO: The water-powered mill turned these huge wheels outside and in - which blended the three ingredients needed to make the explosive cocktail - charcoal, saltpeter and sulphur.

But even back then, health and safety policies were strict - and enforced - the biggest fear for any worker would have been a fire in a gunpowder store.

ARTHUR: As far as possible everything was of wood rather than metal.

JB: And why's that?

ARTHUR: Well simply because you wanted to avoid sparks.

JB: Ah-ha.

Yes quite!

Cuz if you had a spark it was...the game was up!

VO: Sunday the 2nd of April, 1916, should have been a day of rest for the factory workers but many of the men were called to do overtime to meet the wartime demand for explosives.

But the day was to end in tragedy.

A number of linen sacks caught fire and at 1.20pm there was an almighty explosion.

(EXPLOSION) (GLASS BREAKING) VO: Shock-waves were felt across the southeast - shattering windows in Southend and sending tremors as far as Norwich, 145 miles away.

(EXPLOSION) JB: This is what it roughly looked like afterwords.

ARTHUR: That's the aftermath.

JB: Goodness.

ARTHUR: And as you can see from the photograph it's virtually featureless.

A bit reminiscent of a nuclear explosion.

It is, isn't it?

ARTHUR: Yes.

VO: Fifteen tons of TNT and 150 tons of ammonium nitrate had exploded at one of the factories just outside Faversham - killing 109 men and boys.

Gosh.

JB: And here are the poor workers here.

ARTHUR: Yeah.

That's the mass grave in Faversham cemetery and again rather touchingly the service was interdenominational which in those days to have Catholics and Protestants and non-conformists all together was a bit unusual, but in the circumstances you had no alternative.

VO: It was a dark day for the town and one that will never be forgotten.

But in spite of the tragedy it wasn't the end of the explosives industry here.

ARTHUR: It went on until 1934... JB: Right.

..when the whole of the factory closed down and it closed not because of any inadequacy in the gear or anything like that, or the workforce, but simply because ICI who then owned the business, saw the war clouds gathering of World War II and thought Faversham is pretty close to the continent and remember that the last time the enemy overran Belgium in no time at all and so we'd better find a safer place for it.

So they moved it up to Ardeer in Scotland, near Stevenston and quite a lot of the machinery was taken up there and quite a few of the staff moved to Stevenston.

VO: During the restoration of the gunpowder mill, the original mechanics were repatriated from Scotland and now form a key part of the visitor center which serves as a constant reminder of those who lived, and died, for the industry right here in Faversham.

VO: Fascinating.

VO: Back on the road though, James Lewis, has beetled in to Herne Bay for some bracing sea air and hopefully some more antiques!

JL: I don't know what to expect really from the next place, but even if I only buy one thing, that will be fine for me.

VO: Herne Bay is a seaside town on the south coast of the Thames estuary - home to the world's first free-standing clock tower built in 1837.

But this is no time to dally, James, because you've got shopping to do.

VO: His last emporium of the day is Interior Interiors, run by Roger and Lyn Hampshire.

VO: Hello.

JL: Hello there.

Hi.

I'm James, nice to see you.

Hello James, this is Lyn, my wife.

I'm Roger.

LYN: Nice to meet you.

JL: Nice to meet you.

VO: Roger and Lyn sell an eclectic mix of furniture and small antiques, including some rather quirky items.

VO: So, what's James got now?

This is what you need for piles...a good suppository mold.

VO: I'll have to take your word for it.

ROGER: Oh well, apparently the guy that had those, in the war, was making lipsticks.

Was he really?

VO: Suppository shaped lipsticks, eh?

Ha!

You wouldn't need a handbag to carry them around, would you?

VO: Instead what about a vintage sewing machine by makers Wheeler & Wilson?

ROGER: It's got those bits, and it's got a belt drive on it, which is very unusual.

JL: Right?

ROGER: And it's very rare.

ROGER: I'd let you have that for 150 quid.

JL: Cor.

ROGER: But it's rare.

JL: Yeah.

ROGER: Well make me a bid!

Make me a sporting bid.

JL: I could see that making 50 quid at auction.

VO: Someone's playing the long game.

ROGER: Oh well.

Keep looking.

JL: Yep.

LYN: (LAUGHS) ROGER: Keep looking.

VO: So, he does.

VO: But he ends up right back where he started for another look at the suppository mold.

ROGER: 20 quid.

ROGER: I can do thirty quid for the folders and that then.

VO: Roger's thrown some other pharmaceutical items into the mix.

The cork crusher would have been used to mold corks into the right size for medicine bottles, and the paper folders were for, well folding medical papers.

VO: And what about that sewing machine?

I could see the sewing machine make fifty.

I could see the sewing machine making three or four hundred if you get the right people.

JL: Could make a hundred.

It could make a lot more than that.

VO: This is turning into a real battle of wills - but who's going to crack first?

ROGER: I'm getting fed up with saying things and you just saying no, so... Yeah, well... ROGER: You tell me what... JL: OK. ROGER: How much money have you got left?

Right, I've got loads to spend.

VO: Don't brag, but it is true.

I've got loads to spend, I'm not short of the cash.

Those I rate at £8 each, so there you go, they're £16.

JL: That I rate at £20 at auction, so I don't want to pay £20 for it cuz there's no profit in it.

So I rate those at about £20.

ROGER: Uh-huh.

JL: For that group.

JL: I rate that at about £15-20 at auction so it would need to be a tenner.

LYN: Yeah?

JL: So that's 30.

And that's all you want to buy is it?

JL: Alright, I'll offer you £100 for the sewing machine and these.

120 it's got be.

JL: I'll give you 105.

ROGER: And I... Hmm.

This is where you say split the difference, I think.

JL: OK, alright.

How about £110?

Go on then.

You've worn me down.

VO: Looked like the other way round to me - well done, Roger!

VO: So that's the three pharmaceutical items for £30, but has he got himself stitched up with that sewing machine at £80?

We'll have to see.

VO: Night night boys.

VO: After a restful night, our boys raring to go... JL: WAAAH!

(LAUGHS) VO: ..as they hit the highway for a second day of shopping.

But having slept on it, James Lewis is having regrets about the vintage sewing machine.

JL: I ended up paying 80 quid for something that I am now convinced will probably make about 20.

JL: (LAUGHS) 20 or 30.

It's a shocker!

JB: That sounds like one of my purchases.

JL: (LAUGHS) VO: So far James Braxton has spent £120 on four lots, the Kilim rug, the railway lantern, the gold book pendant and the Mouseman cheeseboard, which leaves him with just £56.30 to spend.

VO: James Lewis has also bought four lots, spending £200 on two Louis XV mantel clocks, a Victorian sewing machine, and a collection of pharmaceutical items, leaving him with £581.74 to spend on the day ahead.

(ENGINE RUMBLES) VO: Traveling on from Herne Bay, James Lewis is heading for Rochester on the River Medway to continue his shopping.

VO: Rochester is best known for its cathedral and castle - and an epic siege in 1215.

But the only person likely to be under siege today is Bill Miskimmin of Cottage Style Antiques, once James starts bargaining with him.

JL: Ah, hello.

BILL: Hello.

JL: I'm James, nice to see you.

I'm Bill.

Nice to meet you.

Hi, Bill, hi.

Gosh, what a place!

VO: Eventually James is caught in a pile of tribal art.

Can you guess what it is yet?

JL: You look at the shape and you think immediately aboriginal Australian, it's called a throwing stick and they were like a boomerang but not quite the same, not all of them were designed to come back.

This has a much nicer feel to it, it's much heavier, sort of a lignum vitae feel, which is only wood that doesn't float.

JL: Little bits of decoration there.

Still feel fairly sharp.

That might just be pre-war, but those two certainly later.

BILL: You don't think that's a shield do you?

BILL: Or do you?

JL: Well...no... BILL: Because if you held it, they'd hit your hand and you'd drop it.

JL: Yeah, yeah.

There's no way of... BILL: Or something to knead the dough.

Yeah, it could be, couldn't it?

Something like that.

JL: I do like my tribal stuff, but... How much are they?

BILL: They could be 50.

JL: I've got four lots already, if I put the clocks together.

I bought a sewing machine...why did I buy a sewing machine?

VO: Here we go again!

JL: £80 for a sewing machine!

Wasn't a standard sort of Singer type, you know, it was something slightly different, but... VO: Get over it!

Move on.

Feeling well and truly stitched up, James's spirits are lifted when he spies a tiny tortoiseshell snuff-box.

VO: And you know what we say about tortoiseshell.

JL: It's sort of classic George II, sort of 1720, 1740, and that lovely flattened hinge.

And the shape is typical - you often see these with silver pique decoration on the top which make a fortune, but a molded edge and again the way it just shuts so perfectly.

JL: 300 years of shutting and it still works.

JL: That's a lovely little box... How much could that be?

BILL: £20.

JL: £20.

BILL: You say £15, and I'll say OK.

In that case 15.

Yes?

You've got a deal.

VO: And then he goes back to the boomerang...

Funny, shouldn't it come back to him?

Would 20 quid be alright for those bits of tribal art?

Yeah.

JL: Yeah?

In that case you've got a deal on those.

Well done, brilliant.

Thank you.

It's a...

I don't think they're greatly old, but you never know.

VO: Having completed all his shopping, James Lewis is traveling onto Yalding, near Maidstone, to take a well earned tea-break.

VO: As you do.

He's here to meet Sue Blayze, who's just warmed up one of her many teapots.

SUE: Hi, how are you?

JL: Hi, is it Sue?

SUE: Welcome to Teapot Island.

JL: Hi.

Thank you very much.

JL: My goodness, it really is an island isn't it?

SUE: Nearly.

We have to cross a river both ways to get in.

So why Teapot Island?

We bought it as Riverside Diner and because we collected teapots we changed it to Teapot Island.

JL: Come on, let's have a look.

VO: Sue is absolutely tea-potty!

She bought the tea-room in 2002 and has since transformed it into a treasure trove for novelty teapots - over 6,000 of them!

JL: (LAUGHS) Oh my goodness!

JL: Oh and you sell them too!

SUE: Oh yes.

The first one of everything belongs to me... JL: Right.

And then we put them in the shop to sell them.

JL: They're completely mad aren't they?

I don't think they're mad, I think they're lovely!

I mean in the nicest sort of way.

VO: Britain is a nation of tea-brewing eccentrics, drinking an estimated 165 million cups of tea every day.

A heck of a lot of tea - calling for a heck of a lot of teapots.

JL: When did it all start?

SUE: It started in 1983 when my grandmother gave me a teapot and that's how it started.

JL: So all these are just in 30 years?

SUE: Yes, but this is not part of the collection.

The collection is through that door there.

Come on then, let's have a look.

SUE: Go through the door.

VO: Originally teapots were tiny and it's said that tea was drunk directly from the spout.

In the mid-18th century makers such as Wedgwood and Whieldon produced pots shaped like pineapples, cabbages and cauliflowers, so the novelty teapot was born.

JL: Wow!

JL: They are crazy!

Crazy designs!

JL: Fairly modern or...?

SUE: Yes.

JL: 20th century?

SUE: 50s, 50s, 1950s.

JL: Oh, OK. SUE: It's not very old ones, just different shapes, we just wanted to collect the different shapes.

JL: Just ones that you liked?

SUE: Yes.

I love them but now it's become my life.

JL: Really?

How many have you got altogether?

Over 6,800 now, so this is only the first little bit of it.

That is a life.

SUE: These three are really rare by somebody called James Erin.

JL: So, we've got the walrus, rhino... SUE: And the rain bird.

SUE: But the rain bird is the most expensive - she's the rarest.

VO: And cost Sue a thousand pounds!

So when was James Erin?

SUE: In the 80s.

In the 80s was he?

SUE: Mm.

Most of the novelty ones started I think 70s, 80s, 90s, that was the heyday and that's what I know more about is the novelty.

JL: They're more fun, aren't they, in the 80s?

SUE: They are.

They're really exciting.

VO: Over 30 years, Sue reckons she's spent approximately £136,000 on her teapots.

But once you've got em - where do you put em all?

SUE: Up till 18 months ago this was my lounge and we had an upstairs extension built.

For the teapots?

No, for myself.

For yourself, oh... For myself, and then the teapots have the old lounge.

JL: So this collection is costing you a fortune.

JL: It's not just the buying of the teapots it's actually the extending of the house!

SUE: Mm.

JL: I wouldn't be surprised that if one day this is in one of the big museums of our country as an important catalogued collection of teapots of this generation.

VO: And with that it's almost time for James to get back in the Beetle, but not before Sue dusts down a very special teapot.

JL: Now that is what I call a teapot!

JL: Oh it works!

Fantastic.

Look at that.

JL: Well, brilliant.

Cheers.

VO: With only enough tea for two, James Braxton has made his way to Charing, 20 miles away.

His final shop of the day is SV Antiques - managed by Nigel Mullarkey.

JB: Hello.

Nigel.

Nice to... NIGEL: Good to see you.

JB: Good to see you again.

JB: Good to see you.

You find me at the end of my buying phase.

I've been to Faversham, bought some quite nice things.

Have you got any sort of odds and things?

Yeah, if you look out the side there we might find something.

JB: What in the side there?

NIGEL: I think so.

JB: OK.

Brilliant.

That's where your cheaper items are.

NIGEL: That's right.

VO: They'll need to be cheap!

He's only got £56.30 to spend.

JB: Jungle.

VO: Oh, that looks cheap.

JB: Onyx from the Atlas Mountains.

JB: There's something really comforting about the shape.

VO: Yeah, if you happen to be a chicken.

JB: Hasn't quite got enough in there.

JB: But if we just sort of pepper them up a bit.

VO: He's padding out the odd little lot with some old glass bottle stoppers.

JB: Now Nigel, how much for that lot?

JB: Make it cheap.

NIGEL: Twenty quid the lot.

JB: Twenty quid the lot.

Is anybody going to buy that?

JB: Or am I the stupidest man in antiques?

VO: Uh, no comment.

JB: Could you do fifteen, Nigel?

I thought I was a bad buyer!

JB: (LAUGHS) Go on, let's have a deal.

JB: Fifteen, come on, let's put it there.

JB: I think the joke could be on me.

NIGEL: (LAUGHS) VO: Ha.

With shopping completed, it's time for the two Jameses to weigh up the competition, as they get to see each other's items.

Goodness me.

JL: There we go.

That looks an extraordinary sewing machine.

JB: Now is that... You think that's your howler?

JL: Yeah, I do.

VO: Uh-oh.

He's not still going on about that is he?

JL: I paid £80 for it.

Well, for a very basic manual Singer you pay £25 or £30 for... JL: For just a... yeah.

JB: That's lovely.

JB: I think that's a nice bit of engineering, isn't it?

What's wrong with that?

Well I think it is but I just don't think it's worth anything.

VO: Methinks he doth protesteth too much.

VO: What about that snuff box then?

JB: What a nice bit of tortoiseshell.

JL: Lovely.

It's so plain, the ones that make a lot of money are the ones with the nailhead decoration.

Sort of piqué, yeah.

JB: It's nice and you can see the sort of Ordinance Survey contours in it.

It's fine, isn't it?

JL: Yeah.

And it was fifteen quid.

That's cheap, isn't it?

JL: Yeah, it should have a one in front of it, and more I would hope.

JB: Yeah.

I think you've shown up my bits already.

JL: Oh really?

Right, are you ready?

Go on then.

JB: Here we go.

Ooh, what's that?

JB: Ah, pick... here you are.

Take that one.

JL: Oh, like that.

JB: It's pretty isn't it?

I think it's gold and black enamel.

How much?

That was £35.

That could have a one in front, couldn't it?

Lovely.

JB: So that's quite sweet.

JB: And this, this is the thing I'm rather pleased with.

JB: It's a sort of guard's, a sort of platform lamp and this is how sometimes the stars can all align in one.

It's Cheshunt and in fact it's the station's name.

JL: Yeah.

Guess where Cheshunt is?

No idea.

VO: Clueless.

JB: Hertfordshire.

VO: Geography never was his strong point.

JB: And that's the £5 rug.

JL: £5?

What is that?

Is that a kilim or something?

JB: Yeah.

It's one of those flat weave fellers.

VO: Seems as though James is pretending he doesn't know what it is.

We all go off to Tring with our heads held high.

Yeah.

JB: Bestest.

JL: Good luck.

JB: Good luck.

VO: Oh yeah?

So come on boys, what do you really think?

JL: I think James has bought really well this time.

I love that little book locket.

JL: You know, it's one of those things that appeals to more than one collecting angle.

JL: I think that is probably the star lot for him.

I don't think James has much fear with the box sewing machine.

JB: Belt driven, which is very unusual.

I think he was just toying with me.

The man is toying with me.

VO: As James Lewis finishes toying with James Braxton, there's only one way to find out who will be victorious in today's competition.

VO: From Charing, our experts embark on the final 100 miles of today's trip to the auction in Tring in Hertfordshire.

JB: This is us.

JL: Ooh.

Righty-ho.

JL: Woah, how about that?!

Perfect.

JB: Perfect, well done.

JL: See, I haven't lost my technique of stopping this damn car.

JL: I'm hoping for better luck in there.

VO: Today our experts are going head to head at Tring Market Auctions.

Established in 1832, it's one of the best known sale rooms in the Home Counties.

But does auctioneer Stephen Hearn think our experts have bought wisely?

VO: Standby.

The Victorian Wheeler sewing machine, that's a very interesting item.

STEPHEN: It's a machine now which is quite rare.

As the value of these sewing machines is not that high, I still think it might get very close to £100.

STEPHEN: The kilim red ground rug, that's one of the early 20th century rugs.

It's had a lot of wear, but there again there are many buyers who like a rug of that type which has had some wear to it.

It's going to be restricted in value, probably around the £50 or £60.

VO: James Braxton started this leg of the road trip with £176.30 and has spent £135 on five lots, leaving him with a cash reserve of £41.30.

Tight.

VO: James Lewis started with £781.74 and bought six lots, costing £235 leaving him with a seriously healthy balance of £546.74.

JB: What's your first lot?

Aboriginal club.

JB: G'day.

Bruce.

JL: G'day.

VO: First up for James Lewis, it's the selection of tribal objects, boomerang, club and carved bowl.

I'll take 100 for it.

100 or 50 or 40?

Yes, 40 we've got that one surely?

STEPHEN: Yes and five, 50?

Five, 60?

STEPHEN: Five, 70, five, 80, five, 90.

At £90 on my left then.

£90.

Thank you.

(GAVEL) JB: That was quick and easy, wasn't it?

Tribal art.

Tribal art, it's the future.

VO: Strewth.

A bonzer start for James Lewis.

VO: It's the first lot now for James Braxton, the gold and enamel book pendant.

Nice lot, not big maybe but it's worth £70.

STEPHEN: 70 or 50 or 40, 30...five, 40...five, 50 at five, 60, and five now.

STEPHEN: That's it now, it's going to be sold.

£60.

If there's no further bids then, it's yours sir.

STEPHEN: £60.

Thank you.

(GAVEL) JB: Not quite what I was hoping for.

But...

But, still a profit.

VO: Well done Brackers.

VO: Time now for the first of James Lewis's clocks to go under the hammer.

VO: The red boullework jobby.

There it is, that's a rather nice clock, that one, isn't it?

STEPHEN: Nice one to grace your room.

JB: It's a nice one.

STEPHEN: What about that?

One hundred for it?

Or 50 for it?

Yes, 50, I got bid for that one.

Thank you.

And five, 60...five, 70...five, 80...?

STEPHEN: Shall we go to 90?

Yes.

And 100?

No more?

£95?

Just a fiver.

It all helps you know.

95 then I'm selling it.

Girls, you're out then.

STEPHEN: It goes to sir for £95 then.

(GAVEL) STEPHEN: Thank you.

Not bad.

It's a working profit.

Double your money, isn't it?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I thought that might have made a bit more.

VO: Don't get too excited, will you James?

There's nothing wrong with a £45 profit.

VO: James Lewis's other timepiece now, the walnut jobby.

I think we have it down in fives so 65, 70.

JB: Well done.

Five now, 75?

STEPHEN: At £70 then, you're out, and 75, at 75 and 80, 85.

STEPHEN: It is at £80.

JB: See.

It's doing well.

STEPHEN: £80 and I shall sell.

For £80 then.

STEPHEN: Thank you.

(GAVEL) JB: Well, good price.

JL: Yeah, another profit.

JB: That's good!

That's good.

VO: No time to celebrate though.

Victory for James Lewis isn't a foregone conclusion.

Next it's James Braxton's pine bowl with the green onyx eggs and the glass stoppers.

Groovy.

There you are, the bowl and stoppers.

Useful little lot for somebody.

Where do we start on them?

£20 for them?

A tenner for them?

STEPHEN: Eight for them?

Nine for them?

Ten for them.

Madam, you're missing that stopper.

Twelve!

Fifteen anywhere?

Fifteen I'm bid for those.

Eighteen I've got for them.

JL: Oh go on.

STEPHEN: It's the stopper you want, madam.

JL: Go on.

STEPHEN: Twenty?

No?

Eighteen's gone then.

I sell for £18 then.

(GAVEL) VO: A tiny profit but at least it's not a loss.

VO: No wonder he's still smiling.

VO: James Lewis's Georgian tortoiseshell snuff box is up next.

God, it's smaller than I remember it.

It's a good find.

STEPHEN: What about that one, have we got £70 for it?

70 or 50 or 40?

Come on.

40, yes.

40 we're bid then.

Five now.

At £40.

Five, 45...50, five, 60 and five.

And 70 and five and 80 and five and 90?

At £85.

I want it!

Too much.

STEPHEN: No more then?

At £95.

Are you out, madam?

STEPHEN: Sir's got it for £95, thank you.

(GAVEL) JL: A good profit, but... JB: £80 profit, that's a great profit.

Yeah.

Yeah.

VO: A great profit on the snuff box.

£80 is not to be sneezed at.

VO: Next for James Braxton it's the railwayman's lantern, from Cheshunt station, just over 30 miles away from the auction.

There you are, a local object there.

STEPHEN: £80 for it.

JB: Eighty.

STEPHEN: Railway piece.

Yes, 80 or 50.

Forty?

Five, fifty?

Five, sixty?

STEPHEN: Five, seventy.

JB: Well done.

STEPHEN: Five.

No more?

OK then.

£75 then.

That's alright, isn't it?

STEPHEN: At £75, thank you.

(GAVEL) JB: Well done, well done.

Pleased with that.

Yeah, that's brilliant.

VO: James Braxton's fortunes have really taken a turn for the better.

He'll struggle to win the war, but at this rate he could still take the battle.

VO: Next up for James Lewis is the collection of pharmaceutical items including paper folders and suppository mold.

Now no jokes about this being a bum deal.

There you are, take that one home and do as you please.

STEPHEN: There you are, what about £60 for them?

£40?

Five, £50.

Five, £60.

Five, £70.

Five, £80.

JB: Really?

STEPHEN: Madam, one more?

No?

£80 and they're going to be sold.

Oh that's good, isn't it?

STEPHEN: Thank you sir.

For £80 then.

JB: Very good.

(GAVEL) STEPHEN: Thank you very much.

JL: It's really good.

Really good.

Well done him.

And how much did you buy those for?

Thirty.

Yeah.

VO: Piles of profit from the suppository mold.

If that doesn't leave James Lewis smiling, nothing will.

VO: It's time for James Braxton's next item, the Mouseman breadboard.

There you are, what about £80 for it?

80 or 50 or 40?

Seen a bit of use.

40 I'm bid for it.

Not a lot of money, you know.

STEPHEN: Five, 50 and five, 60.

Five, 70, five, 80.

Five, 90 now.

85, 90 is the bid.

The real thing.

90 I'm bid for it.

Are you five, no?

JL: Sorry, no.

STEPHEN: No?

90 has it then.

I shall sell it.

Down it goes.

We sell at £90 then.

(GAVEL) JB: £32.

JL: More than double your money.

Double your money, God.

Braxton's back!

VO: Brackers is indeed back, with a vengeance.

This is his best auction so far.

VO: After all the moaning about the sewing machine, let's see if James Lewis was right to be worried.

We ought to be talking £100 for it.

STEPHEN: 100 or 50.

I thought so.

You would agree.

At 50, yes.

50 I'm bid.

60 I'm bid.

70, 80.

One more.

STEPHEN: 90.

There's bound to be £100 in it.

What do you... 100 I've got, there you go.

STEPHEN: 100 bid then.

And 10 is it?

Yes.

Twenty.

Are you, sir?

STEPHEN: 130.

Consultation.

Yes?

140, there you go then.

At £140.

And 50.

You lost it then.

At £140 then.

(GAVEL) STEPHEN: Thank you.

JB: Well done.

I...

I'm stunned at that.

I was absolutely convinced that was going to make 30 quid.

VO: Get away.

He seems to have surprised himself with that one then, but he doesn't have the competition stitched up yet.

VO: Last for James Braxton is his kilim rug.

It needs to sell for more than £232 if he stands a chance of winning this leg.

Rather nice rug, that one.

Lovely.

STEPHEN: There you are.

What about £100 for it?

STEPHEN: Or fifty for it?

STEPHEN: Forty, surely there's £40.

Yes.

There is 40.

JL: Oh well done, well done!

STEPHEN: Forty I'm bid, we're not there yet surely?

STEPHEN: Fifty I'm bid.

Sixty and five, seventy, five and eighty for madam.

STEPHEN: £80, never mind the hole.

At £80 and five anywhere then?

STEPHEN: £80 then, madam's got that one.

Going down, I shall sell it then.

STEPHEN: For £80, there we go.

(GAVEL) JB: Well done.

Very pleased.

JL: Well done, James.

Brilliant!

VO: That really is a magic carpet, giving Brackers a ridiculous 1500% profit.

VO: Not enough to win today's auction though, but it's a victory of sorts.

It's the first time on this road trip that he hasn't made a loss.

VO: James Braxton started the show with £176.30 and after auction costs, he's made a profit of £129.86, sending him through to the next round with £306.16.

VO: However, James Lewis started with £781.74 and after auction costs he's made a profit £240.60, taking his total to an almighty £1,022.34 and his fourth victory in a row.

JB: Pleased with that?

Well done you.

No, I'm very pleased with that.

You take the leg but I am definitely showing better performance.

Healthy profits.

That's what it makes.

Come on.

VO: So with just one final leg to go, can James Braxton save face by winning the last auction or will it be a total whitewash for James Lewis?

VO: Next time on the Antiques Road Trip: That is the oldest poo you will ever see.

VO: James Lewis is up to his old tricks again.

JL: That is a fossilized turtle turd.

VO: And coughs and sneezes spread diseases.

JL: (SNEEZES) JL: Oh I blame you.

JB: My gift to you is my flu.

JL: (SNEEZES) subtitling@stv.tv