VO: The nation's favorite antiques experts, £200 each and one big challenge.

Well, duck, do I buy you or don't I?

VO: Who can make the most money, buying and selling antiques, as they scour the UK?

The aim is, trade up and hope that each antique turns a profit.

VO: But it's not as easy as it looks, and dreams of glory can end in tatters.

DB: I'm a loser.

CH: Listen, why don't... VO: So will it be the fast lane to success or the slow road to bankruptcy?

Oh, there's a mouse!

There's a mouse!

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Yeah!

VO: It's the fourth day of our road trip, and our dueling duo - David Barby and Charles Hanson - are on the home straight in their classic 1959 Hillman Minx, and Charles is feeling rather smug.

CHARLES (CH): At the moment, Hanson is challenging for the title, David.

What's going on?

DAVID (DB): I feel very much like something from the past.

Not really with it.

You're the dinosaur and I'm the... DB: The new breed, yes.

Are we in second gear or third?

Second gear.

VO: Don't panic.

Throughout this week, David - an antiques valuer and lover of the quirky - has developed some unique ways of sealing a deal.

Yeah!

Two buys!

VO: But has also been laid low by a series of auction disasters.

It's going to be gone at £5.

I tell you what, it's been like a rollercoaster.

A big dipper.

VO: Charles, on the other hand, is an auctioneer...

Sorry.

VO: Huh.

..with a love of English porcelain and... tight places.

John, I'm stuck.

Are you stuck?

Oh!

VO: He's always in a rush.

(GEARS CRUNCH) I've now realized for the first time there are four gears, not just two.

VO: Each of our experts began this week with a whopping £200 in their pockets.

But, after the third leg of this Antiques Road Trip, Charles is winning by a nose.

So far, he's made £269.46 and has a commanding lead of nearly 14 whole pounds over his rival.

Cheer up!

You've made a profit.

I'm making losses.

So don't grumble at that.

VO: Yes, you tell him, David.

He's used to being in the front, and now has to make do with a more modest £255.48 to spend.

So, David, what are you looking for?

DB: I tell you what, Charles.

CH: Yes?

I wish I could find something startling.

CH: Like the landscape?

DB: Really startling!

VO: But all is not lost.

VO: This road trip is taking our experts from Lichfield down to Frome, up to the Wirral Peninsula and, finally, to Nottingham.

Today though they're getting into gear at Chester in Cheshire, before veering east to North Rode, near Congleton, for the auction.

The history of Chester dates back to Roman times, but you don't have to do an archaeological dig to find it.

Its city wall is one of the best preserved in the British Isles, and its stunning black and white 19th century buildings, modeled on the Jacobean style, are all too plain to see.

David, David, David.

Look at the heritage around you!

Feel the fertile lands of this great city.

Charles, you should write a travel guide, really.

VO: Ooh, I don't know.

His sense of direction is appalling!

Still, when it comes to finding an antiques shop, he has a sort of... knack.

This way.

"Antiques."

Hopefully antiques in here.

There we are.

I'm in.

VO: And it doesn't take long before Hawk-eye Hanson finds his prey - which is unusual for him.

This is an interesting little work of art.

I quite like this.

Perhaps, Kelvin, it's a snuffbox, but the interior is fully mirrored, which makes me think obviously it was more a box to cover up your pores and to cover up your smallpox or boils.

Very glitzy, very glamorous.

You can imagine a Wag today in Wilmslow buying this and taking it off and showing it to Wayne Rooney, maybe.

DEALER: Do you agree, Kelvin?

CH: I do agree entirely.

Good man.

VO: But it's Georgian, Charles.

Not diamante.

Now, anything else?

Quite like this over here, Kelvin, as well.

It's a money box.

What I like about it is it's a late Victorian seam brass-cast money bank for a young person in the Victorian era.

You'd have to unscrew the nut to take out your money, and I think it's charming, and I want to believe it.

I want to believe, Kelvin, it's Victorian, and that it's pukka.

But so many of these over the years have been reproduced.

I'm always so wary, Kelvin.

I agree, Charles.

But I think that one is right.

It's got all the right age and polishing on it.

Have you got a little utensil?

There's always old dirt in these mullion windows.

Look at this.

You've got all this powdered polish and dirt coming out.

And my penknife is now quite dirty.

Or Kelvin's is.

But I don't doubt that, Kelvin, I think it's all genuine.

VO: Amazing what a bit of dirt can tell you.

So whilst Charles cogitates over his boxes - little and large - David is down the road in the glamorous Bank Gallery Antiques with Rachel.

Poor girl.

What's this strange little thing here?

It's a dressing table brush.

It could be a gents' shaving brush or it could be... Oh no!

Ha!

I think what this is for is for brushing off powder after ladies have put powder on their faces, because it's a gentle brush.

They would just brush it off.

And the thistle motif here was quite popular on hatpins.

How much is it?

£43.

Ooh!

What's the very best you can do on that?

On that one really, because of the price of silver... Oh, there's no... Look, feel the weight, there's no silver there!

We could let that go for 32, and that's a good price.

Let's split the difference at 30.

The stem's a bit chipped.

I'll let it go for 30.

We have a purchase.

There you go.

Thank you very much.

Your hands are cold.

You should have a warm heart!

VO: Oh, David.

She has knocked £13 off the ticket price, you know.

Some people are never happy.

Right, what's Charles up to?

More to the point, has he bought anything yet?

I suspect not.

Oh.

They're interesting.

CH: Kelvin, where do these come from?

I think they're German.

When I bought them originally, I thought they were transfer-printed.

But when you look at them very closely, they are actually hand-painted.

CH: Yes.

They are delightful vignettes of these courting couples in a 1730s style, but reproduced in the 1870s.

I think they're charming, Kelvin, I think they're decorative, but what do you do with them?

CH: Mount them on a wall... DEALER: You could put them in a four on a wall, or you could just do them individually.

I mean, they're plaques rather than tiles, aren't they, although I've called them a tile, but I think they are actually plaques.

I like the word "tile", Kelvin - it makes them sound cheaper and possibly more in my price range.

Bathroom tiles, aren't they, really?

Plaques, Charles!

Sorry, Kelvin.

Plaques.

Plaques.

Or in the south they call them "plarks".

"Plarks", OK. VO: Enough of your "placks" and your "plarks", young man.

You've eyed up the £40 patch box, the £88 money box and those... tiles, marked at £100.

So what about a deal, Kelvin?

That's £50, Charles.

That's £25... £75, yeah.

If you buy those...

Yes, yes?

..those can be £30.

Between friends.

The lot.

CH: Right.

Crikey me.

DEALER: They're £20 each.

Goodness me.

Which makes the grand sum of £105, is that right?

Yeah.

I feel we've got good chemistry.

I feel we're like brothers.

Well, we are fairly close now.

I'll buy the whole lot for £95, and it's done.

Sorry Charles, can't do.

No...

I'll sell you that for £45, Charles... Yeah?

..if you buy that for the £20.

So that's total then £100.

Which would mean 45 plus... 20.

Which is 65.

Yeah.

And 30.

Which makes 95.

VO: Hang on.

£95?

But didn't Kelvin say... Oh well, never mind.

He's not noticed.

I'm going, I'm happy...

I'll shake your hand quick!

..at £95.

£95?

Yes, £95.

We are done.

Unheard of for me!

I bought three items in my first shop.

What's going on?

I'm hopefully having an explosion of self-belief.

VO: And about time too.

Now, whilst Charles comes to terms with his significant achievement, David is not resting on his laurels.

He's in a shop with an outdoor theme.

It's quite interesting.

These are edging for a garden path, so you'd create your garden path, and you create it with cinder, and then you have your garden on that side, and this would be the division between the cinder path and the garden.

And these date probably from middle of the Victorian period.

VO: And for those of you wondering, there's about 15-foot run of edging tiles in that box, and they're £95 all in.

Miss Marple would have loved this.

It's for spraying roses.

If they've got bugs.

And you have two side sections here, so you've got the single jet there, and then on the other side, you can change it round to a multi-jet, which you'd unscrew and put on the top there.

VO: Careful.

That really is... a fascinating object.

VO: At £24, it's worth a squeeze.

Simon, I rather like the garden edging tiles, but they're a little off-putting on the price.

Right.

And I like the garden syringe.

So if I went for the tiles on their own, how much would they be?

I'll do the tiles for 65 and the sprayer for... 18.

DB: I reckon they're worth £45, those tiles.

DEALER: You're being very hard on me today.

(GASPS) Oh!

VO: Oh!

We know that expression.

So if I went for the edging tiles at 45, and the sprayer at 18... Go on then.

You drive a hard bargain.

Oh!

Thank you very much indeed.

It's very kind of you.

Right, I've got two quirky objects, so I'm happy.

VO: Quirky?

I'll say that, David.

Exhausted by his sudden flush of confidence earlier, Charles is taking a rest from shopping.

He's left Chester behind for a lie-down.

No he hasn't.

He's actually motoring - as only Charles can - 15 miles north to the Wirral Peninsula and Port Sunlight, but will he find his way?

Oh yes, he has.

VO: This is a special return visit to this pretty Victorian village for the Antiques Road Trip.

Built by soap magnate William Hesketh Lever to house his factory workers, Port Sunlight was hailed as a modern antidote to austere Victorian living.

So much so it attracted the attention of royalty.

Previously, expert Mark Stacey looked at how Lever pioneered advertising, but this time it's Charles who returns to investigate that famous royal connection.

They don't call him "Juan Carlos" for nothing.

It looks so chocolate-boxy.

Everything is so idyllic, everything is so well-manicured, from the brickwork to the plantations, it looks... idyllic.

VO: Charles's first port of call is the social club for a history lesson from exhibitions officer Stuart Irwin, who looks even younger than Charles.

CH: This site looks impressive.

How did it come about?

STUART: Well, originally it was a piece of marshland.

It was covered by tidal creeks that came from the River Mersey, which at high tide would flood the whole piece.

Now, William Hesketh Lever, later the first Lord Leverhulme, saw a lot of potential in it.

Now, he had the planning permission to build a factory there, and he knew that he wanted to create a housing estate for his workers.

CH: And his factory produced... STUART: Soap.

Sunlight Soap.

VO: And it was thanks to this simple domestic product that work could begin here in 1888 to house many of Lever's 7,000 factory workers.

And tell me, you've got no old soap, have you, to show me?

We've got a couple of blocks in the cupboard.

Have you?!

This is original soap from... Oh my goodness me!

So, what age is this, Stuart?

I'd estimate this to be from around about the 1930s.

Wowee.

May I touch it?

STUART: You may, yes.

CH: So this is original.

It still smells.

Oh, it's on my nose.

VO: Hah!

By the mid-1890s, the company was selling 40,000 tons of soap, and Lever wanted his workers to benefit directly from all this prosperity.

When you think of these great industrial towns like Manchester, Warrington, and you think of the workhouse, and life here must have been like paradise to workers.

The average death rate was a lot lower than elsewhere in the country, the birth rate was a lot higher.

Their children were generally healthier, stronger than their counterparts across the water in Liverpool VO: In March 1914, the village was given the royal seal of approval.

King George V and Queen Mary visited the factory and out came the bunting, the invitations and the dance cards.

STUART: There were eight dances that were held in the wake of the king and queen's visit.

One of them you'll notice there, the ladies' waltz, which I think was a particular favorite.

The girls would all line up on one side of the auditorium, the male employees would line up on the other side, and on the signal, the girls would rush across and pick their partner.

VO: In 1930, the Lever factory became Unilever, the company that survives today.

And while many of the houses are now privately owned, the community spirit Lever helped build here still endures.

VO: Meanwhile, back in Chester, David is hunting hard for something that'll turn the tables on his young rival, and he's dropped in on our old friend Kelvin.

DB: Hello.

DEALER: Hello.

DB: David Barby.

DEALER: Kelvin.

VO: David has spent the day buying quirky items and something tells me it's not going to stop here.

There we go, David, just have a look in there.

DB: Oh, that's for needles.

DEALER: Yeah.

DB: What is it, it's pressed paper, isn't it?

I think the top is pressed paper and then felt underneath, isn't it?

Gosh, that is so unbelievably delicate.

VO: This unusual pussy needle case dates from the late 19th century, when embroidery was experiencing something of a revival, thanks to the arts-and-crafts movement.

Right, the way you're stroking that, you're a lover of cats, David.

It won't meow at you, now.

Aw!

Isn't that lovely?

He doesn't look a happy pussycat.

Well, I'll tell you what would tie up nicely with that.

What's that?

A little pair of Georgian scissors.

They're so fine that when a lady would come to the end of her needlework, she would just cut the thread like that.

Oh, what a choice little object.

VO: And at £18, I feel a sort of sewing job lot coming on.

This, David, do you know what it is?

A little bodkin, is it?

No.

Well, it's not a bodkin in such as.

Oh!

What's the little scoop for?

I'd hate to think it was for medicine.

It's for wax, earwax.

Ooh!

For taking a little bit of earwax to put on your thread so that your thread was supple... No!

Yeah, honestly.

So you could put it through that gap there, and bodkin it through.

VO: Eugh!

Oh, it works, look!

(THEY LAUGH) D'you know, I think that's a wonderful thing!

Right, I've got three items there, haven't I?

So that could all go as one lot.

I love the cat.

DEALER: There's £18.50 on the cat, but it's £10 to you.

DB: OK. £18 on that, and that's also £10 for that.

And there's £10 on that, so that's a £5 note.

So you've spent the vast total of £25.

VO: That sounds fair to me.

Look out.

It's the Barby stare.

And Kelvin's got one to match!

Who's going to crack first, then?

You're still thinking.

(ECHOES) You're still thinking.

Go on, David, part with your £25.

Don't be mean.

Can we split the difference at 22?

I can't, honestly!

VO: He's a hard man, Kelvin.

We've learned that today.

I'm sorry David, it's £25 for three nice items.

I'd like to show you something more expensive, but if you're only mean and got £25, I'll have to have your £25.

Right.

Perfect.

Thank you very much.

It's a pleasure.

And he's got a packet full of money!

Oh!

VO: So, with the day done, David's chauffeur awaits.

Hold on, David!

Lean right, lean right!

Look, Charles...

Lean.

Lean, David.

DB: Your driving is appalling!

(GEARS CRUNCH) Christopher Columbus!

VO: But onwards they press.

Today Chester, tomorrow the world.

Uh-oh, I hope those storm clouds aren't a sign of things to come.

VO: It's day two, and Charles has decided on a detour via his home county, Derbyshire.

Great!

CH: Oh, look at that!

Look at that view!

VO: And while the views are to die for, it seems Charles is intent on killing off the 50-year-old Hillman Minx.

Or at least its gearbox.

(CRUNCHING) Can't find the gear.

I can't work out how to stay in three or four on this.

(CRUNCHING) DB: Oh, sugars!

I really think you should pull over, Charles.

I can smell something terrible.

I thought it was you, actually.

Charles's driving is so erratic.

It's like his personality.

I'm not technically minded, but I know exactly the problem.

He's been driving without putting the handbrake off, trying to get more power to move along, but it's restricted because of the handbrake.

VO: Oh, the silly boy.

I've got a flat battery.

Seriously, David, it won't start.

Charles, put it out of gear!

David, I'm out of gear.

Right, hold on.

Hold on.

I'm going to push you.

CH: Shall I start it?

No, not yet!

Cri... Now.

VO: Go on, David!

(ENGINE STARTS) David!

Good work!

Come on!

How did you do that?

Fantastic!

I thought it was completely dead.

Like Superman, flexed your muscles and got us going again!

VO: Well, after that muscular performance, it's no surprise that David's in the fast lane on this leg of the road trip, having spent £118 on four auction lots.

Charles, traditionally, is a slow starter.

He surprised us all, however, today, by nabbing three auction lots and spending £95.

So with much more to come... (CRUNCHING) ..if Charles would just improve the driving... ..our boys leave Chester and head east to the market town of Macclesfield.

I used to live there.

Great place.

Once known world over for the manufacture of silk.

Indeed, many of the silk-covered buttons and ties worn in the late 18th century would have come from here.

But that's the last thing on our experts' minds right now.

Charles, all I'm going to say to you is this...

I'm so pleased to be getting out of this car... CH: (LAUGHS) ..because I think your ploy is to exhaust me, both mentally and physically.

Exhausted.

Come on, you're not exhausted!

Come on then!

(THEY CHUCKLE) VO: Oh!

Ha!

Well, after that demanding morning with Charles, David seeks some peace and quiet with Dawn Patrol in her little shop - an establishment about the size of a double bedroom.

DB: A little bit of silver here.

DAWN: Yeah.

DB: That's fairly late isn't it?

1902.

Yes.

I tell you what's very nice - this silver jug by Walker & Hall.

It's the name that sells the jug.

Well, Walker & Hall was a good maker, and I like also this sort of ogee decoration all the way round, which is quite nice, and then you've got the triple-pad foot at the bottom.

VO: Walker and Hall were a well-respected Sheffield company specializing in silver and silver plate from the mid-1800s.

This pennant-shaped hallmark makes their work easy to spot.

Ticket price on the sauce boat a hefty £75.

I like that, and what I'm going to suggest is if I take... that, ..how much will you take for the two?

VO: Now, with the spoon at £18, that's a combined tot-up price of £93.

Now Dawn, what do you say?

48 for the two.

How about 50 for the two?

Ooh!

48.

Yeah, that's fine.

There's somebody up there loves me.

OK.

Thank you very much indeed.

Oh!

David, you're taking forever.

Charles, how nice to see you.

What were you doing in there?

Well, I just bought something.

CH: You're like a great white.

DB: # I'm in the money # I'm in the money!

# Best of luck.

I don't believe you.

VO: Well David's happy.

Could it be because he's abandoning Charles and Macclesfield, and heads three miles south to the village of Gawsworth to see one of Cheshire's finest historic houses?

This Grade 1 Tudor manor house is Gawsworth Hall, comfortable home to the Richards family, but also much sought-after back in 1712, when, legend has it, Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton fought over the estates and both died in what was purported to be the most famous duel in English history.

Today the feuding is long over, and Rupert Richards is on hand to show David some of the delights of living in a historic house.

So this is the family room, is it?

RUPERT: Yes, this is the library.

Many visitors ask us why there's a television in the corner there, and it's because my father likes watching his sports reports.

Does he like watching antique programs?

Don't answer that!

VO: As well as being crammed with knickknacks and mementos of family achievements, the house oozes centuries of history.

In the dining room, the space is dominated by this enormous oak refectory table.

DB: Date-wise, it's probably what, 1570, 1580, that sort of period?

RUPERT: Around 1580.

I love tables of this period because they just echo the renaissance that was happening in Italy.

I was always told, rightly or wrongly, that those very thick stretchers, where gentlemen and ladies used to rest their legs for fear of vermin coming up from the straw.

That's probably apocryphal, or something like that.

This table is a real treasure.

Well, we have got another treasure to show you, which is just this way.

VO: The design of the current chapel at Gawsworth Hall is the work of Rupert's grandfather.

Central are these stunning stained glass windows by arts and crafts champion William Morris.

That they survive at all is down to pure luck.

This is wonderful.

The glass came from a redundant church, and my grandfather was very good at acquiring remnants from derelict or disused churches.

He saw that they were about to be taken to the local tip, and thought he better rescue them.

I can't believe that.

I can't believe that!

When was this?

This would have been in the 1950s.

DB: There was so much destruction of Victorian buildings and churches at that time, and of course windows were just dismissed, they were torn out and kept for the lead only.

Well, heritage was very passe, and you were thought to be quite mad to collect anything like this, or even live in a large house like Gawsworth.

Or be a devotee to anything Victorian.

They are a thing of beauty, and as a child growing up here, the stained glass was something that very much caught your attention.

VO: Thanks to the enterprising work through the centuries and generations of occupants of Gawsworth Hall, the house - although open to the public - is a cherished family home as well.

Back in Macclesfield, Charles is also taking a turn in the little shop with Dawn.

First thing I've seen and what I like in Dawn's shop is this, what you think is an apple, and the apple, you can bite in half, and there's your apple core on the inside.

It is Carlton ware and it's Carlton ware from probably circa 1935.

Unmarked, but we've still got the... Oops, there's some pepper coming out!

Dear me.

Sorry.

They've obviously got some pepper in.

And salt?

Yes they have.

Goodness me.

It is salt, isn't it?

They work, yeah.

They're in good condition, and it's what the market likes.

A novel salt and pepper, which are sort of marriage, and they're happy and clappy because they've always been together as well.

They sit like so, and you know, Dawn, I quite like that lot.

Out of interest, Dawn, what's the best price on that lot to a young man who's desperately trying to compete with Mr Barby?

How about £15?

And what's your very best price, Dawn?

That is my very best price!

(THEY LAUGH) OK Dawn, I'll think about it.

VO: Well, he may not be desperate, but he's in no rush to leave.

A chance, maybe, for Dawn to show off more of her wares.

Like this old ornamental sailing vessel.

Ah, say, look at that.

It's what we call filigree work, isn't it, this sort of tiny, pierced ornamentation of this great sailing vessel with the flag up here and all the rigging, the three mast sails.

How old is it?

'50s?

'60s?

I'd guess about '60s, yeah.

And what's the best price, Dawn?

25.

£25 is not a bad buy, but... it's not quite an antique, is it, Dawn?

No, it's a collectable item.

I'm quite taken by it.

I'd like you to buy something!

Great, that's a good sign.

Could be in luck here.

VO: I think she means the antiques, Charles.

There's three sort of pencil implements here, which appear to be in silver.

This pencil here, for example, will go in like so, and by pushing up and down, you can obviously refine your pencil size.

That's nice.

OK. Then we've got these interesting little... Oops.

Goodness me.

VO: Oh no, Charles!

It is a small shop.

DAWN: Nice little collection there, aren't they?

It is.

VO: Well, they were.

At £90, they're also not cheap, but can Charles push his luck with Dawn?

The stylish pencils and that beautiful little Persian or Indian or Far Eastern silver sailing ship, that would be one lot in my opinion, and that would encourage, hopefully, silver collectors and dealers to bid for it.

And my other lot would be my apple salt and pepper novel pot.

What would they both cost me to buy, if I bought the whole lot?

Dawn, for your local lad!

DAWN: £50.

CH: £50.

£50... You can do it.

Dawn, we're so close.

I know I can be a bit cheeky, but you must be realistic with me and tell me to go away or give me a slap, but my best offer, Dawn, I would go to 40.

DAWN: Go on then.

CH: Are you sure?

I think you'll do really well.

You think so?

Well, I hope so too.

Thanks Dawn.

Going, going, sold.

Thanks very much.

All the best to you.

Bye, bye.

See you, bye-bye.

VO: Yes, he's too much for any warm-blooded woman to resist.

Time now for our experts to head for the auction.

Hello!

Any antiques for sale?

They're going, going, gone, David.

VO: But before that, they must show each other their buys.

However, instead of getting up close and personal, they're having a row.

Like any old married couple.

David, I honestly don't know why you feel you've got to sit in the back of the car now.

I think it's ridiculous.

I feel safer in the back, Charles.

I can hold on to lots of things.

Particularly as you go round corners.

OK, fine!

VO: Oh dear...

It's a right tiff.

Right, close your eyes and I want you to tell me what you feel.

What I feel?

David!

It's a ladies' dusting brush It's 1903.

Oh.

I think it's 1940s.

Oh, Charles!

No, I do, David!

It's not 19...

Anyway...

The date doesn't matter.

It comes down to price.

We're a date.

We're what?

A date, together.

I'm trying to make poetry between us and have fun.

I'd rather you not.

VO: He really doesn't want to play, Charles.

I bought something - you can criticize it, you can go for it.

I love it!

I'm just looking at the screw actually.

Oh, I can't undo it.

Just be careful because it all falls apart.

Oh no!

VO: Mm.

Did he do that deliberately?

Oh dear.

Well, this is an accumulation of items, Charles.

I don't know what that is.

It's for...

I don't believe that for one minute.

..removing earwax.

It's to wax the cotton threads so it'll go through the hole.

Is that so?

DB: Next... CH: Pair of needlework scissors.

DB: Those are George III.

CH: Very, very nice.

DB: And this is very, very fragile, so I ask you not to take it out of its folder.

What is it?

It's a... What did I say?

Do not take it out of its folder!

There, look, that's fine.

VO: Charles.

DB: Cats were such a feature... CH: Oh, it's wonderful.

..of Victorian homes, so why wouldn't you have one as your needle retainer?

I love it!

You love porcelain, David.

Yes.

So we went to Germany for you.

They probably are Dresden, they probably come from the 1880s... Well, they're the sort of things I might see in a clock case.

Exactly.

Romantic - like you and I - courting our wares together.

VO: What is the matter with the boy?!

CH: Are they romancing you?

DB: No.

CH: Are they turning you on?

DB: No.

CH: Really?

DB: Yeah.

Right.

David, be careful!

What is that?

Early 20th century, and it's a brass garden spray.

I reckon you paid between 35 and 45 for it.

CH: You're wrong.

DB: You paid more.

You're wrong.

£18.

You didn't!

That's a real bargain.

I think that's lovely.

I think that's my quirkiest piece.

OK.

This lot was my dodgy buy.

You might not like it.

DB: As a souvenir, my only concern is that it's in such a poor condition.

This has age.

It cost me £20.

That's a good buy.

I think it's interesting.

Exactly.

OK, David, your turn.

It's a condiment spoon.

You paid about £8 for it.

Silver - £8?!

How much?

48.

No, you didn't!

£48?

DB: It did come with that!

CH: Oh, right, David Barby!

Oh, that's not fair.

That is lovely.

I love this...

Sorry, David.

OK, ready?

Silver pencils, three of them.

DB: Yes.

CH: Do you like?

Yes I do.

So, together with the silver pencils, I put this with it.

Do you like it?

No.

No?

OK.

I wouldn't have bothered with that.

But don't you think it gives it more pedigree?

VO: Pedigree?!

You mean clout.

Clout!

Right, my final lot is this, Charles.

That's it?

Yes.

You bought just one earthenware... No, there's 15 foot in the back.

I can see these in places like Congleton or Macclesfield gardens, where people sort of kept their cabbages in a certain area DB: and flowers on another side.

CH: Absolutely.

DB: I think these are rather nice.

Right, are you ready?

My finale... DB: What is it?

CH: I don't believe it.

Hold on, David, it's broken.

DB: What is it?

What?

CH: It's broken.

It's broken, David.

It was a pepper... and it was also... Salt.

It survived 60 years, and you and I get together, and it breaks.

Well, you might get £10 just for half an apple.

VO: He'll be lucky to get a nibble on that.

So what do our experts really think of each other's lots?

As if we can't guess...

The little bronze money box - it looks brand-spanking new, and I think he's probably not going to get his money back on that.

It's another varied mix from David.

I do think he's overspent.

That little pump - I think that could be a bit of a dodgy buy.

Probably I'm a little bit too staid.

Probably am, really.

VO: Oh, David, no!

Come back, don't be hurt.

Charles, take me to the auction.

CH: David, are you ready?

DB: Now!

(ENGINE REVS) Christopher Columbus!

VO: Time now for the big showdown.

Our boys began this road trip in Chester in Cheshire, and after a number of stop-offs, are heading to North Rode near Congleton for some nail-biting auction action.

Their destination, Adam Partridge Auctioneer and Valuers, in an unassuming country abode, sell everything from textiles to silver.

CH: David, we're here.

DB: Oh, thank goodness for that.

I'm fairly convinced that today could be your day.

Do you honestly think so?

Yes, I do.

Today you could be the queen of hearts.

Oh.

What, are you romancing again?

(THEY LAUGH) VO: Ha-ha!

So inside it's a flurry of activity already, and wielding the gavel today is Adam Partridge himself.

But before he gets going, a thought about our experts' lots, sir, please.

Charles seems to have been quite erratic, which isn't a great surprise.

Don't rate those tiles.

He called them plaques, as if to make them sound more glamorous.

But they're just tiles.

They're not good.

But if I had to put my money on any antiques expert making money, it would have to be David Barby.

VO: But will Adam Partridge be right?

David started this leg on £255.48, and has spent a healthy £166 on five auction lots, with an incredible amount of drama.

VO: Charles, on the other hand, started slightly ahead on £269.46 and spent a very cautious £135, also on five auction lots.

And a lot of chatting up.

VO: With Charles already a short nose ahead in this competition - £14, actually - but with one item in tatters, can David trump his young rival?

Hold on to your seats, ladies and gents - here we go.

VO: First up, Charles's Georgian snuffbox.

Bid me £20.

Come on, auctioneer.

Shut up, Hanson.

£20.

Yeah, shut up.

£20, snuff patch box.

At 20 bid, I'll take a fiver now, it's cheap at that.

25 on the internet, I'll take 30.

CH: Yes!

ADAM: 30's back.

Five now?

Hammer's up now at £30.

ADAM: It's on my left at £30.

CH: One more.

Good man!

Well played.

I'm in business.

David, I'm away.

Do not get anything out of that rack.

CH: Why not?

DB: Just put it back.

VO: He's just like a naughty schoolboy, isn't he?

Look at him go.

Right, moving on.

David's sewing kit with the earwax scoop.

That's sure to be a crowd puller... Bid me £40.

£30?

I can't believe this.

£20.

Bid me £20 on the bodkin.

20 bid, internet, and £25.

Don't look disgusted yet, it's not over.

Where else can you find a Georgian earwax scoop for £25?

All done at £25.

It's cheap.

It just shows what social pedigree you can unearth and it's not appreciated.

Do you know, you're the most irritating person I absolutely have met.

VO: Oh well, that's a bit harsh.

Maybe true.

Now, can Charles cash in his Victorian money box for a profit?

DB: Are you nervous?

CH: Yeah, I'm very nervous!

I can tell, cuz you're talking all the time!

Sorry!

ADAM: 20's bid, five now.

CH: Come on.

ADAM: At £20, take a fiver, 25.

CH: Awful.

ADAM: 30.

Five.

40, five.

DB: It's coming up, coming up.

ADAM: 50 and five.

CH: Yes!

65, you're out online.

CH: Keep going!

ADAM: At 65, are you all done?

B2.

VO: It's a gain.

DB: He does get so excited.

VO: You won't get rid of him that way, David.

Now, what about that garden spray pump thing of yours?

Working order.

ADAM: I've got £10 in one place.

Take 15.

20.

£20, the garden spray, 20.

Any more at 20?

ADAM: 25.

CH: Oh, no!

There's a sympathy bid if ever I saw one.

£25.

All done now at £25.

Yes!

CH: That's really good.

DB: I feel quite emotional.

VO: So do we.

A £7 profit before costs.

Who bought it?

The lady with the blonde hair and the red top.

The lady in red.

I think I've fallen in love with that lady.

VO: Love?

(ROMANTIC MUSIC) VO: Aw!

Right, moving on.

David's next lot, that 15-foot run of Victorian garden tiles, are also sure to get the ladies swooning.

I've got 40 online.

Take five.

There's not a murmur in the room.

On our estimate, at £40.

50.

£50.

I think you have an admirer.

At £50.

Here we are.

All done now at £50?

ADAM: Thank you.

(ROMANTIC MUSIC) VO: Well, there's one lady who's going to be doing an awful lot of gardening.

CH: Look, she's winking - she's winking at us.

I think she's winking at me, actually, Charles.

I think she appreciates the more mature person.

In more ways than one.

VO: Hm.

So, could David's newfound fan also be persuaded to buy his little brush?

ADAM: £20, the dusting brush.

Oh, I can't believe this.

At £20.

DB: It is silver.

It's silver.

ADAM: At £20 only, 20.

£25, any more now?

CH: It's profit, isn't it?

DB: No.

All done now, selling at 30.

VO: Well, at least you broke even.

VO: Now, spare a thought for Charles's condiment set.

It's supposed to be in two pieces, not 10...

Unfortunately, or should I say, fortunately, it's been under the hammer already.

Thank you very much.

Sympathy, please, sympathy.

ADAM: £5?

CH: Come on.

£5, there really is one born every day.

Any more now?

You're lucky I gave you an insurance valuation of 15 quid on it.

Cheap.

VO: So, just to be clear, the hammer price was £5, but because the apple was damaged in transit, it's the £15 insurance price that stands.

Got it?

VO: Are the "plarks", "placks" or tiles?

Whatever they are, they're up next.

ADAM: £40 with my bidder.

CH: Great, 40.

Come on!

ADAM: 65, 75, 80 bid with me.

ADAM: £80 on my books.

CH: Come on, keep going.

£90 on my books, 100 bid, at a hundred.

120 bid.

I told you they would!

Come on!

130 on the internet.

At 130.

150 on the internet.

CH: 150.

ADAM: Any more than 150?

Dave, I'm flying.

I wish you'd take me with you!

Selling now at 150.

Oh, that is marvelous, Charles.

Congratulations on that.

Thanks, David.

VO: Crumbs, a staggering £120 profit before costs.

So, with Charles sailing firmly into the lead, can his assorted vessel and pens bring home another win?

They might bomb.

Of course they won't.

They might do.

They won't, Charles!

30 bid.

Five.

40 bid.

40.

ADAM: Take five.

At 40.

CH: Keep going.

Come on!

45, is there 50?

55.

ADAM: Back of the room, 55.

CH: One more for good luck.

All done then at £55... 60.

£65.

Last chance to bid at £65.

We're selling online at £65.

Yes!

VO: And with Charles's £195 lead before costs, can David's sauce boat and spoon dent the boy wonder's armor?

I'm bid £50.

Take five.

Online, 60 now.

Any more now?

ADAM: At 65.

70.

Five.

80.

CH: Come on David.

ADAM: Bid £80.

CH: This is great.

£80, 80.

Would you like five anywhere?

At 80 for the final time.

VO: It's good, but not good enough to win.

Can Barby take defeat like a man?

You've well and truly nailed me today, Charles, you really, really have.

My only point is if you gloat in the car on the way back, I shall be furious!

I can see it welling up in you now.

VO: It's tough, but someone has to be runner-up.

David started this fourth leg with £255.48 and, after auction costs, made a profit of £6.20 - great!

- leaving him with £261.68 going into the final round.

VO: Charles, meanwhile, started slightly ahead of his rival on £269.46 and, after costs, made a whopping £131.50 profit, leaving him rolling in £400.96 going into the home stretch.

That is a real result for the young pretender.

Wasn't it fantastic?

Oh, dear.

I'm going to beat you the next time.

I'm going to be the comeback kid.

Really?!

Yeah.

Sitting in the back again, Charles, I hope you don't mind.

CH: (LAUGHS) Oh, David!

Right, Charles, first gear.

First gear.

VO: Next time, it's the end of the road trip for David and Charles.

David puts the pressure on.

40?!

You want to get rid of them.

VO: Charles puts the kettle on.

I've never come across such a big copper kettle in my life.

VO: And they both put their foot on the Road Trip pedal.

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