VO: It's the nation's favorite antiques experts with £200 each...
I love that.
VO: ..a classic car and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.
Yippee!
My heart's slightly racing.
VO: The aim?
To make the biggest profit at auction, but it's no mean feat.
There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.
VO: So will it be the high road to glory or the slow road to disaster?
Jonny, are we going to end up in a dead end?
VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip!
VO: Yeah!
VO: It's the second leg of our trip in a little 1964 MG. Jonathan Pratt and Anita Manning.
ANITA: I think we're both going to the same shop.
JONATHAN (JP): Are we?
What, shopping at the same time in the same shop?
ANITA: I think so.
VO: Jonathan is an auctioneer and a former porter.
He grew up watching Lovejoy and likes to live dangerously.
JP: Not sure I'm supposed to be in here really.
VO: If he could just make his mind up.
Anita turned her childhood love of art and antiques into a career as an auctioneer.
She also has a fondness for puppetry.
Isn't that great fun?
VO: Anita had Jonathan in the palm of her hand at the auction in her hometown of Glasgow.
Yes.
VO: But today in the beautiful Scottish Borders her rival's finding his feet.
JP: Ecclefechan?
ANITA: Ecclefechan.
JP: (SCOTTISH ACCENT) Ecclefechan.
Oh, that was a great accent.
(BOTH LAUGH) Eh we've just gone past Ecclefechan.
VO: Jonathan started out with £200 and he's so far managed to turn that into £235.34.
Well done, boy.
Anita - who also began with £200 - now has £317.74.
Great!
Whoah!
Oh!
Hope that's not a sign of things to come.
ANITA: Oh!
VO: Anita and Jonathan are traveling over 400 miles through Scotland, England and Wales.
From Glasgow all the way to Llangefni on the island of Anglesey.
Today, we're starting out in the southwest of Scotland at Lockerbie and heading over the border to an auction in Darlington, County Durham.
Lockerbie is a Norse name apparently and the town has a long and venerable history.
Especially since Thomas Telford supplied the Carlisle to Glasgow road in the early 19th century.
JP: Ahh, just outside there.
Wonderful.
Jonathan, look at that!
What?
(LAUGHS) ANITA: Hello.
VO: So as to avoid unnecessary toe-treading, Jonathan does the decent thing and allows Anita first peek into the cabinets, whilst he and Irene take a brief tour of the furniture.
Well how about that?
Anita already has something.
Is it alright if I take it outside into the light?
Oh yes, that's fine, that's fine.
Thank you.
VO: I wonder what she spotted?
What I'm looking for now are hallmarks and they can be quite tiny so often it's better to come out into the daylight.
Now let's look at the bracelet, it's gold plated, the bracelet is not solid gold but I didn't expect that, but I could see this yellowy metal.
But let me look at the back plate.
VO: Aha!
Treasure.
ANITA: That's what I'm looking for.
So this little watch case is 18 carat gold.
You've got £20 on it, that's cheap.
VO: Looks like you got there a bit too late, Jonathan.
ANITA: Em, I was looking at this wee vintage watch, I think it's probably from the 1950s, 60s.
I would say it was the 50s.
1950s.
VO: Now there's only one problem with this negotiation.
There are three people in it.
ANITA: I'm looking to buy it for less.
I hope you're not listening to this, Jonathan.
No, not in the slightest.
OK, close your eyes.
Close your eyes.
VO: The poor lad's blushing.
No wonder he was a little nervous about sharing.
ANITA: He's a lovely boy.
IRENE: He is.
VO: Now, where were we?
It's at 20, I'm looking to buy it for less if I can.
What's the very, very, very best that you can do on that?
Emm, what about 12?
12... VO: Well she said that 20 was cheap.
Let's go for 12.
That's lovely.
Thank you very, very much.
That's smashing.
I'm pleased with that.
It looks a lot better than mine.
IRENE: It does!
VO: On that note let's see what Jonathan has been up to with his eyes open.
JP: Quite like that.
Chinese porcelain bowl, you've got a firing crack and a star crack in the bottom of the bowl which is just visible through - it's not a break, it's a body drying out and cracking in the kiln.
This enamel decoration painted over the glaze is a little bit worn in places.
VO: It's in remarkably good condition when you consider it's between 150 and 180 years old.
You have £60 on it and you might take an offer of..?
35.
OK, we're moving in the right direction.
That's a very busy bowl isn't it?
Crikey, that's rather a smart thing.
It's a dragon picked out in gilt with four toes.
VO: The four-clawed dragon on porcelain was usually for imperial nobility and high-ranking officials.
Those items with five-clawed dragons were reserved for the emperor himself.
Improper use of claw numbers was punishable by execution!
Once upon a time.
Very nice decoration though, but what about the damage?
JP: What a shame!
What a shame.
VO: Touch of the Frankenstein's about it, isn't there?
This is a 19th century repair.
Basically they had to drill holes in and put these staples in and glue them in.
So sometimes you can actually move the two pieces independently - it's like a sort of brace.
VO: Still a very nice piece though.
JP: And how much is he?
IRENE: £15.
JP: £15!
VO: Go on Jonathan, get your wallet out!
Er, and the other one would be 35?
Yes.
VO: You can do it.
35... You wouldn't do the two for 40?
Emm yes go on, I will.
The two bowls for £40?
Yes.
Do you know, I'll have those.
Thank you very much they're lovely.
Lovely.
VO: At last, JP!
Well done.
Now, I think Anita might have designs on the tableware.
ANITA: These are highly collectable.
They're Homemaker plates, 20th century design and I love 20th century design.
VO: Homemaker was created by Enid Seeney and includes such quintessential 1950s motifs as a Robin Day chair and a Sigvard Bernadotte sofa.
It was once very popular in Woolworths.
ANITA: People were getting away from pre-war styles.
They wanted something modern, they wanted something new.
20, 30, 40.
£70!
In an auction in London that's not dear but they're going to an auction in Darlington - I'm going to have a think about those.
Definitely have a think.
VO: Well these two experts seem to have uncannily similar tastes today.
JP: Gent's Longines automatic.
VO: Now he's after a watch.
From about the 60s.
Quite like that.
It's a nice watch.
JP: It's quite wearable today still and the market for...
Sorry, I hear footsteps coming this way.
VO: It's all gone quite while Anita's got a bit too close.
The market for gentleman's automatics and certainly mechanical watches is reasonably buoyant, you know, and it's gold plated.
IRENE: Yes it's gold plated.
I think that one would have 60 on it, so I would take 35.
ANITA: It's a nice thing, a nice thing.
I was looking at the Homemaker plates here.
JEAN: Oh yes.
I'm interested in those.
I'll give you 30.
ANITA: Hello, hello.
VO: Yes, watch out!
Or should that be "watch-in"?
Ha.
What's she looking at?
VO: Well she's grabbed Jean actually and I wonder what she can come up with?
JEAN: 60, 64 that's 68.
Yeah, I'm kind of looking for a price around about 25.
JEAN: 30 would be fine.
30.
I think I'll go for that and just take the chance on it.
VO: So Anita's splashed a very reasonable £42 on those plus the gold watch.
(HONKS HORN) VO: And Jonathan's certainly sounding pleased with himself.
Impatient.
(HONKS HORN) VO: Oh, do calm down.
Patience, patience Jonathan.
Patience.
Do you like what you bought?
Well...
I... who knows, who knows?
You don't want to tell me anything.
Drive on, McDuff.
VO: It's Jonathan, actually.
VO: Time to edge a wee bit closer to that border.
Traveling south from Lockerbie to the village of Ruthwell.
Deep in the heart of the countryside where apparently Jonathan's off to...the bank.
This is Ruthwell kirk where they keep the famous Anglo Saxon cross.
This elaborate sculpture was destroyed and lay in pieces for about 150 years until it was put back together by the minister in the early 19th century.
But restoring the cross was only one of Dr Henry Duncan's many achievements.
Because as well as being a journalist, a publisher and a geologist he opened - in this tiny village - the world's first savings bank.
Hello.
Hi nice to meet you.
Jonathan Pratt.
I'm Mhairi Hastings.
And this actually was a bank?
Yes it was a bank and it was a bank aimed at the poor.
That was the big difference about this bank.
JP: Shall we go and find out a bit more?
Yes certainly, come on in.
VO: 200 years ago, workers could do little more than scrape by on meagre wages, while banks were only for the rich.
But Dr Duncan realized that to help escape the poverty trap, a new kind was bank was needed.
So this is where the clerk... or he would have sat himself?
Yes Henry Duncan would have sat in this original chair behind his desk here and he would have taken the money off the poor people.
VO: Henry Duncan's big idea was an account which required a deposit of only sixpence, while other banks demanded £10 - the equivalent of over £650 today.
It meant that working people could now save and earn interest too.
MHAIRI: He took the money and he put it into a commercial bank up in Dumfries.
It was a new concept in Scotland for the industrious poor to be asked to hand over their life savings so they needed slightly more faith that the system could work, so Henry Duncan commissioned this box and it had three padlocks on it and if you were a saver here at Ruthwell you voted for your trustees and three of your trustees would have been given a separate key so it meant that no one person could run off with this little box and open it without the other two being present.
VO: Duncan's bank became the Trustees Savings Bank and although the Ruthwell branch closed in 1875, the savings bank lived on.
The museum's collection shows just how far the idea spread.
It's estimated that by 2002, there were 109 savings banks organizations in 92 countries.
MHAIRI: He wrote a set of rules on how to run savings bank and he would send out copies of that rule book to anybody that asked and helped them to set up their own savings bank.
Crikey, the man should have been knighted... Or.... You know that's quite phenomenal actually.
VO: Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
The good doctor, for all his achievements, died a poor man and is buried here in an unmarked grave.
But while Jonathan's been learning all about thrift... Anita's intent on doing just a little more spending, making her way north from Ruthwell to the outskirts of Dumfries.
This is the Dumfries and Galloway Air Museum.
The restored control tower of the old World War II airfield is now a listed building and below, there's an ever expanding aircraft collection.
No - she's not going to fly one of these, silly.
Even the streets around here have famous names and on the site of the old barracks, there are few bargains worth scrambling for.
Hello.
Hi, I'm Anita.
I'm Douglas, pleased to meet you.
It's lovely to be here.
I think it's, is it Dougie?
Being polite there.
OK. VO: Well those two seem to have hit it off straight away.
There's plenty to admire here too - not least the pictures.
Not too bad a hand.
VO: Paintings can be a bit tricky at a general auction though.
ANITA: I was looking at this little stool here.
VO: Now, that would be perfect for lolling about on and admiring one's art collection.
It's not old.
It's all dressed up and pretending to be something older, and something more luxurious than it actually is.
There is a French look about that.
A sort of hint of luxury there which I do like.
£65.
It's got the look.
Yeah.
And I don't mind the fact that it's metal.
Yeah.
I would like to buy that round about 20.
If you could make it 30.
If I could make it 30?
If you could make it 30, I'd let it go for 30.
It's just I'm not sure if I could make a profit on that.
Can I make you an offer of £24?
You know, I might get away with it at 24.
Make it 25.
25.
I've got to take it.
OK thank you, great.
VO: But Anita's not putting her feet up just yet, oh no.
Time to step out into the garden.
Old cast iron fireplace - Edwardian.
This one's new, brand new, made of plaster.
But look at that one.
That is absolutely beautiful, that is absolutely beautiful and that's the type of cast iron fireplace that you would find in a Glasgow tenement building.
Glasgow loved art nouveau.
VO: Hmm, but is it the right thing for a general sale in Darlington?
ANITA: Look at these sinuous tendrils which are coming up to this heart-shaped affair here.
This is just absolutely lovely.
If I got it really, really cheaply I would go for it.
Is that quite heavy?
Em, it's not too bad.
It's made in Falkirk, probably the Carron ironworks.
Probably.
VO: It's odd to think that in the days before central heating, fireplaces were functional items rather than a decorative focal point.
This one's priced at just £30.
Now who's going to make the first offer this time?
I like it, it needs stripped down, it needs work on it.
Aye.
Can it be bought cheaply, to get it out your road?
To get it out your road?
Well, make me an offer.
OK, can I make you an offer?
Yes.
£20 for that.
I'd like to be paying £20.
Give me 25 and it's yours.
25?
Are you dying to get rid of that?
No, just...
I'll give you it for 25.
Will you give it to me for 25?
Dougie, it's a deal.
VO: That is a popular figure.
I wonder if these two would always somehow arrive at £25?
A thrifty end to another thrifty day for Anita, but what about Jonathan?
ANITA: Has your visit to the bank made you a new man?
JP: Let's not go too far.
(BOTH LAUGH) VO: Well we'll see.
Night night.
VO: Next morning they're hard at work trying to find England.
JP: This is someone's driveway I think we're going down.
It's someone's driveway?
Yep, yeah it is.
Yeah it is.
Jonny, are we going to end up at a dead end?
I think we might have taken a wrong turn here, Anita.
VO: Yesterday, Jonathan bought an automatic Swiss watch and two Chinese porcelain bowls for £70... That's rather a smart thing.
VO: ..leaving him with just over £165 to spend today.
While Anita plumped for a gold watch, some 50s dinnerware, a foot stool and a cast iron fireplace, all for £92.
To get it out your road.
VO: Leaving her with over £225 at her disposal.
It's time now to leave Dumfries behind and head south, across the Scottish border to Carlisle in Cumbria.
Now, do they know where they are?
JP: Eden Bridge.
It's Eden Bridge it says.
I thought that was in Kent.
VO: No, definitely Carlisle.
There's the antique center for a start.
ANITA: Now that looks interesting, doesn't it?
JP: Can smell the bargains already.
Oh excellent, that's my boy.
JP: Have a great morning.
ANITA: OK, bye bye.
Hello.
Crikey, what a place this is.
Hello Jonathan... Nice to meet you.
..and welcome to Carlisle.
Thank you.
Now do I need a map of the town?
By the looks of it I could get quite lost in here.
Well maybe you should start in the first one.
VO: I know what you mean Jonathan, this place does seem like a whole street full of antique shops - tastefully rearranged.
We could be here some time... (WHISTLES MERRILY) VO: Do we call this a whistle-stop tour then, Jonathan?
We are... Oh hello!
Hello.
Didn't expect to see an open hatch there.
This is kind of fun, a little transfer printed plate from the middle part of the 19th century.
Yorkshire relish on there which is quite cool, I think the auction's in Yorkshire, Darlington's in Yorkshire, isn't it?
VO: Well County Durham actually.
I think that's rather fun actually.
It's not chipped, it's not cracked and they're only asking £7...
If I'm going to be frugal.
£7 is frugal isn't it?
VO: I think Anita would approve of that too, but where's she got to?
One of the oldest parts of Carlisle apparently, and surely one of the town's smallest shops.
Hi folks, hello, I'm Anita.
Nice to meet you.
I'm John, this is Julie.
John and Julie.
JULIE: It's very small here, you know.
Well I'm only small as well!
JULIE: You're only small.
VO: Just about everything in this shop is on the trim side too.
Especially their coins...
Highly collectable, but hardly Anita's thing.
A bit like the rocks and fossils.
I wonder if you can show me that piece there, please?
And there's a piece of amethyst at the top.
JOHN: There you are.
VO: I suppose they are antiques in way, but she seems determined to break new ground here.
ANITA: I know what that is but I don't know what that is.
Tell me about that.
This is a fossil and it's an early form of squid.
Squid.
Yes, it's called an Orthoceras.
And it swam along through the water.
VO: Are you following this, Anita?
And eventually they curled up and we ended up with a fully curled ammonite.
Has that come out of the sea then?
Well, yes millions of years ago.
It's been fossilized, become part of the rock.
Right.
And all that's happened is that it's been cut in half and polished.
I was just thinking these would make a great pair of earrings.
VO: So while Anita grapples with the coming together of jewelry and natural selection, what has Jonathan unearthed?
Not Whistlers are they?
They're nice as well.
You've got sort of a flower seller and you've got this lady here who has a... but she's the same isn't she.
Sort of almost Romanian or that area anyway.
Pretty girls always sell, that's the thing.
Ideally with as little clothing on as possible but you know, beggars can't be choosers.
1881, it's a German name A H Weigall.
W-E-I-G-A-L-L. VO: Arthur Howe Weigall, 1836 to 1894, was an English painter, about whom very little is known.
But the somewhat tatty condition of those two only adds to their authenticity in a way.
JP: You can see if you look closely, don't need to look that closely to be honest, got a hole here, got a hole here and almost like sticking plasters on the back, so it's not without problems and it does need work.
A picture dealer won't complain about that too much because they know they can get it restored.
I've sold pictures where they've made silly money with holes in because it makes it feel that it's fresh to the market.
VO: There's no price on these, but they almost certainly won't be cheap.
I don't really want to go blowing over £100 on one item, I really don't and if those pictures come in at that I'll, then I'll stand around staring at them for 20 minutes, thinking about it.
Argghh.
VO: Time for some decisive action... JP: Are you open to offers?
I am, yes.
Eehh.
I'll steady myself.
(CLOCK TICKING LOUDLY) VO: Lordy.
Well instead of you making me an offer I'll tell you what I want cuz I'm getting frightened watching your face!
Go on then.
Go on then, right, oh well.
Well with the pair and it might be a nice surprise for you, 125.
I mean the figure in my mind - crikey, and even at the most - was £100.
So how about 110?
Err, come back to that in a second.
Yes.
This is not a big, big buy.
This little chap here... Oh yes.
You've got £7 on it, actually it's not great leverage on a pair of pictures like that is it?
VO: Not quite, but it all helps.
So we'll knock you a pound off, how about that, for good measure.
VO: Get on with it, boy.
(CLOCK TICKING) I'll go £7 on that and pay the full asking price and you give me those for 100.
Oh it's just a bit tight that.
I'll do that at six and I'll do those at 105, how about that?
105 that's 111.
(CLOCK TICKING) Not a fan of odd numbers.
Shall we knock the one off then?
So we're looking at £110 for the two.
110 the two.
Fiver for this and 105 for those two.
Yes and I wish you luck and I hope you do well with them.
That's a real gamble... VO: Hand on brow.
Could we be close?
(CLOCK TICKING) No.
OK. OK. Well done.
I'll go for those two.
VO: At last!
My heart's slightly racing.
VO: More of a heartache for us.
JP: Three, four, five, six... VO: Well, he did end up spending over £100 - but those things could fly.
He's still whistling anyway.
Now what about Anita?
She has been busy.
So the citrine, the amethyst and the agate and this little chap here.
JULIE: The geode.
The geode.
These are all natural minerals...
Yes.
And I have my ammonite and my Orthoceras and if I put these together... JULIE: They come to 53.50.
I would like to be paying something in the region of 20, £25.
VO: That was her favorite offer yesterday as well.
Have you been thrown out of many antiques shops?
It would have to be in the 30s I think.
Is it possible at 30?
I know that's a long way down.
JULIE: What do you think?
The most important thing in this negotiation is for you to be happy.
I would be happy at 30.
Yeah, I think as you've shown so much appreciation of them.
Thank you very much, Julie.
VO: I just hope Anita can remember what they're all called for the auction.
Citrine, agate, amethyst and a little geode and we have an... JULIE: An Orthoceras.
Sorry!
VO: Oh well.
Time for our two to get motoring.
Leaving Carlisle and heading east to the nearby market town of Brampton.
I'll drop you off here, Jonathan.
So last shop, darling.
Yes.
Might find that thing which will change your life.
Or I might just stay in my frugal mind.
OK, good luck Jonny.
VO: Well, he's got just £55.34 to play with here, so he'll certainly have to choose wisely.
Hiya.
Hiya.
Steve.
Hiya, Jonathan, nice to meet you.
How are you doing, Jonathan?
It's like a TARDIS, isn't it?
VO: Yes, but it's a bit more comfy actually and stuffed with nice and very possibly expensive things.
Let's hope he's not distracted.
It's quite a lot more than I can afford.
I like it though.
It might be simpler if I just asked you what you can sell me for what I've got.
VO: Not a bad plan, Jonathan.
STEVE: That can be £65.
Yeah.
I've only got 55 so... VO: Plus, he's already bought some pictures.
Best to spread the risk a little, eh?
Ah, a letter seal.
Don't you think it's a fabulous piece of amber?
It's a big lump of amber.
It's lovely, isn't it?
Lens... it's continental so it's probably... 800.
Possibly German or something.
VO: Jonathan and Anita seem to be thinking alike.
Yesterday watches, today fossils and natural products.
Because amber is a resin, often from the Baltic, thanks to the many forests that grow there.
The price though is a bit beyond his budget.
I've got 55 quid.
That's all I have.
Yeah that's fine.
That is all I have, isn't it?
VO: Yeah that's all you've got, mate.
STEVE: Are you sure?
JP: Yeah!
I'll turn you upside down and shake you.
You'll let me have that for 55?
That'll be fine.
Fair enough.
Deal.
VO: That little deal nicely wraps up Jonathan's purchases and empties his pockets of all but 34p.
We're done.
Cheers.
All the best.
So much for saving money then, eh?
VO: Unlike Anita, who's still sitting on almost £200.
She's finished shopping too and is heading back north from Brampton, across the Scottish border to the village of Gretna Green.
Is she going to marry?
Gretna's been firmly on the runaway marriage map since the middle of the 18th century, the very word spelling ruin from Jane Austen right up to EastEnders, but Anita's here to find out exactly why.
Hello Anita, welcome to Gretna Green and the famous blacksmith's shop.
ANITA: Aw, Gretna Green, one of the most romantic destinations in the world.
Would you like to come through and see a little more of it?
I'd love to, lead on Tim.
VO: It was a change in English law, plus Gretna's location slap bang on the border, that transformed the village into a sort of Scottish Las Vegas, at the center of which has always been the unlikely figure of the blacksmith.
So this is the actual blacksmith's shop.
This is where it all took place?
TIM: Yes.
This building would've been the first building which those young couples running away from very angry parents down in England would've found.
Why did they come to Scotland?
Young ladies like yourself and others were marrying the wrong sort of people.
They might've been marrying beneath themselves or someone the family didn't approve of.
The English passed a law saying no longer will you be allowed to marry in England if you were under 21 unless your parents agree with your choice of husband or wife.
The Scots, when asked by the English to pass the same law, declined and said "we don't need a law like that, we have our own customs and conventions and one of those conventions is that you may marry at 15, you need no-one's permission.
On your own head be it if you get it wrong".
It was your business.
I love that.
VO: Because the blacksmith on the border was a highly respectable craftsman, he landed the part-time job of conducting irregular marriages.
Gretna became synonymous with anvil priests and angry parents.
ANITA: I love this here.
"Filial affection or a trip to Gretna Green".
And this was an effect of the new Marriage Act.
Filial affection doesn't usually extend to whips and guns, but... No.
VO: Long before the Scottish and English laws harmonized, the village was one of the marriage capitals of the world.
Nowadays they come for the romance alone, and there are over 5,000 weddings in the area every year.
Anvils are usually involved.
Anita, you and your husband would strike the anvil, symbolic of joining two hearts just as you join two pieces of iron or steel with the heat of the fire, the hammer and the anvil, never to be separated.
So now you two are joined.
I'm feeling quite emotional now.
Does that mean that we're married now?
Well whatever you want to think, dear.
Come on.
VO: It'll never last, you know.
Now, keen-eyed viewers will no doubt recognize the River Eden once again, so it's a good spot to see what our experts have bought.
Ready?
Yes.
Right.
Aw, Jonathan.
I love these.
JP: Late 19th century, both are signed, there are one or two little holes but my biggest investment yet.
Uh-huh.
But these are smashing.
VO: How about his smallest?
JP: This little object here, which is a little 19th century transfer decorated dish, cost me a fiver so I was really working hard for the frugal, it happened to come hand in hand with £105 worth of painting.
Great buys, great buys.
VO: I think he's rather chuffed with his porcelain too.
JP: This, I liked the decoration of it enormously, but it's been split in half and stapled, but I've got the two together at £40.
ANITA: Oh that's a good buy.
Jonathan, I'm very, very, very happy with you, darling.
I'm very happy with you.
I'm pretty pleased!
I'm pretty pleased but I haven't seen your lot yet, so... ANITA: Alright, OK. JP: Go on.
Mine's a bit of a mixed bag here, Jonathan.
Oh my word.
VO: What about her design classic then?
1950s, designed by Enid Seeney, sold in Woolworths for sixpence really but they're collectible now.
Very, very fashionable.
Yeah.
Lady's wristwatch, but 18 carat... Is it?
..case, yes.
JP: So how much was it?
ANITA: £12.
What?!
Are you kidding me?
It's not a bad buy at all.
ANITA: But this is my favorite piece.
JP: Yeah, absolutely.
Brilliant.
Yeah, this could serve you rather well.
ANITA: I think this is a good example of its type.
Yeah.
And then you've got some fossils in there as well.
ANITA: Yeah.
It looks nice.
I don't know what it'll get.
VO: He seems a little lost for words over Anita's natural collection.
So you've bought five lots for little over 100 quid.
Yeah.
Crikey.
That's good.
It's very good.
So again it's a different tactic!
It's a different tactic.
Because I blew the lot, every single penny down to the very last thing, again.
Yep.
VO: Yeah, but what do they really think?
The little amber seal, I'm not sure how old it is and I'm not absolutely sure if it is amber and I think he might've slipped up on that, but you never know.
JP: Very clever lot of purchases.
A guaranteed profit with the watch, though, guaranteed profit with the Homemaker, but I bought a great pair of paintings and I honestly think I could make losses on the rest and still thrash her at this auction.
VO: Well after starting out in the Scottish Borders at Lockerbie, this leg of our trip will conclude at an auction in Darlington.
ANITA: Although it's very far north, should we call it your stomping ground, Jonathan?
JP: I suppose the north and the Midlands is very much where the Pratts came from.
Really?
Yes.
Yeah.
I think there are Pratts everywhere.
I know that.
VO: Quite, but it's the Pease family who are rather better known in Darlington.
Quakers and industrialists as well as anti-slavery campaigners.
The Peases were also railway pioneers.
The 1825 Stockton to Darlington railway was largely thanks to them.
ANITA: Looking forward to this, dear boy.
JP: Oh, me too.
Me too.
VO: Thomas Watson's have been holding auctions at this very saleroom since 1840 so I'm sure they can shift whatever Anita and Jonathan have bought.
Well, we hope so.
Let's hear what auctioneer Peter Robinson thinks of their lots.
PETER: The pair of paintings are quite attractive, good furnishing paintings, so I think there'll be interest in those.
We've got a basket of fossils which... you know, great for educating your kids but I think all the kids are away on holiday at the moment so I'm a little bit worried about those.
VO: Not the most encouraging opinion.
Anita started out with £317.74 and she spent just £122 of it on five auction lots.
Jonathan began with £235.34 and he's spent everything apart from the pennies on his five auction lots.
Now normally at this point I'd try to whip things up a little, but Jonathan it seems is already a bag of nerves.
Are you nervous?
Are you worried?
I am nervous.
I am always nervous before the sale and I start to feel jittery because I think 'how am I going to do, how am I going to do?'
That's the coffee.
Yeah.
VO: Oh dear.
Relax.
It's Anita's tableware first.
ANITA: Oh here we are.
JP: Here we are, yeah.
£30 bid to start, at £30.
I have five, 40, five, 50, five, £55 on my right bid now, £55, selling, I have 60.
Five.
Up in the gods.
70, sir?
10 pieces.
£65 downstairs on my right.
It's £65, being sold now.
£65 for the lot.
ANITA: Yes!
JP: Very good.
ANITA: Yes, yes, I'm happy with that.
JP: So what is that, £35 profit?
ANITA: Yeah.
VO: Yes, it's a good start, Anita.
Game on.
Game on.
Game on.
VO: This could be interesting.
The auctioneer wasn't at all keen.
I've got some of this at home.
Can't stand it.
Claire's grandmother had it.
£15.
At £15.
20 for the collection, 20 I'm bid.
25 can I have?
25, 30, five, 40, five, 50, five, 60.
What?
Yes sir.
Five.
60, gentleman to my right, at £60, selling now to my right.
At £60, we all finished?
At £60 for the lot.
All done.
ANITA: Yes!
Aww!
JP: That's amazing.
ANITA: I know.
You've doubled your money already.
ANITA: I know.
VO: Bodes well for the day.
Next, Jonathan's Chinese porcelain, with crack.
Can we start at £20 for the two pieces together?
20 I'm bid, thank you.
Five, 30, five, 40, £35 lady's bid, 40, five, 50, five.
Internet's going.
60, five, 70.
£65, 70, five, £70 to my... Five, 80, 85 I'm bid on the net now at 85, 100.
At £95, the bid's up with the net.
Keep going, round it up, round it up some more.
You're all out in the room at £95.
Being sold now this time at £95, all done.
JP: Get in there.
Well done, well done darling, that's a good start.
Thank you very much.
That's a great start.
Are you ecstatic?
Yes!
Relieved.
VO: I think it could be one of those days.
Now, is Jonathan's amber a gamble?
Can I have £25 bid?
£25, little seal.
At £25, 30 on the net.
35, 40, at £35, bid's on the book, at £35.
At 40 in the room on my right, £40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80...
I think you've been lucky here, Jonny boy.
90, 95... £90 and shaking your head on the left.
At £90 on my right then, at £90, 95 anywhere else?
At £90, bid's to my right, at £90 for the lot.
ANITA: Oh, I think you were a bit lucky there darling.
JP: A bit lucky.
ANITA: But that was good.
VO: Yes, it almost got a bit stuck.
Now it's time for Anita's footstool.
ANITA: Louis XV... JP: Style.
..style.
At £50 bid, at £50, 55 I have, 60, 65, 70, £70 and I'm bid.
At £70 are we all finished?
At £70.
All done?
Bid's on the book.
£70 for this lot.
75 on the balcony.
At £75 now in the balcony at £75, all finished at £75, all done?
Yes!
Anita, you are amazing.
I really... you are amazing.
VO: Well, it's worth its weight in...cast iron.
More of Anita's metal, an art nouveau this time.
Isn't that beautiful?
£20 can I say to start me off for it, at 20 I have, at £20, 25.
Nearly there.
There you go.
At £20 I'm bid, at £20, 25, 30, 35, 40.
Profit.
£40 for the lot.
I would've liked it to have got more.
VO: Someone's got a bit of a bargain.
So far, no losses.
Alright, fingers crossed, Jonny.
VO: Next up, Jonathan's cheapest purchase yet.
JP: This is my favorite object.
ANITA: Is it?
£20 bid, at £20.
Really?
At £20.
25, can I say?
At £20.
JP: Get in there.
Five can I say?
At 25 front row, 30, 35 madam?
35, 40, 45 madam?
At £40 then, the bid's with me, at £40, bid's on the book.
Sure?
45?
£40 then, the bid's with me, at £40, little plate is being sold at £40.
All done.
JP: Very good.
I'm very pleased.
ANITA: That's great.
I'm happier about that than anything else so far.
VO: Ha!
And we're not even in Yorkshire.
It's the battle of the watches.
That's right.
VO: And what can Anita's little gold bargain job do?
And 30 bid, at £30.
35 on the internet.
Five, 40, at £35.
At £35 on the net.
40, five.
45 in the room, 18 carat gold.
18 carat gold.
At £40 in the room, bid, I have, at £40, 45, 50 sir?
Yep, 50, 55, 60?
Yep.
60, 65.
Gosh!
On my left at £60, gentleman under the balcony, 65, 70 sir?
No?
At £65.
VO: A great find, Anita, and a solid golden profit.
(JONATHAN SIGHS) A hard act for Jonathan's watch to follow.
Watch out.
£35 to start, 40, at £40, 45, 45 on the balcony.
50.
The bidding's coming in quickly.
55 on the balcony, 60 now.
At £55 the bid's in the balcony.
Don't stop.
At £55, 60 anywhere?
Being sold at £55 top left hand side of the balcony.
£55.
JP: There we go.
VO: A bit disappointing, that.
Anita's won the watch fight, but this frantic adding up shows that Jonathan's still in with a chance.
Now for his paintings.
If they live up to Jonathan's expectations he might just pip Anita today.
This is your important lot.
This is your important lot.
This is your important lot.
This is your important lot!
We have £50 bid for the pair of paintings.
At £50, at £50, five, 60, five, 70, five, 80, five, 90, five, at £95 bid.
100, and 10, 120, 130.
You've got a phone bid.
140, 150, 160.
ANITA: Phone bid.
150 I'm bid, at £160, 170, 180, 190.
There's a lot of interest in the room.
200, 220, 240, no?
220 in the doorway.
JP: No, keep going, keep going.
At £220.
No, shaking our heads here.
We have 240, 260.
No?
240 then, another bidder.
Come on, come on, £240, lady seated to my right, at £240, are we all finished at 240?
ANITA: You've doubled your money, so well spotted and well done my darling.
JP: Thank you very much.
ANITA: Good.
VO: So with that mighty profit, Jonathan is crowed today's winner!
He began with £235.34 and after paying auction costs made a profit £191.40, leaving him with a respectable £426.74 to spend tomorrow.
However, Anita started out with £317.74 and although she made a smaller profit of £128.10 after costs, her overall booty of £445.84 gives her a narrow lead on her rival overall.
ANITA: Well done, Jonathan.
Since you've had to work so very, very hard to catch me up, I'll drive this time.
Ah!
What?
Now Jonny, one auction each.
So it's really all to play for, darling.
It is all to play for.
So what's going to happen next?
ANITA: We'll see.
VO: Well let me tell you.
Next time on the Antiques Road Trip... Well I'm going up there, I hope.
Right up to the top?
VO: Anita and Jonathan are heading to Middleham in Yorkshire where Anita exercises some authority.
Evening all.
VO: And Jonathan gets his priorities right.
JP: I've got nice dry feet now.
ANITA: Yeah.
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