VO: It's the nation's favorite antiques experts...
I don't know what to do.
VO: ..with £200 each, a classic car, and a goal - to scour Britain for antiques.
What a little diamond.
VO: The aim - to make the biggest profit at auction, but it's no mean feat.
Back in the game.
Charlie!
VO: There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.
Oh!
VO: So, will it be the high road to glory... ..or the slow road to disaster?
Oh!
VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.
VO: Yeah!
VO: Today we embark on a brand-new week, road-tripping with a fresh pair of intrepid antiquers.
CHRISTINA (CT): I haven't actually worked with you before.
And it makes me quite nervous.
No, I mean, seriously you have forgotten more than I will ever, ever, ever know.
PAUL: Behave yourself!
CT: Whereas you're like the neuroscientist of antiques.
VO: Hm, quite.
VO: Auctioneer Paul Laidlaw is also a specialist in militaria and knows more than a couple of things about antiques.
He's also quite nimble.
And sharp.
You don't want to get me started about Georgian wine glasses.
We've opened Pandora's box.
VO: His rival is auctioneer and valuer Christina Trevanion, whose charm is matched only by her optimism and determination.
I could give it a new home.
Would you like to pay me to give it a new home?
Um...
It's not the sort of thing I normally do!
VO: Today, our lovable duo start their awfully big journey with £200 each and a rather fetching 1951 Standard Phase 1 pickup.
The pickup was manufactured before seatbelts were mandatory, which is why our experts aren't wearing any.
What's this?
Is that the gearstick?
That's the column... Hey, that's the column shift.
PAUL: Look over your shoulder.
Just look out there.
Get in!
All cars should have these.
CT: That's amazing!
PAUL: The thing you know is really cool, if I do it really quickly... Yeah?
..it can actually take off.
Woo!
VO: On their trip this week, our duo will be traversing the country.
VO: Setting off from Clare in Suffolk, before careering through Worcestershire, and the West Midlands and twisting up through Staffordshire, before their journey culminates in Northwich in Cheshire, over 600 miles later.
VO: On this first leg of their journey, our pair are starting in Clare in Suffolk and heading to their first auction in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.
I don't mind telling you, I've no idea where I am.
VO: You're in Suffolk, actually, and our car seems to be doing funny things to Paul.
PAUL: I've found my true self.
I'm telling you, dungarees tomorrow.
VO: The agricultural style of our pickup seems to be causing a few problems already.
I think there's a gear problem.
Oh, no, you haven't broken it already?!
PAUL: I don't know about you, but I don't like the smell in here.
It's really not smelling very healthy, is it?
VO: No.
Not a great start, this.
Uh-oh.
PAUL: Wait a minute, how do we pop the...?
CT: Oh, I think you've broken it.
PAUL: Here we go.
CT: Oh.
Oh!
CT: Oh.
PAUL: Oh!
(PAUL LAUGHS) PAUL: It's ruptured.
CT: That's really not good.
PAUL: OK. Just as well we're not in the middle of nowhere!
Oh, no, wait a minute... Um...
There's an... Oh, footpath!
Can we head towards civilization?
Been nice knowing you.
VO: Don't worry, chaps, someone else will deal with the car.
CT: Keep your thumb out.
Like the flappers!
VO: Having to rely on their own steam for a while, the first stop is the wool town of Clare.
VO: Nestling in the rolling Suffolk countryside, it has more than its fair share of historic relics.
That might bode well for our antiques hunters.
So, here we go.
I think we part company here, do we?
Yeah.
Well, that's antiques over there, that looks like your shop over there.
PAUL: Well...
I'd better go and find mine, hadn't I?
Shall wish you luck.
Take care - bye!
VO: And they're off.
While Paul nips across the road, Christina is hoping to get her own adventure up and running at her first shop of the day.
Hello!
DAVID (D): Hi.
CT: Hello, hi!
Christina.
Hi, Christina, I'm David.
VO: Pleasantries over, it's time to get down to business and there are four floors of furnishings and collectables from over 100 dealers to peruse.
CT: See, the temptation is to go, to stick to the usual, it's to stick to what you know, which is silver, jewelry, small things, but I feel like I wanna go a bit wacky.
VO: Yeah.
This should be interesting.
These look really sweet.
A pair of silver plate pickle forks.
Scottish.
Little thistles on the top.
VO: Not that wacky, then.
Specialized utensils like the pickle fork were commonplace at Victorian dining tables.
Popular at a time when table manners increased and handling your food became taboo.
Do you ever use a pickle fork, David?
I haven't used one in quite a while, actually, to be fair.
Normally they're longer than that, aren't they?
CT: I was gonna say, cuz... D: Cuz you need them to go into... CT: To get in the jar.
D: ..the jar, yeah.
CT: They sink, don't they?
D: Yeah, yeah.
CT: Like at the chip shop.
D: Yeah.
Oh, I'm a classy bird!
Yeah, you are, aren't you?
Yeah!
VO: Classy or not, the owner is looking for £22 for those pickle forks.
Is there any chance you think he might go for £15 on those?
Um...
I can find out.
Um...
I don't think he will, but let me phone him for you.
VO: While Christina waits for David to get hold of the dealer, Paul is rummaging around the shelves of Market Hill Antiques.
Overseen by Robin Stone, this family-run business specializes in art deco items but the single room shop is packed full of interesting curiosities and collectables.
I'm just gonna buy what tickles my fancy in terms of interest and price.
ROBIN: Nice scent bottle there for you, look.
PAUL: Which one are we looking at?
ROBIN: The big one.
PAUL: That one there?
ROBIN: Have it for 30 quid.
VO: That's a fantastic discount from the original ticket price of 125!
ROBIN: You know there's profit in that.
PAUL: You know how to tempt a man, there's no two ways about it.
A lovely late Victorian... Do you call them grenade perfumes?
I do.
Yeah, that's what it is, yeah.
Yeah.
Um... We've got a pleasingly worked hinged lid, opening to reveal a ground-in stopper, no nasty surprises where the neck's been chipped or cracked.
I'm gonna leave that there, because I just can't argue with the numbers, to be honest.
You know I can't argue with the numbers.
Um...
But I'm being dip... My eyes...
I'm easily distracted.
I'm seeing lovely things hither and thither.
PAUL: None of us are in this to come second in this race.
And somewhere, I guess just down the road, she is like a terminator, a machine, rooting out that... ..that little holy grail that we're all seeking.
VO: Well, if the holy grail is a pickle fork.
Ha!
Christina, I've got the dealer on the phone.
Hi, David.
DAVID: He's not able to do £15.
CT: Oh.
But he's willing to do £17.
Oh.
I still have him on the phone.
CT: Can I...?
DAVID: Of course you can.
CT: What's his name?
DAVID: Alan.
Hello, Alan.
Alan, I was just having a little look at these pickle forks here, and they're very, very sweet.
Is there any chance you'd do 15 on them?
Just gives me a fighting chance at auction really, if possible.
Ooh, 15 would be better for me.
Are you sure, Alan?
That's really kind.
VO: That sounded like a deal to me, so Christina is up and running, picking up the pickle forks for £15.
CT: OK, I'll keep wandering.
DAVID: Yeah, sure.
See if there's anything else.
VO: Meanwhile, Paul's clapped an eye on something rather unusual.
You... ..crank up this, drop a pellet in.
Yep.
Open it up, and you have landed in trap 1, 2, 9, or B.
Do you know what that means?
Not in the slightest.
How interesting.
You've got me with that.
I hate a conundrum.
See, now I'm not going to sleep tonight.
VO: A bit stumped, eh, Paul?
That doesn't happen often.
PAUL: What's the price on that?
I've got 65 ticket.
You can always open and make me an offer.
My problem is I've got five things to buy over the next two days and I hope to buy one here.
Yeah... One is looking like it's out the window!
But I need to keep my powder dry, deary me.
VO: It seems both our experts are having a very productive morning.
Ow!
Isn't that lovely?
I really like that.
I mean that...
It's very, um...
It's very arts and crafts.
It's copper.
On the label...
I wonder whether it's got the right label on it, actually, cuz it says...
It says brass, but that is definitely not brass, so if you think of the arts and crafts period, which is the late 19th, early 20th century, so sort of 1890-1900, 1910.
They used a lot of copperware and that is a bit bashed, but that... is fab.
Love it.
Really love it.
£60.
Do I love it £60 worth?
God, I've really gotta...
I've gotta carry this down four flights of stairs now, haven't I?
It's really heavy.
VO: No such trouble for Paul, who's still stalking the floor over at Market Hill Antiques.
ROBIN: You could save yourself a lot of time and buy all five items here.
(PAUL LAUGHS) VO: Don't encourage him, Robin!
What price is on the wounded soldiers?
They can be about £25.
PAUL: £25.
Aye.
And they're Britain's... PAUL: We've got here lead soldiers and nurses, and in the late 19th century... ..the best ones were made of die cast lead, hand painted back at the factory.
ROBIN: You've got the two nurses, broken legs.
You've got broken arms and bandaged heads, you see.
Brilliant!
These have literally been through the wars.
£25.
I am tempted.
VO: And he's noticed something else right up his street.
This is very me.
This is, of course... You know who that is.
Admiral Lord Nelson.
A truly great Briton.
And this is a commemorative made by Doulton and Watts in salt-glazed stoneware.
You'd call it a Toby jug, I'd call it a character jug.
This is the smaller of the varieties.
You say you had...
The big one's the one everyone wants.
Yeah, everybody wants that.
Big money.
800-1,000 every time.
Yeah.
Um...
But we don't see so very many of them.
Should be nicely impressed.
That's everything you want... Don't need to be an expert to identify the manufacturer of that.
Lambeth, London Stoneware.
Absolutely fanta...
I mean, I really like this.
I like the medium, I like the origin... ..and the subject matter, well, don't even get me started!
VO: Hey, it looks like you've got started all by yourself.
While Paul is considering half the shop, Christina has made it down to ground floor level where she's hoping David can convince the dealer to take her offer of £40.
£50 Karen?
I understand.
£50.
Do I like it at £50?
Is it going to make that at auction?
Probably not, but I like it.
I think I'm happy with that, David.
OK. VO: That's the copper planter and the pickle forks for Christina for the grand old sum of £65.
Good girl.
VO: But has her rival managed to sort out his own shopping list conundrum?
How many items have you clocked up now, Paul?
One, two, three, four lots.
I would be off my head to buy four lots here.
If I'm gonna be mad, give me the deal of deals on four lots and I take my chances, but it's gotta be right.
125.
No negotiation.
ROBIN: Three unknown quantities.
PAUL: Oh!
One's not... And one xxx piece!
Yeah, three unknown quan... You've got 'em!
VO: That's a bold start for Paul.
With the perfume bottle, pocket roulette wheel, the lead soldiers and stoneware of Lord Nelson... ..all for £125.
VO: Meanwhile, Christina has arrived in the picturesque village of Steeple Bumpstead in Essex, with a little bit of catching up to do.
VO: Just over the border from Suffolk, this delightful village is home to Bumpstead Antiques and Interiors.
Don't you love it?
VO: Maybe you could borrow their car, Christina!
Writing table there, that's... VO: Owner Graham Hessell is showing Christina around.
Beautiful.
Look at those guys!
That's rather lovely, isn't it?
Nice Shelley mark on the bottom, wild pattern, Wild Flowers pattern, 13668.
So, what have we got here, Graham?
We've got four cups.
So, originally there probably would've been a set of six, wouldn't there?
Yes.
And collectors would want it as a set of six, but nonetheless, it's very pretty, isn't it?
And people do collect Shelley.
It is very collectable.
VO: The Shelley name first appeared on English ceramics around 1910 and remains a popular Staffordshire china.
CT: What have you got on that, on our label?
We've got 75.
Oh, yes.
For the set.
Oof.
And can you do any...?
And... Of course I can.
Er...
I'll knock £25 off.
CT: 25.
So, it's £50.
GRAHAM: £50 for the set.
CT: OK.
Which is about as far as I can go... OK. ..on that.
That is pretty, I do like that.
VO: And from coffee service to something completely different.
CT: OK, so how much have you got on your record player, Graham?
You can make me an offer on that.
I would be looking for something in the region of 35, £40 for it.
But the problem is, it doesn't work.
CT: You can just imagine putting it into the back of your car, taking it down to the river on a nice sunny day, taking out the records, having a picnic.
And then finding it doesn't work!
Yeah!
Yeah.
As one that isn't working, I would probably be looking at maybe 10 or £15... ..to sell it on at auction.
What are your thoughts about that?
Well, I'm shocked.
Oh!
But I'm still standing.
Good.
That's the main thing.
I'd need to come up a little bit, I think.
CT: What about if we did £60 for the two?
No!
Oh, Graham!
What would be... What would you want?
For the two.
Let's do 70.
70.
Will you meet me in the middle at 65?
And I'm taking a risk.
But... You are, on that, yeah.
I appreciate that.
Fine, OK, we'll do that.
£65 for the two?
Indeed.
For a record player that doesn't work and an incomplete coffee service.
That sounds a bargain to me.
But, indeed!
Thank you - I think!
VO: Long handshake.
So, with the Shelley coffee service and the gramophone added to Christina's haul, both our experts have acquired quite a lot already.
VO: With the pressure off, Paul can forget about shopping - for a while, at least.
VO: Still, without the ailing pickup, he has made his way north and is hot-footing through the hallowed streets of Cambridge.
VO: Amongst the famous university buildings, Paul is meeting Dr Jane Hughes at the Samuel Pepys Library to discover how one celebrated graduate helped shape our understanding of one of the most extraordinary periods in British history.
Hi, is it Jane?
It is.
Hello, Paul.
Very nice to meet you.
And you.
So, this is Pepys's Library?
It certainly is, and we're going to go upstairs and have a look at the library itself.
Oh, I can't wait.
VO: Born in London in 1633, Samuel Pepys was the son of a tailor.
VO: Despite his relatively humble beginnings, Pepys found himself at Cambridge university where his library now sits with pride of place in his former college.
VO: What marked Pepys out from the 17th-century crowd was his desire to record the events around him.
At the age of 27, Pepys started a diary that would record a tumultuous decade in British history.
JANE: This is one of the six volumes of the diary.
Yeah?
He kept it across 10 years, but because paper was expensive, you didn't stop the volume at the end of the year, you carried on until you'd completed the volume.
So, it covers six volumes.
And, in fact, although the diary is written in shorthand, because there are quite a number of different shorthands, it's difficult for people maybe 100 or 200 years after this to have read it.
When this was being deciphered by a man called the Reverend John Smith, in the 1800s - 1818 he started, he didn't know that it was a shorthand.
However, had he looked in the shelf above where the diary was kept, here in the library, he'd have found the crib!
So, um... Pepys in fact had the little booklet from which the shorthand came.
PAUL: Right.
VO: Pepys' Diary is possibly one of the most famous in the English language - mainly because the rich descriptions detail everyday life, and some of the more tragic events in a turbulent period in history.
His writing gave a personal insight throughout the great plague as it wiped out a fifth of London's population in just seven months.
Soon he was describing another disaster as the great fire of London swept across the capital.
Here, in this particular part of it, he's recording how he was anxious that the fire was in fact getting very close to his own house.
Yep?
Um...
So, he went to do, you know, whatever he could to try and protect his, his belongings and first of all he sent his books and his goods and his furniture off to be taken up the river.
VO: For the remainder of his prized possessions, he came up with a rather interesting solution.
JANE: He and a friend dug a large hole, a pit in the garden, and put many of their most precious possessions in, which involved things you might expect, like important documents... Yeah?
And he also put his wine into the pit.
And he very famously put his cheese in, but this wasn't just a small piece of cheddar, this was a large piece of Parmesan, an Italian cheese.
A man after my own heart.
That's right!
Books and wine - wonderful.
VO: Samuel Pepys' diary didn't just capture large events and personal details, it charted his rise through the Royal Navy and in his social standing.
Pepys had become an influential member of society, even rubbing shoulders with royalty.
JANE: This is known as the Anthony Roll, after the person who painted it...
Right.
Who was called Anthony Anthony.
And, he produced this wonderful roll... with the ships of the line of Henry VIII, so it was already 150 years old when it was given to Samuel Pepys by Charles II as a gift.
And then the ship at the top is a very famous ship - it's called the Mary Rose.
Indeed it is.
VO: Before it sank, leading the attack on the French fleet in 1545, the Mary Rose saw 34 years of service as the flagship to Henry VIII.
And this is the only contemporary image of the Mary Rose.
Is it?
From when it was actually sailing.
VO: Pepys worked tirelessly to add to his collection of books and manuscripts - but the titles in his possession show that he was more than just a 17th-century aficionado.
This is the Principia Mathematica, by Isaac Newton.
And it's one of the great books of the Royal Society.
Yeah.
And it has Samuel Pepys's name on the front.
So it does.
So, "imprimatur S Pepys," so Pepys give permission for it to be published.
And the reason was that he was the President of the Royal Society and the president had to give the license to any book to be produced.
VO: Newton's law of motion formed the foundation of classical mechanics and with Pepys as the President of the Royal Society, he was an integral part of this time of social and intellectual change.
JANE: So, somebody like Pepys, who didn't come from a good background, could nevertheless rise up in this new kind of world.
Um... And I think he probably enjoyed the prospect of meeting people who perhaps he, in a previous generation, would never have had the opportunity to get to know.
Yeah.
VO: Pepys embodied a period of social change in the same way that his diary captured it for generations to come, and the 3,000 articles that line the handcrafted shelves of the Pepys Library remain his enduring legacy.
VO: It's been a long and eventful first day for our intrepid antiquers, but not for their car, and it's time for all to say goodnight.
Sweet dreams.
VO: Another day - and miracle of miracles, a new lease of life for the classic car!
So, hang on a second, the car broke down yesterday and now suddenly I'm driving the car!
VO: Both our experts are delighted to be back on the open road with their 1951 Pickup.
There.
No.
Shall I go and pick up those gears?
CT: Yeah.
DAVID: You're OK to your left, you're good, you're good... Keep rolling, keep rolling, keep rolling, go, go, go.
Come on, car!
Down there!
VO: Steady!
What?
I'm sorry!
I was just about on your lap, there!
Why were you sitting on my lap?
VO: Yesterday, Paul had plenty to smile about after his bold start - grabbing a perfume bottle, the miniature roulette wheel, some lead soldiers and the stoneware of Lord Nelson all for £125, leaving him with £75 to play with today.
VO: Christina picked up a pair of pickle forks, a Copper planter and stand... ..a Shelley coffee service and a gramophone totaling £130.
So she has £70 for the day ahead.
And the competition seems to be hotting up - in the car, at least!
Would you like to drive?
No, you're doing great!
CT: Yeah.
PAUL: That's what I said... Back in your box, Laidlaw.
VO: With a set of refurbished wheels to carry them, our pair are motoring their way towards their first auction of the week in Market Harborough.
But there's plenty of shopping to do before that and we're back in Cambridge where the structure of DNA was discovered, where Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon studied and where Paul is now trying to relieve himself of his remaining cash.
And Gabor Cossa Antiques seems like the perfect place to start.
David Theobald is overseeing the petite surroundings.
Hello there.
Is it David?
Yes, good morning.
Nice to meet you.
And you.
I'm Paul.
Paul.
Hello, Paul.
Oh, my word.
If you hear a clatter, call the cavalry.
VO: Careful, Paul - there might be some antiques in here!
I'm wedged - I feel like a potholer!
VO: It certainly is cozy back there.
Deary me.
Have you attributed your little Cotswoldsesque?
It's anonymous, I'm afraid.
Is it expensive?
Ooh, no!
I love the way you said that, David.
Of course not.
Let me see.
Ah...
It's £20.
Well, it does...
It actually says "to Dad".
Oh, my word.
June 24th '49, so presumably that's 1949, but was it new, though?
I don't know.
It's not without charm!
I'm not dismissing that.
And I think it's priced right, thank you.
VO: Paul seems keen on the arts and craft style copper plaque... ..but there's plenty more to consider.
Your caddy spoon, there.
Who's that?
It's Keswick.
Is it Keswick?
I've not seen the long-stemmed one before.
No, no.
But it's not silver, it's nickel.
Staybrite!
VO: Staybrite is a form of stainless steel successfully used by the Keswick School of Art from around the 1930s.
The school, established in 1884, has long been a proponent of the arts and crafts movement.
Look at the skill here.
You've got an asymmetric, plainer, tapering stem.
In profile, there's a great line, is there not?
And then we've got...
I think we could call that wriggle work, post-war wriggle work.
The planishing works the light.
And it shimmers.
Planishing tempers the metal.
It gives it rigidity at a molecular, structural level.
Here endeth the science lesson.
VO: Smitten by science, and a spoon.
So, you've got me with that David, I love it to bits, and your price is absolutely fantastic.
VO: The £10 ticket price has really worked its charm on Paul.
That's a real sweetie.
The speculative piece is the copper plaque.
What's the very best you could do for me... ..the two arts and crafty pieces?
Well, I'd like 30 for the two, but um, 25, that would have to be sort of... David, you're a joy to do business with.
I'm not going to be silly.
Thank you.
That's a good, that's a great price and I'm going to shake your hand.
I hope so.
VO: A great price indeed.
£25 and another two items bought.
VO: Let's leave Cambridge and our speedy shopper behind.
VO: Now, what's Christina up to?
Enjoying some time alone with the pickup as she winds her way towards the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire.
VO: This flat, fertile fenland is home to a relic of an industry that was once a vital part of life in Britain.
Christina's visiting Stevens' Mill to find out about the often dangerous and infamous lives of millers, with the help of local volunteer Colin Marshall.
Hello!
Hello, Christina!
So how long has the mill been here?
It was built in 1820 and it's been built on the site of an earlier mill.
Under your feet here, there's the foundations of an earlier mill.
VO: The development of windmills allowed communities to share resources, helping to increase the population.
They didn't appear in Britain until the 12th century and technology quickly advanced so that the mill, or part of it, was able to rotate depending on wind direction.
This made them more efficient, but the basic principle of grinding grain has remained the same for thousands of years.
So, handful of wheat, put it into there.
Yep.
So, round and round and round.
It's hard work!
Goodness me!
Yes.
Whoo!
OK?
I can quite see why they wanted to build a mill.
VO: Mills were at the heart of rural communities.
With Britain's population increasing, there was a need for larger quantities of food, and mechanized mills became a necessity.
Around the time that Stevens' Mill was built, the population in England was exploding, reaching 16.6 million in 1850.
And to meet demand, millers had to work whenever the weather conditions were right.
Most moved into houses attached to the windmill to ensure they could work around the clock.
It was a relentless and dangerous occupation.
COLIN: This trapdoor and this chain... CT: Yeah?
..are for lifting the sacks of grain up into the grain store on the next floor.
Oh, OK, yes, cuz they would've been jolly heavy, CT: wouldn't they?
COLIN: They're very heavy.
Yeah.
The original sacks that millers used to use weighed 200 weight each.
Oof!
VO: That's equivalent to 16 stone per bag!
Millers endured grueling physical labor, with a constant threat of injury or even death from open machinery, or breathing problems from the dusty environment.
It was also a cut-throat business and competition amongst millers was fierce...
There were four wind-powered mills in Burwell alone.
COLIN: Now, you may have heard stories in the past about how dishonest some millers were.
Surely not!
I'm afraid there is more than a modicum of truth in that.
CT: Really?
COLIN: Yes.
VO: By law, millers were allowed to keep the flour that became stuck in the wooden casings, called tuns.
But it seems not all millers were satisfied with this little bit of extra.
COLIN: Some millers decided that they would like to keep a bit more flour behind, and they built tuns like this, which are octagonal.
Yeah?
And leave a lot more gaps in there to collect the... CT: Oh!
COLIN: ..grain.
That's a bit naughty.
So...
It is a bit.
..they'd, they'd gather more than they probably should've done.
Yes.
Just...
So, it became sort of slightly accidental to... Yeah, and some made it even more accidental.
They had a thing called a devil's hole, which was an extra little chute that was hidden in the floor and went across to their own private sack buried in the wall.
CT: No?!
COLIN: Oh, yes.
VO: While some millers may have earned themselves a dishonorable reputation, it was undoubtedly hard work.
It could take seven years of training to become a miller and they had to constantly adapt to the changing times.
VO: Over the course of around six centuries, wind-powered mills had become an integral part of society but ultimately, it was the industrial revolution and the introduction of huge factories that spelt their decline.
COLIN: Welcome to the best view of the fens.
Oh, wow.
Just fan...
I mean, you can really see.
You can get an idea of how completely flat it is, can't you?
Yes.
VO: Stevens' Mill was owned by three local families throughout its history.
It outlived the other local mills and continued operating until 1955.
Now fully restored, it serves as a memorial to the contribution that the mills made and the millers who brought them to life.
VO: With a fine haul of items under his belt, Paul has made the 25-mile journey from Cambridge to the beautiful Risby in Suffolk.
VO: The Risby Barn Centre features two antiques shops... ..one of which is housed in this spectacular 16th-century barn.
With the pressure off, it's time for a leisurely perusal for Paul.
VO: Meanwhile, Christina has already arrived but is nipping into the other antiques center.
Only one more thing to get and I'm running out of time, so I'd better get cracking.
Good Lord!
Can you imagine the house that came out of?
I mean, that's vast, isn't it?
I'm not sure that even that would go in the back of my pickup truck though, would it?
VO: The pressure is on, Christina.
Perhaps you should concentrate on something you could actually buy, love!
CT: Love that.
That's lovely.
Nice in oak as well, really nice thing.
£250.
I really haven't got anywhere near that left, have I?
VO: No!
You only have £70 left to spend, Christina.
Let's see what Paul's up to.
Oh, thanks for that.
Thank you very much.
Wonderful.
Thank you.
VO: Things seem to have slowed down from amble to a complete stop!
I am only sitting here happy as Larry until I start thinking about Christina.
Because she'll be feeling as happy as I am, she'll have done well.
VO: Don't be so sure!
Before she can do well, she has to finish shopping.
And she's found something unusual outside.
CT: Where would you find another one of those?
I mean, it's beautiful.
Cast iron, and it would've been obviously on the side of a building, here, it would have bolted through and you would have had your sign suspended from there, obviously swinging out.
Maybe a pub sign, or...
I mean, I personally, I can see an antiques sign swinging from there.
I just think it's rather lovely.
How much has he got on it?
Ooh, it's in the sale.
It is a bit bent, isn't it?
Well.
If I get it for a good price, it can't be bad, can it?
I just quite like it.
Where'd you find another one?
I haven't seen another one before.
I think I'll go and ask about that.
£45.
VO: Time to involve owner Joe Aldridge.
Oh!
It looks even more bent now, from this angle!
Da-dah!
That's part of the character.
CT: Is it?
JOE: Yes.
Is that what it is?
Yes.
Is it fixable?
Yes, with heat.
OK.
It's in the sale.
And I'm assuming before it went in the sale, it was £45.
What is it now it's in the sale?
No, before it was...
It was £80.
Oh, OK. And it's been reduced to 45.
OK. As a special treat, I'll do it for 40.
Oh, no, come on, Joe.
It's broken!
Come on.
But that's... That's all part of the character.
I was thinking 20-£30.
Ohh... Come on, Joe.
Oh.
Give me £30.
I'd rather give you 20.
£20 and you have a deal.
Yeah, OK. Yay!
Thank you, Joe.
You're a star.
D'you think I'll make any money on it?
Depends who's at the sale.
Yeah.
Wish me luck.
Yes.
CT: Thanks!
JOE: Pity it's bent.
VO: Thanks to Joe's generosity, that's a reduction of £25 off the sale price.
VO: Let's remind ourselves of what they've bought.
Along with the bracket, Christina has a pair of pickle forks, a copper planter and stand, a Shelley coffee service, and a gramophone.
She's spent £150 on all five items.
VO: Paul picked up the grenade perfume bottle, the wooden roulette wheel, the lead soldiers, the stoneware character jug of Lord Nelson... ..and the caddy spoon and copper plaque.
He too spent £150.
So, our pair have come out even on the spending stakes but what do they think of each other's offerings?
I love the fact that he has bought arts and crafts sort of copper and his little Keswick caddy spoon, so we've almost made our own little arts and crafts section, unwittingly, in the auction, which is great, because it'll hopefully attract more buyers, so that's good.
Holy moly!
It's a hell of a lump of wrought iron metalwork.
And I don't know that I understand that purchase, to be honest with you.
No, wait a minute, I do.
It was £20.
Now I get it!
CT: I don't see anything, to be perfectly honest, in his selection of items that is gonna make a huge profit.
So, it'll be interesting.
Of course it's going to be an interesting auction, it really is, and I cannot wait.
VO: So it's off to the auction - but sadly, after yet another incident, the pickup has bitten the dust and they've traded it in for something with a bit more... style.
PAUL: Look at this, we've got gears, we've got brakes.
I am slightly nervous though that we have actually just got into somebody else's car and just driven it off from the car park!
VO: No, this rather racy 1999 HMC Mk IV is definitely yours - just don't break it, eh?
VO: And with their new transport, it's off to the first auction of the week in Market Harborough.
PAUL: Are you looking forward to the auctions?
I am not cool with these things.
Oh, really?
Yeah, I don't get excited, I get nervous.
I know you shouldn't have preconceptions about people, and you shouldn't, but I always thought of you being big, strong, Scottish, you know, manly man.
I can wrestle bears and wolves, don't get me wrong.
But you're terrified of heights and you're nervous of auctions!
VO: Well we'll soon see if Paul's fears are warranted as our duo pull up at the family-run firm of Gildings Auctioneers.
CT: Into the fray, Paul Laidlaw.
Oh, don't.
Don't pile it on.
CT: Our first auction.
PAUL: Gnnnn!
CT: Are you really nervous?
It's there, darling!
(LAUGHS) VO: And the man with the gavel today is auctioneer Will Gilding, who has cast his expert eye over Christina and Paul's picks.
WILL: The Doulton and Watts commemorative jug of Lord Nelson is, you know, that's in good condition.
They typically fare well at auction.
There's still a good collectors' market for items in good condition there.
Shelley, it's got a good name, but it's just missing the mark in terms of its really art deco shape and style.
It's a little floral, very British of course, but not what the real deco enthusiasts are looking for.
VO: Paul and Christina are both presenting five lots at the auction today.
So let's get started.
VO: First up are Paul's lead soldiers.
WILL: £20 here please, at £20?
CT: Yeah, go on.
Thank you.
£20, 22 online, 22.
22, 25, 25, 28.
Online bidder's at £28.
At 28.
Oh, you're into a profit, aren't you?
PAUL: 30.
CT: You're into a profit.
WILL: More bidders at £30.
Online, at 30.
32.
Is there any further bids?
You're out online, you're both out.
VO: That's £7 profit on Paul's first lot.
Let's see if Christina can fare any better with her pickle forks.
There we are.
A nice little pair of pickle forks.
For the man who has everything.
And let's open the bidding.
What do you say, £20 for these?
20?
£10 bid, thank you.
£10.
£10.
12 online, at £12.
Internet bidder, at 12.
15.
Oh.
At £15, at 15, thank you, at £15 bid, 18 online, at 18.
You're there.
£18.
Internet bid at 18.
You're out in the room, at £18.
VO: So, ignoring the auction costs, they scrape home with a £3 profit.
Paul has combined his caddy spoon and plaque into a single lot and they're up next.
This is going to be my nemesis.
You're gonna do well with it.
Thank you, sir, £30 bid.
Straight in at 30.
Two, five, eight, 40.
WILL: Two, five... CT: Five, eight... 50.
300!
WILL: 50, standing here, at 50.
Five, 60.
Standing at 60.
VO: That's a fantastic £35 profit, stretching Paul's lead.
I've gone from just that little limbering up, stretching, I've got a little bit of a jog on.
Hm?
Oh, wait a minute, is that a cliff edge?
VO: Ever the optimist, Paul!
Time for Christina's gramophone.
£20 I'm bid, at £20.
Commission already.
I have 20.
Two, five, eight, 30.
PAUL: Ehhh.
CT: Come on.
WILL: Two, five.
£35 my bid.
Absentee, at £35.
At £35.
38 bid, thank you.
At 38.
The absentees are lost at 38.
It's in the room at 38, at 38.
At £38.
All done?
Sweet.
Happy days.
VO: So all that hard bargaining paid off in the end, giving Christina a £23 profit.
The next lot is Paul's perfume bottle.
Is there any bids at £30?
At 30?
Thank you.
At £30 bid.
30 I have bid.
It's a maiden bid of 30.
Oh, it's gonna be cheap if it sells at that.
No, that's too cheap.
Maiden bid.
Modest, but selling at £30.
Dirt cheap, though - man alive, oof.
VO: A profit is a profit, Paul.
Next up is Christina's wrought iron bracket.
£10 then, let's start low, at £10.
No!
10 it's as low as I go at £10.
10.
Do I see 10?
I do, thank you.
£10 bid, at £10.
£12.
Here's the bid.
£12.
Second row.
Come on.
Come on.
Somebody'll make a lot of money on this thing.
Oh!
WILL: At £18.
Any further bids?
You're out online.
I'd round that up.
18, that's virtually 20.
We may as well round it up to 30.
You've actually made profit on that!
VO: Ah, there's that optimism again, Paul - or is it cheek?
It's time for the auctioneer's pick - Paul's stoneware character jug of Nelson.
£50 to start then, at £50.
At £50?
Thank you.
£50 bid.
At 50.
With me online, I'm afraid, at 55.
At £55.
60.
In the corner at 60.
65.
Online at 70.
80 they bid.
At £80... 85, still going at 85.
CT: Fired their imagination.
PAUL: Come on.
Are we all done?
I'll sell.
VO: Paul has almost doubled his money there with a £40 profit!
Less brackets, more jugs.
Less brackets, more jugs.
VO: A fine lesson for life!
Now it's over to Christina's Shelley coffee service.
£30 I bid, £30 here, at £30 I bid.
More than that.
£30.
At 32.
35, £38 bid now in the room and I'm out at 38.
Any further bids?
I'll sell at 38.
38.
VO: Don't worry, Christina, you still have another lot to go.
Is that angels singing, or is that just on the inside?
VO: You seem to have lost your nerves, Paul!
Well, here comes the roulette wheel.
£20 then, at £20?
Shall we open the bidding at...
Thank you.
£20 bid, at 20.
At £20.
Is there any further bids at £20?
He's gonna sell it for 20 quid.
No way.
No way that'll do as money.
WILL: I'll sell.
Hm.
Ouch!
VO: £5 down, but still out in front.
Christina has one last chance to pull it all back, and it comes down to the copper planter and stand.
WILL: There are bids coming in here at £40.
40 I'm bid.
I thought he was gonna say £400.
He was gonna say 400 and... WILL: Five.
48.
50.
My bid at 50.
The absentee's at 50.
£50.
You're out in the room at 50.
Here's the bid, with me at 50.
At 50.
CT: More, more, more, more... WILL: Are we all done at 50?
That's just a break even, I think.
Quite sure then, at £50.
VO: Christina breaks even on her planter - although it's a loss after auction costs, I'm afraid.
Christina set off with £200 and after paying auction costs, she's lost £17.16, leaving her with £182.84 for next time.
VO: Paul also started today with £200 and after auction costs, he's up by £40.24, nudging his budget up to £240.24 and giving him the lead after the first leg.
Sorry, what just happened?
Wait a minute, where am I?
You're positively glowing.
Positively glowing.
Oh, behave yourself!
There's nothing in it.
CT: Please may I drive?
PAUL: You love that, don't you?
I love it.
It's just beautiful.
Go on, go on, let me, let me.
Please.
Go on.
You're the winner.
CT: I'll chauffeur you.
P: I am happy to be chauffeured.
CT: Have you got the keys?
P: You go ahead.
Oh!
(ENGINE REVS) This is the kinda car that needs sunglasses.
Whoo!
VO: Ta-ta for now.
(PAUL LAUGHS) CT: Oh, my God, I love it!
VO: Next time on Antiques Road Trip, Paul gets hot and bothered over a stick.
Mm.
Don't you just love this stuff?
VO: While Christina just gets all hot and bothered.
Ho!
I'm a bit hot, I'm really hot!
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