VO: It's the nation's favorite antiques experts...

Perfect.

Sold!

VO: ..behind the wheel of a classic car.

Lovely day for it.

VO: And a goal - to scour Britain for antiques.

Every home should have one of these.

VO: The aim?

To make the biggest profit at auction.

But it's no mean feat.

Yes!

VO: There'll be worthy winners... 950.

You're gonna make £1,000!

VO: ..and valiant losers.

Nooooooo!

VO: Will it be the high road to glory?

Make me a big profit.

VO: Or the slow road to disaster?

Are we stuck?

IRITA & RAJ: Yay!

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Oh, yeah.

Ahoy, matey.

It's a glorious day to kick-start another adventure on the sunny South Wales coast.

Bore da, James.

What is that, Izzie?

I believe it's good morning in Welsh.

The only Welsh I know is boyo.

VO: Let's hope our girl, Izzie Balmer, can teach James a thing or two.

Can I tempt you to a date?

JAMES: A date?

IZZIE: A date.

There we go.

JAMES: They're not a date.

IZZIE: Yes, it is!

That's a... That's a plum!

It's a fresh medjool date.

That's lovely.

IZZIE: Hey, we're having a date, James.

VO: Sweetening him up already.

They do make a stylish pair in their 1977 Morgan Plus 8.

IZZIE: James, I've got to say, this car very much suits you.

JAMES: Lovely car.

Does she drive well?

Are you enjoying it?

It sits really nicely on the road.

We're all quite snugly-bugly in here, aren't we?

We're very snugly-bugly.

VO: Blimey, it's lucky these two have met before, then.

Road trip royalty, James Braxton, is a veteran antiqueur.

That means he likes to reminisce a lot about the good old days.

Electricity and modern convenience makes everybody lazy.

VO: But jewelry specialist Izzie Balmer only made her Road Trip debut a few years ago.

Something like that.

Ta-da!

VO: James showed her the ropes, but she took home the win.

You're probably the winner.

VO: You dark horse, you!

JAMES: You did really well.

First road trip, and you won.

Yes, but, James, I feel the pressure, because can I do it again?

My objective on this road trip is to beat you.

OK, that's fine.

JAMES: (LAUGHS) I'm OK with that.

Shall we just lay it, lay it out there?

VO: Oh, look at that!

Fighting talk already.

Our twosome have £200 each and will be taking the scenic route through South Wales before heading north and looping back down to Pembrokeshire.

JAMES: Oh, look, look.

IZZIE: What, what?

JAMES: Look, there's a sheep.

IZZIE: Sheep.

OK, let's not stop.

That's famous, isn't it?

For Wales?

Yes.

Lots of sheep.

Yes.

Lots of sheep and lots of daffodils.

VO: You don't say!

Ha!

On this leg, they'll be shopping in Pontypool.

But we're kicking off on the beautiful Gower Peninsula, where you'll find towering cliffs and dramatic coastlines, and our first stop, the village of Crofty, home to Gower Reclamation.

Izzie's been kindly dropped off by her buddy.

Looking for a yellow door.

VO: That's if she can find the way in.

Aha!

Yellow door.

VO: Thank goodness for that.

Wow!

VO: Izzie has £200 to spend, and this veritable treasure trove will be sure to tempt her.

Oh, my goodness.

I've never seen so many fireplaces.

Oh.

Well, this is quite interesting.

And you don't see these that often nowadays.

It's a prosthetic eye.

I mean, the label says that this one is antique, "circa 1900".

Again, it's very difficult to date something like this.

It doesn't really have a lot of wear.

But I suppose, if this one's never been used, never been worn, it's not going to have any wear.

And these are actually really, really collectable.

Ideally, you want them to be the Victorian or even earlier.

Ticketed at £95, which I think is probably too much for a single eye on its own, for just the one.

But also I'm hesitant because, I guess, I'm just not convinced that it's an early 20th century eye.

VO: "Eye, eye," moving on.

Oh!

VO: Time for a close look at this chap.

IZZIE: He's a little bit different.

It says a Schuco monkey perfume bottle.

Now, the perfume bottles that I've come across before as Schuco, are the small, miniature ones.

I've not seen one that size before.

Now, he is in very well-loved condition.

VO: That's one way to put it.

Well, originally, his whole body would have been covered in mohair, but there's only a little bit left.

You can tell that he is certainly 1920s, but what I'm hoping is, if I give his head a little wiggle, and I don't want to pull too hard here, and inside, there should be a perfume bottle.

So if I unscrew this... Yeah.

Oh, look.

And we've got a stopper in there as well.

VO: Ah, sniff test, and...

Doesn't smell of anything.

Don't think there's anything in there.

VO: Phew!

IZZIE: That's interesting, just in so much as I haven't seen a big one before.

Now, in good condition, the small version would sell for perhaps £300 at auction.

Certainly three figures.

This isn't the small version, which I suspect probably isn't as desirable.

And he's ticketed at £70.

He is a bit different, isn't he?

Look, he's just saying, "Give me a home.

Buy me, buy me."

VO: There's one contender.

Let's catch up with another cheeky monkey.

Ha!

James has motored north to Ammanford, a former coal mining town, now home to the Ammanford Antique Centre.

Wow.

Nice and big.

VO: With £200 burning a hole in our man's pocket, what can he find in here?

Ah.

Now, here we are.

Here's the sense of place.

I've got lots of, erm... What's this?

"Coal mined at Gwendraeth Valley".

A rather nice sort of tableau, really.

We've got a bit of coal, and we've got the, the great miner's lamp.

Who am I?

VO: No, James.

JAMES: Princess Anne.

VO: Put them down.

Who am I?

Jamiroquai.

OK. Who am I?

Snoop Dogg.

VO: For shizzle.

Ha!

And while James browses on, let's head 20 miles south and check in on Izzie, who already has an eye on a monkey perfume bottle.

Has she found anything else?

IZZIE: This pair of hands.

Now...

I was rather hoping that these were going to be old wooden hands, but actually I don't think they are at all.

They've been quite recent, relatively recently carved.

Even though there's some sort of good age and patina on the end of those fingers there.

that's probably more the wood than anything else.

They're sort of like, this could be, you never know, this could be the antiques of the future, a pair of carved wooden hands.

I mean, I don't know what you'd do with them.

You could probably use them as a soap dish and pop a soap on there, or maybe an orange, or an apple.

You could have yourself a giant fruit bowl with lots of hands and have each hand holding a different piece of fruit.

VO: I lost you at the soap dish.

But no, they don't have any huge great age, but there's just something a little bit unusual about them.

They're beautifully carved, you know, handcrafted, these are.

These are handcrafted, and they're £20.

That does not seem a lot to me for someone's craftsmanship.

There's just something about them that I like.

They are quite naive, they're quite rustic, but to me, they're kind of cool.

You've got to hand it to me, right?

VO: Hey, I do the puns, thank you.

Les, who's in charge today, and is the man to talk to.

Hiya, Les.

Oh, hello.

I have to say, I've never been to a reclamation center before.

This is the best in the country.

Well, I would agree.

100%.

I've seen two items that I'm interested in purchasing.

OK. IZZIE: It's the pair of wooden hands, ticketed at £20.

Happy with that.

And the Schuco monkey scent bottle, ticketed at £70.

Mm-hm.

I wondered, can we do a little, cheeky discount, please?

LES: Well, I know the dealer.

IZZIE: Uh-huh.

I'll have to give him a call.

VO: Deep breath, Izzie.

Tom, it's Les here at Gower Reclamation.

Sorry to bother you.

Can you talk a minute?

TOM: Yeah.

LES: I've got a young lady here with me who's interested in two of your items in the cabinet, in the Tudor room.

A little monkey bottle, and you've got £70 on that.

Is there any leeway at all that you could help out with that a bit?

55.

IZZIE: Is that his best?

LES: Is that your best?

TOM: Go on, tell her £50.

LES: £50.

IZZIE: Oh, yes, please.

IZZIE: Thank you very much.

LES: OK, Tom, thanks.

VO: And, with the wooden hands, that makes 70 to pay.

Izzie has £130 left to spend.

IZZIE: I'll pop that there.

LES: Thank you very much.

IZZIE: I'll go and grab my items.

Lovely.

Hope you enjoy them.

Thank you so much for having me.

VO: Now, I wonder how our man in Ammanford is doing.

Oh!

Oh, something's luring me in here.

Two bits of bamboo.

VO: Like a moth to a flame.

JAMES: So, we've got a nice hall stand.

It's too expensive.

165.

I see that really at about 80 to 120.

So, that's rather overpriced.

That, at 45, isn't so.

And they use this little straw weave, and then you often see them, somebody will have put a piece of glass in the top just to protect them.

But if anything gets damaged, it's normally this, that is then replaced with something else.

But the, the design's quite nice, isn't it?

The whole thing is done with little panel pins.

And panel pins here, structurally, there'll be a couple of holes here to let them in.

But, you know, this is... Now, what would I say, date-wise?

I'd say that's probably anywhere between 1860, 1880.

VO: Old, but very on-trend.

And it's a green way to furnish your home, too.

If I can try and get 25, 30, I'd buy it.

VO: Time to get your haggling hat on.

Oh, wait, you're already wearing it.

Now, hello, Shane.

Look at you.

Hello, there.

God, dab hand with a duster, are you?

SHANE: (CHUCKLES) Absolutely.

JAMES: (LAUGHS) Now, I've been going around your lovely shop, and up in the top room, a bamboo table with the basket weave tops.

You had, I think, £45 on it.

Is that something that could be bought for, say, 30?

Could we go to 35?

Could we go to 32?

We can.

Excellent.

SHANE: OK. JAMES: So, that's 32.

VO: We have a deal!

Good work.

He leaves with £168 still in his pocket.

I will leave you, and I'm off to Llandeilo.

OK. VO: Meanwhile, Izzie has journeyed to the seaside city of Swansea and Langland Bay Beach, to be precise.

She's here to find out about the pioneering locals who brought skateboarding from America to these shores.

Ian Thomas was one of those skaters.

Well, hello, Tomsk.

Hi, Izzie.

OK?

How did skateboarding come about?

Surfing was the more popular sport, especially in California.

We tend to think of Langland as the small California.

We've always had the best surfers in Langland and that's created the skate scene.

VO: This has been a surfing hot spot since the 1960s, so when Californian surfers invented the skateboard to give themselves something to practice on when the surf was low, it wasn't long before the surfers at Langland Bay were doing the same.

Fast forward to the 1970s... TOMSK: It was a decade where the sport transformed from what you can see here.

VO: Even with resistance from some locals, skateboarding went from strength to strength with an area called the Mumbles fast becoming the center of the UK scene.

But without any skate parks, the locals had to go to work building their own.

TOMSK: Skateboarding has always had a sort of rebellious reputation.

We used to make our own ramps and half-pipes dotted around the place.

Some in Langland car park here.

The council would come along and say, "You can't put that here", and take them down.

So, what happened?

We started working with the council.

We had to form a club.

We formed a club called the Langland Boardriders.

VO: Despite multiple sites being built, then shut down, the group of skateboarders were now unified, and they were determined to keep the skateboarding scene alive.

After nearly a decade of campaigning, in 1988 they were given permission to build a 32-foot half ramp at the Morfa Stadium, creating the biggest half-pipe in Europe.

IZZIE: Did it sort of put Swansea on the international scene for skateboarding?

Yes, it did.

You know, it was renowned across the world.

The other thing it did was, because we then had a world-class facility, the local skaters started to get good.

It was such a good ramp that teams like the Bones Brigade would tour the UK, or they'd tour Europe, and Swansea would be on the map.

So the tour would come to Swansea.

So the likes of Tony Hawk came to Swansea and did demos up at Morfa on a number of occasions.

VO: The visit from skateboard pioneer and world champion, Tony Hawk, threw the Welsh coast into the spotlight, establishing it as a mecca for the sport.

Since then, the group have continued to champion the sport, pushing local government to fund facilities for the next generation.

Only this week now, we've had the go-ahead for a skate park to be built on the front at Mumbles... Oh, wow.

..which we've been trying for a number of years to get that permission, and it finally looks like it's going ahead.

VO: And since you're here, Izzie... Have you actually tried skateboarding yourself?

VO: Has she heck!

I have never tried skateboarding.

I don't think I've even put a foot on a skateboard before.

VO: Told you so!

And to take on the challenge, Izzie's heading to Swansea's biggest skate park to meet an instructor who goes by the name of Robbo.

Good luck!

Still quite wobbly.

ROBBO: That is it, that is skateboarding.

That's the fundamental basics of it.

I've skated on my own.

Mm-hm.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

VO: She'll be skating to the auction at this rate.

IZZIE: Ah, I'm in the wrong place.

Let's do that again.

VO: Maybe not.

ROBBO: There you go.

Nice.

I think we've got a bit of a natural.

VO: The first wave of Welsh skateboarders helped turn skateboarding from a niche activity for surfers into a sport loved by the masses, and cemented Swansea as the UK capital of the sport.

50 years later, they continue to inspire the next generation, and that is nothing short of extraordinary.

Back on the road, James and the Morgan are on their way to the next stop.

You couldn't ask for a better car to go along the Gower Peninsula.

It's an absolutely beautiful coastline here.

And this car is quite a showstopper.

Am I feeling chipper after my first shop?

It's alright.

I think I've got something.

But it's not going to make a huge amount of profit, regrettably, so I need to get to another shop to improve my chances, if I'm to beat that Izzie Balmer.

VO: No need to panic just yet, as the next stop is the Mumbles, a fishing village five miles south of Swansea, and the location of his next shopping experience, at Langland Bay Antique Centre, where there's an eclectic mix of antiques and collectables.

Overseen by Geoff, the owner.

So, with £168 to spend, what might he be after?

JAMES: Well, you've just got to rummage a bit, haven't you, to find... to unearth the treasure, or possibly even the bargain.

Nice, old spice box.

VO: Found one already?

JAMES: We've got various sections here.

So you've got cinnamon, and then you've got mace, ginger, allspice.

Date-wise, I don't know.

Probably Regency, isn't it?

1800, 1820.

VO: Mm, maybe one to think about.

So these are quite interesting, aren't they?

Look at these.

So, they're wood.

And they've been painted black, ebonised.

So, we've got two brackets that are modeled as sphinxes, aren't they?

Oh!

I think they would have been brackets.

So, either side of something, or maybe to do with the fireplace, or something to do with the interior decoration of a home.

Quite an exotic home.

The Sphinx is a sort of mythical beast.

The brain of a human, the power of a lion.

I just think it's rather exotic, isn't it?

It's rather fun.

VO: But with a ticket price of £165, that's a big chunk of his budget.

Geoff, I've been looking around the shop.

I do like these Egyptian figures, so can we improve on that?

I can come down a little bit for you, James.

How about quite a bit, though?

How much is quite a bit, James?

What about 90?

Ooph, no, no, no, no.

No?

I mean, it's got to be three figures.

Otherwise, I'll be having a hanky, in tears.

(LAUGHS) I'll tell you what... You'll be hanging your head in shame.

I'll do 100 for you.

And that's the best?

Absolutely, yeah.

Do you know, I'm a bit of a gambling man.

I think I'll take that, Geoff.

VO: Sold!

The man from Mumbles takes half my budget.

Marvelous.

VO: A high-stake move there from James, as £100 on the Egyptian sphinx mounts have left him with just £68 in the kitty.

JAMES: What is the golden rule about our business?

Buy the unusual and the decorative, isn't it?

I followed that rule when I bought those.

(LAUGHS) Thank you, Geoff.

Thank you, Geoff.

VO: Time to find Izzie now, and hit the road.

Sunshine.

Still.

Sunshine, a lovely car, and a lady-o next door to me.

And I've got my boyo.

Have I landed in heaven?

I believe you have.

(LAUGHS) VO: Oh, give it a rest!

Time to hit the hay.

Nighty night.

VO: Mornin', all!

It's a new day on the road.

It's not so sunny today, is it?

IZZIE: It's not.

What have you done with the sunshine?

I think it's good.

We're seeing real Wales.

Well, that's true.

VO: Yes, plenty to see, plenty to do.

Can't let a few clouds stop you.

I like the way our engine now is smoking.

IZZIE: I was just thinking that.

JAMES: Can you see that?

JAMES: Don't worry about it.

Ignore it.

Suddenly, our car has turned from the mechanical beast into a traction engine.

VO: Crikey!

They won't be going anywhere fast.

But at least they've already got one successful shopping day under their belt.

James has just £68 left, having splashed out on a bamboo table and a pair of sphinx mounts...

I just think it's rather exotic, isn't it?

It's rather fun.

VO: ..while Izzie hit the ground running, buying a monkey perfume bottle...

He's a bit different, isn't he?

VO: ..and a pair of wooden hands, leaving her with £130.

Is this the hand of friendship?

I have...

But I've actually bought two hands of friendship.

Do you know what I think they are?

What?

Salad servers.

I love it!

Aren't they for tossing... Aren't they for tossing salad?

So you don't have to get your own hands dirty.

JAMES: No.

IZZIE: You use those.

JAMES: Yeah.

IZZIE: I love that suggestion.

JAMES: I think they're salad servers.

VO: Well, let's see what today serves up, shall we?

Next stop, the market town of Cowbridge, where the great thespian, Sir Anthony Hopkins, was once a schoolboy.

And there's our Izzie.

Having dropped off her chum, she's going to try her luck here, at the Happy Days Vintage Home Store.

Full of salvage, antique, and vintage.

There's plenty to choose from, if she can "bear" to part with some of her cash.

IZZIE: What on earth is that?

A 1920s secret contraceptive device?

VO: Oh, lordy!

So, "Ingram's Eclipse Whirling Syringe".

Well, that sounds jolly unpleasant just from the name of it, and I'm not quite sure if I want to touch this.

So that is... ..ejecting something.

"It's made upon the most modern principles.

"It's constructed of ingenious movement, "and it produces an injection spray "of whirling nature "that thoroughly cleanses and expels all foreign matter "located within the vaginal region."

This is a bit of social history, because the contraceptive pill was developed in the 1960s.

So, before that, women had to find other ways and forms of contraception, and this is obviously one of them.

It's in amongst medical curios, so I think there certainly would be collectors of it in that region.

If you've got at home already lots of dentistry and surgical instruments, you know, this could go in there as well.

I suspect it probably is quite a niche, limited market.

VO: Exactly!

Ha ha!

Do you know, I think she's tempted.

Ticket price, £16.

Anything else?

VO: Now, what's this?

Do you know what?

You do see these little vases fairly often.

But this one is not quite what I was expecting.

You've got this rhizome form, and then you've got this red trailing.

Now, the ones that I've seen before actually have a green trailing, and the green glass is a little bit raised, and that is actually sort of like a defining feature of Stourbridge and Sons, which were a glassworks in Stourbridge, Birmingham.

It probably is Stourbridge, because it's very, very much in their style.

And then you've got this silver rim here, and it's nice to see that this silver rim hasn't been glued back on, because that's often what happens as well.

The silver rim comes detached, and so it has to be re-glued back on.

Now, this one says "RP".

So RP is for Robert Pringle, started out as Robert Pringle over the years became Robert Pringle and Sons.

This one, it's for London hallmark.

It's 1905.

So we've got an Edwardian little posy vase here.

I don't think it's going to make a huge amount of profit, if I'm really honest.

But I always try to buy something that's either a little bit unusual or something that I like.

However, am I going to like the price?

£18.

I would hope that it would make 20 to 30 at auction.

VO: So that's one possible.

And the £16 contraceptive device is another.

Time to speak to dealer Debbie.

(BELL TINGS) Hello.

You're looking very industrious at work there.

Trying.

Debbie, I've had a good look around.

There's lots to see.

And I have to say I found two small items, one of which is rather unusual.

DEBBIE: OK.

I've found this vase, and also the Ingram's Spray.

I'm always up for a bit of a cheeky deal.

And you look like a lovely, smiling lady to me.

What would be your absolute, absolute best, if I was to buy the two?

I could do the two for 20.

Well, I will say yes, please.

Thank you very much.

VO: We have a deal, yeah!

So that's a tenner each for the Edwardian vase and the contraceptive device.

Looks like Izzie's found her mojo...

Thanks so much for having me.

DEBBIE: Thanks, Izzie.

IZZIE: Bye bye.

DEBBIE: Bye.

VO: ..leaving her with £110 to play with.

Ching-ching!

VO: Meanwhile, James's next port of call is to the Welsh capital of Cardiff, ..where he's just arrived.

He's going to hear about the city's oldest charity, Sight Life, formerly the Cardiff Institute for the Blind.

James is meeting John Saunders, Sight Life's chairman...

Morning, John.

Hello, James.

Good to meet you.

VO: ..to find out how their pioneering work began, more than 150 years ago.

These photographs here, John, do they mark the beginning of the institute?

JOHN: These are from the early days, not quite the origins.

The origins go back to the 1860s.

VO: In the mid 1800s, as the Industrial Revolution took hold, Cardiff was one of the country's busiest and richest trading hubs, due to a plentiful supply of iron and coal in the Welsh valleys.

But while business was booming, many of those who were unable to work in traditional roles, due to a disability like blindness, found themselves in desperate poverty.

JOHN: At that time, it was the workhouse or nothing, basically.

There was no state help.

The outlook was very, very grim.

Bleak, yeah.

And you had soldiers from the Crimean War, for example, who had no family support or nothing.

VO: One woman, who was appalled by the conditions she saw on the streets of Cardiff, was Frances Batty Shand.

Born in Jamaica in 1815 to a Scottish plantation owner and a freed slave, Frances made her way to Wales to join her brother, who had already settled there.

JOHN: Frances was quite upset, so we understand, by the plight of the poor in Cardiff.

In 1865, it was after meeting a local representative from the Blind Bible Association, who explained to her the plight, the difficulties, faced by blind men in Cardiff, that's when she decided to set up a workshop.

Is this how Frances Batty Shand employed people?

Yes, it was in workshops scattered around Cardiff where they did basket making, basket work, weaving, and so there was a huge demand for goods.

VO: As the gulf between the rich and the poor grew wider, Frances was more motivated than ever to give the blind community a chance to earn a living.

By 1900, the charity employed more than 100 partially-sighted men and women who would make baskets, mats, brushes and ships' fenders for customers, including the Royal Navy.

But it didn't end there.

She was also keen that people had an education and a social life, so she was a very early supporter of Braille.

There were choirs associated with the workshop, and other educational facilities, so it wasn't just about employment.

It was improving people's lives in a much wider way.

VO: While Frances retired in 1877, her mission continued through the work of the charity she founded, evolving with an ever-changing society.

And what's going on over there?

JOHN: Well, here we've got some examples of how new technology is really helping people.

So just because you're visually impaired doesn't mean to say that you can't use a computer.

And here's some examples of large screens, and speech recognition audio software, which really mean that anybody, even somebody who's totally blind, can use a computer.

Wow.

Then you've also got a brailling machine.

A modern brailling machine.

It's amazing to think that people plucked off the streets and given work has now resulted in this.

I'm sure she would be so pleased.

She would be.

So proud to see how far things have come, how well integrated people with a sight impairment can now be in society.

VO: Frances Batty Shand is a name that so few know, but by challenging the stigma around disability, she gave blind and partially-sighted people employment, dignity, and respect.

Now, 150 years later, she should be remembered for the woman she was - a pioneer philanthropist, ahead of her time.

VO: Meanwhile, Izzie is back on the road again, motoring north to the town of Pontypool.

Lying on the banks of the Afon Lwyd river, it's home to the Italian Gardens, and Ragamuffin's Emporium.

Look at that.

Spanning two floors, and with 27 dealers selling everything from old trunks to local antiques, there's plenty on offer.

And with £110 left to spend, what will take her fancy?

IZZIE: Always drawn to some studio glassware, and this one has caught my attention.

In part because I love the color, and in part because it's a very distinctive style.

This is Finnish glass.

It's made by a company called Riihimaki, and they were established in 1910.

Now, in 1927, they bought out another glass company, and became the largest glassworks in Finland.

Now, this was designed by a woman called Tamara Aladin, and she joined the company in 1959.

But this is a 1970s design of hers, and it's known as talpanii.

Something like this would probably sell for £40, perhaps £50 on a good day.

Now, it's ticketed at £40, so with a bit of discount, perhaps a bit of profit.

But I'm going to park this one because I'd like to see if I can find something that might make me an even greater profit than £10.

VO: The hunt continues!

But look, here's her competition - trouble.

Model stuff.

Wooden stuff.

Ceramic stuff.

It's all here.

I've got £68 to spend, and I want to try and buy three items.

That's got a great weight.

That's a good copper jug, and quite nice.

I always like things that are marked.

That's a half gallon measure, and then it's got the sort of weights and measures...

So you put a lead spot there, and then you...

Your assay office would stamp it.

So it's copper and you've got a really sensible handle there.

£45.

And are you going to spend £45 on a piece of copper that then you have got to polish?

So this needs to be cleaned pretty well every fortnight, every three weeks.

Don't look at me.

This road trip has already taken the most terrible toll on me.

IZZIE: You look awful.

You're wasting away.

You didn't look like that this morning.

You struggled to get in and out of the car this morning.

JAMES: (LAUGHS) VO: Now, James.

Sticks and stones may break your bones...

The benefits of taking the waters in Pontypool.

This is what's happened to me.

Oh, I'll go and get some myself, then.

See you later.

Bye.

VO: You do that.

But enough time wasted.

James needs to get shopping.

JAMES: Hello, Alan.

Hi, James.

I come to you, you're my last shop of this leg, have you got any goodies you can show me?

I haven't got a lot of money, I'm afraid.

OK, well, we've got quite a nice half hunter pocket watch here.

And it comes with a chain.

ALAN: It comes with a chain, and its original box as well.

May I have a look, there?

By all means.

Look at that.

It's quite a fancy case, isn't it?

ALAN: It is.

JAMES: What is it?

Bernex, or something?

ALAN: Mm-hm.

Swiss made.

JAMES: Swiss made.

And it's got a watch chain, as well.

ALAN: It has, half Albert.

JAMES: And a half hunter was a sort of precautionary measure, wasn't it?

ALAN: Yes, yeah.

Obviously, a full hunter is fully enclosed.

That looks rather nice, doesn't it?

ALAN: It is.

It's a nice piece.

JAMES: Nice winding action.

ALAN: Yeah.

JAMES: It just snap... ALAN: It pops really well.

It pops really well.

It snaps... (SNAPS WATCH SHUT) ..really well.

It's a nice movement.

See, I've only got 68 quid.

I want to try and buy another item, as well.

OK.

So what, you're saying this is about 40 quid, then?

That's cutting me really deep, that is, James.

I probably couldn't get that low on it.

What could that be bought for?

Could it be 50?

It could be 60.

Getting there now.

Could anything else be bought for another eight quid?

We've got something that I haven't actually put out yet.

It's literally just come in.

This is a lovely piece of Tramp art.

VO: Ah, a classic example of Tramp art, with layers of scrap wood added to a cigar box.

It's both bold and geometric.

Right, James?

This one seems to be slightly better to what I've seen.

Could I buy the two for 68 quid?

We could do the two for 68.

VO: Deal!

James is cleaned out.

ALAN: Take care.

JAMES: OK, thanks a lot.

Bye.

Ooh.

VO: Any progress elsewhere?

What's this?

IZZIE: Ooh, these were... Well, these are a bit heavier than I was expecting.

So, what we've got here is a set of stamps.

And what I'm just scanning for is, is every letter of the alphabet there?

Now, these are... Let's have a little look.

"Pryor, Sheffield, made in England".

Originally, Pryor was established in 1849 by a gentleman called William Pryor, and he bought the company that his son was working as an apprentice as.

And this company was a mark-making company.

Because these say made in England, we can date these to the 1930s or possibly they're a little bit younger than that.

These would have been used by someone such as a head gardener at big fancy house.

So, you know, when you go round a National Trust garden, and you go round the gardens, and they've got all these beautiful, important shrubs, and then they have little metal labels on copper saying, usually in Latin, what the shrub is.

And you would use something like this to stamp each letter that creates the word onto copper.

It's priced at £35.

It's quite tempting.

VO: Is it worth a punch?

(CHUCKLES) Izzie thinks so.

But how low will Alan go?

IZZIE: Hello, Alan.

ALAN: Hi, Izzie.

I have found this rather fabulous punch stamp set.

It is nice, isn't it?

It's lovely.

It's ticketed at £35.

I'm sure you know what's coming.

Is there any chance of a discount?

With that trader I can usually do 10%.

I probably could squeeze it a bit more, down to 30.

Any chance of a bit less?

Oh... 28.

Go on, then, £28.

Let's do that.

Thank you very much.

VO: The last deal of the day for Izzie.

IZZIE: See you soon.

ALAN: Bye bye.

Bye bye.

VO: Time to find her old chum.

See?

It's another successful day.

IZZIE: Yes, we're all spent up.

VO: Well, James is.

Izzie still has £82 in her purse.

Not long before we find out who played the smarter game.

Off to auction, first auction.

Lots of lovely profits, that's all we need.

Yes, that's all we need.

It's not a lot to ask, is it?

Well, I don't think so.

It's really not a lot to ask, is it?

We just want profits all round.

Yeah.

VO: Time for some shut-eye.

VO: Good morning, Worcestershire.

What a splendid place.

It's beautiful, isn't it, James?

VO: James and Izzie have traveled to Ombersley Court, just east of Droitwich, to watch the auction on their tablets.

Well, here we are.

IZZIE: It's stunning, isn't it?

It's very Palladian.

VO: Their items have been sent to Newcastle upon Tyne, and they're going under the hammer at Thomas N Miller Auctioneers, with bidding on the phone, online, and in the room.

And the man in charge today is Guy Macklam.

Izzie spent £118 on five lots.

What's Guy's pick of her purchases?

The metal workers' letter stamps don't appear in auctions very often.

And this is nice and complete, and in original condition, so I think these might have appeal today.

VO: James spent the full £200 on his four lots.

Guy?

The sphinx mounts I think are really quite good.

They're big, decorative things.

Not entirely sure what they were off originally, but they'll certainly have some appeal, just simply on their decorative merits.

VO: Here's hoping.

Back at Ombersley Court, it's almost time for the final reckoning.

Look at you, reclining on that car.

It's a bit slippy.

I'm having to hold myself here.

It's a bit like a roller-coaster or a slide, I might just end up down in the footwell.

It's like going on an airplane isn't it?

Brace, brace, brace.

VO: Let's hope we don't encounter any turbulence at today's auction - ha!

Prepare for take-off.

First up, it's Izzie's Edwardian glass vase.

30 is the bid.

35 is bid on the internet.

JAMES: It's... We're away, 35.

I like this doubling of the money.

Don't stop now online.

Come along, click the button.

At £35.

JAMES: That's not bad.

IZZIE: I'll take that, James.

JAMES: Take that.

IZZIE: I'm alright with that.

At £35 for the lot, then.

Your final chance, internet.

JAMES: Come on.

GUY: At £35.

Bit lost for words.

£35.

That's not bad, is it?

VO: Strong start for Izzie.

That's not too shabby at all.

VO: Next up, James's Tramp art box.

It's a cigar box.

And it's all these funny stepped...

Yes.

It's just made from nothing, isn't it?

I think that's the idea of Tramp art.

I like it.

It's sort of stuff that you might find in a skip.

30 is the bid, we're straight in on the net.

GUY: Any advance on 30?

£30?

James!

£30!

35 offered.

35.

GUY: £35.

At £35, we sell to the net.

Well done, thank you, I'll take that.

VO: At £35 that's more than four times the cost.

James, that's a really good result.

It's a very good... (LAUGHS) For an £8 buy, and you've made 35.

I know that's...

I'm pleased with that.

VO: How will Izzie's 1920s contraceptive device fare?

£20 anywhere to start me?

Oh!

For £6 offered, eight is the bid.

I'm bid £10.

There we go.

£10, we're off.

Any advance, internet, 10 for the lot, I'll take 12 elsewhere.

Have I got a washing of the face, James?

We sell for 10.

JAMES: £10, £10.

IZZIE: Well there we go.

£10.

JAMES: £10.

IZZIE: I've washed my face.

VO: An interesting find.

So, are you pleased with that, Izzie?

Well, it could have been worse, couldn't it?

JAMES: Yeah.

IZZIE: Broken even.

Broken even.

That's alright.

VO: A more conventional lot next.

It's the silver Bernex pocket watch.

I had to pay £60 for it.

Only 60?

And it's cased.

Well, that's got to be a profit.

And it's Swiss.

And I'm bid £80.

Ooh.

£80.

I've got £80 against you.

JAMES: Come on.

GUY: All sure, internet?

At £80, and this is your last chance.

I was expecting more.

It's still a profit.

You see.

Still a profit.

VO: Certainly not a loss.

That's alright.

Yeah, I'm happy.

I think that's alright.

I thought that might have a bit more legs, though.

VO: How about a pair of hands next?

I just thought they were cool.

They were quite naive.

I think they're rather nice.

You could use them as a decorative item.

You could use them to hold things, or as salad servers.

And I've got 14, 16, 18, you're 18 in the room.

Room buyer first, 20, five, 30, 30 on the internet, 35 on the internet.

They're still going, madam.

Come along, jump in now.

40 bid.

It's in the room for 40.

45 against you.

At £45, well, there we go.

All out in front, the bidder here on the internet.

IZZIE: Perhaps they're not salad servers!

JAMES: (LAUGHS) This is your last chance.

At 45, hammer last call.

VO: That's a result then.

Bought for 20, sold at 45.

45!

That's alright, isn't it?

It's alright.

It's not bad.

VO: Now, onto James's bamboo table.

Come on, then, James, you've bought some bamboo.

We would not have a road trip with you and I...

I know.

IZZIE: ..if you do not buy some bamboo.

Bamboo had to be represented.

18 on the net.

20 is bid in the room.

25 online.

And again, madam, 30 back to the room.

35 is bid on the desk.

IZZIE: Yes, profit.

Nice condition, 40 bid in the room.

45 on the net.

50 is bid in the room.

55.

No.

£55 offered.

Good decision there.

This is your last chance.

Last call, at £55 we sell.

I'm happy with that.

VO: So, James and Bamboo, the love affair is set to continue.

You're a visionary, James.

You have said for years that bamboo should be highly rated.

I know, finally, finally.

VO: Up next, Izzie's Schuco monkey perfume bottle.

£50.

That's quite... Was that your biggest spend?

IZZIE: I think it might have been, yes.

Stretched myself, James, to £50.

30 bid, 35.

I've got 40 against you.

45 against you, internet.

GUY: Little bear.

IZZIE: Ooh!

GUY: Any advance at 45?

JAMES: Come on, come on.

IZZIE: Come on.

£45, come on, internet.

Click the button...

It's a bit lower than I was hoping.

At £45, this is your last chance.

No, don't put your hammer down, sir.

JAMES: (GASPS) IZZIE: Oh, well.

That's the first loss.

VO: Oh, well, I thought he deserved more.

JAMES: Is that your first loss?

IZZIE: Yes.

JAMES: Gah!

IZZIE: That was a £5 loss.

VO: Onto James's last lot now.

The Egyptian sphinx mounts.

He has high hopes for these.

They've got a good Egyptian look, these.

We've got a pair.

I think they're furniture mounts or something.

I've got £85 bid.

90 bid.

95... Oh, I think it's going to get there James.

100 in the room.

Room bidder.

I've got 110.

Ooh!

130, I'll come back to you.

140, 150.

160 in the room.

170 on the net.

180 in the room.

190.

200 against you.

220 in the room.

240.

260, 280 bid, your turn.

IZZIE: James, what a great find.

340, the internet's come back in, 340.

360, Madam?

Does a 10 help?

350 if you wish.

350, to help.

350, it does help her.

It's £350 in front.

Selling to a lady here at £350, Madam.

It's yours.

VO: Crikey, Moses.

Congratulations.

Thank you, thank you.

They are really lovely.

I'm glad they've done well.

Thank you.

VO: Maybe Izzie's saved the best till last.

It's the letter stamps.

How much did you pay for it?

£28.

God, you didn't break the budget on anything, did you?

No!

I'm bid 40.

IZZIE: That's alright.

JAMES: Well done.

Waiting for you, 45.

Yes, they do.

At £45, we sell.

That's a small, little profit.

It's a good profit, well done.

Thank you.

VO: That's a stamp of approval from me.

How much was that?

£40 in the end?

IZZIE: 45.

JAMES: 45.

That's very good.

Don't knock me off a fiver, James.

VO: Overall, not a bad day for Izzie.

And at the finish line her £200, after saleroom fees, increased to £229.60.

After auction costs, James has managed to more than double his £200 and crosses the line in first place with £426.40.

Amazing.

Well done, you.

Drinks are on me, come on.

IZZIE: Absolutely.

JAMES: Hit the road.

Oh, dear.

Oh, are you creaking, James?

Creaking!

subtitling@stv.tv