VOICEOVER (VO): It's the nation's favorite antiques experts, with £200 each, a classic car, and a goal - to scour Britain for antiques.

Going, going... gone.

BOTH: Yes!

JAMES: It's a bit like fishing.

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

VO: But it's no mean feat.

DAVID: Goodness' sake!

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

What have I done?

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

I'd better look out!

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

VO: Today we're beginning a brand new week of jolly Road Tripping, with a brand new coupling of antiques aficionados.

Anita Manning is a Glaswegian auction maestra, who knows what she likes and isn't afraid to blow her... own bagpipes.

Hm!

(STRAINED PARP) VO: Oh dear.

While James Braxton is an auctioneer hailing from Sussex, whose charm is matched only by his sunny optimism.

Might be the opportunity of a bargain, eh?

VO: He'll be lucky.

Today our daring pair are driving a sophisticated French starlet - the 1986 Citroen 2CV6 Special, and she's already proving a bit of a handful.

Look out.

ANITA (AM): I can't be in first gear, I'm in third, but I'm at the wrong speed.

JAMES (JB): Yeah.

Sorry, it'll take me a wee while to get used to this, James.

No, I think you're doing very well.

VO: Oh yeah?

I'm not sure the French car's used to the inclement weather they're having this morning.

There we are.

This week it's eastward ho, as they travel through the East Midlands, East Anglia and Essex, to end up at their final auction, in London's nautical borough of Greenwich.

On this very first road trip of the week they begin in the pretty market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, heading for their auction in Boston, in the fine same county.

Both our experts begin today with a bumper budget of £200 each.

But sadly, this spring morn has also brought some very unseasonable weather.

JB: What lovely weather, isn't it?

AM: I know, snowing on our first day, James!

JB: Isn't this a summer program?

(THEY LAUGH) AM: You see, I'm not used to snow - it's always good weather in Glasgow!

JB: Oh, don't, don't give me that!

VO: Now Anita, that is a fib.

They're approaching Stamford, a very pretty and well appointed town, with more than its fair share of antique beauty.

AM: Well James... JB: Well done, well done.

Very, very well driven, Anita!

AM: (LAUGHS) Tres bien?

JB: Tres bien, tres bien.

VO: Mais oui.

Ha-ha!

JB: Good luck.

Good luck.

AM: Good luck, darling.

AM: OK. Bye-bye!

JB: Bye.

VO: James is kicking off this shopping extravaganza in St Martins Antiques Centre, where he's meeting dealer Lucinda.

Oh, hello.

DEALER: Hello.

JB: James Braxton.

Lucinda.

Nice to meet you.

Hello, very nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

VO: That's it, James, get comfortable.

There's a lot to see here.

Now he's off.

Hm.

Actually, he seems to be heading back for the door.

Lucinda?

I quite prefer the personal shopping touch.

Oh, do you?

VO: Don't we all, James, eh?

So, where will I be finding the bargains?

I'm going to...

I think we're selling in Boston, in Lincolnshire.

OK, right.

And I want to sort of buy sort of smallish things, sort of £20-£30.

There's nice...

I mean we've got nice little... You know, things like the bells, or the pestle and mortars.

OK.

Always seem to be a favorite... Oh, right, OK. OK. ..with a lot of people.

Yes, that's a rather fun bell, now you come to mention it, isn't it?

VO: Ding, dong!

Well, the first impressions is amazing choice.

Fabulous choice, lovely variety.

But it is funny how some stands stand out, you know, they're flowing with goodies, and we'll just... What I'll do now is have a look at the price tags and I'll take a sort of straw poll and see whether I think the price tags match the items, and if they generally do, then I'll really concentrate on the stand, because that's where I'll find the bargains.

VO: He sounds like a man with a plan.

You see, look, Chinese ceramics.

You've got a Chinese porcelain plate there, really pretty, you know, late 18th century, early 19th century.

Porcelain plate, it's got damage, but it's £8.

It's old.

(CHUCKLES) That's over 200 years old.

VO: Right, you've sussed out the shop, so how are you feeling about your first buying day, James?

Nervy?

There are no problems or fears, it's merely challenges.

VO: Yes, that's the doughty Braxton spirit!

And before long, James is going absolutely nuts for an unusual pair of items!

JB: They're rather attractive.

They're Brazil nuts, so they're the kind of kernels, they're the raw state.

VO: They are indeed the seed pods of the Amazonian Brazil nut tree.

Inside each of these large pods, up to 30 Brazil nuts would grow.

These nuts are in fact the seeds of the tree - ha!

You learn something every day.

Drives you nuts, this.

They've been mounted on turned wooden bases.

They've got a date here, somebody's scratched 1910 on them.

Rather unusual, aren't they?

Rather fun.

VO: Yeah.

They're natural history specimens, really, though I'm not sure they have many uses.

Ticket price £38.50.

If I could get those at sort of 25, something like that, that would be a real candidate.

VO: He's interested.

But he's browsing on.

And a cabinet on the other side of the shop has caught his twinkling eye.

Rather nice actually, it's a nice sense of quality.

They haven't got prices on this so, you know, that immediately draws you like a magnet.

Might be the opportunity of a bargain, eh?

VO: I say, let's hope so.

He's interested in a 1970s letter opener in hallmarked silver.

I just want to feel it, I just want to feel the weight of it.

Yeah, it's really substantial.

Sheffield maker, modern.

But it's a nice...

It's a nice letter opener, modeled as an old meat skewer, so I wouldn't mind knowing the price to that.

DEALER: I'll call him.

JB: Offer him 30.

DEALER: OK.

If she said 30, 35, I would seriously think about it.

Have you news, Lucinda?

I do indeed.

And what did he say?

He said yes, he'll take 30.

£30?

Great, lovely.

JB: I'll have it.

Thank you.

DEALER: Deal.

Thank you.

VO: One item scored, but James just can't keep his hands off those nuts.

Whoops!

These are rather fun fellows.

I wouldn't mind buying them for 25.

25?

Dealer's got 38.50.

Why don't we go for a nice 30 and you'll have had two items at 30?

Two items at 30.

See, it's slightly... What I'd do, what about 28?

Could, could you... 28?

DEALER: Go on then, 28.

JB: 28.

I'll buy them.

DEALER: Twist my arm.

JB: I'll buy them.

VO: So the nuts are in the bag and Brackers has entered the game.

JB: The Braxton shopping machine is away.

VO: And how!

Thanks a lot, bye.

VO: You've forgotten your coat, James.

VO: Anita has also had a busy morning in another local shop, but due to ongoing legal issues, we can't identify the shop, or any items Anita didn't buy.

But we can show you what she did pick up, starting with this Victorian combination pen and propelling pencil, made of yellow metal and inset with an agate gemstone.

Let's have a wee look at this.

VO: The propelling pencil would be hidden within the hollow part of the pen, which also has a fountain nib.

With no ticket price, Anita agreed £20 with the dealer to secure her first buy.

Nice nails.

I like that.

VO: Next to catch her eye was a matching set of four silver salt dishes, known as salts - ha!

- dating from the late Victorian or Edwardian period.

More nails.

End of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century.

What's nice about them is that, they're...

They have their liners - that's important.

VO: They also bear a silver hallmark, showing that they hail from Birmingham.

Now, Birmingham was a famous center for the manufacture of small silver pieces.

VO: And these ones are hers for the bargain price of £40.

VO: Anita's eye is often caught by striking pieces of 20th century design, so her next purchase is perhaps no real surprise.

It's a set of 1960s plates and platter, produced by Norwegian company Figgjo.

The charming pattern, known as Corsica, was created by iconic designer Turi Gramstad Oliver.

Today's market in many places loves this type of Scandinavian stuff, and I personally love it.

VO: So much so in fact, that she bought the lot for a very reasonable £60.

That's an impressive three lots, at a total cost of £120.

Good work, Anita.

VO: Well, that was all very odd, but normal service will now resume.

Having scored two items he's very happy with, James is driving the 13 miles onwards to Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire.

He seems to be rather enjoying the 2CV.

Bit of a beast this, two horsepower, but it's quite fun.

I do... You know, as much as I hate it, I do love it.

This column gearshift, it sort of exercises your brain every time you come to change gear.

Here we are, approaching a dual carriageway, and we're doing very well.

Now in third.

(ENGINE HUMS) Hear that engine sing!

Nice little canvas top.

Rather like camping.

VO: He's having such fun!

Ha!

VO: Peterborough's imposing cathedral dates largely from the 12th century and is far from the only beautiful piece of history the city boasts.

James is sailing towards Peterborough Museum, where he's going to spend the afternoon visiting a unique local collection.

He's meeting interpretation manager Stuart.

Loving the doors!

Oh yes!

Hello, James Braxton.

Hello James, I'm Stuart, nice to meet you.

Welcome to Peterborough Museum.

And what do you have in store for me?

Well, we've got some real treasures upstairs we'd like to show you, so if you'd like to come this way... Fabulous, thank you.

VO: Now Stuart's taking James to a room in the museum which tells the story of Norman Cross Prisoner Of War Camp, which operated during the Napoleonic Wars.

These wars, which pitted France and its allies against a coalition of powers, including Britain, raged throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The prisoners of war were enemy combatants, mainly French soldiers and sailors who'd been captured by British forces.

The Norman Cross camp operated between 1796 and 1814, and held 7,000 prisoners at any one time in its location near Peterborough.

The museum houses a vast collection of craftwork, made by the prisoners at the camp.

We have a remarkable collection of over 800 items here, collected over the last century and more, that were made by the prisoners at Norman Cross.

JB: Why did they start making these things?

What was the catalyst for it?

The prisoners were encouraged to make these sorts of things at the time.

It was kind of a tradition, if you like.

VO: And the prisoners were allowed to sell the items they made to local people, or to trade them for items like tobacco.

STUART: At Norman Cross there was a market held at the east gate of the camp once a month, and local people, local traders, would come along and buy these items.

VO: The sculptures are made from discarded beef and pork bones, polished and finely hewn until they look almost like ivory.

The prisoners were not allowed to keep knives, so carved them using crude tools that they often fashioned themselves.

The rigging, for example, on this model of a Napoleonic era warship is made of plaited human hair.

Amazing.

What an item, isn't it?

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Of course many of them were actually sailors, so they would have intimately known ships like this.

Exactly.

That's why it's rigged so beautifully.

And in fact, about a third of the prisoners taken at the Battle of Trafalgar ended up at Norman Cross.

Really?

Interestingly, you'll notice the flags on the top of the ship are actually British flags.

Now this would seem a bit strange for a French sailor making these of course, but of course they're not daft, they're selling to the British market, so therefore of course they try and make everything look as British as possible.

It's a very enlightened way of keeping prisoners, keeping them fully occupied, so they have mental wellbeing, and... allowing them to produce such fabulous works of art.

Yeah, and there's also a very practical reason to it as well, in the fact that whilst you're doing this, you know, if you're keeping the prisoners happy, they've got less reason to try and escape.

We always say to people that if you've ever seen the film The Great Escape on the television at Christmas, as I'm sure everybody has, everything you see inside there, they try sort of escape attempts, was tried by French prisoners at Norman Cross 200 years ago.

Apart from the bit with Steve McQueen on the motorbike, obviously!

VO: Well they didn't have motorbikes, but the Industrial Revolution was transforming society in this period, and brought a new passion for ingenious machines, which is also reflected in the objects made by the prisoners.

OK, so here we've got one of our real iconic items, just here.

My word, yeah.

Yeah, this is the palace, as we refer to it, which...

It may look like a sort of glorified doll's house but actually it's a working machine, or it would have been originally.

VO: Yup, the 200 year old machine is now too fragile to operate but would have been fully automated when it was made.

You'd turn the handle and it would pump water from a lead tank inside the moving altimeter, over the water wheel, and then all the other kind of characters in here would almost come to life, if you like, they would start moving, the dancers turn round inside, the lady goes in and out the doors, the soldiers go round the top.

About 16 different mechanical operations on this model, all of which powered by one mechanism.

They're working in a wooden hut by candlelight with whatever tools and materials they could beg, borrow or steal, and yet they made incredible items like this, and that is just a story of the triumph of the human spirit in a way, really.

Stuart, thank you very much indeed, it has been very enlightening.

That's a great pleasure, no problem.

Thank you for STUART: coming and seeing us.

JB: Thank you.

JB: Thank you.

STUART: I'll see you out.

VO: And with that, James needs to be off.

He's still got a bone to pick with Anita.

Ha!

VO: And speaking of Anita, she has now bustled off to St Ives... a pretty market town in Cambridgeshire, once home to the revolutionary roundhead Oliver Cromwell... ..where she's aiming for Hyperion Home & Antiques Centre and meeting dealer Rod.

Hi folks, I'm Anita!

Hello!

Hi.

I'm Rod, how are you?

Nice to see you.

Oh, a kiss!

Oh, that's great!

Oh, how are you, darling?

This is a lovely place.

It's a wee bit chilly out there, but it's lovely and warm in here.

And it looks fabulous, the diversity.

There's a bit of everything.

Well, we've got 40 dealers here, you've got to find something here.

AM: Oh, yeah, I'm sure... ROD: Spend some money.

I'm sure I will.

I'll do my best.

(LIVELY MUSIC) (MUSIC SLOWS TO A STOP) (BAGPIPE PLAYS) (SHE CHUCKLES) Got to pick up the bagpipes.

How do you hold these?

VO: Well don't ask me, lassie.

Now, that... goes round there... Oh yeah.

Now, that...

I blow through there.

VO: Be honest, you really have no idea what you're doing!

I blow through there.

(STRAINED PARPS) VO: Oh dear.

But on the other side of the shop, Rod's got something that might be more than just hot air.

Left these out for you.

Sorry?

I've left this out for you.

AM: Oh right!

VO: Why?

Perhaps because Anita's such a gas!

Ha-ha!

ROD: This is a genuine World War II, in its box.

I don't know who would use a gas mask these days but the dealer's got 28 quid on it - for God's sakes, there's got to be a profit there.

I could probably ring them up and get that for £20.

Every... Every house should have one.

World War II... Every house... What this is is it's a conversation piece at your dinner party!

That's it.

That's it.

Look at that one there.

Let me see that.

Oh, my God!

That looks like a big fly.

It is!

VO: Steady on.

That's... what's that got on there?

That's World War II as well and again it's 38.

They're hideous but there's profit.

Well, the market loves strange and quirky items.

That's right.

I mean, you know... but I tell you this dealer, who specializes in this stuff, she must sell three or four gas masks a month.

Really?

Well, I know there's a lot of pollution in the air, but is that really what we need?

Well, it's up to you.

I can't convince you.

But I'll tell you that's...

I mean, it's...

It's such a mad thing.

It's got a chance.

It's such a mad thing.

I can find out the best price for you.

20?

See if he can do it for 20 quid.

20.

What, which one, this one, or...?

Aha.

That one there.

This one.

This one, right, OK. Let me give the dealer a call.

Well I'm thinking that it's so mad that it might be worth a bit of fun to buy that.

Will you do 20?

You will?

OK, thanks darling.

Cheers now.

Bye.

What have I done?

AM: What've I done?

ROD: It's for you.

VO: You've bought a gas mask, Anita - come on, pay attention, love.

Thank you darling.

Thank you so much.

And, er... And that is yours.

It's been terrific.

Lovely.

VO: That's three kisses in this shop Anita - I think you've got a fan there, girl.

Anyway, that quirky buy brings a hectic day one to a satisfying close.

VO: Night-night.

Not wind nor fog nor snow can stay our brave pair, and an absolutely freezing morning greets them back in the 2CV and raring to go.

Well it's improved, hasn't it Anita, the weather?

Hasn't it?

James, it's freezing, it's snowing, the skies are gray... VO: That's not nearly enough to stop them, oh no.

So far Anita's spent a budget-busting £140 on four lots: the Victorian pen/pencil, the set of silver salts, the Norwegian plates and platter, and the World War II gas mask.

VO: James, meanwhile, has been quite miserly by comparison, spending only £58 on two lots: the ornamental Brazil nut pods and the silver paper knife - and unusually for the Road Trip, James actually seems to know where he is.

Ha!

JB: This area... Lincolnshire's very famous for things like potatoes, all this, it's a great agricultural food basin, JB: isn't it?

AM: Aha.

VO: Pay attention Anita.

JB: Lovely.

I wouldn't want to be a sheep today, would you?

AM: No.

VO: No.

Implying there are some days you WOULD want to be a sheep, James?

Interesting, that.

Anyway, they're driving towards Spalding in Lincolnshire... ..and amongst other things, Spalding can make the proud boast of being the place where the first barcode used in Britain was read!

This is Anita's first stop, in the snow.

(HORN TOOTS) AM: Oh!

VO: Oh.

JB: Oh, there you are!

VO: Here we go - graceful as ever, James.

AM: Spend lots of money.

JB: Will do.

VO: Since Anita had a good day of buying yesterday, she's going to while away this snow-bedeviled morning by putting the spring back in her step at Spalding Flower Bulb Museum, where she's meeting curator George Slinger.

Hello George, I'm Anita.

Hello Anita.

VO: As James was trying to tell Anita earlier, Spalding sits in an area known for its agriculture, and in particular for the cultivation of flowers and their bulbs.

It's this industry that the museum celebrates.

Of course today is hardly the weather for growing flowers, but Anita's keen to find out what makes this area so blooming ideal for the job.

Like anything in farming, it all comes back to the fertile soil.

That's how it started off, you had good soil.

Yes, we did.

The land, about 18 inches of the finest land in the world is available here in this part of the county of Lincolnshire.

I think I hear the pride of a Lincolnshire man there!

Yes indeed!

Yes, you do.

VO: Flower bulbs have been cultivated in this area since the late 1800s.

The industry boomed in the 20th century, when up to 10,000 acres of local land was given over to flowering beauty.

For much of the century, Spalding was particularly famous for its wide fields of colorful tulips.

In order to cultivate tulip bulbs, the farmer must turn one bulb into several.

First order of business is to plant your bulbs and grow a flower.

Once the flower head is mature, the real work begins.

They take the heads off and leave the bulbs in and let them die down, and then they develop.

So when you lift this bulb, you've got the old bulb, the mother bulb has died, and that's where... That's the part of the stalk that left the mother bulb, and it's created three more bulbs.

So with each bulb you're getting... AM: three crops?

GEORGE: Yes.

It's sort of propagating itself AM: again and again and again.

GEORGE: That's right, yes.

Yeah.

VO: Ah yes.

If only we could do that with you, Anita!

Ha!

Once the bulbs are separated, they must be cleaned and graded for size.

This was an invention by a Mr Tennant, and Mr Tennant came from a village up the road called Market Deeping, and he created this thing, it was called a Tennant patented bulb grader, for three different sizes.

The wee ones would go down to the bottom... That's right my dear, yes, that's right, yeah.

The medium sized ones would go there and the big ones there.

That's right, yeah.

Let me try this.

So it goes from there...

So I suppose you could be stirring the pots!

AM: Lighting the fire... GEORGE: That's true!

..doing the washing while you were doing this.

AM: Simple but effective.

GEORGE: Yes.

VO: Like me.

Tulip bulbs grown in this area must be cleaned by hand, a labor-intensive business which contributed to the eventual decline of the British tulip industry.

Daffodils, however, are still grown in quantity in Lincolnshire, and George is taking Anita to an area of the museum which shows how different daffodil bulbs were produced from the 1920s.

So I see we've got a box of bulbs there, so what do we do with these ones here?

What happens here?

These are daffodil bulbs, and they've been lifted, and now they're going to be put through a machine that cleans them.

Original use was for cleaning potatoes.

Oh right.

Taking the mud and the muck off the potatoes, and then they realized that by changing the workings on the top there, they could actually put the daffodils through it as well.

Then when the bag's full, they take it over to these scales here, where they weigh the machine... That scale there...

Sorry.

Oh right.

There's a... a weight at the back, a hundredweight weight, and then they'd put the bag on there and weigh it and off they go with it to market.

Right.

VO: How splendid.

Now it's time for Anita to get onto her next retail opportunity too.

Well, it's been a most interesting visit.

You've learned a little bit, have you?

Absolutely fascinating.

Yeah?

Good.

Absolutely fascinating.

Thank you.

So thank you so much.

VO: Meanwhile, James has driven about 13 miles onwards, to Long Sutton in Lincolnshire... ..through just about the worst weather the Road Trip has ever seen.

# It's time for dreaming of snow... # VO: The market town of Long Sutton can trace its history back to the Norman period and further, making it the ideal location for James to seek out his next item with a tale attached!

VO: He's striding off into Long Sutton Antiques Centre, where hopefully it's a little bit warmer.

Morning.

Good morning.

VO: He immediately heads upstairs to the area run by his namesake, James.

Hi.

James.

Hello, I'm James.

Oh, that makes it very easy!

DEALER: Yeah.

JB: (LAUGHS) Is this all yours?

VO: Dealer James is an ex-boxer - best not to make any cheeky offers here, Brackers!

Let's have a quick... One should always look at the goods.

It's slightly lop-sided, isn't it, eye-wise?

Achilles and his heel.

It's very apt.

VO: Now James the younger has a collection of items to show old Brackers downstairs.

DEALER: Little collection there, all Beswick animals.

VO: Founded in 1894, John Beswick is a London company that has produced collectable ceramic figures for more than 100 years.

DEALER: Don't take too much notice of the prices, because I think your best bet if you was to buy them - not to teach your granny how to suck eggs - but I could do them cheap as a little bundle, and I think that would be a good little parcel for a sale.

JB: What, the whole lot?

DEALER: The whole lot.

So we've got little songbirds, you know, various tits, and then we've got this fellow - very apt, isn't it?

Gawd bless 'er.

Sandringham not far away, is it?

No, that's right, just down the road.

Just down the road.

The Queen might be at the sale, you don't know.

The Queen!

Unlikely, James, unlikely.

DEALER: I heard... JB: Nice try!

I've heard she visits Boston auctions quite a lot, to be honest with you!

JB: (CHUCKLES) I doubt it.

Anyway, you've got some good doggies there.

You know, the pigeon is quite a pigeon, isn't it?

And I suppose there's racing folk, isn't there, around here?

Well obviously the book price, it's so easy to check the book prices on Beswick.

I mean, I know that's cheap, but you're going to buy the lot for less than the pigeon, James.

So how much could I have the lot for?

DEALER: £80.

JB: £80?!

DEALER: The whole lot.

JB: Two, four, six, eight, 10 - 10 items.

James, I'm not going to fiddle around with you - go on.

I'm glad you're not.

VO: Me too.

Let's have that, that's lovely.

Lovely jubbly.

VO: Well, he who dares wins, eh?

So James acquires the 10-piece menagerie for a bargain £80, and he can flit off to his next shop.

Thank you very much, thank you very much indeed.

Thanks a lot.

Oh!

Still snowing.

VO: Now, Anita's about 27 miles away from James, in Stickney, where she's taking refuge from the weather in Clutterbugs Antiques... Ooh, it's cold out there!

VO: ..and meeting dealer Alan.

AM: Hello, I'm Anita.

ALAN: Hello Anita.

ALAN: Nice to see you.

AM: It's lovely to be here.

Can I have a wee wander round?

You can have as many wee wanders as you like.

Aw, thank you very much.

VO: Very kind, Alan.

I really like this stuff.

It's Mdina glass.

Erm... 20th century, latter half of the 20th century, but look at the colors there.

We've got these wonderful greens and blues.

Made in Malta, and the colors that they used reflected the blue of the sky, the green of the sea and the gold of the sand, and I think that's just lovely.

Very nice.

VO: Clearly not nice enough.

VO: Upstairs Anita's found a plate that she might just CZECH out.

Get it?

Alan, I quite like this plate.

This is Czechoslovakian and I would say that it's fairly new, am I right?

Yeah, you're probably right, yes.

Don't think it's got any age to it.

It's got no age to it.

VO: Quite.

It's a cabinet plate, transfer printed, with a cobalt and gilt rim.

The ticket price is £12.

Am I able to buy that... ..for in the region of five or six pounds?

Rather six than five.

Rather six than five!

Six?

£6, we'll go for it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Alan.

VO: Smashing.

In terribly efficient fashion, Anita's last buy is in hand... ..so, James better get a move on.

He's now in New Bolingbroke, where he's visiting Junktion Antiques and meeting owner Jack.

Hello!

James.

Hello, I'm Jack.

Hello Jack, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

One of the more unusual antique shops I think I've ever been into.

VO: Jack's shop is a huge treasure trove.

It is a vast collection of mad stuff, isn't it?

Lovely.

Whether I can find a bargain here is another matter though.

VO: Most items in here are unticketed, so James will have to check prices as he goes around, and Jack is clearly no pushover.

He could be tough.

He could be tough.

I don't think there's...

I don't think I'm going to be walking away with anything too cheap.

I hope not!

(CHUCKLES) Thunderbirds are go!

That seems quite priceless, Jack.

No, it's got a price on it.

Has it?

VO: But James remains ever optimistic.

This is where the cheap stuff is, isn't it Jack?

I don't have any cheap stuff.

(CLATTERING) JB: Oh, you do now!

VO: Ha!

Do be careful.

That bottle survived but James has spotted some others he might just be able to milk a profit from.

Do people still collect these?

They've got the little fellow... the stopper in, haven't they?

VO: There's one mineral water bottle hailing from the local town of Boston, where their auction is, which is exciting, along with other vintage glass bottles.

JB: Slight crack there.

Someone's tried to have that out, haven't they?

How much for that one?

£5 the lot.

£5 for the lot?

All those?

Yeah.

I'll take them, Jack.

Lovely.

VO: One buy in the old bag and he's searching on.

I quite like this Jack.

VO: It's a brass name plaque which would have hung at a solicitor's office.

Chances of me finding an HS Simon solicitor, commissioner for oaths?

JACK: It's a very common name.

JB: Very slim.

What sort of date do you think they are?

They must be pre-war, I would have thought.

Might be '50s, mightn't it?

Yeah, I think you're right, I think...

I think they're more likely to be '30s, aren't they?

Yeah.

VO: But what could Jack let it go for?

JACK: £10.

JB: £10?

Yeah.

Well I thought...

I was rather hoping for the fiver treatment!

JACK: You hoped wrong!

(THEY CHUCKLE) Yeah.

JB: Tenner.

JACK: Yeah.

Go on, I'll give you a tenner.

Good man.

I want you to eat tonight, Jack.

You'll be alright, you'll be alright.

VO: Do you know, I think he will.

So James spends a total of £15 on his collection of bottles and a brass plaque.

There you go.

Thank you very much.

VO: And he too has all his lots for auction.

VO: So it's time for both our lovely experts to reveal their purchases to each other.

OK, three, two, one, here we go.

Wow!

Is that, is that... ?

Yes.

I like it.

It's quite a variety, isn't it?

Old Beswick, gottles of geer.

VO: Gottles of 'ineral 'ater.

JB: Some of them from Boston.

AM: What are these?

JB: Nuts.

Nuts.

They're pods.

AM: Just for ornamental...?

JB: Yeah.

Two nuts!

AM: Just like me and you!

JB: Two nuts!

Two nuts!

Two absolute nuts!

AM: And you've got a zoo... JB: I've got a zoo.

AM: ..of creatures here.

JB: Creatures.

AM: Did you pay a lot of money for them?

£80.

AM: (MOUTHS) 10!

That was a good buy.

VO: She's impressed.

Now for Anita's lots.

Shall I reveal mine?

Yes please, go on.

It is a bit of a mixed bag.

Come on.

Oh... That is a... A mixed bag, isn't it?

We're covering all fronts here!

JB: Especially the home front!

AM: ..that remind you of...?

VO: Ha-ha!

Very good, James!

JB: How much did you pay for that Anita?

AM: I paid £20 for it.

JB: You see, JB: that seems cheap to me.

AM: I know.

But it might've been AM: just a bit of daftness.

JB: It does seem cheap.

I'm intrigued by your lovely plates.

JB: Dessert service.

AM: Yes, these are Norwegian plates, and I like Scandinavian 20th-century design.

JB: They're very stylish, yeah.

And a combination pen and propelling pencil, and I quite like... JB: Don't tell me, don't tell me.

AM: Tell me.

JB: It's coming to me... JB: Is it silver?

AM: No.

I would say... 22.

£20.

Oh rats!

JB: Nearly had it.

AM: Right.

Well, may the best auctioneer win.

VO: Indeed.

It's all smiles when they're face to face, but what's their appraisal behind closed doors?

I think I have the edge.

Biggest fear out of Anita's lots?

The silver salts may do well.

The pen may do well.

All will be revealed!

That wonderful letter opener in silver for only £30!

That was a great buy.

And all that Beswick for 80?

He's done very well.

VO: On this leg, Anita and James have traveled from Stamford, through eastern England, to Boston in Lincolnshire.

The historic town of Boston gave its name to its rather larger relative, the city of Boston, Massachusetts, in the USA.

They've seen rain, hail and snow on this leg, and now - ha!

- glorious sunshine!

God bless the English weather, eh?

AM: Look at it now, it's beautiful!

JB: It is beautiful, isn't it?

The Fens at its best.

Lovely and sunny, isn't it?

Still chilly.

VO: They're aiming for Boston Auctions.

AM: Here we are James.

JB: Oh, this looks lovely, doesn't it?

AM: Boston Auctions.

Glorious sunshine.

So James, our very first auction.

Oh, how exciting!

AM: Good luck, my darling!

JB: Good luck!

VO: Aren't they sweet, those two?

Presiding today will be auctioneer Graham Summerfield.

Before the off, what does he make of James and Anita's buys?

I think the collection of Beswick will do rather well.

'60s Scandinavian plates - £40-50 I would hope I would fetch on those.

VO: Both Anita and James started this leg with a nice round £200.

James spent £153 on the nose, and has five lots to show for it.

VO: While Anita spent £146 and also has five lots in today's sale.

The auction is about to commence.

Here we go, here we go.

JB: Look, oh!

AM: Yes!

VO: First up is James's solicitor's sign.

There's plenty of muck in agricultural Lincolnshire but how will they feel about brass?

GRAHAM: I'll start at 20 on a commission, have I got 22?

GRAHAM: Is there... MAN: 22!

22 on the internet, 25 I've got, is there 28?

28.

GRAHAM: 25... MAN (LOUDLY): 28!

28 I've got on the internet, have I got 30?

£30 anywhere?

(GAVEL) Yes!

VO: A burnished profit for James.

Very pleased with that.

You're all lipsticked!

Lips... 28!

28 quid!

£18 eh?

I wasn't expecting that.

VO: No.

Now, Anita's Victorian combined pen and pencil - will it mark up a profit?

I can start the bidding at £35.

Yes!

I've got 38.

38 on the phone, I've got, is there 40?

40 on the internet, have I got 42?

42 I've got on the phone, have I got 45?

2 on the phone.

45 on the internet.

48 anywhere?

It's got to go, 48 on the front there, have I got 50?

50 I've got, is there 55?

55 anywhere?

VO: Right on!

VO: There's a lot of smooching going on today.

Aw, that was great.

That was very good.

VO: Now James's silver paper knife.

Will it cut the mustard?

I'll start the bidding at 32, have I got 35?

35 on the internet, have I got 38?

35 I've got.

I will let it go.

VO: It manages to carve out a small profit.

We're still in the right direction here James.

In the good direction.

Nuts next.

VO: It is indeed the Brazil nut pods up next.

Will the audience go - ha-ha!

- crazy for them?

I'll start the bidding at £30.

£30!

Do I hear 32?

32 on the phone, have I got 35?

35 on the internet, have I got 38?

38?

38 on phone one, have I got 40?

40 in the room I've got, is there 42?

There's nut fanciers everywhere!

42 on the phone.

Your last and final, 42.

VO: A cracking profit for James.

JB: My nuts came home.

VO: Yes.

Now it's Anita's turn, with her freaky World War II gas mask.

GRAHAM: £30.

Surely?

AM: Oh, go on!

10!

No!

15, on a commission.

Have I got 18?

Is there £18?

MAN: 18.

ANITA & GRAHAM: 18 on the internet.

Is there £20, anybody, anywhere?

20?

Go on, go on!

Yes, we have, right down by the office there, at £20.

Hooray!

Is there 25?

25, yes.

Yes!

Is there 28?

Have I got 28?

28 I've got, is there 30?

It's got to go.

VO: Some determined work from Graham, the auctioneer, gets Anita a neat little profit.

A great auctioneer.

28.

You got out of that one, Anita.

I got out of that one.

That was very lucky.

VO: Next, it's Anita's Czech plate, mate.

Fiver.

Five I've got, is there six?

£6 anywhere, anybody at six?

Six I've got.

Is there seven?

Seven I've got, is there eight?

Eight I've got, is that a tenner?

£10 I've got, with the lady at the front.

12 anywhere?

I'll let it go.

VO: CZECH it out, eh?

That is a profit, all the way.

JB: Just good.

AM: That's a good auctioneer.

It's just all happening for you, Anita, isn't it?

VO: And another for Anita now, as her set of four silver salts go up.

I'll start the bidding at £28, have I got 30?

GRAHAM: An old silver... MAN: 30, 32.

GRAHAM: 32, and 35.

JB: See?

Internet.

Have I got 38?

35 on a commission I've got, is there 38?

£38... 38 on the internet, have I got 40?

Silver, silver.

38, 40 I've got, is there 42?

42 I've got, is there 45?

45... 45.

Is there 48?

48 anywhere?

VO: Anita earns a small profit on four small items.

Well done, well done.

VO: Now, James's collection of vintage glass bottles, one marked with the name of this very town.

20 I've got in the room, is there 22?

22 right at the back there, have I got 25?

25 with the lady, have I got 28?

28 right at the back, standing.

Have I got 30?

Local interest, 30 I've got, is there 32?

£30.

VO: Local pride wins out, and sees him clear to a very smart profit.

£30!

That's a good turn, isn't it?

I wasn't expecting that.

VO: From the frozen land of Norway come Anita's 1960s plates and platter.

Will they serve up a profit?

30.

30 on the phone, I've got, is there 32?

30 on the phone.

32 I've got, is there 35?

35, is there 38?

I've got.

Is there 40?

40 on the phone, is there 42?

AM: Yes, yes!

42, have I got 45?

Your last and final.

VO: Oh, bad luck, Anita.

And that obliterates her profit.

Was that 45 or 42?

Erm, I hate to say it, but I think it was 42.

I know, but it could have been a lot worse, James.

Could have been a lot worse.

VO: Now, to conclude, James's collection of 10 Beswick animal figures.

A lovely lot, this one, folks.

We've had an awful lot of interest on this one.

Ah!

Straight in at £150.

VO: Crikey, Moses!

Is there 160, 160 on the card, have I got 170?

170 in the room, have I got 180?

180 anywhere?

VO: It absolutely flew.

James, that's wonderful.

Wonderful.

Happy with that.

VO: I should jolly well think so, James!

You're gonna be on the sausage and mash.

For me, it's the lobster.

VO: Well, bon appetit.

So, James's zoo of Beswick figures cements his win, and he's now the expert to beat.

VO: Anita started this leg with £200.

After paying auction costs, she made an unfortunate loss of £2.50, giving her £197.50 to carry forward.

VO: James also started with £200, but managed to make an impressive profit of £97.10, giving him £297.10 to be going along with.

James, you were absolutely wonderful.

Lucky.

Lucky.

And modest!

I've got a new strategy.

What?

Buy Beswick animals!

It worked for me!

Hold on darling, we're off again.

We're away.

Perfect.

VO: Toodle-pip, you two, then.

See you on the next leg.

VO: Next time on the Antiques Road Trip: Anita's got a one track mind.

AM: Is he married?

DEALER: Yes.

(THEY LAUGH) VO: While James is trying to multi-task.

I'm both concentrating, and trying not to stick my tongue out, which I normally do when concentrating!

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