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.

VO: Yeah!

VO: Welcome back to Wales, and the final installment of Laidlaw versus Cooper.

That's auctioneer Paul and dealer marvelous Margie.

I'm not talking to you... PAUL: You might not be talking but you are breathing down my neck.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) MARGIE: I'm not talking to you cuz I don't want you to read my mind.

VO: Oh come on you two, don't go keeping mum!

All this way as friendly rivals and now it's suddenly nip and tuck.

PAUL: Here she comes.

Here she comes.

I'm coming.

I'm a coming.

PHIL: But I'll tell you what... MARGIE: Yep?

PHIL: I preferred it when I was miles ahead of you.

VO: Perhaps it's the damp weather that has brought about a cooling in the Alfa Romeo Spider.

Or it might well be Paul's calamitous purchase of a grandmother clock!

Any buyers?

£30.

No?

£20 only?

PHIL: No!

VO: That certainly swung the pendulum in Margie's direction.

What?!

I think you lost money there.

VO: Margie set out with £200 and her roller coaster ride has so far brought her £317.36.

VO: While Paul, who also began with £200, has about £60 more.

With £376.78, and a suspicious mind.

PAUL: Are you dressed to kill by any chance?

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) PHIL: Is this another strategy?

"Mr and Mrs antique dealer, is there anyway those brooches could be..." Hey, you've got it in one.

VO: Ooh, I love it when they talk tactical!

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

We then take a round-about trip through Wales, before arriving at Newent in Gloucestershire.

Today, we're starting out in Monmouthshire at Chepstow, and ending up at our deciding auction in Newent.

VO: On the border between England and Wales, Chepstow is noted both for its racecourse and its fortress on the River Wye.

A ruin since the Civil War, the castle was built by the Normans as a base for their conquest of South Wales.

It's reckoned by some to be the oldest surviving castle in Britain.

DAWN: Hello, good morning.

Good to see you, I'm Paul.

Good morning, welcome to Chepstow.

PAUL: And you are?

DAWN: Dawn.

Dawn, it is great to be here.

VO: Dawn patrol, eh!

And he's off.

Leading by a short head.

With the winning post in sight.

PAUL: Stand out at auction and likely to generate a profit.

VO: Yes that's the mantra Paul.

PAUL: Maybe I should be playing a tactical game here.

If I buy five things and make a little profit on each of them I could win this.

VO: It's certainly been done.

Parking the bus I think they call it.

PAUL: It's just a nice Japanese lacquer box.

It's lacquered and then gilded but the gilding is raised, it's a technique called taka maki-e and it's not a throwaway piece, this isn't junk.

PAUL: It's priced like junk.

VO: So he is boxing clever.

There's another.

That's a model of Buckingham palace is it not?

It's tin plate, embossed, transfer printed.

PAUL: See the window recesses there and here, look inside, very pleasingly done.

But read this, it's a model of the Queen's dolls house, Chubb & Son's Lock & Safe Co, supplied a miniature Chubb safe to protect the Queen's dolls' jewels.

PAUL: That's great isn't it?

What a lovely little object, not come across one before.

PAUL: No money - £12, easy peasy.

VO: Nice but is that the best you can come up with?

Time for a word with Dawn.

PAUL: I'm struggling, I don't mind telling you.

What have I missed?

DAWN: We do a lot of antique jewellery here.

It's something I specialize in, is the antique jewellery, yes.

So is that yours, the material over there in that cabinet, that very rich cabinet to the right?

VO: Sounds like he might be about to stray into Margie territory.

It's a little mourning piece.

Turquoise and pearl.

Turquoise and pearl but it's in lovely condition, nine carat gold.

VO: The Victorians popularized these lockets often containing a lock of the deceased's hair.

PAUL: The minute you get hair inclusions half your audience are icky.

Americans love it.

The Americans do love mourning jewellery.

PAUL: Yeah?

DAWN: Mm.

And that could be 45.

You're a temptress Dawn.

I know, well I want you to win don't I?

VO: Hey!

Dawn also has a gold chain for Paul to peruse.

PAUL: I love guard chains.

DAWN: Yes, it's quite nice, it's a little bit...

DAWN: I do too.

PAUL: A guard chain is a very long neck chain and it would be worn by ladies certainly in the latter half of the 19th century with perhaps a swivel to carry their fob watch.

PAUL: This one of pretty dull belcher links is elevated immensely by these little jewels and that transforms it from just a long neck chain to something altogether superior.

VO: I wonder what it'll cost though?

I think a fair price on that for you to sell on maybe 160.

VO: Cricky!

You've utterly seduced me Dawn.

Oh.

VO: I'm sure she has Paul.

A deal can't be far away now.

PAUL: I spotted this earlier on and fell in love with it and you also showed me the pearl and turquoise mourning locket.

Locket, yes.

What is the price on the three?

Yes, I can see, I can feel it working for you now.

I know you've got a price in mind, DAWN: I can almost see that.

200 the lot, bargain.

Pleasure Dawn.

VO: Lightning quick!

That is the thick end of two thirds of my budget you have just extracted from me.

That is not easily done.

DAWN: I've had a lot of practice.

VO: Thanks to Dawn the floodgates have opened.

It's amazing what a bit of gold can do.

VO: Now time to get back on the road.

VO: Motoring from Chepstow over to Newport.

VO: In the city center there are several fine statues, including those which commemorate the Chartist uprising of 1839, as well as one of the Newport poet W.H.

Davies.

He penned the lines "What is this life if, full of care.

We have no time to stand and stare."

PAUL: Well then Margie... MARGIE: I wish you well.

PAUL: Good luck.

We're both lying to one another.

I'm not supposed to be talking to you.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) Get in there, buy a clock.

MARGIE: Bye.

MARGIE: John?

Hi, John, I'm Margie.

Hi, nice to meet you.

Right, so I'm gonna have a quick look round if I may.

JOHN: Yep.

VO: Now I wonder how Margie's going to play this one?

(TAPS ON DRUM) VO: She's so close to Paul, that one good buy could easily put her ahead.

I won't be wanting one of those, will I?

(LAUGHS) VO: Just as one mistake might mean the end.

I have bought tools before, John, and fell flat on my... JOHN: Bum.

VO: That's enough.

No sale.

She's clearly learned from her error.

MARGIE: (SIGHS) I don't know what to do.

VO: This could take some time.

Margie's other notable blunder on this trip was a pair of wooden elephants.

VO: But this time she's got something very different in mind.

Crocodiles.

MARGIE: What is it, Mr and Mrs, is it?

Brother and sister.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) So they're what, £25?

JOHN: It's a bargain.

(LAUGHS) Do you think so?

VO: And if the old crocs don't do the trick, there are always John's lions.

JOHN: These are apparently done by Polish prisoners of war.

MARGIE: Prisoner of war work?

So there is a prisoner camp nearby?

JOHN: Yes, about 20 miles down the road.

MARGIE: Right.

What sort of money are these then?

MARGIE: £24 for the pair?

So you are not highly rating these, are you?

A great deal, I think you are in with a chance there.

VO: Time to introduce the pride to the rest of her fledgling ark, and get down to brass tacks.

MARGIE: They are a gamble, aren't they?

JOHN: Yeah.

Life's a gamble though, ain't it?

£18 a pair, there you go.

£18 for the pair.

MARGIE: Now we have got these two fierce little chaps.

MARGIE: So how much are those then, John?

JOHN: 18 quid the pair.

(SIGHS) 18, it's like this is your price today, isn't it?

It seems to be.

VO: Despite John's generous discounts, Margie's dithering continues.

VO: Time for one more trip around the shop.

I have always wondered what I would look like blonde.

MARGIE: No, I wouldn't look right, blonde.

I wouldn't like to be blonde, I would rather be natural.

VO: But with the animals still on hold, there is still a bit of carving to be considered.

JOHN: Ignore the price on that.

VO: Sounds promising.

Good aren't they?

They are clever these things.

MARGIE: And you see these quite a lot without the lids on and they are made out of bamboo and they are sort of called brush pots and they would stand their brushes in them.

JOHN: They have got a bit of paper inside.

MARGIE: Is there?

That says?

Strangely says something like circa 1840.

MARGIE: Really?

Who said that?

JOHN: No idea.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) JOHN: It came to us.

Has that been another dealer had that?

JOHN: Might have been.

MARGIE: These antique dealers, they get very optimistic, don't they?

VO: Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth.

When conditions are right it can grow almost in front of your eyes.

Now can Margie just move along a bit quicker?

So 45 but it is going to have to be a real cheap deal that.

How about 25... MARGIE: (SIGHS) JOHN: 20 quid then.

MARGIE: 20 quid.

Oh yeah, I gotta go for it.

JOHN: Lovely.

MARGIE: Yes.

JOHN: I hope it does well for you.

MARGIE: Yeah, so do I John, so do I. VO: Well done Margie, finally off the... MARGIE: No!

VO: Oh!

Whoops!

JOHN: Oh dear.

MARGIE: Oh no, John, what have I done?

MARGIE: I have dropped it.

(SIGHS) MARGIE: And now it is split there.

Oh no.

I have bought it, haven't I, that's it.

JOHN: I tell you what, if you still want it, it's yours for a tenner.

Oh!

Now I feel awful.

Well, save your bacon.

MARGIE: Oh gosh.

Are you sure?

JOHN: Mh-mm.

VO: What a nice man, eh?

MARGIE: Oh you are very kind, thank you very much indeed.

VO: I think you've got off there very lightly, Margie.

No clangers dropped, just a bamboo pot and there's surely a profit now despite the crack.

VO: Meanwhile... up the Taff Valley.

VO: Paul's steamed on towards Merthyr Tydfil.

VO: The location in 1804, of the World's first railway steam locomotive journey.

VO: Hard to believe that this cradle of the Industrial Revolution, a very long way from Ogden, Utah is also the town that the Osmond family traced their Welsh roots to.

I'm Paul.

You are?

Kelly.

Kelly, it is lovely to see you.

VO: Gee whiz!

I can't imagine Paul will struggle to buy at this establishment, look at this lot.

God, I love that, It is early, isn't it?

VO: Despite ominous reminders of a previous gaffe...Steady on!

PAUL: (WHISPERS) Do you know what?

I could murder a slice of toast.

Ta da!

Here is one I prepared earlier.

Nice slice of bread.

VO: Eh, are we watching a cookery program all of a sudden?

That smells lovely, doesn't it?

Did you see it?

VO: It's like Nigella in tweed.

Once more, look at this!

I could do this all day.

PAUL: Give me some time.

VO: Simple pleasures eh?

PAUL: I am in my element.

Pun intended.

VO: But there are few more practical items to be found up here, as well.

PAUL: This is the one I am interested in.

PAUL: Bow fronted, pierced, Georgian early 19th century steel fender.

PAUL: And it sits in front of the hearth and protects to a degree against sparks and so on.

PAUL: The vaults are handmade.

They are off set.

And this is what marks this out as full period as opposed to reproduction.

Would be interested to see the price on that.

PAUL: That is actually a door porter.

Door porter, is a door stop.

Yeah, an interior door stop.

And typically they are somewhat tall, and have a handle.

So they can be moved about.

PAUL: This is a Victorian cast iron affair.

And it depicts this knight here underneath this Gothic canopy.

PAUL: See, that is a good thing.

Two good pieces in 19th century domestic metal work.

I rate those, these are good.

VO: Time to consult Kelly.

Dear?

Cheap?

Somewhere in between?

Or cheap?!

Did I say cheap?

(LAUGHS) KELLY: If we say 55 for the two.

Is that too much?

PAUL: No, it is.

Old iron, any old iron.

KELLY: Yeah.

I could offer you 20 quid for the two.

KELLY: (GASPS) VO: Hey!

KELLY: I think they cost me more than that to buy, so probably about 35 would be the best for the two.

PAUL: Don't get me wrong, I do like them.

VO: Yeah I think he does.

It just needs something else.

Fireside reading maybe?

PAUL: Practical Masonry, back in the day.

PAUL: Gilt-tooled spine and it's quite solid.

Oh, look at that!

Gilt-tooled calf bookplate, Thomas Cornville owned this book in 1840, that is a joy.

PAUL: Look at these diagrams, they are joyous, are they not?

There you go!

Thomas Telford suspension bridge over the Menai strait.

PAUL: Isn't that good fun?

I love it.

PAUL: What is the price on that?

KELLY: 25.

VO: Was exactly the right thing to say, Kelly.

Oh, I only wanted to buy one thing in your shop but I don't mind telling you you've me hooked because I like the two pieces of metalwork PAUL: and I like the book as well.

Can we do a wee bit a deal on the lot?

PAUL: That was 35, that was 25, can we knock a fiver off each of them?

30 and 20?

Yeah, go on.

Kelly, wonderful.

I shall give you £50.

PAUL: Thanks very much.

KELLY: Thank you.

I'll run with my booty.

See you later.

Bye.

VO: While Paul's been getting to grips with Practical Masonry, VO: Margie's let her hair down in the mountains.

MARGIE: I must say, this car has really grown on me.

So I am prepared to accept that I am going to get my hair blow around.

VO: Margie's making her reckless way... VO: ..to Craig-y-nos Castle in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

VO: Once the home of the World's greatest opera singer.

MARGIE: Hi.

WILLIAM: Hello Marjory.

What a fantastic place.

WILLIAM: Yes.

And I love the situation.

VO: Craig-y-nos was first built in the early 1840s by a local magistrate, and then just over 30 years later, it was snapped up and extensively re-modeled by Adelina Patti, the Italian prima donna then at the height of her fame.

WILLIAM: She would visit this part of the world, she met up with Lord Swansea and she said that she was looking for a new home MARGIE: Mhm.

and he said, "Well Craig-Y-Nos is for sale."

She came up and saw it, and bought it.

WILLIAM: The Gothic part on the right finishes here directly in front of us and then the red sandstone which continues all the way round to the clock tower and beyond, that was built in the 1880s by Patti.

WILLIAM: By now she was commanding £100,000 for a tour.

MARGIE: Good gracious.

That is mega.

WILLIAM: And all of the extension cost £100,000 MARGIE: (LAUGHS) WILLIAM: so she financed it on a tour.

VO: Impressive isn't it?

But while today's rock stars might content themselves with building a pool or a recording studio, Patti's new pad simply had to have an opera house.

VO: This miniature version of the Milanese La Scala seats 150 and features a mechanical floor, which can be raised to create a ballroom.

VO: Look at that.

Oh, isn't that amazing?

VO: That's Patti herself on the backdrop, riding a chariot in a Rossini opera.

WILLIAM: She came here in 1878, and obviously fell in love WILLIAM: with the place... MARGIE: Yeah.

..because she stayed here for the rest of her life.

MARGIE: But she traveled all over the world from here.

WILLIAM: All over the world.

MARGIE: From here?

WILLIAM: From here.

And the train would take her anywhere and she would contact the railway company and they would send an engine up and a very old signalman once told me all of the lights weren't green until she landed in her destination.

So she was like royalty.

WILLIAM: She was.

Absolutely.

WILLIAM: She was a family friend of the Tsar.

MARGIE: Yeah.

Personal friend of The Kaiser, Napoleon III was at her wedding.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) Oh, gosh.

WILLIAM: And she sang to Queen Victoria for 25 years.

MARGIE: Yeah.

VO: Born in Madrid to opera singing parents, Patti sang professionally from childhood and remained at the very top for years.

VO: She even achieved what Henry VIII famously failed to, by having her marriage annulled by the Pope.

Girl power, yeah.

WILLIAM: Girl power, yes.

Although she belonged to the time before feminism, I'm not quite sure when that began but it certainly wasn't in the 19th century (LAUGHS) No.

but she overcame... She did.

..All of the disadvantages... MARGIE: Yeah.

WILLIAM: ..of being a woman... MARGIE: Yeah.

WILLIAM: ..in those days.

MARGIE: Yeah.

VO: Unfortunately Patti's prime came before the invention of sound recording and at the end of the 19th century, when it became possible to make phonograph cylinders, the soprano was reluctant.

MARGIE: But surely that would be very exciting for her, why didn't she want to?

WILLIAM: Well, because of the quality of the recordings in those days.

WILLIAM: But then at the end of the 1890s, the gramophone was perfected and she was asked again and she said she would but only here at Craig-y-nos in her boudoir.

# ADELINA PATTI RECORDING WILLIAM: The technique was that you have to withdraw on the high notes from the horn MARGIE: Right (LAUGHS) and then go into the low notes into the horn.

WILLIAM: If you did it the other way round, it was unintelligible.

WILLIAM: She had to be grasped around the waist and pulled in and out according to the technical needs of the time.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) She got through the first one MARGIE: Yeah.

and she said, "Before I continue, I want to hear this."

# ADELINA PATTI RECORDING WILLIAM: And she listened and then she said in French, so I understand, "Now I know why I'm loved so much."

VO: Recording resumed and those precious tracks, which sold so well that they are credited with transforming the industry and are now all we have to remind us of the voice of the Queen of Song.

# ADELINA PATTI RECORDING VO: But as well as a glorious soprano, Margie's still got a certain tenner on her mind.

MARGIE: Well I only bought one item and guess what I did?

I dropped it after we'd done the deal.

PAUL: What?

What?

MARGIE: I dropped it.

VO: Nothing like a bit of sympathy is there?

VO: Night night you two.

VO: As the deciding day dawns our two look back on a tumultuous week.

PAUL: Ups and downs, ups and downs.

MARGIE: Have you ever played Buckaroo?

PAUL AND MARGIE: (LAUGHS) VO: Yesterday, Margie managed just one tiny purchase.

MARGIE: Oh no!

VO: Which she then broke.

VO: But the shop keeper kindly reduced it to just £10, leaving her with over £300 to spend today.

VO: Paul meanwhile just about bought the shop.

VO: Picking up a book, a moneybox, some old iron, a locket and gold guard chain for £250.

You've utterly seduced me, Dawn.

VO: Leaving him with just over £125 in his wallet.

PAUL: What's platinum scrapping at at the moment?

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) Very funny.

VO: Let the mind games commence!

VO: Later they'll be making for their showdown auction at Newent, but our next stop is Narberth.

VO: Down in Pembrokeshire in southwest Wales, Narberth was where the leaders of the 'Rebecca Riots', were imprisoned.

VO: Nowadays this splendid little town boasts carnival parades in both summer and winter, plus several independent shops.

VO: There's quite a few antique outlets in Narberth as well.

Although our two are about to share and that rarely bodes well.

MARGIE: Good morning.

JIM: Good morning.

MARGIE: Hello, hi.

JIM: Welcome to the Malthouse.

MARGIE: I'm Margie.

PAUL: And I'm Paul.

PETER: I'm Peter, this is Jim.

VO: So, is everyone introduced now?

JIM: Jimmy, Peter.

VO: Margie, without wishing to be unfriendly, is frantic to get away and to start scouring for the several purchases she needs to make.

VO: Sharpish!

It's my knees knocking.

VO: Haha!

Settle down, Margie.

Less cowbell, more Meakin?

MARGIE: That was my first dinner set when I first got married.

God, doesn't it look dated now.

VO: Maybe not.

While Paul's in an altogether different frame of mind.

PAUL: I'm looking for that thing that if I don't buy it, Margie might (LAUGHS) At that price?

I've got to buy it, I've got to buy it.

I've got to stop her buying it.

That's terrible isn't it?

VO: Shame on you, Paul.

Margie's got enough to worry about.

MARGIE: 207 for a glass ventilator.

VO: Here comes trouble.

PAUL: Oh, Margie, Margie, that's not a good look.

Sweating, sweating.

PAUL AND MARGIE: (LAUGHS) You're not wrong!

You're not wrong!

VO: Why not cool off in another part of the shop then?

MARGIE: Quite nice, isn't it?

Like mirrors.

Probably early 20th century, that but we've got a heart shaped ticket that says 165 quid (LAUGHS) Is the heart shape to soften the blow?

MARGIE: I can't see that coming down to my level.

VO: Time to reflect.

VO: No need to worry about Paul either, Margie.

Languor with just a hint of smug I'd say.

(SNIFFS) VO: I wonder what Pete makes of the mirror?

Especially the price bit.

MARGIE: I just quite liked it.

I don't think it's very old.

PETE: Has it got a price on it?

MARGIE: Yeah, it has, it's got 165 smackers on it.

PETE: Oh.

What were you thinking?

PETE: We'd be looking at 90.

What price have you got in mind?

VO: Yes, do tell Margie.

MARGIE: I suppose I'd want to be buying that for about 70 quid.

VO: Pete's gone a bit pale.

PETE: I think 75 would be a fair price.

MARGIE: I've gone from laughing to drumming.

Could you go from drumming to yessing?

PETE: Are we still negotiating here?

We are, I think we might be.

VO: You're in it for the long haul with Margie.

MARGIE: It's not very old, is it?

PETE: No.

MARGIE: It's decorative, that's what... PETE: I'm old.

Does that help?

MARGIE: So am I!

VO: We've all just aged considerably, Pete.

MARGIE: If I go away with it at 65, if I make a tenner, I'll be happy.

I won't dither anymore.

OK, that's a deal.

MARGIE: That's it, we've done it.

VO: A rapid response!

Well, that's a relief.

VO: I just hope the rest of her shopping won't be quite so protracted.

VO: But whilst Margie's been struggling, Paul's taken a leisurely drive towards the Pembrokeshire coast.

VO: Traveling from Narberth to Fishguard.

VO: This historic port, on a coastline once regularly raided by the Vikings, was the site of the last invasion of Britain.

In 1797 a French force of 1,200 men landed near Fishguard and after being foiled by a combination of British troops and stout locals, they soon surrendered.

VO: Paul's here to see a 1997 tapestry, which tells this fascinating story.

Hello.

Would you be Mary?

Yes, welcome Paul.

How're you doing?

It's good to see you.

And this is it, it is exquisite isn't it?

PAUL: From the artistry to the execution it is a joy.

And we are very proud of it here as well.

VO: The work cheekily inspired by the Bayeux version of that other, more successful 1066 invasion, is over 30 meters long and took four years to complete.

MARY: Some people locally, they say this isn't the Bayeux tapestry, this is the down Bayeux tapestry.

VO: The French hadn't really intended to invade Fishguard.

The force that came here had been headed for Bristol, just as other divisions made for Newcastle and Ireland.

MARY: They thought that the British were ready for invasion, that the peasants, the workers from the North, they were ready to be... Oh, ready for revolution.

Yes.

VO: But bad weather meant that only one of the three armies landed, and that legion straightaway encountered fierce resistance.

MARY: The local people are also getting involved, the farmhands PAUL: These are the ones with the pitchforks.

PAUL: This is no skirmish.

This is serious.

MARY: Yes.

VO: The Pembroke Yeomanry were soon on the march from nearby Haverfordwest.

Coming to the aid of the Fishguard soldiers.

VO: But the real work it seems was done by everyday heroes.

MARY: This is Jemima Nicholas who was known locally as Jemima Fawr which in English means 'big Jemima'.

MARY: And she, legend has it, walked around a local hillock, called Y-bigney, with a group of local women dressed in traditional Welsh costume which of course is the red shawl and the black hat to trick the French into thinking that there were more soldiers than there were.

MARY: She has now rounded them up and she is taking them to St Mary's Church which is across the road.

Right, so she got in the thick of it as well.

MARY: She certainly did.

PAUL: I wouldn't like to meet big Jemima with her pitchfork on a dark night, I'll tell you.

MARY: No.

VO: The invaders didn't stand a chance and unconditional surrender soon followed on Goodwick sands.

With the formalities concluded down in the pub.

PAUL: What becomes of them, do they ever see France again?

MARY: I know a lot escaped.

PAUL: Really?

On the route to Haverfordwest and funnily enough there is quite a few names Martineau and Devereux... PAUL: In these parts?

MARY: In these parts.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) That's a great thought.

VO: As well as the incredible tapestry, they also have genuine artifacts from the 1797 invasion.

Chilling proof that this ripping yarn was very real.

PAUL: May I?

MARY: Certainly.

PAUL: Astonishing.

MARY: But don't point it at me.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) Well, do you know, I appreciate these for what they are but to hold one that we know was carried in anger in these parts, what a thought.

Now it becomes real doesn't it?

PAUL: We are touching history.

MARY: Yes, definitely.

VO: There was one other lasting consequence of the Battle of Fishguard however.

PAUL: It's a banknote.

A banknote.

A rather fancy one.

Yeah.

Go on, and I see a date there.

This is our date.

MARY: As you can imagine people in Britain were very afraid and started to hoard their gold and there was a run on the Royal Mint so they decided to issue the first paper pound.

PAUL: So when we open our wallets, our purses today, we are holding things that come about in a sense because of this.

Yes.

Yes.

PAUL: How fantastic.

VO: Now hopefully Margie's about to splash out just a wee bit more than £1.

VO: As our trip moves a few miles up the coast to another Newport.

VO: There's little danger of confusing this destination with the city we shopped in earlier.

"Little" Newport's welsh name means "town on the beach" and our somewhat desperate Margie's on her way to its only antique shop.

VO: Good luck everyone!

MARGIE: Hi.

Hello.

Hi, I'm Margie.

You're...?

HEATHER: Heather.

MARGIE: Heather, hi Heather, and...?

ANNE: Anne.

MARGIE: Hello Anne.

Right.

VO: Anne's got a very nice shop here, but what's already dawning on Margie is that most of what's for sale is a bit of a foreign land to her.

MARGIE: No silver, no jewellery?

We don't do silver and jewellery.

We do do a lot of other things though.

MARGIE: Right.

VO: Like tools, Margie.

Railway-ana too.

Lots of that.

Just up your street girl.

Hehe!

This is a tricky one, isn't it?

MARGIE: Do you understand all this stuff?

ANNE: Yeah, I've been specializing in railway things.

MARGIE: Oh, have you?

ANNE: For quite a few years now.

Right, well tell me.

And that's a whistle?

That's from a shunting engine.

Yeah.

ANNE: This one dates from the sort of about 1950, it's a British Rail one.

And that's £40?

MARGIE: Are you sure it's not to do with Thomas the Tank Engine?

It should be, shouldn't it?

VO: Not her field.

MARGIE: Hello.

VO: Ah Skimbleshanks, he's got to be lucky, that fella.

MARGIE: You've got nice little markings, haven't you?

Eh?

VO: Doubtful provenance though.

How about a whip holder instead?

ANNE: For when you're driving your carriage.

You store your whip in there, and then it's ready to use.

MARGIE: Yeah, Victorian one.

ANNE: I should think so, yes.

It's 35.

Interesting little curiosity.

MARGIE: It would be on the side of the carriage and he would have his whip in there for when he wanted to whip his horses.

It was a convenient place to put it, because if you put it anywhere else you would lose it, wouldn't you?

VO: Of course you would.

Go on, have a crack at it Margie?

I suppose 15 wouldn't buy it?

No, that is... too little really.

MARGIE: Yes.

What's in your mind?

ANNE: 25 would be OK. Not 20?

ANNE: I don't normally do that amount off but, but I suppose... Well I'll have it for 20.

ANNE: Yes.

OK. Fair enough.

Right Anne.

VO: Good work and it now seems there's some silver here after all.

MARGIE: I found this.

This unwanted item.

I must admit that had sort of got a bit lost in the back of the cupboard.

You never thought to get that out for me?

ANNE: No.

MARGIE: I thought it was plate.

MARGIE: I had seen it and I just thought it was plate because it looks awful.

ANNE: But it is actually silver.

VO: Ticket price is £48 but it's a bit damaged.

So what are you offering for it?

What am I offering?

ANNE: Seeing as it has been in the back of the cupboard for a while, I admit.

I was going to say 15-18.

ANNE: If you give me 20 for it I'd go for that.

I'm not going to argue.

I'm having too much trouble to argue.

Thank you very much.

VO: Margie's after just one more purchase but I think she may have to head off-piste again to get it.

MARGIE: I think a surveyor would have used this tripod.

Put his equipment on there to do his surveying.

MARGIE: And nowadays it would probably be a quite good, decorative piece to put a lamp on.

Maybe spotlights or these film lights.

MARGIE: That would look very trendy in the corner of a room.

VO: It's just in though so there's no ticket price yet.

MARGIE: Anne darling, dearest, I want to end this.

I've been here too long.

We are all a bit weary.

What's the very best on that, Anne?

30 would be best for that.

MARGIE: Would it?

ANNE: Yes.

MARGIE: Not another fiver?

ANNE: No, I think 30 really is the best for that.

Yeah.

Oh God, what's a fiver between friends?

Well... You're getting the fiver.

ANNE: Thank you.

VO: Well that's quite a little collection you have now Margie.

All for £70.

Gosh, after all that, we did it.

VO: So shopping completed let's have a look at what they've got.

VO: Paul acquired a gold guard chain, a locket, a moneybox, some ironwork and an ancient tome for £250.

VO: While Margie plumped for a whip holder, a tripod, a bamboo box, a cruet set and a mirror for £145.

The mirror, well the mirror, the mirror, the mirror.

PAUL: Blingy, looks like a profit.

I mean, Holy Moses, it could make £200.

MARGIE: Gorgeous little locket.

Should be 85, paid 40.

Don't know what he did in that shop but whatever he did, he cannot lose.

The question is, has she pulled it off and the answer is no.

Now I'm going to jump off the edge!

Bye!

VO: After starting out beside the River Wye at Chepstow, this final leg of our trip concludes at an auction in Gloucestershire at Newent.

PAUL: Have you practiced your "I'm dying but I'm cool with that" smile?

PAUL: Have you practiced that?

I've got it.

That sort of rigor mortis-y like... PAUL AND MARGIE: (LAUGHS) PAUL: "I can take this loss with good humor!"

MARGIE: I'm a good sport!

PAUL: I want them dead!

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) VO: Newent was the birthplace of legendary rock and roll producer Joe Meek.

His 1962 hit 'Telstar' made The Tornados the very first British group to top the US charts.

PAUL: Turn it on Margie, this is it.

VO: But which of our pop pickers is going to make it here?

Let's hear what auctioneer Rita Kearsey makes of their prospects.

The surveyor's tripod, well that is a bit trendy for us here in Newent I think, possibly.

I'm not sure about that one.

RITA: I quite like the fender, actually, it's a really nice traditional classic antique.

It's very tasteful.

RITA: I don't know, it may not perform as well as I would like it to.

VO: Take it away Rita and the team.

MARGIE: All girls.

All ladies.

PAUL: Oh, wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

VO: First we have Margie's silver cruet.

Someone start me at £30, £30 for the cruet set.

RITA: Start me at 30.

MARGIE: Oh no.

Oh I've got 32 on the net now.

Oh, you did it.

RITA: 32 on the net, 34 now, 34.

Look at your little face lighting up.

RITA: 36, 38 then, 38, looking for 40.

It said 40.

RITA: Two, 42, looking for 44.

PAUL: Margie.

RITA: 42 in the room, 44.

46 then.

Looking for 48.

I've come over all cold.

46 in the room then, are you all done?

You all finished?

Selling at £46 then.

MARGIE: Lovely lady on the rostrum.

Oh, Margie, strong start.

VO: Yes it is.

She's already cut your lead a little Paul.

VO: Time to fight back with your fender and door porter.

Interest in this starts me at £30 and I'm are looking for 32.

We're away, we're away.

RITA: At 32.

32, 34, 36.

At £36, looking for 38.

That's dirt cheap.

RITA: At £36 all done.

PAUL: Oh by word.

RITA: At £36 then are you all done, at 36?

PAUL: That was it, Margie, it went well under but it went.

VO: A bit of a disappointment though.

VO: But can Margie's bamboo, with a crack, do better?

Can I see £20 for it?

£20 I'm bid.

Looking for 22.

MARGIE: Grateful.

24, 26, 28, looking for 30, 32, we've got 30 in the room, 32, RITA: 34, 36 on the net, looking for 38, at 40 now, looking for 42, at 42.

Looking for 44.

Oh, bless it and I dropped it.

VO: Perhaps you should drop it again.

At £44, are you all done?

(GAVEL) VO: Margie's closing in now.

VO: Time for Paul's big buy.

Still a very good price though.

MARGIE: I feel sorry for the woman you bought it off, poor soul.

She obviously rather liked you.

PAUL: It's taken me 40 odd years and I found a woman that liked me.

MARGIE: (LAUGHS) Someone start me at £200.

Well that should be easy.

RITA: Must be worth that.

£200.

Coming in online?

150 I have in the room.

At 150 in the room.

What's happening?

What's happening?

Come on.

£150 in the room at 150, 160 online, 170, looking for 180.

Scraps at 280.

It's getting there.

RITA: 190, looking for 200.

200.

210.

Looking for 220.

220, 230.

At £220.

MARGIE: Put the hammer down will you please, love?

Love, put the hammer down.

All done.

Selling at 220.

(GAVEL) VO: It could have been worse - for Margie.

I'm surprised you didn't do better with that.

I really am.

VO: Watch out Margie, it's Paul's other bit of jewellery.

Is this the same lady that you were left alone in the shop with?

Very suspicious.

Commission interest starts me at £50.

Oh, keep going.

Yeah, I'm looking for 55 and some.

RITA: 55, 55 I have.

I am out.

Looking for 60 now.

At £55.

55 quid.

55.

At £55 then.

You're not being lucky, are you?

I noticed that.

At £55.

(GAVEL) VO: Another profit but Paul can still be caught.

He's got high hopes for his Practical Masonry though.

I can feel one of my headaches coming on.

Interest in this starts me on the commission at £30 RITA: and I'm looking for 32, PAUL: C'mon, c'mon.

RITA: 32, at £30 32 on the net and I am out, looking for 34.

RITA: At £32 then, are you all finished?

RITA: I'm selling online at £32.

MARGIE: Oh gosh.

(GAVEL) PAUL: My £3-£500 book just made 30 quid.

PAUL: (LAUGHS) VO: Ah well, that's the way of the trip sometimes.

I did something really bad in a past life, didn't I?

VO: Now what does Newent see in Margie's mirror?

See if this mirror takes off like a rocket, I shall demand a recount.

Someone like to start me at £50?

RITA: £50 for the mirror.

50 anywhere?

Start me at 30 then.

£30 for it.

£30.

VO: Oh dear £20?

RITA: 20, someone start me at £20.

£20 for the mirror.

VO: This is embarrassing.

£10 for the mirror.

10.

Must be worth that.

Must be worth £10.

Nobody want it?

No offers?

No, we have to pass that lot.

What am I going to do with that?

What am I going to do with it?

It's the last auction.

VO: Never mind.

It'll grace the Road Trip office I'm sure.

Paul's looking pleased though.

Unsold.

VO: If only you had a whip to go with your holder eh Margie?

20 for the whip holder.

£20.

20 anyone?

Oh, everything is going wrong.

RITA: £10 then, start me at 10.

At £10 in the room, looking for 12.

At £10 now.

At £10 then, selling at 10 in the room.

I'm on the slippery now.

VO: She's right.

The game looks to be up.

VO: Paul's little dolls house moneybox now.

It is a charming little box.

What is it going to make?

I honestly refuse to make any forecast.

VO: Very wise Margie.

Someone start me at 20.

20 anyone?

£20?

RITA: Someone start me at £10 then?

VO: Not again!

Freefall again.

Nobody want it for 10?

RITA: Nobody want it for £10 then.

No.

VO: So much for our 'experts' eh?

VO: But at least Paul's lost a lot less than Margie.

Got my tripod.

Oh no.

VO: The auctioneer predicted this might be a bit trendy for Newent.

I'm frightened.

I'm not just desperate.

I'm frightened now because I've got the mirror in the back of the car, how am I going to get a tripod in?

VO: You could always leave Paul behind.

Interest in this starts me at £32.

PAUL: Straight in.

VO: That is a relief!

36, 38, at 38 now.

Looking for 40, 40 on the net, 42, 42, looking 44, 46, 46, looking for 48.

48, 50?

Getting out of jail.

RITA: At 48 on the net.

At 50 on the net now, looking for 55.

Well blow me down with a feather.

55 now, make it 60 online then, at 55, looking to 60.

We know nothing about this trade, do we?

Are you all finished online?

Selling at £55 then.

(GAVEL) Hip hooray.

VO: Finally a sale.

Should help a couple of badly bruised egos.

I'm telling no one about this.

Far as... MARGIE: Thank goodness.

PAUL: You know?

We're in this together, right?

It didn't happen.

VO: Your secret's safe with us Paul.

No one need ever know.

VO: Margie, who started out with £317.36.

She made, after paying auction costs, a loss of £17.90.

Leaving her with a final total of £299.46.

VO: Paul began with £376.78 and after paying auction costs, he made a profit of £31.26.

Which means he's the winner with £408.04.

VO: All profits to Children in Need.

Right.

Margie, Margie, Margie.

Is the coast clear?

Come on.

VO: Now remember drive safely and always check your mirror.

Ha!

MARGIE: Hey Paul.

It's quite handy actually.

VO: It's been a wonderful week for our duo.

Thank you.

PAUL: Look at the views, look at the views.

Get in!

MARGIE: Yeah.

PAUL: Oh no!

VO: And on the next Antiques Road Trip we have a brand-new pair of experts.

Thomas Plant and Anita Manning.

Anita gets all competitive.

Am I going to be the winner on this one?

VO: And Thomas dazzles us with his knowledge.

It's a bike.

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