VOICEOVER (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts with £200 each, a classic car... CHARLIE: (SCOTTISH ACCENT) We're going roond!

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

I want to spend lots of money.

VO: The aim to make the biggest profit at auction but it's no mean feat.

Oh no!

VO: There'll be worthy winners...

Yes!

We've done it.

VO: ..and valiant losers.

You are kidding me on.

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

What am I doing?

Got a deal.

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.

(SHEEP BLEATING) VO: Welcome to the glorious dawn of our fourth leg, with auctioneer, Paul Laidlaw, and dealer Margie Cooper.

Newly arrived in Wales.

PAUL: Look at that.

Come on.

Is this the Bristol Channel or is this...?

MARGIE: It is the Bristol Channel.

PAUL: This is as good as Cornwall.

VO: Which was where their vintage Alfa Romeo set out from, hundreds of miles ago.

They have since had plenty of fun, but precious few profits, until the last auction, that is.

(GAVEL HAMMERS) Fantastic!

VO: When Margie's shrewd acquisition of some Scottish brooches, rather eclipsed Paul's trademark militaria for once.

PAUL: If I see another brooch in your grubby mitts... MARGIE: Excuse me!

PAUL: The precious... MARGIE: I'm being bombarded with boring old military bits... PAUL: (GASPS) MARGIE: that fetch tons of money I have get enough of 'boring military' when I'm at home thanks very much.

PAUL: I will be blowed if I'm having it in his car, Margie.

# JAZZ VO: They both set out with £200, but Margie has so far increased that to a very respectable £333.78.

(GAVEL HAMMERS) VO: While Paul amassed a lead of over £100, with £451.64 to his name.

And perhaps a semblance of home advantage, eh?

PAUL: You are in the car on a road trip with a Celt.

MARGIE: Right.

So we have got Celts in Cornwall, Wales, MARGIE: Scotland... Ireland... PAUL: Cheshire.

Cheshire.

Oh no, not in Cheshire.

We don't have Celts in Cheshire.

VO: Our trip starts close to England's most westerly point, at St Buryan, and heads both north and east.

We then take a roundabout trip through Wales before arriving at Newent in Gloucestershire.

Today we begin just outside Cardiff at Penarth and end up at our auction at Llandeilo.

# COUNTRY VO: Just around the corner from Cardiff Bay, Penarth was a popular Victorian resort known as the garden by the sea.

Its fine pier dates from 1895 and just two years later the British impressionist Alfred Sisley honeymooned here after tying the knot at a Cardiff registry office.

He painted half a dozen oils during his stay too.

PAUL: Margie Cooper.

MARGIE: So, you are off to your shop.

I am off to make my fortune.

Wish me luck.

MARGIE: No.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) See ya later.

MARGIE: Bye.

GITTY: Good morning.

How are you?

Very well, good to see you, I am Paul.

I'm Gitty.

Gitty, it is a pleasure.

VO: Gitty that.

This little island of antiques is just the sort of shop to get our Paul excited and mischievous.

PAUL: I would love to buy a brooch and make money in the next auction, given Margie's great success in the last with such, but rest assured she is out there looking for militaria, no two ways about it.

VO: Hey, I don't think so Paul.

Just like that Ruskin brooch is not for you.

This is more like it.

PAUL: We have got this illuminated, hand-painted document and we have various scrolls and legends "Dominica heroes" it says at the top.

And then at the bottom another scroll "presented by HRH the Prince of Wales, November 1887".

Poignant stuff.

Fantastic history.

What on earth was going on in Dominica?

VO: Dominica 1805 refers to the principal battle honor of the 46th South Devonshire, which was merged into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1881.

PAUL: What do you know about your Duke of Cornwall's...?

GITTY: I don't know much about it at all.

GITTY: It came out of a local house.

PAUL: It's a pretty thing, is it dear?

Have you got high hopes for it, or is it...?

GITTY: Eh, no.

PAUL:...reasonably priced?

GITTY: Well, it's 85.

PAUL: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

VO: He is clearly intrigued.

But for £85, not yet convinced.

The rummage goes on.

PAUL: Dare I ask what is in this basement then?

GITTY: Everything - and anything.

There is furniture, pictures, pottery, porcelain.

GITTY: You name it, it's down there.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) VO: What red-blooded antiques expert could ever resist a trip to a dark cellar, eh?

Holy Moses!

Yeah.

VO: It could be where the treasure's buried, after all.

PAUL: I have only got so long to spend here, (WHISPERS) and if this is anything to judge by the last guy was here a very long time.

I hope it was worth his while.

VO: Paul Laidlaw, antique hunter, a bit like Indiana Jones, in tweed.

Well, well, well.

Is it made up by a wood turner with no great talent?

Is it someone's O-Level woodwork gone horribly wrong?

PAUL: Or is it something out of Africa?

I need it to be old, and not just tourist fodder, 20th century tourist fodder.

What am I looking for?

That's a shrinkage crack.

A hallmark of some age.

Patina, well it's certainly treacly.

But I've got a killer for you here.

Look at that.

That's old baize cloth.

Yeah?

Not modern felt.

Old baize and I postulate this was taken home in the late Victorian era or the early 20th century and someone thought 'well, I don't want it scratching my nice, polished wooden floors' and they've tacked on some green baize.

And I assure you that's not modern.

That'll be a hundred year old.

Bingo!

It's period ethnographica.

Now we're in business.

VO: Well it was worth all the cobwebs then.

VO: But he's not finished yet.

PAUL: 1950s Susie Cooper coffee service.

What's not to like?

Sweet.

VO: Burslem born Susie Cooper OBE, was one of the most important women in British pottery.

Her motto was elegance combined with utility .

I see a price tag.

I do, don't I?

Now, is this going to be cheap?

It's £125.

She's got 1930s.

Do you think it is pre-war?

PAUL: Oh, I'd like it to be, but it's too much money.

Oh!

Hopes built up and dashed.

I think it's worth £40-80 at auction.

PAUL: All I can do is ask the question.

GITTY: Are we still alive down there?

VO: Time to emerge blinking into the daylight, to talk to Gitty.

PAUL: Can I ask you about this?

I thought I'd found something, I thought well surely if it's down here it's incomplete or it's broken, but you've got a wee Susie Cooper complete coffee for six there.

But...

But I...

I can't find the coffee pot at the moment.

VO: A coffee set with no pot?

That's why it was down there then.

PAUL: Do you think that's pre-war?

GITTY: Oh yes, it is, PAUL: Great stuff.

GITTY:...the signa, it's got a number, it's got a pre-war number on.

PAUL: Yeah.

GITTY: And they were all hand-painted.

You see, Gitty, you're selling it to me.

I know.

You're a bad woman.

GITTY: What's the price on it?

PAUL: (PRETENDING TO COUGH) 125.

125?

Well, how about if I let you have the lot for 60?

That's a hell of a discount.

Well... PAUL: But I'm gonna say any way it could be 30?

Nah?

GITTY: Sorry.

PAUL: Well, I respect that.

That's pushing your... Where are you...

Pushing your luck a bit.

And... forgive me that.

GITTY: That's alright.

(LAUGHS) PAUL: (LAUGHS) PAUL: Em... GITTY: How about 45?

How's about this?

Mm-hm.

PAUL: 40, which is... GITTY: Yes?

..the compromise, but there's a but here.

But?

Mm-hm?

See this mystery wooden African stool, whatever it is?

GITTY: Yeah?

PAUL: Throw that in with it.

Is there leverage in that?

GITTY: Why not?

VO: Eh, basement prices eh?

He's got his ethnographica for next to naught.

VO: But what about the mysterious militaria?

GITTY: You've got to buy my picture.

GITTY: You're not going out without that.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) PAUL: In theory it is dead easy to sell me that, but at the end of the day unless you get the Duke of Cornwall's light infantry collector, no one else is going to care.

PAUL: Down in Cornwall it is a flyer.

Anywhere else... VO: Yeah.

Llandeilo in this case.

GITTY: Strange things sell in South Wales.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) Eh, I'd pay 20 quid for that.

GITTY: No, I can't do 20 on that, no.

I will do 40, but I won't do 20.

PAUL: Naw!

Yeah.

VO: Hang on this isn't over yet.

We're only having a cease fire.

PAUL: You know you have got me, don't you.

Yeah.

I'm like a little fish and you've got the hook in there...

Reeling, and I'm reeling you in.

PAUL: I will gamble on it at 30 quid, if you can sell it for that.

OK. That is fine.

I will sell it for 30.

Gitty, we've bought three things.

GITTY: Marvelous.

That's what I like to see.

PAUL: Loving your...

I told you I'd thin this place out.

Thank... VO: So that's £70 for three auction lots.

VO: But while Paul was doing his bit of cellar clearing, Margie's headed north.

VO: Maneuvering her motor from Penarth to Tongwynlais.

And a fantasy castle in the woods.

RICK: Croeso i Gastell Coch.

Oh, what does that mean?

Welcome to Castell Coch.

Oh, well thank you.

I wish I could respond, but I can't.

MARGIE: My word.

What a place!

RICK: It is.

VO: Gastell Coch with its three great towers topped by conical roofs, was created by the fabulously wealthy John Crichton Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, and his architect William Burgess.

The Marquess's father helped turn nearby Cardiff into a major port, exporting iron and coal, but by 1871, his son was dreaming of Britain's pre-industrial past.

MARGIE: So, Rick, how old is it?

RICK: Many people think this is a sort of Victorian fantasy... MARGIE: Yeah.

.. but they are substantial ruins of an important medieval castle and if you look at the tower behind us, the bell tower... MARGIE: Yeah?

.. you can see there is a distinct change in color in the stonework, so what is below is from the 12th, 13th century... MARGIE: Yeah.

.. and what is above is from the middle of the 19th century.

MARGIE: Right.

RICK: The whole castle is based around a motte-and-bailey and then towers were added through the 12th and 13th centuries... MARGIE: Mmmm.

.. and it was an important little castle in the Lordship of Glamorgan.

What is that red thing there?

RICK: That... That is what we call a brattish, and it's part of the Victorian recreation.

MARGIE: Right?

But it's following the Middle Ages and it is a structure to allow people to drop missiles on anyone trying to get through the drawbridge.

The Marquess of Bute and William Burgess, they loved this sort of thing.

They loved playing at the Middle Ages.

It is a bit of fun.

This whole castle... MARGIE: Yeah.

.. is a bit of fun.

VO: The castle was to be an occasional country retreat, but no expense was spared as both patron and architect set about creating a sort of Medieval utopia.

The Marquess had a scholarly fascination with the period and Burgess, like his contemporary, William Morris, favored traditional craftsmanship over mass production.

RICK: We are in the banqueting hall.

This is where the main eating room, the tables in front of us.

MARGIE: Yeah?

And this is the only room that was completed while William Burgess was alive.

He died in 1881.

Oh, so he never saw it finished?

Well, he never saw all the building finished, but he saw this room finished.

RICK: And it is in his favorite Victorian Gothic revival style, and it draws upon influences from France, all the work that Pugin had been doing in the Houses of Parliament, for example.

MARGIE: Mmm.

RICK: This is intended to be 13th century... MARGIE: Century... .. Gothic architecture and decoration.

VO: Despite Burgess's death, the work at the castle continued for another 10 years, with Lady Bute's bedroom amongst the most fabulous interiors.

VO: But most agree that the octagonal Drawing Room is the Castle's masterpiece.

MARGIE: Oh, my goodness me!

So many different styles and... oh, it is beautiful.

# HARP RICK: It is a sort of allegory of the world.

MARGIE: Yeah.

RICK: We are standing on the green grass of the field.

MARGIE: Mmm.

We are surrounded by the flowers of the field in this nice paneling.

And then we can see the animals.

RICK: These are Aesop's Fables.

And then you look higher and you see the birds of the air and then the stars in the firmament and finally the sun in the top of the room.

# HARP RICK: But as we look this way towards the fireplace... MARGIE: Yeah?

.. we begin to recognize our own role in the firmament, because these are the three fates.

You have got childhood, the prime of life and old age and the three fates are spinning this thread of life and ultimately the one on the right cuts that thread and our life ends.

MARGIE: Gracious!

VO: Not only did Burgess fail to see his work completed, but sadly the Marquess also passed away just a few years later, in 1900.

RICK: From the early 20th century it was hardly used at all, if ever.

MARGIE: Mm-hm.

Eh... and during the war it was requisitioned, so there was the army living here.

I am told that they used to have dances in this room... MARGIE: Oh, no.

..in, in the war.

And then just after the war... MARGIE: Yeah?

..the Marquess's son had to pay...

There had to be death duties paid and he sold up his estates, most of his estates here in South Wales.

VO: Thankfully Gastell Coch is now owned by the Welsh people - so we can all appreciate what was once the Marquess' country retreat.

But if you prefer a fantasy des-res in the heart of the city, then back in Cardiff, you can visit another Bute Castle also given the Victorian High Gothic treatment by William Burgess.

Or like Paul, you could just pop into the antique center.

Folks, Margie after a bad auction, Margie trying to solve her problems, Margie now after a good result.

VO: Well there is something concrete for you.

Hello there.

Hello, good afternoon.

You look eh... You look in charge behind there.

Yes, I certainly am.

PAUL: Are you Sue?

SUE: I am Sue, yeah, hi.

Lovely to see you.

I'm Paul.

SUE: Hi, Paul.

PAUL: You alright?

Nice to meet you.

Yeah, fine thank you.

SUE: Welcome to the Pumping Station.

PAUL: What a structure.

SUE: Amazing, isn't it?

PAUL: Astonishing, but it looks like you've managed to fill it.

Oh yes, we're very full.

VO: Yes this grade 2 listed piece of Victorian industrial architecture seems really quite replete.

Paul can afford to take his time and be choosy here.

He's had a good morning after all.

PAUL: God, that is cheap.

I don't know whether I want it, but it's cheap.

RAF souvenir.

Some guy serving in occupied Germany in 1948, with the RAF.

PAUL: How's that, 15 quid?

It's a gift.

But it's not for me.

VO: Oh Margie's arrived and she may feel a little differently.

She's never been a fan of the giant antique center.

She prefers the personal touch.

I do hate it when the dealers aren't here, it's...

It's very, eh, difficult.

VO: And it's a bit late in the day too.

So just getting her hands on some of the stock could be a problem.

MARGIE: You always want to go places you can't go.

Don't you?

VO: Breathe Margie.

Something will turn up.

Just don't worry about Paul, eh?

He's in here somewhere, isn't he?

MARGIE: (SOFTLY) Yeah.

VO: Lordy!

He certainly is and, VO: (WHISPERS) he seems to be interested in something.

We have a clock garniture here, a figural clock garniture.

We have the clock, surmounted by this figure here in chains.

PAUL: And what's he doing?

Surely he's trying to break his chains.

PAUL: Precisely the same figure is one of the flanking elements of the garniture.

The other one, this chap here, lost his chains.

Looks like he's launching a brick.

Is he breaking down the walls that make him captive?

PAUL: Surely they represent liberty from slavery.

The origin I think is German.

I think it's under the influence of the Jugenstihl movement - the youth style movement that comes about in Austria in the very late 19th century.

VO: Jugenstihl was the artistic equivalent of art nouveau in German-speaking and Scandinavian countries.

PAUL: It's unusual and I like unusual.

It's complete and the condition is good.

PAUL: Is it treasure?

No, because it's a bit black, it's a bit unsettling - the whole slavery thing.

VO: And the clock doesn't work.

Price?

What do we have here?

"The trio, £97."

If you want it it's no money.

If you want to sell it in an auction it's way too much money.

VO: Margie meanwhile is also looking into something.

It's just an attractive gilt mirror, isn't it?

With that nice bit of hand painting there.

MARGIE: Gilded quadrooning.

Bet it's early 20th century.

I think that's quite attractive.

VO: Not the price though, is it?

£75.

I might just put it back.

VO: Well there's only one way to find out if it can be any cheaper Margie.

SUE: Yes.

MARGIE: I quite like that.

SUE: Yeah.

MARGIE: I just thought it attracted me, so maybe it would attract somebody else.

OK, well, I will give the tenant a ring and see if I can do anything better.

Yeah, just say, you know, if, how much they want.

But normally, you know, they do tell us 10% and no more.

VO: I think Margie will be after a slightly bigger reduction than that Sue.

SUE: Got it marked up for 75, but the lady wondered whether you would be able to move any more on it?

VO: Back to Paul's clock, eh?

Adrian's trying to get him a deal on it.

The figures in chains?

I want to pay 40 quid for them, and I know that's brutal... ADRIAN: 55 PAUL: Yah.

No.

49 is the absolute best, is it?

For me it's so close.

I can smell a deal.

45 and I'll buy them.

He's saying 45 and he'll buy them.

ADRIAN: Yep?

He'll do it.

Tell him he's a good man.

Telling me he's a good man.

VO: Another deal for Paul, but no such luck with Margie's mirror.

The dealer's best price was £55 and that was still a little high for her.

It's very nice, but at 55 it's a gamble, isn't it?

But I think I'll maybe say no to that.

VO: Time's up and Margie's funds remain untapped.

Not that she seems too bothered about that.

MARGIE: D'you like the country or the seaside?

Ah...both, but seaside first.

Cuz I... No, I like the country.

PAUL: Really?

MARGIE: Yeah.

MARGIE: Isn't that funny?

VO: Well, we never thought they were like peas in a pod, did we?

Sweet dreams.

VO: Next day Margie's feeling curious about what her fellow tripper's been up to.

MARGIE: So, how's it going for you?

Not bad.

I have bought a handful of things.

PAUL: I'm still shopping, but I don't feel under pressure.

PAUL: Yourself?

MARGIE: Em... VO: Gulp!

Margie didn't get a single thing yesterday.

It's my nervous whistle.

(WHISTLES) VO: Which means she has lots to buy and £333.78 to buy it with.

VO: Whilst Paul has set off at his usual storming pace with a Susie Cooper coffee set, a clock garniture, an African stool, and a piece of militaria, all snapped up.

And I'm reeling you in.

VO: These cost £115 leaving him with over £336 still in his wallet.

No wonder he's happy to be driving Miss Margie.

I've got this man.

I think he's a Pict or a Celt or something.

Don't understand a word he says, but he gets from A to B. VO: Later they'll be landing up at an auction in Llandeilo.

But our next stop is in Carmarthen.

Now many of you will no doubt recall, that this road trip started in Cornwall, and visited Tintagel.

Where some say King Arthur was born.

Well Carmarthen was allegedly the birthplace of Merlin.

In a cave, of course.

There you go, Margie.

MARGIE: Alright, have a great day.

Shop till you drop, Margie.

VO: One legend on record as coming from Carmarthen though, is Nicky Stevens, singer in Eurovision winners 'Brotherhood of Man'!

So is Margie feeling under pressure to buy, buy baby, buy buy?

I'm sort of, ah, I'm getting an old hand now at this road trip.

But if I'd been in this position on my first road trip I think they'd probably have had to stretcher me in.

VO: Sage words, Margie.

And this looks just the place to break that duck.

MARGIE: Ah.

VIV: Hiya.

MARGIE: Hello, good morning.

Hello, good morning.

MARGIE: Margie.

Viv.

How are you?

Viv.

Hi Viv.

So you're gonna be my helper?

VIV: I am indeed, yes.

MARGIE: Right.

So what goes on in here?

VIV: We've got 40 dealers altogether.

MARGIE: 40?

Right.

And so you've got sort of jurisdiction to maybe deal a bit?

VIV: We have indeed, yeah.

Everything's negotiable.

MARGIE: Ahh.

OK?

Everything is negotiable.

VO: Just what Margie needed to hear I'm sure.

Sounds like those two are already in tune.

Conductor's baton?

VO: Ah teeny weenie Worcester!

It's got three handles, which you sometimes call a tyg.

T-Y-G. Then you've got a little two-handled mug.

Sweet.

They're hand painted.

It's like a loving cup really, isn't it?

£48 each.

VO: First chance now for a bit of that promised 'negotiability'.

MARGIE: Well, how much are the pair of those?

I can do the pair for 40 for you.

VO: As good as her word, look!

MARGIE: Pair for 40?

VIV: Yep.

MARGIE: They're delightful.

VIV: They are.

They're immaculate.

MARGIE: I think I've got to say yes to those.

VIV: OK. MARGIE: Thanks very much, Viv.

VIV: That's alright.

VO: Off and running Margie.

Or should that be marching?

MARGIE: Oh, look at my soldier.

I've been with my soldier boy all week.

MARGIE: It's Paul Laidlaw this, isn't it?

I've just got to buy it for a laugh.

VO: Or a wind up?

He looks a bit younger than Paul, doesn't he?

VO: Keeps better time too.

The trouble is it's £95.

"Tin plate mechanical toy by Marx".

VO: Marx was a very successful American toy manufacturer.

Founder Louis Marx, was known as the Henry Ford of toys.

MARGIE: How much could this be, Vivian?

VIV: £70.

MARGIE: 70.

Oh.

VO: This time Viv needs to call the dealer.

70 is too expensive.

Em...

Needs to be cheaper.

Right, spoken to the dealer.

65 is his best on it.

He's selling it on behalf of someone else.

MARGIE: I really fancy him.

I can't see me losing on that.

Mmm.

VO: I think he approves.

MARGIE: I just think he's OK for 65.

I really do.

Oh yeah, I've gotta have him.

Go on, I'll have you.

I'll have him.

Brilliant.

Lovely.

VO: So with Margie busy loosening the purse strings, where's our other little soldier got to?

VO: Driving from Carmarthen down to Tenby.

That's where!

VO: The town's Welsh name translates as 'little fortress of the fish' and Tenby's strategic position on Britain's western coast meant it was an important settlement, long before it became a seaside resort.

But Paul's in no position to pull up a deck chair just yet.

Not with shopping still to do.

PAUL: Mr Bull, I presume?

Yes, hi, how do you do?

I'm Paul.

Hi Paul.

Good to see you.

VO: Johnny to his friends, Paul.

Nice shop too.

Worth your usual close inspection.

(MENACINGLY) Got my eye on you, Cooper.

VO: Yesterday there was no coffee pot, what is it today I wonder?

Missing the sugar basin, aren't we?

VO: Maybe not then.

There's sure to be something else.

Perhaps another clock Paul?

Certainly quite a bit bigger than the last one.

This is rather a smart grandmother clock, we'd call it, OK?

Which is a short longcase clock.

Brass-faced with a silver chapter.

It's in the style of the mid 18th century.

However, I think it was probably made in the 1920s, and it's priced at £150.

Very reasonable indeed.

However, the movement's faulty.

VO: Just like yesterday's then?

PAUL: What on earth am I doing thinking about spending so much money on a broken clock?

PAUL: Johnny, step into my office.

JOHNNY: (LAUGHS) PAUL: You'll have seen me playing with your... JOHNNY: With the clock, yes, yes.

What are you like with prices?

Are you a man that I can haggle with?

Yeah, you c... Well, you can haggle with me so far and then I say...

Sounds fair enough.

JOHNNY: What have I got on the ticket of the clock?

PAUL: One and a half on that.

JOHNNY: One and a half...125.

(MUMBLES) Mmm.

125.

PAUL: I need to pay 100 for it.

Can't do it.

I will sell you the clock for 105.

VO: Gosh, that's not bad!

Time to take five minutes.

Not that our clock will be much use for that.

I want the clock.

But it is a gamble.

If I am right, I might be able to get it sort of working.

If I can, then not only will I buy it, I will be happy about buying it.

PAUL: Moving.

What do you think of that then, eh?

PAUL: We have got a working timepiece.

VO: Well we have to hand it to you Paul!

Let's hope the price doesn't go up again.

PAUL: She is a goer.

JOHNNY: I am impressed.

You have got a deal.

JOHNNY: OK. PAUL: Thank you very much.

JOHNNY: Thank you very much.

VO: So Paul's the proud owner of a working clock for £105.

VO: How about Carmarthen?

Has Margie continued her fine start to the day?

MARGIE: I've seen something in here, if it can be reasonable.

VO: Sounds promising.

VIV: Isn't that cute?

MARGIE: Yeah, a little art nouveau job, and you have got copper and brass.

MARGIE: A lovely, typical, 1900?

Absolutely lovely.

It has just got the right feel about it.

VO: For use with miniature cups perhaps?

We think it is a calling card tray.

Where your butler would come along and say look... MARGIE: Could do.

VIV:...and introduce it on that.

VIV: Would be the right period, wouldn't it?

MARGIE: What's he up to?

VIV: That's the woman, she's supposed to be milking the cow.

The cow isn't coming up to her and he's just sneaking up behind What are we getting into here?

VO: Ha!

The ticket price is £32 but I'm sure Margie will be keen on a reduction.

MARGIE: That's gotta be cheap and cheerful.

VO: I think Viv's got the message Margie.

I can do 15.

Phhh!

I was really thinking of like 10 quid.

Go on then.

Go on then.

I know what I bought it in for.

You can have it for £10.

Go on.

Oh, Viv, you're too good to me.

VIV: If it helps you out.

VO: She certainly is.

VO: But having splashed out over £100 on four items, Margie's still on the hunt for more.

I like this.

I think it's a pastel.

And I think it says here "01".

Could that be 1901?

That is a really, really good sketch of a horse.

And he's such a toff, look.

That guy's just got attitude.

Loves himself.

VO: Looks in the style of Cecil Aldin.

A British illustrator who often worked in pastels, and was very fond of rural scenes.

MARGIE: Oh crikey!

It's over 100 quid.

I'm not risking that.

VO: This could be Viv's greatest challenge yet!

You got a minute, Viv, darling?

VIV: Yes.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) MARGIE: I've just spotted this.

VIV: Yes, lovely.

MARGIE: Oh, I love it.

There's a lot of interest in that.

It's just come in.

It's lovely.

MARGIE: Oh, has it just come in?

VIV: Yeah, not long.

VIV: There is some room in that.

MARGIE: Is there?

VIV: Yeah.

We can go down quite a bit.

What are you thinking of?

Where do you need to be?

VO: Please don't ask her that!

VIV: I can be around about 50.

MARGIE: Yeah.

If you'd shake my hand at 40 I'll have it.

Yeah, go on.

Go on, go on.

You've done well.

I can't look, I can't look... Yeah, no.

You can... MARGIE: I can't look.

VIV: 40, it's yours.

VO: Wow!

Another whopping discount!

All they've got to do now is get it off the wall.

MARGIE: Ah, well done.

VIV: It's alright, now it's coming, it's coming.

VIV: Plan B.

You hold that.

MARGIE: Yep.

Is it out now?

VIV: Should be.

MARGIE: Wah!

Oh dear.

VIV: We've just got one problem here.

MARGIE: Alright, do you wanna swap?

VIV: There we go.

VIV: Well done.

VO: That was some shop Margie.

Five buys.

Now, time to pay up!

So, how much do I owe you?

I dunno.

I dunno.

I haven't got a... Haven't got a clue.

VO: I'm not surprised after that flurry of activity.

It was £155 actually.

But will her little haul get Margie back in the game?

MARGIE: It's all down to the auction now.

Not blaming me, blame the auction.

VO: Eh, what could possibly go wrong?

VO: Back in Tenby, Paul's also finished shopping.

You could say he's clocked off in fact.

So he's headed to the Norman castle and Wales's oldest independent museum, to find out about the inventor of a little something it's hard to imagine doing without.

Hello.

SUE: Hello Paul.

PAUL: Is it Sue?

SUE: It is.

Lovely to see you.

Very nice to meet you.

VO: Overlooking the Victorian fort on St Catherine's Island, the castle is the best place to appreciate what, during the late Middle Ages, was the biggest port in Wales.

Henry Tudor sheltered here during the Wars of the Roses, but Tenby's cleverest offspring was undoubtedly the mathematician Robert Recorde.

He was born in Tenby around 1510, 1512.

We can't be absolutely certain of the date.

His father was the mayor of Tenby.

Uh huh.

And probably a merchant.

So, Robert would have grown up with the transactions going on between different merchants.

I see.

Yes?

And that maybe is what sparked off his interest in mathematics.

VO: Young Robert left for Oxford university to study mathematics and medicine aged 15, and within a few years he was both a doctor and an author.

And then he wrote his first book about mathematics in 1543.

OK. And he was the first person to write a book about mathematics in English.

Really?

Yes.

Up until then, books for learned people, mathematical books, all those sorts of books had been written in either Greek or Latin.

Or Latin.

VO: That work 'Arithmetic: or The Ground of Arts' was so successful that it remained in print for over 150 years, and was reprinted about 45 times.

In this book he explains in very simple terms mathematics to a complete amateur.

VO: Recorde had cleverly answered a great need.

Because in the 16th century, whilst British trade was booming, maths was known only to a fortunate few.

Presumably the businessman buying this book and studying it and learning it has an advantage over his competitors now?

Absolutely right.

And when you think that different commodities had different measurements.

SUE: So, beer came in a firkin, a kilderkin or a barrel.

And it contains nine, 18 or 36 gallons.

Herrings a butt, a barrel, a bar, a firkin and so on and so on.

You had to be pretty good at maths to be able to deal with all of this.

Yeah, all, yeah.

When you're trading.

SUE: So this was a really important step forward.

VO: But Recorde, who was to become controller of The Royal Mint, didn't stop there.

Introducing algebra into British mathematics and devising new ways of using the square root.

And in 'The Whetstone of Witte' he made perhaps his most lasting contribution - the equals sign.

SUE: "Howbeit, for easy alteration of equations and to avoid the tedious repetition of these words, is equal to."

You can tell how fed up he was.

I see, yeah.

SUE: "I will use a pair of parallels, thus, because no two things can be more equal and now mark these numbers."

And that's the very first use of the equals sign.

PAUL: And there you have it.

Longer than we're used to today.

PAUL: They're quite long lines.

SUE: Yes, very long, yes.

It wasn't universally adopted immediately because other people were writing, don't forget, and using other different symbols.

Yeah.

But it's such an easy thing and such a natural thing that it became the universal symbol for equality.

VO: Unfortunately Tenby's brilliant mind didn't live to an old age.

Because, after being sued for defamation by a political enemy, Robert Recorde died at a debtors prison in 1558.

I did more than my fair share of maths at university, but I had no idea this Welshman, this man of Tenby, came up with the equals sign, but I'll tell you what next time I'm doing some homework with the bairns...

Yes?

I'll do my bit, spread his name.

VO: Now without too much complicated arithmetic, let's see the sum of what our two have bought.

VO: Paul's acquired an African stool, a grandmother clock, some militaria, a coffee set, and a clock garniture for £220.

VO: While Margie's got a clockwork toy, some miniature mugs, a little tray and a picture for £155.

Margie's looking good again, looking strong.

PAUL: Two Worcester hand enameled miniatures.

Yesterday's news.

Dull, but profitable.

He's bought a grandmother clock and he's managed to get it working.

That could be a bit of a worry.

The tray.

Nasty.

PAUL: £10 paid, but if there's any justice in the world that's a struggle.

MARGIE: He's £100 ahead, which is not that much really, but I think I'd put money on Paul Laidlaw.

VO: Oh Margie!

VO: After starting out in South Glamorgan at Penarth.

This leg of our trip concludes at an auction in Carmarthenshire at Llandeilo.

Can you hear that noise there?

Margie, can you hear that?

What?

The sound of a... a clock ticking?

VO: On the western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park, Llandeilo is named after Saint Teilo, who was a contemporary of St David.

For almost 800 years they hosted an annual fair in the churchyard here.

MARGIE: Yeah, another auction house.

PAUL: Well, they say there's an amazing clock in there!

(LAUGHS) VO: Hang on, your clock doesn't seem to have got the good people at Jones and Llewelyn, into too much of a lather just yet.

And the auction's not online either.

Listen carefully to what auctioneer Michael Jones makes of it all.

MICHAEL: The grandfather clock is a bit messy.

It's been worked on.

It's in bits, actually.

MICHAEL: Lovely cups, very hard things to sell.

Might get £20 for it, if they are lucky.

The military certificate picture, I wouldn't want it in my living room.

I think if you make a bob on it you'll be extremely lucky.

VO: Crikey.

What's more they seem to be having a bit of difficulty with his accent.

When he talks to the people who are bidding, he talks to them in Welsh.

Does he?

Have you sussed that?

So it was all Welsh?

There's English in there as well.

VO: Of course there is Paul!

You just have to pay attention.

What's up first?

Drummer boy.

Oh.

Duh, duh, duh.

VO: Margie's little soldier leads the charge.

I've got straight in a bid of £20 I've got.

20 I got, £20 bid I've got.

Any advance on £20?

MICHAEL: 22, 24 now on my left.

24 there.

26 back here.

28, 28 I got.

30.

I'm having a job to understand him.

VO: Don't worry, Margie, it's all bad, bad, bad.

Any advance on £30?

Set... 32 back in, last second.

34 back here.

34 I've got, sir.

Selling at £34, then.

VO: A shocking start, but our two don't seem to have quite got it yet.

What did it make?

Why do... Oh, I don't want to hear.

Excuse me?

Yes?

What did, em, what did lot 170 make?

I bought it.

You bought it.

He bought it.

For how much?

34 quid.

VO: Hopefully they'll be a bit more on the ball from now on.

My art nouveau tray is next.

VO: Paul hates it, but that's no reason for it not to make a fine profit.

Nice little lot there.

I've got £10 bid, I've got 10.

It's got a tenner straight away.

You're in.

10, 12 now.

14's there.

14 I've got.

16, 18.

18 there, 18.

Selling at £18.

Are you all done?

Cheap enough.

Selling at £18.

All done?

Sure?

18 it is.

You've got to be happy with that.

Holy Moses.

VO: Goodness gracious I'm sure she is!

Just wait till your lots come up.

Oh no.

I'm worried now.

I'm the guy that went in heavy.

VO: Paul's coffee set without the erm..pot now.

Susie Cooper.

I've got a few bids here.

I've got 10, 15, £20 I've got.

£20 I've got.

22 now.

22's there.

Any advance on £22?

PAUL: Come on, come on, come on.

MICHAEL: Anyone else?

PAUL: No!

No!

MICHAEL: All done?

PAUL: Too cheap!

22 it is then.

Selling at £22.

24.

26 back end.

26 back end.

26 I've got.

Go for it.

Go for it.

Don't be daft.

PAUL: Yes, go for it.

Don't be daft!

There one more.

28.

28 it is.

Selling at £28 then.

Close but no cee-gar!

VO: No, a bigger loss after auction costs, though.

The lucky winner just needs a pot now.

VO: Time for Paul's bit of Jugenstihl.

Lovely man.

It's stand out.

Very handsome man.

I've got 35, 40, 45 I've got.

45, one bid I've got only .

45 only, 45 I've got.

Cheap enough.

It's cheap.

Yeah, cheap enough.

Too cheap.

55 here.

55, gentleman there.

Any advance on 55?

That's cheap.

Selling at £55 and all done?

There you go.

It's a profit, love.

Chuck.

VO: Barely, Margie.

VO: Now if you don't exactly fancy a full cup of tea... Margie's Worcester tyg'll do the trick.

You're gonna make money on these, aren't you?

Margie Cooper.

Did I say that with sufficient menace?

MICHAEL: £10 start it.

MARGIE: Oh gawd.

I've got 12 here.

14 I've got.

14, 16 there.

16, 18 I've got.

£18 I've got.

20 on the book here with me.

MICHAEL: Book payer £20.

22 there, 24 here.

24, 26.

26, I'm out.

26 I've got.

Any advance on £26?

Selling at £26.

Are you all done?

VO: Another little disappointment.

Can her loving cup do any better though?

I've got 10, £15 I've got.

15 I've got.

15, 17 there.

MICHAEL: 19, 20, 22, 24's there.

26, 26.

He's out.

26 I've got.

Any more?

Selling at £26.

MARGIE: I've got to 26 quid.

MICHAEL: £26 then.

126.

Oh well.

Hey ho.

VO: So neither of Margie's cups runneth over.

Just be grateful you didn't spend £105 on something.

VO: Oh dear.

If we were in Cornwall or at least online, I'd have high hopes for Paul's militaria.

This is the best thing in the saleroom.

Don't be cocky.

I'm...

I'm desperate.

Nice little thing there.

Here we are.

10 to start it?

£10 to start it?

10 I got.

£10 bid.

10 I've got, 10 I've got.

What is happening?

12 here, 12 I've got now.

MICHAEL: 14 behind you.

Save one for him.

MICHAEL: Nice one.

PAUL: Loving it, Margie.

I'm not, I'm not.

Honest, I'm not, I'm not, honest.

MICHAEL: 14, all done?

Selling at 14.

£14.

£16.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) This is insane.

(GAVEL HAMMERS) MICHAEL: 16 it is.

PAUL: Gnnnnn!

MARGIE: That's really... No, that's ridiculous.

VO: A rare reverse for Paul's stock in trade.

But a bargain for someone.

So, we're taking a bit of a hammering here, aren't we?

That's... That's preposterous.

VO: Margie's picture.

Paul was a bit worried about this.

I'll go straight in, I've got a bid of £40.

40 I've got.

Straight in, straight in.

£40.

40.

45.

I've got 50 back here.

55, 60 here.

65.

I'm out.

65 I've got.

65 I've got.

Any advance on 65?

Go on.

MICHAEL: Selling at £65 then.

All done?

That's pretty healthy.

That's alright.

20 quid?

VO: Don't knock it Margie.

It could be the profit of the day.

PAUL: Margie.

MARGIE: Yeah?

The leg's gone.

The leg's gone.

It's off.

VO: I'm not surprised Paul.

Your clock suddenly looks like an even bigger gamble.

Where you starting?

Start at £100?

100 quid?

No?

50 then.

50, away?

No?

£20.

Where do you want to start?

Want to bid?

£20?

£20 I've got.

£20 bid I've got.

He's got 20 quid.

He's got 20 quid.

Any advance on £20?

No?

£20 it is.

No.

Sure?

£20.

Yeah.

25.

30 now.

30 now.

You're kidding me on!

It's the price, it's the price of a mantle clock.

It's the price of a mantle clock.

£30, 35, 35 now.

35.

40 now.

At 40.

£40 I've got.

You're getting there, you're getting there.

£40, 45.

45 there.

Bid!

Bid, people.

All done?

(GAVEL HAMMERS) What?!

I think you lost money there.

VO: Calm down Paul.

You'll snap a mainspring!

Aw!

There's no justice there.

All your work.

Margie, Margie.

You've gone a bit pink.

VO: But that gigantic loss means Margie's firmly in the lead.

Margie, Margie, Margie, Margie.

# I'm losing it.

I'm losing it.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) OK. Well, maybe your African stool might pull you out.

VO: Yes that can't fail, surely?

I've got five, £10 for that.

10 I've got.

£10 bid I've got.

15 now.

15 now.

Selling at £15.

All done?

MICHAEL: 20.

20 now.

25.

25 I've got.

No?

25 I've got.

Still cheap.

But I'll take it.

Selling at £25.

All done?

Selling at 25.

Last chance.

27.

27.

27.

29.

29 now.

20... 31.

33.

Give it another hour it could make 50 quid.

At £33 then.

All done?

(GAVEL HAMMERS) VO: Not exactly a big finish but at least it's a profit for Paul.

VO: Not enough to beat Margie who'll be the winner today.

PAUL: Margie?

MARGIE: Yeah?

VO: Paul began with £451.64 and after paying auction costs, he made a loss of £74.86, leaving him with £376.78 to spend next time.

(GAVEL HAMMERS) VO: Whilst Margie who started out with £333.78 made, after paying auction costs, a loss of £16.42.

She now has £317.36 and is less than £60 behind.

PAUL: Congratulations are in order.

Hang on, I'm gonnae put these on because I don't want others to see that I've been crying.

MARGIE: Have I won an auction?

Have I?

Have I...?

PAUL: Oh, will you stop going on about winning this auction?

PAUL: I'm going through hell in here.

VO: Next on Antiques Road Trip - how to make toast.

Once more.

Look at this.

I could do this all day, I'm in my element.

Pun intended.

VO: And how not to make a bean.

MARGIE: No!

VO: Crumbs!!

MARGIE: I've dropped it.

subtitling@stv.tv