Original subtitles

On Salvage Hunters,

Drew and Viki test out their shed rummaging skills.

There's nothing about this I don't enjoy.

Get open access to the secrets of an extraordinary private home.

It keeps going up. Wow. Total house envy.

And spot undiscovered treasures of antiquity in the auction house.

So these are 18th century. I think they're earlier.

And if they are, watch that price go stratospheric.

34,000. 35,000.

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 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 round?

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.

God, 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.

550, Drew.

Okay, so, we are near Ipswich today,

and we're off to see a guy called Billy Bristow-Jones,

restorer and dealer of 40 odd years. Really?Yeah.

He's recently moved location, but he's got another place down here

which has got, well, storage basically, and old stock.

In their search for old and extraordinary objects,

Drew and Viki have travelled nearly 300 miles

across the country into Suffolk.

Over three decades of buying,

certain hunting grounds have become key to Drew's success.

And top of that list, the dusty old shed.

This is his old workshop. He's moved to a new one now.

Where are we? Near Ipswich. Near Ipswich.

I know it does get like that some days.

I have to ask myself at least once a day,

what day is it and where am I? Yeah.

Hidden away on former farmland,

on the outskirts of the ancient town of Ipswich,

is a vast hoard of stray furniture in various states of repair,

encamped across no fewer than five giant sheds

and a container truck,

rescued over three decades from all over the UK

by specialist oak restorer Billy Bristow-Jones.

I started in the antique trade when I was 14,

and I did various things,

and I took a job as an antique furniture restorer.

I just feel for me, it's in the blood.

And then there's all the history. While you're working on it,

you wonder where it's been, who sat on it. It just grabs you.

This place is very run down now because I don't work out of here anymore.

It's got out of hand really. I need to sort it out. But it's, yeah, it's mine.

Billy.Hi, Drew. How are you?Hiya.

Ladies first.Ladies first.Viki. Viki, nice to meet you, Viki.

Nice to meet you. And you.Good, mate.

Erm, right. Let's get stuck in. First workshop, please.

I believe we're here to have a look around. You're more than welcome.

Here we go.

Oh, yeah. Now you're talking. You can smell it. Yeah. It's good.

So, how long have you been in here? 30-40 years.

I think I was mid 30s when I came in here.

So what's the plan now? Clearing out of here? Just not using it.

Eventually I want to come back here when I retire

and just potter around and do my own thing. Yeah.

I'm with Billy Bristow-Jones, who has been in the antiques trade

when God was a lad. What can I say?

You know, the guys who've been in this business for a very long time,

you need to spend time with them. Just get to know them.

They're a fountain of knowledge and they do have good things hidden away.

Those chairs would be of interest. Are they for sale, yeah?There's 12. They're definitely for sale.

The minute you walk in, you can't miss them.

There's a pile of pitch pine, very late 19th century

Reformed Gothic side chairs.

What do you want for them? Um, well,

I gave actually quite good money for those, so I'd take 1600.

Can I give you a little bid on them? Not too hard.Yeah.

Would 1400 buy them? As they are?

Go on, then.Sure?Yeah, done. Thank you very much.

They're getting harder to find this sort of thing.

And stylistically, I like the very simplistic, stop chamfered,

simple, well-proportioned Gothic. And these are that.

You've got some handy timber in here.

I've got timber in all these sheds. Really handy.

I've been collecting for years. Never have to buy a piece again.

Yeah, but it takes you two hours to find it.

When I started, 1986 Nant Ucha Farm, Abergele, looked like this.

I've spent my life in these sheds, wandering around, picking things up that were lost, forgotten,

nobody had any interest in them, needed a bit of work.

And I still come back to it. I love it, I absolutely love it.

There's nothing about this I don't enjoy.

Mind the brambles.

Billy's basically got a refrigerated truck as a storage unit here.

Right away you can tell everything's quite clean

and covered in blankets and stuff. So, you know,

this potentially has got some of the better gear in here.

I keep looking at that little mirror.

What would you take for the wee mirror?£80.

I spot a toilet mirror that had a really nice old mirror plate in it

and I thought, you know what? That's quite nice, but not enough in it for me.

Then I spotted another one down on the floor.

That can be yours for £50.

A sort of pitched pine looking one, just perfect.

So £50 for this, £80 for the other. Yeah.

You do me a wee cheeky deal for the two.120.

Yeah, I'll take them. Thank you.

You know, imagine that in a hallway on a table in a darkened corner.

You put something really cool in front of it,

and then the light's bouncing about and they just look amazing.

Right, this way.More sheds. More sheds.

Another one of Billy's storage sheds full of timber, bits of furniture,

broken this, broken that.

This sort of end of the antiques business that I work in

is probably the most unglamorous, but the most fun.

You know, you dip your toe here and there, but I always end up back in sheds.

See that little stool over there?

Can you see that from there or no? Yeah.

Oh, sorry.That one?Yeah.

How rotten is it?It's all right.

Drew can make his day's wages from one piece of furniture,

when it doesn't work like that with me, because I buy,

you know, more affordable bits.

You know, I wouldn't be able to make my money today

if I walked away with two bits. I need to fill the van.

What do you want for it? Grand sum of £40.

I will take it off your hands. Thank you.

That's where I think what I do

is a little bit better than what Drew does.

Because I get to handle so many more bits.

Another Aladdin's cave.

That's nice. This is a chair of mine.

Oh, is it?Yeah. Have a look. But it won't be cheap...

..cos I bloody love it.

It's a country chair, but it has a stop-chamfered leg,

which is really unusual. It's just something about it.

And I can't see it, really. I can only see the legs and the underside of the seat,

and I pull it out. And, my word.

What a beauty. What a wonderful thing.

Mate, that's lovely. Oh, God, I absolutely adore that. Look at that.

To me, it's a piece of art because...That is just wonderful, innit? Absolutely.

How long have you had this? 40 years.40 years?

My first workshop runner brought it into me.

Been in my house ever since.

This Windsor style chair has a comb back

and seat constructed from oak, but the arms are elm,

while the spindles and legs are pitch pine.

An unusual mix of timbers skilfully blended together.

The edge of each leg has been softened, but not along its full length.

A decorative detail known as a stop chamfer.

Rich with character and craftsmanship,

Drew thinks this stunning piece could be worth around £900.

Throw a price out if you want to sell it. I can only say yes or no.

I wouldn't take a penny less than 450 quid for it.

Drew and Viki are in Ipswich

rummaging in every antique dealer's dream hunting ground,

a giant network of dusty storage sheds.

See that little stool over there? Can you see that from there or no? Yeah.

And Drew's discovered an incredible country chair,

which is the pride and joy of its current owner, Billy.

Throw a price out if you want to sell it. You never know. I can only say yes or no.

I wouldn't take a penny less than 450 quid for it. There we go.

You're right, it's art. Yes. A piece of art.

That is encased in magic.

What have you got to do in my job is find things that have that, if you possibly can.

Hello?

Can we get it down, have a look at it?

Here. Where are you going to put it, Drew? Take it outside.Yeah.

The first thing I spotted in here was an upholstered armchair.

And I was able to identify it and even the maker incredibly easily

because they had this weird little stylistic nuance that they did,

which was to kick the end of the armrests out just slightly

and put this sort of naturalistic feel to the carving on the ends.

And this chair is by Hindley & Sons.

For around 60 years during the 19th century,

London based cabinet makers and upholsterers Hindley & Sons

supplied furniture to the homes of the gentry and aristocracy.

The twisted turned columns of this armchair

are typical of their designs, which often had Gothic influences.

Drew thinks it could be worth around £550.

What do you want for that?140? Yeah.

Thank you very much.

Casters are right. Frame is good.

Yes, the back leg is stamped dead right.

And I like to strip them down and sort of

make it very obvious to people what they're buying.

So you're buying the chassis of a good car.

That's what you're getting when you do that.

If you want to expose that goodness to the world.

Bit of French walnut.

I spotted just this half-moon shaped base, walnut French legs.

It's a great little console table for the hallway,

and the black panel with the top of the table sort of slots together.

Should sit on the dowels. Should be sitting on the dowels.

I'm sure with gentle persuasion...Restored in our own workshops...it will once again.

£100. There's money in it.

It's very, very unusual. Put a plant in the top.

That's what I was thinking. Because it holds water.

Billy was kind enough, went and got me the copper pot that went with it.

And I'm just looking at it and thinking, d'you know what?

I cannot get enough plant stands for the shop.

And what about this little stool. Billy?Another wrench.

I've had that for 40 years. £60.

So? 160 the pair? 100 quid, 60.

Thank you.

Not loads of profit in it, but it's a talking point.

It's my job to find items that we can use that are old,

that are interesting, you can talk about them and they're affordable.

And that ticks every single box.

Are you done? I'm very, very happy. I'm absolutely delighted.

I love that. And that, these two pieces,

an educated eye has bought these. And they're yours, aren't they?

Billy, thank you. Thank you guys. Let's go, do some money.

Very happy. Been amazing. Thank you.

What a cracking day with Billy. I really like him. What a nice guy.

When you drive into here, you'll think you know, there's a lot of work to do.

You know, it's an untidy work yard, and that's what it is.

But I absolutely love it. And I bought well.

Bought 12 reformed Gothic pitch pine side chairs,

which will end up as dining chairs to be honest,

that little Hindley upholstered low open arm chair

and then that absolute cracking country chair.

And that's the sort of thing that really fires me up.

A thing of real beauty and worth.

Been a really fun day.Good, eh? Yeah. Yeah.Thank you, mate.

Nice to meet you, Drew. Brilliant, mate.Thank you. Lovely to meet you, young lady.

Thank you. Have a good trip.All right, take care. See you, bye.Bye.

What a day.Yeah. What an absolute gent he was.

I really, really like him. He was the real deal.

Can I just mention one thing? Yeah.The chair. I love it.

Well, that's going nowhere. I want to enjoy that for a while,

just know a little bit more about it, because it's such an oddball piece.

Your face. You lit up when you saw it...

I couldn't believe it. ..and you pulled it out. We both did well.

Thank you very much, Billy.Yeah.

Staying in the county of Suffolk,

Drew and Viki's next destination is just 12 miles up the road

at another key hunting ground for Drew, a quality auction.

Right. So today we are off to Bishop & Miller in Suffolk.

It's their specialist oak sale, and these specialist oak sales

are very particular to the British and French market,

but the British particularly because we have such a massive tradition.

I'm going to be really honest,

Oak is not an area that I know that much about, especially old stuff.

It's so specialised. It's so specialised.

There's a few other things in there

that I think could be of real interest to both of us.

Actually, there's nothing beats an auction.Yeah. I'm actually quite excited.

I find it very relaxing. I have it on in the background,

on my phone, through the speaker, if I'm in the shop or something.

Just an auction. Randomly. It's weird, isn't it?Yeah.

Do you think, do you think it's a disease?It's a hobby.

That makes it sound slightly more positive. Yeah. It's not though, is it?

We know. We both know it's not.

As the name suggests, Stowmarket in the centre of Suffolk,

has for many centuries been a hub for traders.

Originally it would have been local farm produce, household goods and tools,

but more recently regular sales of fine art and antiques

have come to town at Bishop & Miller,

a specialist auction house, that's the creation

of antiques enthusiast Oliver Miller.

I was lucky that I grew up in the antiques business.

My father was a fine art photographer.

It's in the blood. So I got the opportunity to take on a unit

and we have an auction house.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing what Drew is after,

to be honest. I think I might have an idea,

but we're excited to have him down, obviously, for the duration of the auction,

which will be a long day, it'll be exciting, there will be some treasures to see sell well.

Catalogues here, yeah. We'll give you a paddle number.

You're going to be 118 today. Marvellous.Brilliant.

When you come to an auction, there's no escaping it.

I've been doing it 25 years. You still get the butterflies

cos you don't know what you're walking into.

And today I want to look at everything.

Not because I'm necessarily going to bid. It's because I can touch it.

I can feel it. I can see it. It's in front of me.

You just educate yourself, which is something you cannot do online.

And it's hard to do from books. You have to physically see the item.

First task of an auction day,

have a good look at anything of interest,

but keep your voice down so as not to alert the competition.

This here. This.

Extraordinary thing.

Broken there. Absolutely love it.

This carved lamb. Fantastic colour, amazing condition.

Real presence about it. I could happily plonk that in the corner

of a house and leave it there forever. It's just got a real good feeling about it.

If you make one Welshman buying a sheep joke we're not talking ever again.

I've had them all stored up. For this moment.

The lamb, I'm going to have a go at. The estimate 2,000-3,000.

We'll see. I'd like it for 1,500, 1,600 quid

plus the charges here today, which are around 30% on top, of everything you buy.

This sofa behind us is good. Nice size.

Would have been really vibrant back in the day.

You look tiny on it. I am tiny. I'm a tiny wee man.

If you sat on it, we'd look like a pair of Borrowers.

There's a very high backed, sort of mid-European looking sofa.

It's got 1900 on it. I think it's a little bit later than that.

It's tall, right, which I really like that.

But it's not a monster that you're not going to find a home for.

400-600. If it's cheap enough, I'm having that

because I don't think it's got a great deal of age to it yet. There you go, circa 1900.

But if that's the right money.

Yeah. I think you should. We can have that.

Today it's so specialised. You know, it's old oak.

Realistically, prices today are going to be top.

But being with Drew, in a way,

it's going to be more of a day of learning.

Basically going to school. It's like a university.

Tell you what's really, really caught my eye.

It's this extraordinary pair of marble ladies we have here.

I had a lion recently, Italian 18th century

that had the mane was just like that.

This is, these are really good. So these are 18th century. I think they're earlier.

They are life-size marble, carved marble of two female figures.

Lots of damage. Extraordinarily good.

They've got them down as 18th century. I think they're earlier.

We will see how the bids run because I think...

I can't quite bring myself to say it, I think they could be quite considerably earlier

and if they are, watch that price go stratospheric.

Oh, look at that. That's lovely.

Usually, there are secret compartments in these things.

To be fair, it's in nice condition. It's really good.

Oh, look, it's been made out of, like, cigarette boxes.

Oh, yeah. It's a cigar box. Cigar box? How sweet is that?

There's something about that little bookcase.

Is it a little piece of early 20th century American folk art?

Yes, I think it is.

Viki was laughing, it's made out of old cigar boxes.

Most folk art, particularly tramp art,

is made out of that because it was readily available.

Dirt cheap. Very soft

but would retain a crisp edge when carved. I'll give it a go.

I'll give it a go. It made me giggle and that's enough.

This is very nice. Is it too good to be true?

My father used to make these for pubs.

Me and my brother would cut them up and sand them.

But you're looking at looking at a few different things on it.

It seems to be okay to me.

Because they are copied a lot, aren't they?Oh, aye.

The little school attendance board.

It's commercial, it's cute, it's sweet, it's useful.

In a sale like this, where items are so specialized,

you know I'm looking for anything, any scraps

that I might be able to pick up.

So I thought I'd get Drew to have a look at it for me because he knows about this type of stuff

and he says it's right.

Estimate 400-600 quid. It's got to be like 200 quid.

That's what I was thinking. It's got to be low end, which you'd be lucky.

Keep an eye on it and we'll see. I might be able to get it at a good price

because it doesn't fit in this sale.

You know, it's not oak. It's not 16th century.

So there might not be any bidders for it. Fingers crossed.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the Oak Interior sale.

So, without further ado, we have pleasure in starting with lot 255.

As the sale gets underway,

buyers in the room have been joined by more bidders on the phones and Internet.

This is a really specialised auction.

You tend to find most people view it, bid online.

So, you know, we're not just talking UK.

This is a worldwide sale.

Coming to auctions for me still... Mm-hm.

..is one of the most exciting things you can do.

I absolutely, it's a day out. It's a great day out.I know.

Yeah, you can sit in your pyjamas at home on the sofa buying,

but there's nothing like being in the room.

Is that what you do?Yeah.260.

It's not long before one of the pieces Drew has his eye on comes up for bidding.

Auctioneers have valued it at 2,000-3,000.

But if he can, Drew wants it for around £1,600.

Lot 337. Interest with me at £1,000. 1100 now. 1200. 1300.

At £1,300 now. 1400. 1500.

1600. 1700. 1800, sir?

Drew and Viki are in Suffolk

at one of Drew's key hunting grounds, a top quality auction sale,

where he's hoping to get an extraordinary carved statue

for less than the £2,000-3,000 guide price.

1400. 1500. 1600. 1700. 1800, sir?

1800. At 1800. It's your bid at £1,800.

Any further advance, then? It's selling to the room at 1800.

118. Thank you.

First lot that I wanted, we were successful.

The lamb. What a great thing.

And it probably bears a little bit more examination.

I do think it could be something good.

Carved in oak and with a lively, lamb like posture

and a skilfully rendered softness to the wool,

the larger than life size and naturally patinated surface of this sculpture

make it a striking and saleable decorative object.

Drew suspects it may turn out to have a fascinating history,

but even without provenance,

he thinks it could be worth around £2,450.

There you go.Lot 537.

School attendance board interest with me at 300 pounds.

And we're out! 300.

I was looking at maybe £250. Bidding started online at £300.

Do you know what I mean? And then it just built and built.400.

I think today I'm going to have to just hang up my coat

and admit defeat and say, this is going to be a day for Drew's buying.

He's got a few more bits. And it's quite interesting sitting beside him

because he tries to make out he's a cool cat, but he actually gets quite excited.

It's a small chest of drawers. This I like.

I might have a go at this, if it's going cheap enough.Lot 541.

160. 170. At £170. At £170.

180 in the room. At 180 now. 90. 200.

200 is your bid, sir. Selling then for 200,

200, 118. Thank you. I like that.

Constructed from cigar boxes,

perhaps for a doll's house, this detailed miniature model

of a pedimented bookcase dates from around 1870.

A decorative piece of folk art,

Drew thinks it could be worth around £400.

Lot 592 is a William and Mary style walnut...

Probably...

Lot 592.Hopefully this goes as cheap as that.

Walnut upholstered sofa. Somebody's bid £200. Now 220. 240.

Just let it run and see what happens.

300 we have. At £300. 320 in the doorway.

340. 360. 380. 400.

420. 440. 460. 480 with me. 500.

At £500 seated. 500 in the room. 550. 600.

At 600 in the doorway. At 600.

Any further advance, then at 600. Selling to the room. 600 by 118.

Happy days.Thank you.

That Queen Anne looking sort of baroque sofa,

English, I think it's 1920s. And it was on the money.

It was 600 quid, you know, so that was bought well.

There's a profit in the hills for that one.

Now we're on lot 676. The 18th century marble figure.

Interest with me at 1700. 1800. 1900. Sorry...

They're going up to 6,000.6,000.6-4.6-4.

There was two pieces of marble sculpture,

um, very, very damaged, but incredibly beautiful.

And I thought, oh, that's good, that's really good.

And I thought, I wonder, I just wonder if they're a bit special.

At 33,000 now on the telephone. 34,000.

And then I thought when the bidding went over 30,000 for one,

I thought, yeah, I've been proved right here. We will sell them

to the telephone at £37,000. Sold.

There's nothing better than when something that's estimated at £400

makes £37,000. Come on. How much excitement is that?

And the thing is, Drew spotted it, didn't he?

I could tell, he was sitting beside me.

I could feel him fizzing.

Moving to lot 677. I have to start at £400,

but 677 at 400. 420. Now £420.

Are you not bidding?480.Wait.

1,200 now. 2,000.2,000.

But then strangely, the next one, which is clearly by the same hand,

same scale, same marble, came from the same building,

was going for nothing. I thought, well, I'm not having that, I'll have that.

Thank you very much. That's gone for £37,000. I'll have that one at 5,000.

4-5. 4-6. 4-7. 4-7, 4-8?

4-9. 5,000. 5-2. 5-4. Thank you anyway.

At 5-2. At 5,200.

We're going to sell at 5,200, 119. Thank you.

Not to be outbid. Walk away. A little bit of fun, but, um,

extraordinary things turn up at auction, don't they?

I love auctions, they're like a drama of a day, aren't they?

And we certainly had it towards the end of the day.

And then our little friend Lambchop, a great thing. Couldn't be more me.

It was this styliest bit in here. You think so?Yeah, without a doubt.

Just loved it. As soon as I saw it, I thought I'm having that.

Yeah. I don't really mind coming here

and not making any money because actually, well, okay...I do!

I'm a little bit upset about it.

But what I mean is that I'll just take it forward.

The more that I learn, the more I'll be able to spot in the future.

I think we did okay.I think we did quite well. Well, you did.

Yeah. Take Lambchop with us.

Both the auction and the dusty old sheds have turned up treasures.

But this week, Drew and Viki have another key hunting ground to visit.

They're traveling 140 miles west into Worcestershire

with a highly promising invitation to a private home.

Today we are off to meet Charlotte and Nick Ellison.

They own a real old rectory,

and Charlotte particularly

has been a bit of an auction fiend and buying like Billy-o.

And I think they've just got too much stuff.

Ah. This looks like our place. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's a bit of me. Look at that.

I could see you in your velvet goonie.

In my what?A dressing gown. Oh, I see.

My velvet goonie.

To the west of the Malvern Hills, in the small village of Cradley,

the Church of Saint James the Great has origins in Norman times,

and a house has stood on the neighbouring site for just as long.

The most modern incarnation of the Old Rectory dates to 1780,

and today its cellars are bursting with the overflow from its most recent refurbishments

by its current owners, Nick and Charlotte Ellison.

So this is the Old Rectory in Cradley, Malvern.

There's been a house on the site since the Domesday Book, apparently,

extended and added to over the years. We've lived here for just over four years.

When we knew we were going to buy the house,

I started looking at all the local auctions and got a bit carried away,

filling the rooms bit by bit and trying to upgrade the furniture as and when we could afford things.

Managed to fill all the rooms chock a block pretty much now. And the cellars.

So because we accumulated so much stuff in kitting out this house in very quick order,

we've got lots of extra inventory and things that we might be, might be happy to upgrade.

So really looking forward to meeting Drew and Viki today.

Hello.Hi. Lovely to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Drew. Nick. Hi. Hi. How are you? I'm Viki. Hiya.Hi.

Nice to meet you. Charlotte. Come on in.Thank you.

What a place. Wow. So tell me, how on earth

do you end up with an enormous perfect, I'm presuming, Georgian rectory?

Charlotte came to see a house and then told me we were buying it.

That's what happened. That is basically what happened. Smart move. You did the right thing.

But I believe one of you has been buying too much furniture.

A little bit. I definitely have a problem when it comes to online auctions.

So room by room.Sounds great. Start in here?

Let's do it. After you.Thank you.

So this is our sort of little sitting room.

It's as good as you think it is.

You know, if you want the classic English Georgian rectory that,

you know, don't say you don't want one. Yes you do. Everybody wants one.

They're fantastic. It is really, really huge.

It's in the right position. It's the right size room, everything.

It just nails it on every single bit.

When you bought the place, I mean, how much was in here?

It was empty.Empty? We got three mirrors.

Some curtains.Couple of sets of curtains. That's about it.

That's it?Yeah. It was intense

coming from a two bedroom flat in London to a 12, 13 bed house.

How many rooms have you got? I think it's about 32.

Have you furnished the lot? Yeah, it's been full on.

It's been a busy four years. And the cellars are full.

To kit out a house like this you need somebody like Charlotte who loves to buy at auction.

And I have to say, she's got quite a good eye,

you know, she's buying good things.

So what she's been doing is buying job lots at auctions.

She has got lots of stuff.

So... Oh, that's a lovely room.

It is. It's a shame we barely use it.

It's, you know, holidays and high days. Look at that.

That view there, that's the one.

The windows open up and it's quite clever.

They go into a pocket above the window so you can walk straight out of those.

No...

That keeps going up. Oh, look at that.

Oh man. Wow.

Oh, total house envy. That's beautiful.

Yeah, so...They knew how to live, didn't they?

Another fantastic room I think it's got 12 or 13 foot ceilings.

The windows are at least ten foot.

It really is a wondrous little house, this,

wondrous little, massive, wondrous house.

Shall I go? You go. I will follow behind.

So we are overwhelmed with children's toys,

furniture, firewood.

Whoa! Look at this. We're under the sitting room here.

This room is very messy and full of stuff.It's okay.

So we've hit the cellars. It's going to take a bit of a sifting through.

I've got my eye on a couple of things. I'm sure we're going to find something.

Right. Let's have a look.

I quite like that, actually.

It's quite fun, isn't it? What are those? Are they babies little pretty riding dolphins?

Yeah.Why not?

It's a really good quality oak table

with these absolutely bonkers tiles on them.

I love to buy fun items,

and I just caught the corner of a tile that had a dolphin on it.

Come on, you can't get better than that.

And this.

It's got a nice enough look.

I would be happy to give you £30 apiece. £60 for the two.

Deal.Brilliant. Thank you.

There was also another jardiniere sort of plant stand.

Had a nice little parquetry type top on it. Good look. Good size.

Popped it with the table. Said to Charlotte £60 for the two.

And she was like, yeah. These bits are down in the basement

and she didn't see any value in them but they're both great stock for me.

So it's just you see things in a different way with different eyes.

And that's what makes this whole game really interesting.

So here a couple of things you might like. Mirrors. Lamps. Chandeliers.

That is Bernard Rooke. I think they're usually signed.

And there it is. There. B-R, Bernard Rooke.

I like them. They are, let's be honest, ugly as sin. Yes.In some respects.

I was like I could give that to you pretty much. Don't say that.

No, I'm not going to say that.

Your bargaining might need some working on.

Yes, improve your haggling, Charlotte.

I like it, and I've, you know, sort of told you what it is.

Firstly, where did you get it?That would have been in a job lot.

Because I would never have bought that.

The cellars are massive. Walk into one of the rooms

and straight away I thought there's a Bernard Rooke lamp.

These are in this biscuit glazed terracotta, variety of styles,

but almost in all of this sort of totem style that he has.

This lamp is a signed piece by the English sculptor

and ceramicist Bernard Rooke, born in 1938.

Rooke was influenced by the brutalist movement

and today his artwork is displayed in museums such as the V&A in London.

Dating from the early 1970s,

Drew thinks this lampstand could fetch around £400.

All right, let's be fair with you. 150 quid.

Trawling the cellars of an old rectory in Worcestershire...

Whoa! Look at this.

..Drew's identified an original lampstand

by English artist Bernard Rooke.

All right, let's be fair with you. 150 quid.Done.Great.

Boom! Thank you. That was all right, wasn't it?Yeah.

You know, you love or hate these, but you can't knock the quality

and the stylistic sort of bravery. I like the look of this one.

I particularly like the colour.

Whoops.Right. Mind your head. That's a bit of fun.Let me help.

The thing with your, with this place is you need things of real scale.

And that's going to look like a little pimple, isn't it?

It's got all sorts going on. It's like a League of Nations going on there.

It's really good to have a look at fabrics

when you're having a nosey about, because sometimes

people just fold things up and put them in the corner and forget about them.

I think she bought it for the house. Scale wise, it's not going to work.

But for me personally, it's got a really good colour about it.

Do you like that? Yeah. Yeah. It's fun.

These poor people are holding it. Do you want to try and buy it?

So it was one of your online purchases, was it? Yes. It was indeed.

What do you want for it? £50. I don't think we've ever unravelled it.

No, but I love it, obviously. Not, not, I'll let it go for £60.

Do you know what? I'm more than happy to give you

£60 for it. My £10 increase.

Brilliant.Thank you so much. Thank you. That's absolutely amazing.

A really lovely decorative piece of fabric

that will fill quite a big space in a smaller house.

So I think this is the oldest bit of the house.Dust everywhere.

Tons of dining chairs from when we have a more formal dining setup.

Nice stool.What? I'm not gonna say anything.

I was just looking at it. Oh, were you? Oh, okay.

You like that, don't you? By your wee face.Yeah. Lovely.

Very much my sort of thing.

It's sort of initially looks like one of the old lab stools from a school.

The more we looked at it, the more interesting it became.

Heavily weathered Oak with a maple frame.

Anything with that sort of hand hole, I like. The top makes it, almost like it's been in the sea.

Look at the figuring on it as well. It's beautiful. I just like the top on it.

It's worth it for the top. Just somebody messed with the side.

They've put a stain on the base, that's all.

Oh, hello. Boom! There you go.

So what's that? That's like... Post office.Yeah.Yeah.

'50s. After '53.

For it to be ER.Yeah.

I like it. I don't know what it's worth.

70 quid?Done. That's a really good buy, bid.

That's... Yeah, lovely.Thank you.

The seat on it, it's just got history written all over it.

It is a perfect example of something that is actually really interesting

and old, but yet is really, really practical.

And that is what I love about this sort of stuff.

We've seen everything I believe. Yeah.

I think we start gathering everything up.Let's go.

A wonderful day spent with Nick and Charlotte at the Old Rectory.

The wonderful little Bernard Rooke lamp I bought.

I'll pay my wages for the day off the back of that one.

Apart from that, just a really good day

in a beautiful house with some nice people.

When we're driving up and we're talking an old Georgian rectory,

we're talking Drew Pritchard is filling the van today,

and I might be left in his dust, but actually,

the minute we hit the cellars, I was in my element.

Raking about, picking out bits.

Today has been amazing.

It's been fantastic to have Drew and Viki here today.

It's been really, really fun and nice to see that some of our castoffs had a bit of value.

Everything that they found in the cellars was stuff

that probably would have ended up in auction or would have just

sat down there for another five years before we...

had enough spare time to deal with it.Yeah, went and looked at what we had.

Much appreciated. Great to meet you. Thanks for your time.

Thanks for coming. Amazing day. Thank you. Such a beautiful house.

Lovely to meet you both. Bye. Bye.

Nice people.Really lovely. And, er... What a pad.Yeah.

Happy with your buys? Delighted. Absolutely delighted.

There was not one wrong'un in there.

Just a really good day actually. A really good day.

Back in Conwy, Drew's business manager Ruth

has a fascinating new development in the story of the carved oak lamb

Drew bought at auction in Suffolk.

So the lamb hit the website and within a couple of days,

we've got an amazing letter from Mary who's contacted us

to give us more information about the lamb.

So some newspaper clippings, a wonderful photograph from 1953.

Morning.Morning. How are you? Good.

You know that lamb that we had listed on the website?Yeah.

I've had an amazing letter.

It says, "The lamb was carved by my late father,

"a skilled wood carver called Harold Clark in the early 1950s

"and used as the village sign. Hoping you will find this interesting.

"Best wishes, Mary."

And she sent these amazing clippings from June 19th, 1953.Unbelievable.

No way. Really?

Oh my God, look. There it is.

Okay, so here's the clipping from the local news.

Harling lamb tops village sign,

which was erected recently by East Harling Boy Scouts

as a gift to the parish in commemoration of the coronation.

The dominant feature is a large lamb on top of the sign,

signifying Harling's role as a centre for lamb sales

during the latter part of the 19th century.

Best antique story of the year. Yeah.

This history, I think, makes it way more interesting...

Yeah...because now it's a piece of English,

well, it's a piece of folk art. And social history.

And social history, perfect provenance.

Doesn't add anything to the value, but it adds everything to the interest.

Yes.I love that. Amazing.

An excellent week. Lots and lots of different places.

With Billy the mixed timber Windsor chair, probably Welsh,

that I bought from him, that was outstanding.

That was a good thing. It's so good. I'm going to put it straight to auction

and then we'll see what happens.

The Bernard Rooke lamp, one of my favourites.

It'll go through the hands of the restorer.

Won't take him too long and then it won't be around.

The lamb I bought at auction turned out to have an incredible history,

which we had a stroke of luck with. We put it on the website,

and the daughter of the man who carved it sent us a letter.

Incredible. And it goes on. Guess who we sold it to?

A farmer. A sheep farmer, as a gift for their other half.

It's perfect. And we made some money.