VO: It's the nation's favorite antiques experts... What about that!

VO: ..with £200 each, a classic car, and a goal: to scour Britain for antiques.

Can I buy everything here?

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

But it's no mean feat.

Feeling a little saw!

This is going to be an epic battle.

VO: There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

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

The honeymoon is over.

I'm sorry!

Wooh!

VO: Yeah!

VO: It's approaching crunch time in the battle of Scot versus Scot with the female of the species just in front.

ANITA: We're onto our fourth leg here and we're neck and neck.

There's a whisper between us.

Sadly your tail is still in my face.

VO: Anita Manning and Paul Laidlaw, auctioneers both and did we mention highly competitive?

Yes!

You're taking your fair share of a drubbing.

VO: They've had a lot of fun in their Morris called Woody this week.

ANITA: And this wee baby, she's really only happy about 40, isn't she?

What are you trying to tell me?

Is that coded for slow down, Laidlaw?

VO: But it's all about glory for those two and Paul's not used to being runner up.

If it takes the whip, I might have to use it.

VO: Paul started out with £200 and so far he has won two auctions and amassed £261.25.

VO: While Anita, who also began with 200 has that all important wee slither of a lead with £286.90 but there's still a long road to travel.

It may only be three inches on the map but it's 300 miles in reality.

VO: Our epic journey begins in Northumberland at Ford and takes in an awful lot of eastern England before ending up over 1,000 miles later at Stamford in Lincolnshire.

Today, we are starting out in Lincolnshire at Navenby and making for an auction in the Norfolk town of Diss.

ANITA: We're seeing a good old bit of the country on this one.

Yeah, I think we have only got two more counties left.

VO: Welcome to Navenby, your latest battleground.

That was a lovely piece of parking.

I couldn't have got in there.

I am trying to butter you up before we go in.

You go into that post office, get me a stamp, I'll go into this antique shop.

VO: They've started already.

OK, I think this is a bunnets off job.

VO: Which might in the circumstances translate as gauntlet down.

On your metal, everyone, because there's little margin for error in this struggle.

ANITA: We're still very close together and it takes only one good buy for someone to surge ahead and Paul Laidlaw is a titan.

Ah.

(LAUGHS) VO: And doesn't he know it?

Have a look at this.

PAUL: Too little chimps underneath a somewhat stylized tree.

There's just a touch of the Jugendstil about this.

It's a Germanic piece, I think - St rer - cast iron, late 19th century.

I want to cut to the chase, I'm going to buy it, I'm going to try and buy it and this may be a problem because it's got a whopping pricetag of £49.

PAUL: Is this...

It's mine.

This is yours?

You own this?

Yeah.

Isn't it great to be in an antique center talking someone that owns the thing?

VO: OK, Paul, your move.

PAUL: If it's just a little cast iron funny dish, can it be £10 or £15?

I can't go as low as that, I'm afraid.

PAUL: OK. STELLA: I could go 30.

PAUL: Oh my word.

PAUL: Let's go through the motions and see where we end up, yeah?

I'm going to say 20.

And I'll say 25.

And I'll go, I don't know your name.

Stella.

Stella, you were a star.

I've heard that before!

Wonderful, you've got a deal.

VO: So, what is it with those chimps, Paul?

At £25, I think I'm going to struggle unless I'm right about this.

Two chimps under a tree, not any old tree, a tree of knowledge.

Well you know why it's the tree of knowledge because chimp number two is offering chimp number one an apple.

PAUL: Chimp number one, look at the face, mutton chop whiskers.

Is that Charles Darwin?

PAUL: I put it to you that that is Charles Darwin.

VO: Really?

And this is mocking Darwin's theory of evolution.

PAUL: There was a great reaction to Darwin's theories of evolution from the Christian fraternity, it has to be said, because it undermined the Bible.

PAUL: Now we have got more than just a silly little novelty dish with chimps, have we not?

We've tapped into an extremely exciting period in the history of science and the development of human thought.

Now you see why I love it?

VO: Good theory, Paul.

Or might it just appeal to fans of cute chimps?

Stella, £25.

STELLA: Yeah.

PAUL: I shall settle my debts to you.

There you go.

VO: Anita meanwhile has also unearthed a curiosity.

Well, two actually.

It's a pair of book ends.

They are commemorative bookends, they're made of a metal, sounds like tin and they are a souvenir for the formal opening of The Stevens, which is "the world's greatest hotel".

That's what these bookends are telling us anyway and this hotel is in Chicago and it's dated 2 May 1927.

VO: Quite a place it is too.

Although it's not called that anymore, The Stevens was once the largest hotel in the world.

As I'm sure Al Capone could've told you.

ANITA: The shape of them takes us to the art deco period but we have these figures here - two little children with a big fish.

ANITA: I don't know what that is about.

VO: The ticket price is £18.

Time to consult Dean.

We're selling in Norfolk, not in Chicago.

Ah, right.

VO: Yep, not even Norfolk, Virginia either.

Could they be bought for 10?

I can certainly give him a ring, I mean the best I can do, I can take 10% off, which would make it 16.

ANITA: Uh-huh.

DEAN: I'll go and give him a bell now.

ANITA: OK, thank you.

VO: While Dean makes the call, Paul's come up with something similar.

PAUL: It's a Victorian presentation tankard.

Now we see presentation tankards all over the place, yeah.

Every golf club hands them out like sweeties and so on and they're generally dull as dishwater.

PAUL: However, show me a tankard presented in 1870 by the Hythe School of Musketry, this is the British Army's training establishment for excellence in sharp shooting, musketry, yeah and you've got my attention.

PAUL: Very pleasingly engraved, curlicues all over the place, cracking little imperial crown there.

PAUL: It paints a picture of these chaps in their scarlet frocks and their Enfield rifles shooting away at Hythe in 1870.

VO: That's quite a vision!

There are a few blemishes though.

It's got a big hole in the bottom.

VO: Whoops!

PAUL: And it is £68.

This is an issue.

VO: Quite.

What about those bookends then?

DEAN: We haven't got hold of him but I've been told that we can do them at 12.

Do them at 12?

Put it there.

Is that alright?

That's lovely, thank you very much.

DEAN: I'll put them on the counter for you then.

VO: That was an offer she couldn't refuse.

Will Paul get his tankard?

LAURA: I wondered what your very best price would be and Paul Laidlaw says to tell you it's got no bottom.

VO: Seems the lowest the dealer can go is £55.

Paul doesn't seem too crestfallen though.

I've not bought any silver this road trip.

PAUL: Base values for silver are lean at the moment but there's a few wee bits in there that are pretty and seem to be fairly priced.

VO: Tankard?

What tankard?

PAUL: I've got a perpetual calendar, silver framed, it's actually cast so there's some substance to that.

It's not stamped out of relatively thin plate and it carries this series of printed little cards and we should have 30 days in there.

Is this yours, Dean?

DEAN: It is mine, yeah.

Is it?

The wee perpetual... is it all there?

DEAN: It's all there, yeah.

Seriously?

DEAN: The cards, they're kind of turned upside down and turn them back to front, there's four on each card.

I get you!

Clever, clever, clever.

VO: The ticket price is £28.

But there's more.

PAUL: Picture frame, that could be a little French piece.

Imported by the London Silver Trade and by law re-assayed.

PAUL: The frame itself is a little ribbon-tied laurel bezel but it's being supported by a little cupid, nicely executed, bow in hand.

PAUL: So here in, we would place surely a little miniature portrait of a loved one, a sweetheart.

I'm going all gooey.

VO: Oh, Lordy.

PAUL: Oh, it's not French, it's German, And I think that's an Augsburg pinecone mark, could be wrong.

VO: Unlikely, Paul.

VO: That one's also £28.

This pillbox is a bit pricier, however.

PAUL: There's no dings, dents, warps, deformations.

PAUL: Gilt interior.

VO: £98 though.

It's alright, it's not the most exciting, it's not a stand out piece.

VO: Rule of the three, eh?

What can Dean do on them?

100.

For the three.

20, 20 and 60 is probably where you'd put it, wouldn't you?

Yeah.

PAUL: That is the one that's hardest work, I'd like to give you 30 for that, I kid you not.

VO: Making it 70 for the three.

DEAN: I can do it 80 for the three.

That's 40 for the box, 20 for the each of the others.

40, 20 and 20.

VO: That's got him seriously pondering.

PAUL: The devil on that side's going "buy them all", the devil on that side's saying "you crazy fool!"

I'll take the lot.

In for a penny as you said, eh.

He who dares wins and all of the above.

You're a good man.

VO: £80 plus £25 for the dish.

VO: Not a bad morning's work.

VO: Over to you, Anita!

ANITA: This is rather a nice wee thing.

ANITA: It's a little mahogany rack.

ANITA: I don't know, what would you put a photograph in there or would you keep letters or whatever?

But I don't think it's a made up thing.

ANITA: I think it's a thing that has been manufactured and we have this border of inlayed...

It's like a box wood over the mahogany and I think that's a nice wee thing.

ANITA: It's priced at £29 and if I can get a wee bit off that, I think I would be happy.

Dean.

DEAN: Hiya.

ANITA: I picked this up and I thought it was a nice wee thing.

What's the death on that?

I can go and find out for you, the lady is here whose it is.

Oh right, yeah.

Could you ask her if maybe it could be bought for 20?

DEAN: I will have a word with her for you.

OK, thank you very much.

Thank you.

When I looked at all of these jewelry cabinets, I thought 'I'm going to buy jewelry here'.

I love jewelry.

And I haven't!

VO: Maybe next time.

Anita, I spoke to the owner, that's fine.

That's great.

I'm happy.

I'm happy.

DEAN: I'll put it with your book ends.

ANITA: Yeah.

VO: Another crafty buy.

Just £32 spent.

That's 30 and 32.

That's fantastic.

Thank you very much.

It's been an absolute pleasure.

DEAN: Oh, great.

VO: They're both on top form this morning.

ANITA: Bye.

DEAN: Bye.

VO: Meanwhile, Paul's gone on ahead.

Making his way south from Navenby to Woolsthorpe to visit the home of one the greatest scientists of all time.

VO: Picked the right time of year too!

Yes, he's here at Woolsthorpe Manor to learn about the early years of Sir Isaac Newton.

Is it Margaret?

It is, welcome, Paul.

So, what Newton actually born at the Manor?

MARGARET: He was, yes in 1642.

He spent his childhood here and evidence on the wall, we think are some of his graffiti.

MARGARET: Paper was very scarce in those days but he'd got stuff teeming through his brain and he had to record it.

Yeah.

So what is this, Margaret, is it a cathedral?

MARGARET: It's a church.

Newton was fascinated by spires and all things that pointed heavenwards.

PAUL: Were these lost and rediscovered or?

They were, yes.

They were discovered completely by accident in about 1947 when the tenants of the house then were doing a spot of decorating.

PAUL: Oh my word.

And we've got about nine examples of graffiti.

That could have been a wee boy... "ah, it's a windmill" but there is a strict geometry PAUL: I think there, knowing the man, that really gets you thinking, doesn't it.

Interesting, yes it is.

VO: Newton's mother was keen to make young Isaac into a farmer so that he could one day run things around here.

VO: But, thankfully, a schoolmaster persuaded her to let him continue his education and Newton went to Cambridge in 1661.

VO: A few years later however, he came back home to avoid the Great Plague.

MARGARET: And it was here that he spent 18 months doing his most important scientific thinking and he actually said to one of his early biographers "I was in the prime of my age for invention."

So, this is his bed chamber but also his study and laboratory.

MARGARET: He formulated his law of gravitation during this time.

MARGARET: He also worked out his three laws of motion and he split white light.

So, he wasn't idle by any means.

VO: Certainly not!

Although Newton's great work - the Principia - wouldn't be published for another 20 years, many of his most influential ideas had their origin during his Woolsthorpe annus mirabilis.

PAUL: Is that not the classic sketch of his splitting of white light into the spectrum?

It is, it is and it's...

So that's the kind of thing that we're talking about.

Yes.

In this room?

Yes and it happened here.

Go on.

Over here.

In his work about it, he said the image traveled 22 feet.

MARGARET: We got very excited one day when we had another film crew, would you believe and they said "well, do you know what this area measures?"

And we went "do you know, we've never tried it."

But we did and from that wall to that window is 22 feet.

Oh please.

So, it's here, it happened.

PAUL: Blackened room, a little peep hole in the shutter.

In the shutter.

A beam of white light comes in and science at that point thinks white light is pure, heavenly, but he splits the light using a prism and casts a rainbow on that wall, not any wall, that wall.

MARGARET: That wall.

PAUL: Oh my word!

MARGARET: Yes.

VO: Yes, not only did our understanding of light originate in this room, tempting some to try to find it for themselves.

I can't really believe I'm doing this.

VO: But out in the garden, with the help of an apple, Newton was hit with his now famous laws of gravity.

PAUL: Stephen.

Paul, lovely to see you.

Good to see you.

So, are you going to tell me this is it?

After 350 years of careful preservation and loving attention.

And it is the tree.

STEPHEN: There's pretty good historical evidence.

STEPHEN: We know the tree blew down in a storm, the way it fell in sketches that had been taken over the years that identify this is the tree that Newton described.

VO: Although the fruit is still falling in the very spot where Newton began his enquiries, there is one popular misconception that Stephen can clear up.

PAUL: So, it didn't hit him on the head?

Newton never said that the apple actually hit him on the head but he told his biographers that in 1665, as a young man here at Woolsthorpe, he saw an apple fall from that tree as he sat in the garden in contemplative mood.

Stephen, one last favor to ask.

Are you going to give me that apple?

STEPHEN: Absolute pleasure, Paul.

And it's off that tree.

It's from Newton's tree.

It's Newton's apple.

I'm going to take that home and blow some young kid's mind.

VO: Now where's Anita gravitated to?

VO: Taking our route north and east towards Sleaford.

VO: The fabulous birthplace of Jennifer Saunders and also Eric Thompson of Magic Roundabout fame!

Hello.

JAVAD: This is so beautiful.

How are you?

I'm Anita.

Javad.

Javad.

It's lovely to be here.

VO: Yeah, I think you'll enjoy it here, Anita.

Maybe acquire that jewelry you were thinking of?

I must look at your favorite one.

ANITA: Is it a reasonable price?

JAVAD: £200 is very reasonable.

Agh!

It's too much money.

VO: Well, it was worth a try?

Anything else?

Oh...peridots?

JAVAD: Peridot yes.

ANITA: 1910, that's a particularly beautiful one.

It's lovely.

JAVAD: And original box.

In original box.

I think that might be too expensive for me as well.

JAVAD: £700.

VO: Blimey!

I don't even want to look at it.

VO: Let's be sensible shall we?

ANITA: I rather like these agate brooches.

JAVAD: Yes.

ANITA: Favorite sort of items of Queen Victoria and they collected all these lovely polished agates from the beaches of bonnie Scotland.

VO: No ticket price apparently though.

ANITA: These are quite pretty little pieces.

JAVAD: Yes.

ANITA: We've got a sterling silver one with I would say that was amethyst glass rather than an amethyst.

My auction estimate on that would be £25-£35.

Would I be able to buy these for...in that region?

Each?

Or both together?

Both together.

JAVAD: If you just give me a little bit more I'll go ahead with it.

Ehm, what sort of...?

£35?

ANITA: Could you do them for 30?

Yeah, OK. You'll do them for 30?

I knew that you were going to say that.

OK.

Thank you very much, that's great, that's a deal.

VO: Off to a flying start.

ANITA: The pendant that Javad showed me was priced at £700 which is not dear, because it was the Rolls Royce of pendants.

ANITA: I was looking at a cheaper example really.

It's of the same period but it's not in gold.

Just a gilt finish on it, but it does have the look of it.

VO: Although not quite an old banger at £50.

See, that's quite pretty as well isn't it?

Very nice.

ANITA: You know I like these lovely Edwardian pendants.

ANITA: These type of pendants are coming back into fashion.

Exactly.

And they're doing a bit better.

ANITA: I'd like to be able to buy that for 30 though.

I think £40 that would be my... That be... ANITA: Would that be...?

JAVAD: Very very... That would be your bottom on that.

Yes.

Could you go to, say, 36?

40 is good.

I know 40's good.

ANITA: Is there any chance of taking even another little bit off of it?

£38.

£38.

Shall we go for that?

JAVAD: Yes.

ANITA: That's wonderful, Javad.

That's wonderful, thank you so much.

VO: She's certainly bought jewelry now.

For some keen prices too.

ANITA: 40, 60, 80.

Thank you very much.

Now I have to pay you back £12.

Is that the till?

That's where I keep my change.

VO: Gives 'stocking up' an entirely new meaning.

VO: Now, time to find Paul.

On the minor road again.

PAUL: It's raining.

I don't know where I am.

Don't worry, you're with me.

You are in safe hands, Laidlaw.

VO: Night, night then.

VO: Sure enough, next morning we're heading south.

We're a long way from home, us two northerners.

PAUL: Yeah, you've not tried to pay with any Scottish money have you?

ANITA: No.

PAUL: I had somebody look at a fiver.

He said, I thought that was foreign currency.

I said, it very nearly was.

VO: Their cash was good yesterday for sure.

Anita parting with £100 for some bookends, various items of jewelry - some Scottish - and a frame.

Put a picture of my boyfriend in there.

Or one of my boyfriends.

One of your boyfriends, yes.

VO: Leaving her just over £186 available for today.

VO: While Paul picked up three little silver items and a cast iron dish with a possible Darwinian theme.

Two chimps under a tree.

VO: That lot cost £105 which means he has a little bit more than £150 left to spend.

ANITA: You want an item that'll just tip the whole thing and you can blow a kiss to me as you surge ahead.

I won't even be able to see you in the rear view mirror.

VO: Later, they'll be heading for a Norfolk auction at Diss.

But our first stop is in the Northamptonshire town of Oundle.

ANITA: Good luck, Paul.

See you later!

ANITA: Bye.

VO: Where it's said that at the age of 21, Billy Bragg wrote 'A New England'.

PAUL: Hi, how are you doing?

I'm Paul.

I'm Vicky, nice to meet you.

It's good to see you, Vicky.

Great to be here.

What a pretty little town this is.

Isn't it cute?

VO: Cute shop too, Vicky.

Proper antiques.

The clocks ticking away, it's like Mr Pipkin's shop.

PAUL: You'll be too young to remember that.

VO: Paul's good start yesterday means he can afford to be choosy here.

PAUL: I bought some monkeys yesterday.

I'm not going to buy some more but they're good fun those.

PAUL: They're kind of menacing looking little chaps those.

PAUL: Aren't they?

VICKY: They are.

VO: No monkeys.

That still leaves quite a lot.

PAUL: May I see the sweetheart brooch there?

Yes, of course.

PAUL: Please.

I'm getting old, my poor eyes aren't what they were I tell you.

I'm going to be reading books like that.

VICKY: It's the seal of Gibraltar.

PAUL: Is that what it is?

VICKY: And it's 1916 but other than that... PAUL: Those are the arms of Gibraltar.

VICKY: Yep.

VO: Also a good place to find monkeys by the way.

PAUL: Simply a little touristy souvenir of no mean quality, PAUL: I mean that's really lovely work.

Whether it was sent home by somebody serving in Gibraltar.

That's what it is, isn't it without a shadow of a doubt.

PAUL: What have you got on there out of interest?

VICKY: Erm, £30 on that.

Cutting to the chase, is there slack in the price of that?

Erm, I could do it for 25?

PAUL: Let's hold that thought.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

We're off and running are we not?

VO: We certainly are and those could be useful.

I'm really toying with the idea of trying period specs as I fear as I've suggested, I need new specs and I'm seeing all these hipsters and so on with you know... VICKY: Yes.

Old horn rimmed specs looking like Dr Crippen and I'm quite envious.

Not at the Crippen look.

But I've got such a massive bonce my problem is they look like tiny little... That isn't going to work.

I'm going to go cross eyed.

VO: Scary!

So vintage specs are out too.

I'm not sure he needs them though.

PAUL: It looks like Arab script on that doesn't it?

VICKY: It is.

PAUL: Is it?

VICKY: Yes.

(LAUGHS) PAUL: How interesting.

VO: Ah it's a marching compass.

PAUL: The rose is all described in Islamic characters.

That'll not be dear, surely.

Fifty.

PAUL: Do you want me to make you an offer?

You can try.

PAUL: I'll take a cheeky little punt at 20 quid to relieve you of an Islamic compass.

VICKY: Shall we go half and go 25?

PAUL: No.

(LAUGHS) That compass I think was manufactured in Germany.

Because I've seen very close variations on this format issued to the Wehrmacht and German military forces.

VICKY: Right.

PAUL: An ally of the Germans in the Great War was the Ottomans, modern Turkey.

There is a possibility that this is Ottoman Turkish Army issue.

VO: A fairly big assumption, Paul.

PAUL: There's a lot of wishful thinking in here.

It is smothered in wishful thinking.

If I'm unlucky, it's just a compass made for sale to North Africa or Turkey or wherever.

And I suspect that's a niche market.

(LAUGHS) PAUL: Can we do a deal?

I can do a deal at £22.

PAUL: You're quite right, you can.

Loving your work, Vicky.

That's grand.

VO: Only you could come into a classy antique shop and turn up some obscure militaria Paul.

PAUL: That's for you.

Thank you very much.

Vicky, what a pleasure.

Lovely to see you.

Very nice to meet you.

Likewise.

Thank you.

VO: But while Paul's been enjoying Oundle... VO: ..Anita's motored on.

Making her way to Cambridgeshire and Helpston.

VO: The birthplace of one of Britain's greatest and yet most neglected poets.

Hi I'm Anita.

Hi I'm David, welcome to John Clare cottage.

VO: John Clare was born into a farm laboring family in 1793.

At that time this little cottage was shared by five households.

During his school days - often interrupted by the need to help his parents scratch a living - the young man fell in love with the beautiful countryside around his village.

A friend of his showed him James Thomson, the Scottish poet, book called The Seasons.

And he had to have a copy so he walks to Stamford, buys a copy.

How old was he?

DAVID: He is 13.

The story goes that he is walking back from Stamford, he jumps over the wall at Burghley which is just along the road, reads it from cover to cover, and here he sees the vehicle by which he can express the joy that the wildlife gives him.

And he writes his first poem, the Morning Walk.

VO: Clare's understanding of nature extended far beyond that of other romantic poets like Wordsworth or Blake.

DAVID: He writes about the countryside from first hand knowledge.

DAVID: He describes you a bird's nest, it's a specific bird's nest, a skylark, a blue tit, he's writing about the countryside from living on it.

VO: But the landscape was changing fast.

The Enclosure Acts of the early 19th century meant landowners were able to fence in what had once been common land.

VO: Around Helpston, trees were felled and streams diverted, as the landscape became commercialized.

ANITA: Did that mean that he couldn't wander as a free person?

DAVID: Oh very much so.

Keep out signs came up, fences came up, and it really hurt him.

And it hurt a lot of people, because all of a sudden they've no longer got access to common land for fuel or to graze their cows.

And it gave him a great inspiration for some of the anger in his poems.

VO: Clare's first collection was published in 1820 and with his work briefly outselling Keats, the poet made a journey to the capital.

ANITA: So he was celebrated in London, accepted by the literary circle?

He met people like Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt and it's while he was down there that he got the title, the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet.

DAVID: This is a reprint that we have.

ANITA: And this is one of the first poems... DAVID: This is one of his early poems.

Can I recite?

This is called Helpstone.

Hail humble Helpstone!

Where thy valleys spread ANITA: And thy mean village lifts its lowly head ANITA: Unknown to grandeur and unknown to fame No minstrel... VO: Back at home, Clare, now with a family of his own to support, was torn between two very different worlds.

VO: A published poet, who still worked the land.

DAVID: Fame came at a cost because people didn't believe that such poems came from such a lowly person and they'd come and view him to see whether it really was the case.

Almost like a freak show.

VO: Soon his health began to suffer and Clare endured long bouts of mental illness.

But he continued to write, until ending his days at the age of 70, in an asylum.

ANITA: John Clare, we don't see his name along with the other great poets of that time.

Unfortunately, Clare is not part of the educational curriculum.

DAVID: He's still very relevant.

A number of years ago they were going to start selling off the forests, the woodlands, and an MP started quoting Clare when they were debating that in the House of Commons.

DAVID: So his poetry is still relevant today.

VO: Now what about that Paul Laidlaw?

Never... ..'a-verse' to an antiques shop.

He's made his way through the Lincolnshire Fens to Long Sutton where in the 18th century highwayman Dick Turpin hid for a short while, under the alias of Mr John Palmer.

(PIANO MUSIC) VO: Beats muzak any day!

I'm still hungry to spend money.

Bear with me.

VO: This is a huge establishment, and Paul being Paul, there's a long and rigorous search taking place.

PAUL: Firefighting material isn't something I am any authority on, however instantaneously recognizable as an early 20th century firefighter's helmet.

Continental.

British never wore anything quite like this.

CZHJ.

VO: Sounds Czech then.

It's got a label and it tells us, B.R.N.O.

Now is that pronounced Brun?

That's in Czechoslovakia.

VO: Thought so.

VO: Now in the Czech Republic, south of Prague, don't you know?

An interwar Czech firefighter's helmet.

Find me another one of those, I dare you.

VO: The ticket price is £75.

Do I love it?

Does it set my passions alight?

PAUL: No it does not.

PAUL: But it shows you what you can find perched atop a standard lamp in a place like this.

VO: The search goes on.

VO: As Anita maneuvers the Morris towards the Cambridgeshire Fens and Wisbech.

VO: The town on the river Nene, with some very nice Georgian architecture.

VO: And some winding staircases.

ANITA: I think that this is a primitive washing machine, and you stick this in your tub and you rotate it like that and I think you'd have to rotate it for a long, long time to get your clothes clean.

VO: Yes, it's called a washing dolly.

Oh, we've seen some mysteries today.

And that's one of the joys of our industry, you're continually thinking 'what's that for?'

VO: Meanwhile in Long Sutton, Paul's found something we could all do with.

Rather stylish tea for one.

You're getting teapot, cream, sugar pot, tea in cup, saucer and what does that cry out?

PAUL: Yeah?

That's art deco.

PAUL: The geometry is what it's all about.

PAUL: The reason I really like it is the £10 pricetag.

PAUL: Can you believe that?

VO: No, what's the catch?

This is very well modeled.

PAUL: The gilding on the other hand is awful.

PAUL: You can see the brushstrokes.

It's clumsy, it does not follow the lines of the modeling.

PAUL: I don't think that's how it left the factory.

Someone went at that with gold paint.

PAUL: Now we ask ourselves why would you do that?

PAUL: Well you would do it to cover up a crack, would you not?

PAUL: And there you have it.

Cream jug cracked.

What a crying shame.

Foiled again.

VO: Back in Wisbech, Anita's on the scent.

This is a rather sweet thing.

It's a bit of a girly thing but well, what's wrong with that?

It's a little green glass perfume bottle and the perfume is lavender and it's made by the Crown Perfumier Company in London.

Ooh!

VO: Oh dear, wrong pong?

That's definitely not lavender.

ANITA: So this is quite a nice wee thing.

ANITA: We have the bottle, I like the green glass, I like the fact that we have the original label intact and it has a lot of charm.

VO: Ticket price £22, and what's that beside it?

ANITA: There's another little piece of silver here.

It's sterling silver and if we look at the base, we can see that it has a title.

ANITA: La Pierre.

It has a bit of charm.

I think it's too big to be an eggcup unless it's an extra large eggcup.

VO: Duck egg, eh?

That's marked up at £20.

Time for a word with Richard.

ANITA: I picked up these two little things and I thought that they were quite a feminine thing but I was wondering if you could give me a drop dead deal on both of them?

As you probably already know, the price reflects they're not in perfect condition.

ANITA: They're not dear.

RICHARD: To you, a special deal, £15 for the two.

Richard, put it there.

Thank you very much.

VO: From 42 down to 15.

Yes that's definitely what she was after.

ANITA: Thank you very much, Richard.

I'll take my treasures and depart.

VO: So with our shopping complete let's have a look at their buys.

VO: Paul, having spent a canny £127 on a perpetual desk calendar, a dish, a photo frame, a compass and a pillbox.

VO: While Anita parted with an even cannier £115 for a perfume bottle and a silver cup plus some bookends, a wooden frame, a pendant and two Scottish brooches.

VO: So what did they make of all that?

PAUL: The glass toiletry jar, with the silver top, and the little silver cup, well I don't know how she did it.

That's just genius.

ANITA: Those three little silver pieces are just divine and I can see them in a lovely little silver collector's bijouterie cabinet.

I not only need to win the auction, I need to win it well because I've got to overtake her.

I don't have to but I'd really like to.

VO: After setting off from Navenby in Lincolnshire, our experts are now heading for a Norfolk auction at Diss.

ANITA: It's lovely being in East Anglia.

ANITA: I love the flatness of it, I love the big big big skies.

PAUL: Yeah.

Well, we're not used to that, being northerners.

Nope.

Not used to this weather either, to be honest with you.

VO: It's market day in Diss too.

Busy, busy!

ANITA: Ah, this is so exciting.

PAUL: It's alright, isn't it?

Are you going to make up that 20 quid?

PAUL: If there is a God in heaven.

ANITA: Let's go.

VO: Our auction director Elizabeth Talbot thinks Anita's Chicago hotel souvenirs might do very well.

ELIZABETH: The Stevens bookends, I like these very much.

ELIZABETH: It's a very posh place to stay but it also has a lot of scandal in its history, there were some murders, there was a suicide and a robbery.

I have high hopes for these.

The Darwinian dish, it's a simple little piece which is quirky and fun but I don't think it's going to make a lot of money.

VO: Mixed reviews then, with the scandalous bookends to start us off.

I heard couple of American accents outside so maybe there's a couple that have flown over from Chicago to buy these.

That's what it will be, yeah.

That's what it will be.

I start here at £22, £22 I have.

Where's...25, 28, 30, two, 35, 38.

Oh go on.

Oh yeah, go on.

I think they've made enough profit!

ELIZABETH: Don't give me that.

38 I have.

40, new bidder, 42, 45, 48.

ELIZABETH: Where's 50?

50 new bidder, 55 I have.

There's a lot of competition.

ELIZABETH: 60 I'm out, at £60 bid, surely worth more?

ELIZABETH: 65, 70, at £70 all done.

ANITA: Yes!

VO: Well those attracted appropriately high rise profits.

I'm happy with that.

You reckon?

VO: Now for Paul's monkey business.

Will they buy into to his theory though?

I start here at £10.

At £10 bid, ELIZABETH: Where's 12?

12 with the lady.

15 I have.

18 bid, 20 got, 22 now, the lady standing at 22, ELIZABETH: 25 the gentleman, 28, 30, two, 35.

ELIZABETH: Are you sure?

At 35 now looking for eight, 38 the lady, 40 the gentleman.

ELIZABETH: Are you sure?

Are you sure you're sure?

40 the gentleman, any advance on 40?

That's alright.

Not bad, not bad at all.

VO: Pretty good really.

VO: Next it's Anita's mahogany frame.

£20, little frame there, £20 surely?

Oh come on.

10 I'll take.

10 the lady bid, thank you 10 I have, 12 is gallery, 15, 18, pretty little frame for £18, ELIZABETH: where's...20 bid, new bidder, at 22?

ELIZABETH: 25, 28, 28 looking for 30.

ELIZABETH: A frame there for 28, all done?

VO: More profits Anita.

VO: Closely followed by the first of Paul's little silver collection.

ANITA: It shows is the soft side of Paul Laidlaw.

I've got you blushing again.

Marshmallow in here.

And I start at £28.

ELIZABETH: That's a charming piece at 28, don't sit on your hands at 28.

ELIZABETH: Where's 30?

Stop at 28, no.

Now we're away.

32 here, 35, 38?

Commission bids are in at 38, where's 40?

Are you all done, last chance at £38?

ELIZABETH: 40, new bidder in the gallery, at 40 well done madam.

40 in the gallery.

God bless the gallery.

Anyone else can join in, at £40 all done?

£40.

ANITA: You've doubled your money.

PAUL: Doubled my money!

VO: Yes much more of that and he'll be at your heels.

What can your perfume bottle and cup lot do?

If I get my money back I'll be happy I suppose.

I'll be happy if you just get your money back.

I'll be happy.

VO: Now, now!

And I start here at just £18, £18.

Did she say 80?

18.

Don't say that, I could faint.

ELIZABETH: I have 18 and 20, two, 25, 28, where's 30?

30 bid, 32.

That's lovely.

35, 38, still with me at 38, commission interest shown at 38, where's 40?

40 the hand, 42.

Any advance on 42?

You've just about tripled your money with that.

VO: He said through gritted teeth.

VO: Time for Paul's silver calendar.

And I start at £18.

Very low start for 18, now where's 20?

Come on, come on, come on.

25, 28, 30 by the fire, I'm out, 32 new bidder, 35, 38, 40, two, where's the five?

ELIZABETH: Any advance on £42?

45 just in time.

45!

ELIZABETH: 48, well done, 50?

50 bid, are you sure, sir?

50's the bid, where's five?

ELIZABETH: 55, well done.

55, may I see 60?

At 55 all done?

That's good.

VO: That hot competition's really boosted Paul's profits.

VO: Any Scottish brooch fans out there I wonder?

ANITA: I'm selling two Scottish brooches in Norfolk.

There will be Scots here, there are Scots everywhere.

Are there?

VO: Everywhere.

And I start at £12, £12 bid, where's 15?

15, 18, 20, two, 25, 28, 32, 35, 38, 40, two.

ELIZABETH: With me at 42 now, looking for five.

At 42.

VO: One more?

ELIZABETH: That's two brooches, 45 this bid, I'm out.

45 is now the lady standing ahead of me at 45.

All done at £45?

ANITA: Yes.

For your mum?

Aw that's lovely.

VO: Everyone likes Scottish brooches it seems.

Profits too.

Good saleroom.

Good auctioneer.

Lovely things.

Pair of chancers.

VO: Now for Paul's silver pillbox.

Well I have 40 on my sheets.

40, this is good.

ELIZABETH: 42 and now I'm out.

Surely worth more.

45 is in front, 48, 50, five, 60, ELIZABETH: five, 70, yes, 75 now in the gallery.

Good, good, good.

ELIZABETH: 80 bid.

Any advance, will sell.

ANITA: Yeah.

PAUL: Happy days.

ANITA: That's what we wanted.

PAUL: Bang on.

VO: Great result.

He's catching up again.

VO: Can Anita's pendant get her out in front?

50 to start.

Come on, don't be shy.

50 is there, thank you sir.

Where's five?

55, gallery, 60, five, 70, five.

Oh it's flying.

That's more like it.

ELIZABETH: 80 downstairs, surely worth more.

The lady is out.

It's 80 to my right.

Fantastic.

80 has that one, thank you.

VO: The fight goes on.

Anita's back on top.

VO: It's all down to Paul's unusual bit of militaria.

You need two mad collectors.

I always need two mad collectors, I live for mad collectors.

And I start at 25.

Right, OK, good start.

Surely worth more.

28 gallery, 30 bid, 32, 35.

You're away, you're away, darling.

ELIZABETH: Are you sure, sir?

40 I have, I'm now looking for two.

ELIZABETH: On the compass at £40, I have 42 by the door and I am out.

42 is now in blue at 42.

Is there any competition?

On the floor.

Is there any competition?

At 42.

Doubled your money.

VO: Yes it's been a very good day, with profits on everything.

Because of our success, we deserve a nice wee cup of tea.

A nice wee cup of tea it is.

VO: Quite right.

And a garibaldi, eh?

VO: Paul, who started out with £261.25 made, after paying auction costs, a profit of £83.74.

Leaving him with £344.99 to spend tomorrow.

VO: While Anita began with £286.90 and after paying auction costs, made a profit of £102.30.

So she's today's winner with £389.20.

That's two auctions a piece by the way.

PAUL: But you're still ahead of me.

ANITA: Ah but only a wee bit.

ANITA: And there's still all to play for.

VO: It's going to be a bumpy ride!

VO: On the next Antiques Road Trip: It's their final leg, so Anita's getting scary.

Oooh!

VO: And Paul's on the offensive as well.

How big a telescope have you got?

PAUL: It's Manning I'm looking for.

(LAUGHS) subtitling@stv.tv