Original subtitles

NARRATOR: On Salvage Hunters,

Drew and Al time travel to Britain's industrial past.

It's like a sort of medieval workshop, innit?

Are swept away by the stunning lines of a country classic...

It's mad, isn't it?Oh, my word. It's a hell of a curve on that, isn't it?

..and explore treasures found by an extraordinary veteran dealer.

You're rapidly turning into my new hero.(LAUGHS)

Drew Pritchard is one of Britain's leading

antique and decorative salvage dealers.

It's a great-looking thing, isn't it? Fab thing.

Joined on the road by queen of the haggle and quick flip, Viki Knott.

275 for the lot?Yeah. Yeah, I'll take them.

And lover of all things weathered and wonderful, Alister Dryburgh.

Just needs a load of cleaning. You clean it, I'll sell it.

Can we do it the other way around? (BOTH CHUCKLE)

Drew is sharing the knowledge...

What are those over there, Drew? They're great little mill carts.

..and expertise... Three-step anglepoise. Rare as hell.

Good, it's an education already.

..he's gained over the past three decades.

Would have to be a really buy-me-now price, but I don't think it will be.

MAN: 550, Drew.(ALL LAUGH)

So today we're in Northampton. OK.

And we're off to meet a guy called Ben who owns

a company called J E Matthews

that are blacksmiths, metal fabricators,

er, structural engineers that have been on the same site

for 150 years.Really?

150 years.Wow. He's fifth or sixth-generation.

Brilliant.But it looks incredible.

A few images of the place that are available,

which there aren't really very many at all, it is incredible.

So we're two lucky boys.Yeah.

Every dealer hopes to buy from someone with expert knowledge

of the heritage of the items they're handling.

Or better still, from the original owners.

Today, Drew and Al are heading 192 miles southeast,

as they've been offered a rare opportunity

to buy from the custodian of a unique piece

of Britain's industrial heritage.

These places, they're not... They're not around,

there isn't as many of them about any more, is there?

When I first started, I worried about them running out.

Yeah.And for 20 years, they didn't.

And in the last ten, they've got - Scarcer.

They've got harder to find.Yeah.

And there's nothing we can do about that.

And they're the blood and guts of the country.

It's just the smell of it. Blood and guts. And no-one's been through it.

They had a dealer through years ago. OK.

But I don't think he got anything,

the sort of stuff that we're after. That we want. Brilliant. Good. Look forward to it.

In the early 19th century, Northamptonshire,

then a centre for shoemaking, grew rapidly,

thanks to demand for boots for soldiers

fighting in the Napoleonic Wars.

During this time, local metalworking also evolved

from making agricultural equipment

to serving the flourishing footwear industry.

By the late 19th century,

Northampton had become home to a blacksmith's forge,

which today, five generations later,

has managed to preserve centuries-old crafts.

It's run by steel fabricator, Ben Matthews.

We've been established since 1883.

We are steel fabricators. We originally were blacksmiths

and wheelwrights, and just evolved through the years,

delved into the gym equipment market.

We supply beams for builders.

The beam work generally happens over that side

where we've got press brakes, we've got bandsaws.

All old blacksmithing stuff happens over this side.

They're all the original buildings, nothing's been added,

nothing's been taken away. A few bits have fallen down. We love it here.

You know, it's an amazing place to be.

I'm really looking forward to Al and Drew coming in today.

We've got stuff that's been here for over 100 years that, you know,

we perhaps don't use any more. Rather than it be in a landfill somewhere, it would be amazing

for it to be preserved and somebody else get good use of it and brought back to life, you know?

Erm, so, yeah, hopefully, they can find some bits like that today.

There he is. There's the man. Ben.Hi.

Nice to meet you. How are you? Very well, thank you.

How are you doing, mate? Alister. Thank you.Right. What a place.

(METAL CLANKING)Where do we start?

Well, take you down the back here. Over there?Yeah. Let's have a look down here.Have a look.

Wow.So this is the old forge

where the blacksmithing work used to get done.

Man, it's like a sort of medieval workshop, innit?

It's great. It's so good.

We don't get to come into these places much, do we? Not any more.

No, they used to be everywhere. They just got this sort of,

like, latent potential, you know.

It's like something's happening. I love it.

This isn't old school. This is the old school.

It's absolutely wonderful, every inch of it,

I love, I love it, I love it, I love it.

And I walked in here today, and the excitement

that took over me was incredible.

What's this bird over here, Ben? Oh. (CHUCKLES)Really?

Yeah. You know me.(CHUCKLES) What can you tell me about that?

It's had a bit of a broken neck. Yeah, exactly that.

Come in for repair.That arrived, I would say -(LAUGHS)

What are you laughing at? I would say,

I would say that arrived the best part of 15, 20 years ago...

Right...with a broken neck. And we just, er, we repaired it.

So you don't rate that, Drew? Not at all?

You know what you're doing.Yeah, I like it. I think it's a good start.

Is it for sale?It absolutely is. Yeah? OK. 50 quid.

50 quid?50 quid.

Sounds like a deal to me.Yeah?

(ALL LAUGH)

I've never seen somebody lose 40 quid so fast.

You'd be surprised, mate.

It's a stork, it's a heron. Something like that.

It's got verdigris. It's going green.

I could sell that. Drew's laughing at me,

and I'm thinking, "What's funny about this?"

I think it's good enough to go in my shop window for a few days,

and I don't think it's gonna be there long.

That table's nice, too. That is a nice table.

You would have made, not you, but your family would have made that.I would imagine so.

Watch, let's pull this down before you knock it over.

We wouldn't want to damage that rare piece of art.

It's very stylised, so I'm assuming it's something

you'd be making for people.

Well, we've made that for our own use.

Your own use? Yeah, I would say.

All of a sudden, I cast my eye over this table, and I'm looking at it,

and as soon as I see the X frame stretcher and the splayed leg,

I was like, "I'm in love with that, I want that. That is fantastic."

Skilfully crafted by an in-house blacksmith,

perhaps a hundred years ago,

the splayed legs and twist detail in the X frame of this steel table

are unusually decorative for furniture intended for factory use.

With its characterfully aged steel top, once fully restored,

Drew thinks it could be worth around £2,000.

150 is a very good price for me. If you're happy with that, I'm happy with that.

But if there's any more, I'll buy them all. But it's down to condition.

Yeah, yeah, I understand that.

Yeah. OK.Sure? Yeah. 150. Deal.

Thank you very much. That's going to have another life now.Perfect.

It's why I love this job. It's why I absolutely love this job.

Now I will get the best blacksmith in Britain, Nev, to fix that thing

and it will go on and have another great life somewhere else

for another 100 years at least. What a wonderful thing.

God, what a building. Just wonderful.

Yeah, so this is the lathe shop.

It sadly doesn't get used much any more, but -

Oh, really?From time to time.

So it was your father that was working here as well?

Er, so it would be my great-great-granddad.

I mean, when I first was here as a young lad...

Yeah...this was used every day.

There was always something going on in here, but now -

Not so much.Yeah.

(LAUGHS) I could see that, yeah.

There's another one of those tables. I didn't notice that before. Honestly? Honestly?

There's another one there. It's exactly, it's the same, isn't it?It's the same one.

And that one looks in better nick, doesn't it?Wallop!

There's another one of those tables that we found in the back barn.

This one identical, but in really, really good condition.

Really nice condition, this one. And they're a pair.

Er, I'd pay double for that one, 300.

I'd let it go.Sure? Yeah, I'd let it go. Yeah.

It's going to a good home. Thank you.

So I have a pair. It's so much more useful to me.Yeah.

Over the moon. That's the sort of thing you find

if you get off your backside and look in these old buildings.

It is harder to get into them. And there are a lot less of them. But aren't they great?

Straightaway, wine rack. Made by you or...?

Not 100% sure. Again, it's been here a long while.Right.

Those are the ones sort of bolted into cellars...Yeah.

..in big country houses, they have those.

So originally, this would have come out of a grand house,

somewhere with servants. It would have been down in the cellar,

it would have been filled with bottles of wine.

But because of its size,

I can see that in a modern house with white walls

and just that sat there with wine in.

It's going to look great.

Oh, yeah, I saw that pot.

I like that, I think it's like a bit of a machine.

It's just a copper cylinder pot about that size.

But it's got that look. Put it on the table, put some flowers in it,

dress it up. Because of its colour,

it's got a lot of things going for it.

100 quid for the pair? Yeah. Happy with that.

Happy with that? That's fair enough. Love the pot.

That's really nice. Yeah. I'll go with that.

£100. Ben agrees straightaway.

That's good because I can see myself

getting £50 for the pot alone, so I'm halfway there.

Oh, wow. Look at this. Look at this. Wow.

Are they stuck?Yeah.

These are -These are just screwed to the back.

You can see this flat.

Ben?Yes.So these were just for nuts and bolts and screws

and springs and whatnots.Yeah.

So it's just a store, yeah?Yeah.

They're wonderful. Have they always been here? They have always been here, yeah.

They're great, those.I really like them, yeah, they are good.

This room's been very untouched. What a great place.

And it would just have been humming, wouldn't it?

It would've just been humming with people working.

In my heart of hearts, I want to leave this place exactly as it is.

But there is a problem. And that is, the roof's leaking.

The place might get pulled down.

Somebody might turn up who isn't as thoughtful as Ben, the owner,

or as interested as myself and Al.

And it gets thrown away. And then it's gone.

So what do you do? I think when it looks like this,

you take the pieces out and save them

and do something with them before there's a storm

and that bit of the roof goes, and then all that's lost.

Do you want to split them in half? Buy them together?

Yeah.Or do you want to buy the lot? No, no. If you want some.

No, no.I'm open. We've come together.

What about we give you 600 for just the ones underneath there?

Al?Yeah, I think that's fair.

In Northampton, Drew and Al have the chance

to buy from a sixth-generation craftsman,

custodian of a blacksmith business

set up by his great-great-grandfather.

Man, it's like a sort of medieval workshop, innit?

It's great. It's so good.

And they decided to join forces

to buy a set of characterful workshop pigeonholes

dating from the early 20th century.

What about we give you...

..600 for just the ones underneath there?

Al?Yeah, I think that's fair.

No, OK. 600. I'll do that.

600.Deal. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.Cool.

Usually, they're for feed. You put feed in them,

or nuts and bolts, and that's what they're for.

But I saw them, immediately I thought, "There's a kitchen.

There's a kitchen right in front of me,

a beautiful, handmade, fantastic kitchen right there."

Wow. It is really cinematic, isn't it?Yeah.

So, yeah, another workshop.

An actual fact, when I first come down here,

I'm 12, in my school summer holidays...Yeah.

..this is where I was. I was out of the way,

and there was an old boy who used to work up here,

and all he used to do was repair lawnmowers.Really?

Yeah, we used to sharpen the blades, and just general repairs.

Seen this? Oh, that's nice, isn't it?Yeah.

Because of the green inside. Oh, yeah. That's cool, that's cool.

In the corner, there's a little cupboard just by the stairs

and it's painted in red.

I love the colour red because it sells well.

Open the doors and it's green inside.

Green also sells really well. Green and red.

80 quid?Yeah. OK.

Yeah, that's fine.

With that cupboard, I'm going to retail it

as an old Victorian food cupboard cos I think that's what it is.

Have we seen everything now, Ben? Yeah, I think that's about it. Yeah.

Can we grab a couple of your lads and take those little bins out?

Yeah. Absolutely. What a day. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Brilliant.

Today at J E Matthews in Northampton

has been for me really joyous.

The real hero of today

is Ben, to be honest with you,

cos he's been offered really good money for this place and turned it down

because his grandfather didn't want to sell it. And hats off to him.

You don't get to do this much often any more

because these places, they're becoming extinct.

And coming here today is a pleasure.

It's a privilege. It's been amazing.

I am massively protective over everything here.

You know, there's a long family history

of all the stuff in these workshops,

but, you know, they're not getting used.

It's been fantastic to have Drew and Al here today,

amazed with what they actually found.

Stuff that, you know, I'm here

every day and I didn't even see.

They found little gems everywhere.

How wonderful was that? Brilliant. We're so, so lucky

to get in there today, weren't we?

Just imagine what they made.

Imagine, that probably had 30 or 40 people working in it.

Definitely, yeah, at one time, yeah.

And those pair of tables, I know you got work to do to them,

but they're gonna look amazing. Get Nev on 'em.Yeah.

And once Nev's finished with them, they'll be amazing.

He's like a bloody magician, that fella.

Finding sellers who have made it their business to seek out

and conserve their heritage can mean long road trips.

And before they head home to Wales, Drew and Al are travelling

even further east, heading towards the Norfolk coast.

Today we are off to see a guy called Roger.

Roger is an antiques dealer of, I think, 50 years or more.Wow.

Based in Norfolk. Works from home. Yeah.

It's very, very strictly by appointment.

OK.Very strictly by appointment.

So, erm, well, we're lucky to get in, aren't we?Very lucky.

I wouldn't let us in. (CHUCKLES)

I wouldn't let you in. Wouldn't let you in.

Recently discovered below the water's surface,

just off the coast of Norfolk,

a giant 100-million-year-old chalk reef

dates back to the age of the dinosaurs.

And tucked away not far inland

is another well-kept secret of British heritage...

..the extraordinary antiques collection

of veteran dealer, Roger Bradbury.

I started off not long after I left school.

I tried to buy odd things. Not valuable,

but just things of great interest.

It's something that you become obsessed by it, eventually.

I'm a magpie, I think. In the house, obviously,

some things are... A lot of, most things are our own property.

But there are some things for sale, obviously.

And the barns, there are quite a few things.

Hopefully, they'll be of interest to Drew and Alister.

So, erm, let's hope that they find something.

Come in, Drew, Alister. Roger, how are you doing? How lovely to meet you.

Hello, Roger. How are you? Alister, lovely to meet you.

Let's close this door with the winds today.Little windy...Very windy. ..but lovely and sunny.

What a beautiful place. You're very kind.Wow.

It's all intermingled here.OK.

There's nothing of any enormous value,

but there's one or two interesting bits and pieces.OK.

So it's a lifetime, Roger.Yes.

It's a lifetime of collecting and dealing.

This couldn't be anything else than an antique dealer's room.Yes.

Do you know what I mean? This sort of says it all, really.

Roger loves to buy, loves to collect.

A proper dealer. And dealers' houses,

they're always fascinating, no matter what they're dealing.

It's the homes that really show the depth of the dealer.

So what's the deal in here? What is for sale

and what isn't? Or if I just ask? Just ask.

What about him? Erm, he would be 120.

I'll shake your hand. Thank you very much.

Love that. That's great. The Uffizi boar, that is.Right.

The first piece that catches my eye is this little carved

and polished stone sculpture of the Uffizi boar.

It's not that old. I'd say it's probably

50 to 70 years old, tops. But it's nice.

Once owned by Italy's powerful Medici family,

but now in Florence's Uffizi Galleries,

the famous metre-high original boar

was likely sculpted in the second or first century BC

by an unknown sculptor.

Softly aged and carved in marble like the original,

Drew thinks this mini version

could be worth around £300.

Behind me, Roger, what can you tell me about that?

That lighthouse. The lighthouse.What?

I saw that when I walked in. But you didn't ask about it. Damn! Damn, damn.

At one point in its life, it was a lamp, I believe.Yeah.

Yeah.And -It's got a great look.

Can we get it out? Yeah. Please do.Can we?

If you can manage it, it's all in kit form,

so be very careful. It'll come to pieces.Oh, God.

Where can we put it?Anywhere you wish.On the floor here?Yeah.

It's got a good look.It started up, but it's just decorative.

I mean, it's no longer a lamp. But I just -

It's a good size, that. Anything like that

is absolutely great.

Down on the floor by my feet, a scratch-built lighthouse.

This one has got to be about three foot in size.

And it's got that naivety to it.

It's got that sort of shed-built feel to it.

It's got that old paint. It's got everything I love.

It's 240.

Yeah. Lovely. OK.Thank you very much.

Marvellous.Thank you. That's bang on the nose.

It's good, isn't it? Really happy with that.Good fun.

These days, everything's mass produced.

But turn the clock back, going back to the early 1900s,

maybe that's a little bit later,

things weren't made in volume like they are now.

So everything was made on a smaller scale,

and something like that, there might even only be one of those.

And that's what's nice about it.

These, Roger, these tourist pieces, are they, or...?

Erm, they are little Indian figures...Yeah.

..erm, relating to a wedding.

Not sure if I've had some before, you know.Yeah, they're good fun.

These colonial clay figurines, they're like souvenirs.

I remember once, I cleared a house down the coast from Aberystwyth, and it was a sea captain's house.

And upstairs in the loft, there was a box of these.

And I thought, "These are the same things.

These are the same figures."

Very, very collectible. How much would you want for them, then?

So what have you got? You've got one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight, is it?Yeah.

£150.For the eight?Yeah.

Yeah.OK. I like 'em. Do you?

Do you like them? They are lovely.

They're all of good scale, the detail on them is good.

A lot of the time, some of them are missing their arms, they're missing their feet,

or their clothing's ripped. But I think out of the eight,

we've got one little loss on one of them.

The others are perfect. Brilliant.

Shall we do the big barn now? Thatched barn. That's beautiful.

Ooh!

Wow.You got some stuff in here. Right. Let's get started.

So if we have a wander around... Yes.

..and then just shout it out, yeah? Please do.

What's that? It's a bit weird, huh?

That's a Banksy there. (ALL LAUGH)

Drew, can I just pass you that?

I know they're not old, but there's a few of them.Is there?

(GRUNTS)So we've got three there, have we?

They're all right, aren't they? They look the part.

So what sort of...? 250 for the three.

Thank you very much. They're not old.

They're probably 1960s,

but having a shop, these are great in a shop environment.

Initially, I'd probably try and sell them all

because that's what I do, buy and sell.

But I'll put them in the shop and they'll serve a purpose.

A little oak school trestle, needs stripping back.

And, you know, you've got the little oval

in the middle for the inkwell.Mm.

Is that in the middle of the table?That's blanked off, there's no... It's blanked off.

You can have a look at it if you want. It's right in the middle.

Oh, I see. Yeah, that's fine. Well, yeah, that would be of interest.

Schools, generally, is where you'll see these.

Just really good quality. This one is unusual, though,

because it has an inkwell in the centre. It's had an inkwell

from new, from what I can see. And you look underneath,

it looks well done. It's a talking point.

When we sell it to somebody, they'll go, "Oh, it came out of a school,

it had an inkwell there." "Oh, really? Wow." People like that.

A Hungarian journalist named Laszlo Biro

was the first to mass produce the ballpoint pen in the 1930s,

but a fountain pen dipped into an inkwell

was still commonly used in British schools until the '60s.

This well-constructed early 20th century oak classroom table

has built-in nostalgia, and Drew thinks

it could sell for around £1,150.

What do you want for that? 550.550. Erm...

In Norfolk, Drew and Alister have an invitation-only chance

to buy from a dealer with expertise built up over half a century.

This couldn't be anything else than an antique dealer's room.

And Drew spotted a skilfully constructed

mid-20th century school table, complete with original inkwell.

What do you want for that? 550.550. Erm...

I'll shake your hand.

Roger says, "I bought all of these from one of my children's schools,"

but I remember from my children's school,

exactly the same thing happened.

And I bought 27 of these

oak refectory tables in two different styles.

I still have two of them because they're just so damn good.

They're just so usable.

What about in here? This? That's nice.That - Roger.Yes.

This, where did that come from? Butler's pantry.

At a big old hall, which I bought.

It was moved from there 50 years ago.

What was the name of the hall it came from?

Swanton Abbott Hall. Swanton Abbott Hall.

Did you buy the hall? I bought the hall and the contents.

Did you? You're rapidly turning into my new hero.

(ALL LAUGH) That was a long, long time ago.

Wow, look at that. Roger says, "Oh, that came out

of a hall I bought." Like, "You what?"

And he goes, "Yeah, I bought a hall and its entire contents."

And that was in there. It's been sat there for,

I think, he said three or four decades, and time and weather

and light and heat and cold have done their magic.

And... (EXCLAIMS) ..now you've got that.

Give me a ballpark.

250. Two-hundred-and-fifty?Yeah.

I'll be... Happily give you 250. I'll tell you what,

let's make it 350. Thank you very much.

I'm thinking he's gonna ask too much for this.

And then he says, well, "250 quid," which is actually too cheap.

So I was thinking 450. So I say, I think in my brain,

meet him in the middle. He's a lovely guy.

We've got a privilege, you know, privileged day wandering around here.

Give you 350. Shake hands. He's happy. He feels good.

I'm very, very happy. I've had it a little bit cheaper.

It's been a day I won't forget in a very long time.

But the best thing, the absolute

best thing about today

is meeting Roger and listening to what he has to say.

They know what they're talking about, and it's been a great pleasure.

And they unearthed some

quite interesting stuff.

The whole thing was a pleasurable day.

Roger, what a nice man.Yeah. What a fountain of knowledge.

He was an absolute gent.

I think he should be, like, sealed in aspic.

He is just... Love him. I want to take him home with me.

I mean, get in the car, Roger. Come on.

Just listen to his stories. Just listen to him.Yeah, yeah.

Just the knowledge, you know?

At his North Wales forge,

blacksmith Nev has been making headway

with a painstaking restoration of the two workbenches

Drew bought back from J E Matthews in Northampton.

When I first saw them, they were covered in gunk.

Do you know what I mean? And once you start cleaning that off

and you start seeing the details, it's just so much nicer

than what you have nowadays, which is just a line of weld,

you know. And, oh, I just love this.

The original is used as a template to cut the new fixing plate,

and the grinder creates the bevelled edge.

That's the bevel now, and I could leave it like that.

You know, it's fine, but I'm going to take the file now.

The file will just dress it up, and it will also

put the file marks in like the original.

All right, let's see what this looks like.

Right, that looks really nice there.

So now I'm going to drill through from the back.

And then we can thread that hole.

And then the screws go straight through,

pull it all together, and it's a really nice joint.

So that's the hole, and then we'll thread through.

It's up to you to line that up straight now.

Gradually, with a bit of pressure, give it a turn,

and you're waiting for that little bite when you know

that it's started, and then you can sort of go for it.

It's quite easy to be way out of line.

I feel a real connection with the way these have been built,

because a lot of time, care and attention went into making these.

There you go, all four on. A lot more rigid,

a lot more complete. Tidy.

The frame, all done, and now this is the bracing.

I've straightened it out. I've put new rivets in,

and isn't it beautiful?

Let's see what it looks like in here.

Ah, it's lovely. Do you know? I think this is the nicest thing Drew's brought me for ages.

I love it. I think I might actually be in love.

What a satisfying part of the job.

Nearing the end. Screwing this top down.

So the top of this was absolutely mangled, yeah,

but it would have been a crime to have replaced it.

So a lot of work has gone back in to getting it relatively flat.

All that history in one piece of steel.

Even though it's all straight and symmetrical now,

it's still shouting out with character.

After many hours of graft, this workbench has been restored

to its original sturdy glory.

But the restoration job isn't over yet.

So there's a lot of work now to do on the finish of it.

The new pieces are still brand-new. The trick will,

now, will be to get it all looking the same.

Have a bit of age, character, but even now, look at it, you know.

It's back to the original look. She really is a beauty.

On their way back west, the boys have a detour to make

to another location where the seller

boasts an extraordinary pedigree.

Today we are going to Ashbourne in Derbyshire,

and we're going to see a guy called Neil.OK.

And it's a family of French polishers, dealers, cabinet makers,

collectors, and experts, basically, in their field.

Should be interesting. We don't know what we're gonna see today.

No. No idea. But he works from home.

Right. A lot of people are these days.Yeah, worth a look.

Derbyshire was one of the hubs of the industrial revolution,

and the town of Ashbourne became an important coaching stop

with numerous pubs and taverns.

Today it's home to an antique furniture business

with its own long pedigree.

The extraordinary collection of enthusiast

and veteran restorer, Neil Heldreich.

I've been restoring furniture for about 37 years now.

The family have been in the business for probably a century or so,

in some aspect or other, to do with furniture.

Chairs are a little bit of a weakness for me,

or even an obsession because, you know, you think of the people

that might have sat in those chairs, especially something that's 300 years old,

and the things that have gone off in history

throughout that chair's life.

I'm a collector, but I occasionally sell pieces through necessity

or because I want to collect something else, make a bit of room.

But, yeah, some pieces, I probably will never part with,

but some, I might be persuaded to.

Neil.Drew.Hello, mate. How are you?Nice to meet you.

And you.How are you doing, mate? You all right? Hello, Alister. Nice to meet you.

So what's the deal here? I mean, you're restoring and selling.

I'm a restorer. I'm a collector as well.

But I do sell the odd things as well.

I know of the family and the name,

cos it's a very distinctive surname,

and I've actually met and bought

from other members of Neil's family in the past.

But it's the first time I've been here, and straightaway,

the minute I walked through the door, I haven't even got through the door,

and I'm like, "Look at that. Blimey. Wow." Yeah.

So I think we're in for a good day.

I've got to say, as soon as I walked in, is that yours? That settle?Yeah.(LAUGHS)Yeah.

Did you see that? I mean - How can you miss it?

It's one of the best ones I've ever seen.It's massive. Oh, my word.

It's a hell of a curve on that, isn't it?It's the shape. Well...

The colour, everything. The colour. I mean, look,

the rake on it. I mean, if you have a look at the back, it's even better from the back.

But I just love... I mean, look at this. (LAUGHS)

You can see where the same chap sat there for years.

You see where his head's made the oily mark?Yeah.

Al and I usually buy different things. But as we walked through the door, we both,

and you can't miss it, see this extraordinary settle.

There's thousands of these settles out there, right?

And that one is better than most.

I bought this for myself.

Everything's for sale. Where do you get it from?

I bought it in Devon. He bought it from an old couple

that had had it for years, and they bought it from a pub in Cornwall.

I'm wondering if he was purposely hiding that chair.

Well -Behind the settle. Oh, my God.

That's just come out of my house because I bought another chair,

which I bought with this settle, and I've put it in the place

of where I had that because of no room. Finish talking about the settle?

Go on, then.Yeah? But that is pretty fantastic.

I've got it in my hand now. But it was in my hand first, and I asked about it.What a thing.

There's this extraordinarily good painted Irish hedgerow chair,

stick chair in the back, and Al pounces on it,

cos this is very much his sort of thing. He's got a couple in his house.

So clearly, within ten foot of walking through the door,

we're finding extraordinary things

because Neil's bought the right things.

He's bought the dead-right things, to be honest.

As a form of seating, the settle dates back to 10th century Europe,

and is thought to have evolved from the chest.

By the 15th century, settles were standard furniture

in taverns and inns,

with the armrest acting as a convenient spot

for a tankard of ale.

But it's the extraordinary curved backrest

of this West Country example,

dating from around 1810, which sets it apart from the norm.

Drew thinks it could be worth around £3,200.

I was looking, if I was going to sell it,

for around the three-grand mark.

Where do you find another one?

I think you're spot-on, but I think that's all its money.

But I do think it's worth it because the exceptional ones do.

Yeah.You know, and it is an exceptional one.Yeah.

Can we have a wander around? Let's have a think about it.Yeah.

Let's just leave it floating. Yeah, yeah.

But I am interested.OK.

Tell you what, let's put this back a bit. Do you want to bring that chair out?Oh, yeah, OK.

You've got to decide if you want to sell it first, haven't you?

I'm terrible, I know. So it was in your house?

Oh, yeah, it's been in my house for a long time. Yeah.

And you've replaced it.Yeah, and I bought it from an Irishman.

Right.So, well, it screams Irish, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.(LAUGHS)

Nothing but Irish, is it?

I just love these for the simplicity, the naivety of them

and the way they've just been knocked up, really.

And they've just been painted over the years, painted,

painted again, and built up layers and layers of paint.

Hedge carpenters were traditional artisans,

who, in the harsh conditions of rural Ireland,

sourced their materials from hedgerows,

skilfully creating designs with branches found at hand.

The interlocking arms and curved backrest

of this early 19th century stick chair are a typical design motif.

Sold in Al's shop, it could fetch around £1,200.

So, like Drew said, it's all down to the money again, isn't it?OK.

You want me to tell you what I would sell it for if I was gonna sell it?

Yes, please.(LAUGHS) OK.

Well, I'm probably underselling it. That's what I like to hear.

Yeah, well, I was thinking sort of around the 750 mark.

In Derbyshire, Drew and Al are meeting a collector

whose passion for furniture goes back generations,

and Al spotted something he's always wanted,

an early 19th century Irish hedgerow chair.

I was thinking sort of around the 750 mark.

I'd be happy to pay six-and-a-half. You won't stretch to the seven?

(SIGHS)Because the more... Now I'm standing looking at it again

because it's been stuck behind there.Seven.

You won't go below? No? No, I'd rather keep it.

Right, go on, then. You did the right thing.

That's a belter. Yeah. That's a cracker.

In the end, we agreed on 700.

I could see Drew out the corner of my eye nodding his head, "Go for it, Al,

go for it, Al." I thought, "OK, let's not mess about. Let's do the deal." And we shook hands.

It's lovely here, isn't it? Mm, when the sun comes out.

So that's the chair you replaced - Ooh, that's a nice chair.

Look at that.

So Neil says, "Come and have a look in the house."

And as he opens the door to the porch,

bam! Look, there's this chair there.

Look at that.That's the one I bought with the settle.

Really good painted country chair.

Immediately thinking, "Well, that's coming home."

By the late 18th century,

fine English furniture was commonly made from mahogany,

cheaply imported as a major product of slavery.

But more provincial country furniture,

such as this West Country armchair

constructed from ash, sycamore and elm, still relied on local timbers.

With its sweeping armrest support and richly patinated surface,

Drew thinks it could be worth around £750.

What do you want for it? No haggling.

Go on, then. One-off price, 550.

Let's mark it as reserved. (LAUGHS) OK.

Let's go and have a look at what else you've got.All right. OK.

Oh, my word. What a great room.

(CHUCKLES) Look at the... Look at all this.

Yeah. I'm a bit of a collector and hoarder, I'm afraid.

You've got so many different interests in here.Yeah.

It's like we've just set foot inside Neil's head, basically.

He knows about Irish furniture and he knows about colonial.

And he knows about African, he knows about tribal.

He knows about East India. He knows about archaeology.

It's all there. It's an intelligent collection.

Mm-hm.Scottish.Laburnum. Yeah. That's lovely.

To me, that's got to be two, two, 2,000.

You get them in mahogany all the time.Yeah.

But Laburnum...I know. There's not enough in it for me.

OK.I think you're on the money again... Mm-hm...which, unsurprising.

(CHUCKLES)(SIGHS) The settle.Yeah.

That is something you wanna move on cos you're not gonna get it through the door.(LAUGHS)

But I might move into a house one day that I can get it through the door.

I might build a house one day that I can build a house around it.

(LAUGHS)But today - But today?

But today... Erm, £2,000.

I can't sell it for 2,000. No, sorry. I'd rather keep it.

I was willing to wiggle a little bit, but that's...

That's £1,000 off. OK. Two-and-a-half.

That's it, me done.

I'll shake your hand at £2,700.

Can I be honest? I'm gonna have to go out and have a better look at it again.

I need to be stood in front of it. What, the settle?The settle.

Yeah. OK, let's go back and look. And the other chair.Yeah.

Want us to take the chair in there, we'll have a look together?Do you mind?

Neil's collection is fantastic. I would happily have

every single piece in here and put them in my own house.

But I'm not buying in this room, so I'm very keen to get the other chair,

put the two together and see if we can put a deal together on the pair.

So what was your final offer on it? Two-and-a-half.

That was £550. So that takes us to £3,050.

If you rounded that off to £3,100, and that's me making the effort.

You are.50 quid? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Well, no, I'll shake your hand at that.

Very good deal. Thank you.OK.

Yeah. There we go. Well, had to in the end.

You've given me a fighting chance, thank you.

That is a very, very good deal for me, and he's happy with it.

So, yeah, we ended up buying both just over £3,000.

I think we've both done well. Yeah. Get them loaded,

pay the man and go home. Thank you, mate.

You're welcome. You're welcome. Thank you.

The two things I bought, I'm particularly pleased with.

But it all comes down to one thing,

which is Neil's eye, in the first place.

He's buying very, very good things.

We've had the opportunity to come here today

and to look at things and go, "Yeah, that's right.

Yes, that's right, that's right, that's right."

You know, it's an educated eye.

Today's been brilliant.

Came out with one chair, but what a chair it was.

I've always wanted an Irish hedge chair.

I've come to Derbyshire and I've bought one.

Right, OK. All done, all sorted.

Neil, thank you very much, mate. You're welcome.

Yep. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Take care.Bye-bye.

Yeah, it was a bit of a wrench,

especially the settle. But it's been great

having like-minded people I can talk to about antiques that I love,

and they've got the same passion.

He loved his chairs, didn't he?

He's a fascinating fellow. Yeah.

And I learnt a lot, because

there's more to a chair than a chair, really, isn't there?

There's a hell of a lot to a chair.

That stick chair you bought, the hedgerow chair.Loved it.

So what about that settle? Happy with that?I'm happy.

Good. We're both happy, then.

Having had the chance to meet three heroes of heritage conservation,

it's been a great week of buying.

Visiting Neil Heldreich was an education.

And when you visit anybody who's really good at what they do,

you know, be quiet and listen.

J E Matthews, well, that was like going back 200 years.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that day.

Stepping back in time,

a working blacksmithing, steel working yard.

And I bought those incredible tables.

I've given them to Nev. He gave me a price before he started,

and he says, "But for that, you'll get them back and you'll love them."

With anything Nev does, I'm able to go, "Yes, mate,

you just do that for me."

And I was right to let him do his thing

because they're perfect. Perfect.

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