VO: It's the nation's favorite antiques experts with £200 each...

I love that.

VO: ..a classic car and a goal to scour Britain for antiques.

Yippee!

Sometimes a man is in need.

VO: The aim?

To make the biggest profit at auction, but it's no mean feat.

There'll be worthy winners and valiant losers.

Knobbly knickknacks.

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

It landed on the rug!

VO: This is the Antiques Road Trip!

VO: Yeah!

VO: On this road trip, a couple of champagne Charlies are vying to pop the cork of auction victory.

Charlie Ross is a silver smoothie whose antiques skill is as burnished as his way with the girls...

I could blow her a kiss down the phone, if that helped.

We'll try that.

Hope the missus isn't watching!

VO: Yeah.

Whose missus?

..whilst his young rival, Charles Hanson, is a cheeky and chipper auctioneering prodigy, but has some ground to catch up if he wants to better the silver fox.

All I can hear is the echo of Charlie Ross laughing.

That unnerves me.

VO: Not the only one!

After Charlie the elder cleaned up at their last auction, the whole shebang hangs on this final leg of their road trip.

How exciting!

Both our boys started with £200.

Charlie Ross has now traded up to a terribly healthy £410 exactly.

While Charles Hanson has accumulated a very respectable £302.20.

They're gliding over the great British highways and byways in a curvy 1970s knockout - the 1971 Triumph TR6.

CHARLIE: This is absolutely glorious.

CHARLES: It's just got the heritage.

CHARLIE: Yeah, it certainly has.

VO: On this entire road trip, Charles and Charlie have cruised over 500 miles through the English green and pleasant land, from Tarporley, in Cheshire, to Itchen Stoke, near Winchester, in Hampshire.

On this final leg of their travels, they begin in Hereford, oddly enough located in the county of Herefordshire - Ha!

- heading for Hampshire's Itchen Stoke, for their final reckoning.

They've made it to Hereford, and it looks like Charlie's made friends with a local.

He's full of bull.

CHARLES: Charlie, you... you can't do that.

What?

Get down!

Wh...why?

Well, I think it's rude to be on a...mount on a huge Hereford bull...Hereford... Have you ever ridden a bull?

Is it bronze?

It's bronze.

That's right.

Get down!

Get down!

Oh, God!

Come on!

Quick!

Oh, I think I've torn my trousers!

VO: Once you've finished assaulting the civic art, first stop is Hereford Antiques Centre.

We're here together.

Yup.

Shopping together, Charlie.

I can't wait.

CHARLIE: Charles?

CHARLES: Yeah?

When you're in there, don't make too much noise.

Please, likewise.

CHARLIE: Me?

CHARLES: Yeah, you!

VO: Yeah.

A clean fight now, boys, please!

CHARLES: Nice shop.

Shall I go through here?

Go anywhere you like.

OK.

I'll see you shortly.

Don't call me "Shortly".

VO: Boom, boom!

Richard.

Hello.

Hello.

VO: Hello.

Dealer Richard will assist with their search.

Now, Charles, the callow youth, is trailing behind his competitor as this last leg of their road trip kicks off.

Does he have a strategy with which to beat his rival?

Come on, suave.

I think my tactics are to really...go for it.

This is my last auction, it's my last stand against Charlie.

And here he comes.

OK, Charlie?

Fine.

Are you coming past me?

Going to the loo.

Are you?

Going to the loo!

Fine!

It's obviously your pre-match nerves, Charlie.

VO: Ha!

He doesn't seem very nervous, Charles.

Cuz I've got a lot of money.

Well, a lot more than Charles has!

VO: Before long, Charlie's rather taken a shine to a collection of items in a silver cabinet.

CHARLIE: There's quite a lot of watches in here, varying sorts.

These are all damaged.

Um...they would need work to make them go, but, again, wonderful direction of decoration on that.

I could make a little job lot here, which might be quite exciting.

VO: Combined ticket price for all seven silver watches is £160.

I suppose I'd like to buy the whole lot for about 80 quid!

But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It's worth a...worth a try.

VO: Charlie's going to speak to Richard.

CHARLIE: What would be the best you could do?

90 would be, yes.

CHARLIE: 90 would be?

RICHARD: Yeah.

Gosh, I'm...being...rather pathetic and pernickety here.

You...can't do them for 80, can you?

RICHARD: 85 I'll do.

CHARLIE: Put it there!

OK.

Thanks very much.

I think that's great.

Really thrilled.

Thank you very much indeed.

Good.

OK.

Thank you.

VO: So Charlie has his job lot of silver watches at a bargain price.

And now Charles has also found something he likes.

This I love.

isn't that wonderful?

VO: It's a mahogany knife box, dating from way back in the late 1700s.

Back in its heyday, you would have had some fabric lining, but over the years, it's just been completely lost.

VO: The price on the ticket is a hefty £110, but Charles is hoping that the damage on the box might give him a significant leeway to negotiate.

CHARLES: I quite like this knife box.

RICHARD: Mm-hm?

What's the best price on that, Richard?

This is £30.

Really?

Mm-hm.

You said 30.

Mm-hm.

It is tired, it is worn out, but it's history.

RICHARD: Yeah.

And I would like to offer £20 for it.

That meet with your approval?

RICHARD: Go on, then.

Done.

That's one buy.

£20.

Thank you, Richard.

VO: Thank you.

Charles gets the 18th century knife box and both our boys are storming onwards.

I'm saying nothing, Charlie.

What did you buy?

I'm saying nothing.

What did you buy?

VO: Mm.

They're driving the 15 miles to the environs of Ledbury, in Herefordshire - a very well appointed market town, don'tcha know?

Charlie's dropping Charles off.

CHARLIE: Thank you very much.

CHARLES: Drive safely.

VO: We'll come back to you shortly, Charles.

See you, Charlie!

Bye!

VO: Right now, Charlie's driving on to his next shop, Posterity, which lies just outside of town.

# La, la, la-la, la... # Hello, doggy!

VO: No need to talk to Macintosh like that, Charlie!

He's the yard foreman.

Owner David is on hand to help.

Posterity specialize in architectural and garden antiques and on site is a giant collection of absolute monsters, which have caught Charlie's eye.

I love your olive jars!

They're absolutely magnificent!

DAVID: I know, we've got... CHARLIE: Where do they come from?

DAVID: They're Spanish - they're northern Spanish, just south of the Pyrenees, some of them from up the Pyrenees.

They're...known out there as tinajas, and they're all dated between about 1850 and 1920.

Now, we've got a fine collection at the moment, and they were used for storing anything - water, wine, if you were lucky.

That's the biggest one I've ever seen in my life.

CHARLIE: That's enormous!

DAVID: The big ones might even make quite a good sort of eco home.

You could have it...actually have an upstairs and downstairs in that thing.

You could put Philip Serrell in one of those!

Be the best place for him, really.

VO: I'd like to see you try!

Charlie's quite smitten with them and he's flashing his cash.

Have you got such a thing as a 300 pounder?

I love them!

DAVID: This little chap here, well I'd be prepared to let you have it for £300.

Would you really?

Well, seeing as it's you.

VO: Ha!

This example dates from around 1910.

CHARLIE: It's losing a bit of its...exterior...

I think that's absolutely fabulous.

Marvelous.

Well, I can't resist it!

300 quid, sir!

VO: Good golly!

Charlie lays £300 out on a single lot, and now only has £25 left of his previously generous budget.

That's a...bold move, Charlie.

And how do you think you're going to get the beast to auction, eh?

VO: Meanwhile, Charles is a couple of miles away at Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury.

He's meeting head guide Patricia.

Look up.

Charles Hanson.

Patricia.

VO: Construction of this magnificent stately home began in 1810 and was commissioned by John Cocks, First Earl Somers, whose descendants still live here.

CHARLES: Oh, my goodness me.

PATRICIA: So here we are, in the great hall.

It was designed as a baronial hall, so in John Somers' day, it was completely empty, with only these benches around the wall.

CHARLES: Really?

So... And it was used for feasting and dancing.

CHARLES: Goodness me!

VO: The cost of building the castle was so great that the interiors inevitably took a lower priority at first, but later generations of the family each made their own mark, leaving us with a glorious combination of Victorian design across the century.

Patricia is taking Charles on to see a room that the second Earl commissioned Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin to design, in 1848.

Pugin was a 19th century designer and architect, now chiefly remembered for his interiors at the Palace of Westminster.

Oh, golly!

When you walk in here, Patricia, you just get a feeling of romance and drama.

I suppose that is what Pugin was about, wasn't he?

Pugin was about that, yes.

VO: Pugin was a great proponent of the 19th century Gothic Revival, which sought to restore the mediaeval Gothic styles.

CHARLES: You've got the castle, and I suppose what Pugin did was to romanticize it, was to...give it that mediaeval... PATRICIA: That's right.

CHARLES: ..almost inspiration... PATRICIA: That's right.

..which, when you walk in here, it is like a mediaeval fairytale.

You can't quite believe you're...real, because it's just so whimsical.

It's just one big Gothic fantasy.

Where are we going next?

We're going Italian now.

Italian?

Oh!

Take me there!

Take this way!

VO: They're going to visit the Long Library, which was decorated by the third Earl, who was something of a lover of the dolce vita.

The third Earl, Charles, loved Italy.

Yes.

And he visited Italy and we think he bought most of it and brought it home here.

Looking above here as well, we have all these beautiful textiles or hangings.

We do.

The tapestries.

CHARLES: Yes.

PATRICIS: Yes.

Yeah.

And they're all Flemish tapestries.

VO: The tapestries were originally ordered by Catherine de Medici, the Italian-born 16th century queen of France.

There was a complete set of 38, and we have about eight of them.

Yes.

Yeah.

And they were bought by the third Earl and fitted up here... Yeah.

..to decorate his library.

VO: And the current owner, a descendant of the first Earl, has also made contemporary changes to the castle.

PATRICIA: He's taken it from a very poor neglected state, because that's how he found it...

Yes.

..and he's restored it, and now he opens it to the public.

VO: It seems that these stately environs have inspired Charles.

It's been a wonderful visit, where you see a real country house that's been lived in.

And to learn about the antiques that have been collected, it really gives me a desire - a desire to now move on, to go on and find those antiques to beat my friend, Charlie Ross.

OK?

Well, I'm glad you've enjoyed it!

But it really has... PATRICIA: It's certainly been my pleasure.

VO: As Charles plots victory, Charlie has driven on the eight miles to Malvern, in Worcestershire.

This former spa town originally grew up around a mediaeval Benedictine monastery, the remains of which make up the earliest parts of this, the Grade I listed Great Malvern Priory.

Charlie's aiming for his next shop, Foley House Antiques.

Careful there, old boy.

Mind the truss.

Here dealers Tracey and Bridget hold court.

Look out, girls.

CHARLIE: What a lovely ting.

(BELL RINGS LIGHTLY) VO: He's only got £25 left in his wallet, but before long he's spied something.

CHARLIE: Bridget?

BRIDGET: Yes?

Can you help me?

What is that...there, with what looks like a Russian flag and a Union Jack on it?

I'll go and get the key.

That looks absolutely fascinating.

It's got Russian writing all round it.

I'd be intrigued to know what it's to do with.

VO: Glad to oblige!

It's a plaque commemorating the 1962 joint British-Soviet mountaineering expedition to the Pamir Mountains, in what is now Tajikistan and was then part of the Soviet Union.

It's a real piece of history and Charlie's quite smitten by it.

He's a bit of a climber himself, you know...socially.

CHARLIE: How much can your Russian plaque be?

I can't resist your Russian plaque.

Well, I shouldn't say that... Could it be a tenner?

BRIDGET: No.

It couldn't, no.

£15?

I think 15 would be a good price.

Oh, Bridget.

Bridget.

You can make quite a lot on it.

Does 12 sound any exciting, ne, ne...?

BRIDGET: No, it'll have to be 15.

It'll have to be 15!

Girls, sold to the man in the corner.

Mwah!

Thank you.

VO: Done.

All is glasnost in the shop and Charlie has his coveted plaque.

And with that, our boys are back in the car and celebrating the end of a super first day's buying.

Nighty night chaps.

VO: But early next morning, they're up with the fresh scent of antiques in their nostrils.

And with the last auction fast approaching, they're comparing their form in the competition so far.

CHARLES: I've only ever lost one series.

CHARLIE: Oh no!

CHARLES: Yeah.

CHARLIE: Oh no!

Yeah.

CHARLIE: I've only ever won one series.

VO: But this game isn't won until the last fall of the gavel.

So far on this leg, Charlie's certainly done the heavy lifting in terms of spend.

He's splurged £400 exactly on three lots - the enormous olive jar, the job lot of silver watches and the plaque commemorating a mountaineering expedition.

He's only got £10 left to spend.

While Charles has been positively parsimonious by comparison, spending only £20 on one lot - the 18th century knife box.

He still has £282.20 to spend.

They're on their way to Lechlade On Thames, Gloucestershire.

CHARLIE: There we are.

CHARLES: Cirencester VO: No, you're not, you're in Lechlade On Thames, which, as the name suggests, sits on the banks of Old Father Thames and this handsome town's put Charlie in the mood for quoting some classic English poetry.

Jolly good.

CHARLIE: The church clock strikes three and is there honey still for tea?

That's not quite right.

CHARLES: No.

VO: No, it's not.

John Betjeman.

OK. VO: No, it's Rupert Brooke.

Oh!

(BELLS TOLL) Cometh the hour, Charlie, cometh the man.

VO: Come on then!

I'll race you, I'll race you Charlie.

VO: They're sprinting for Lechlade Antiques Arcade and who's winning?

CHARLES: Here we are Charlie, our first shop.

I'll go right, you go straight on.

VO: Charles is heading upstairs.

Come on Charlie!

Get your breath.

While Rosco says hello... Greetings!

How are you?

I'm Charlie.

Hi Charlie, I'm Tim.

And you are?

Tim.

I'm Tim, this is Dominic.

Dominic.

Tim and Dom.

Double act.

What an amazing building.

Oh, I might find a book.

The sort of thing that's likely to be within my grasp.

VO: Not that one, oh lordy.

Music lover Charlie has spotted something that might just hit the right note.

"History of Music".

Look at the wonderful gilding on that volume.

VO: It's a five volume history of music, first published by Castle & Company in the late 19th century.

Ticket price is £22.50.

Is that all?

CHARLIE: Just splendid.

Books are so cheap.

Good books.

And something like this doesn't really go out of fashion, and becomes no less relevant with age.

Aren't they beautiful?

Tim?

Charlie.

Ah, you are here.

Have you found something?

VO: Ha!

The books belong to a dealer - Vienne - who isn't in the shop today.

Charlie wants to offer his last £10 for them.

CHARLIE: Is it worth a try?

What do you think?

I can ring her.

Could you?

Of course.

Could you tell her it's Charlie and he's ever such a nice chap?

I could blow her a kiss down the phone, if that helps.

We'll try that.

Hope the missus isn't watching!

VO: Tim - great name - will call Vienne, but with so little to spend, will she tell Charlie to go whistle?

While Tim - great name - makes the call, Charlie browses on, just in case his telephonic charms don't swing the deal.

CHARLIE: Ooh, Ordinance Survey maps.

People like old Ordinance Survey maps.

They collect them.

VO: Since their auction's near Winchester, he's wondering if he could find a map of local interest - and he might be just in luck.

No!

"A One Inch Map of Great Britain: Winchester".

£2.50.

And how interesting to look at one that was published in 1959.

VO: Aha!

Tim - great name - is back.

Was Vienne seduced by Charlie's offer?

She will take a tenner.

VO: Cor!

But could the £2.50 map be included?

Sounds good to me.

VO: So Charlie's charm got him the books and the map thrown in for a bargain £10 - that's cheeky.

Charles, meanwhile, is in another part of the shop and young Carlos is feeling the pressure this morning.

We have no time today, OK?

The time today is the essence, because I'm £100 behind, £100 behind that great man Charlie Ross.

All I can hear is the echo of Charlie Ross laughing.

That unnerves me, because he quite clearly is showboating, he quite clearly thinks he's over the line.

Charlie, you're not there yet.

VO: But Charles has spotted something which might just save him.

This is quite nice.

What we've got here, surprisingly out on the side, is a pretty tray, which is a dressing table tray, beautifully embossed in a rococo style.

VO: It's solid silver and dates from the Edwardian period.

It's quite good.

VO: And two more silvery beauties have caught his eye.

CHARLES: We've got these two very delicious silver dishes, just very indistinctly hallmarked, just on the edge here of this one, there is a hallmark for Chester.

And this one as well is a companion, it's a pair.

They're quite quirky.

VO: The tickets aren't marked with prices, so Carlos is going to ask dealer Dominic what the tray and pair of dishes might cost.

What can you do them for?

I think all three, taken today... Taken today, cash, cash buy.

Cash buy.

Cash buy, for a man who's on the run today.

A man on the run.

Heard the song?

Yes, definitely.

("BAND ON THE RUN" BY WINGS PLAYS) VO: I think it's "Band on the Run", Charles.

Man on the run.

("BAND ON THE RUN" BY WINGS PLAYS) VO: It's "Band"!

But what can Dom do, eh?

I think £70 would be perfect.

I think there's a good profit in there for you.

CHARLES: You won't take 60?

DOM: No, I think I have to do 70.

No, 70.

It's very tempting.

We're so near.

Very tempting.

DOM: To finish tempting you, 65.

CHARLES: For queen and country, your very best price is...?

It has to be 65, I'm afraid.

Hard man, but a good man.

Yeah, I'll take them.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I'll take them.

Sold!

Done.

VO: Marvelous.

Thank you Dom.

This business sometimes is also all about making friends.

There's a... (CRASHING) ...Hold on.

Are you OK, Dom?

VO: By chance, he is.

Charles has now found another of Dom's items that he rather likes.

Tell me about that.

Give me its pedigree.

Alright.

A little Edwardian candle set.

VO: It's a piece of toleware, or painted varnished tin with gilt decoration, comprising two candle snuffers and a pair of wick nips.

CHARLES: That'd cut the wick, wouldn't it, I think?

Is that damage there Dom, do you think?

DOM: There's a small amount of damage on the handle.

Yeah, what a shame.

Which could be replaced, but as a cheap item... Dom, what's the best price on that?

DOM: I think very best on that for you would be £10.

VO: And for Charles' next trick... Dom, you gave me £5 back.

Dom, put that £5 in your hand.

I'll close my eyes Dom, and put back in my hand which one you'd rather I take away.

I'm going to be kind today.

VO: Abracadabra.

Very kind.

Are you sure?

Yes.

VO: With that cunning sleight of hand, Charles has accumulated another three lots, and both our lads are hitting the road.

CHARLES: Guys, thanks again.

Bye.

CHARLIE: The sun's out!

Charlie, that's a sign of things to come.

VO: Let's hope so.

They're driving the 32 miles to Wheatley, Oxfordshire, where - since he's now spent every last penny in his pocket - Charlie has decided to take the blooming afternoon off... ..and pay a visit to Waterperry Gardens, and meet their museum curator, Gordon.

Aha!

You must be the boss, sir.

Mr Ross.

Gordon, is it?

It is indeed, yeah.

This is absolutely remarkable.

VO: Waterperry House is an elegant 17th century mansion which remains a private residence, but the lovely historic gardens which surround it and were once its estate are now open to the public, and house a garden center and Gordon's museum of rural objects.

The well-tended gardens here have their modern roots in the 1930s, when horticulturalist Beatrix Havergal established a ladies' horticultural school on the site.

Beatrix Havergal.

What a splendid name.

VO: As this footage from the mid 20th century shows, the delightful young ladies of the school had a jolly time learning all about aspects of horticulture.

GORDON: It was a horticulture training college for young ladies only.

CHARLIE: And they went away with some sort of diploma, presumably?

GORDON: They had the Waterperry diploma.

CHARLIE: Which was presumably very highly thought of?

GORDON: Yeah, they were well trained.

VO: Today, the gardens cover 80 acres.

CHARLIE: And her legacy lives on, does it?

Are things very much as they were in her day?

Very much so, yes.

Yes.

I mean, the garden's renowned for its herbaceous border.

Yes, yes.

VO: Now, Gordon's going to show Charlie some of his favorite items from the museum, which houses a vast collection of objects relating to horticulture and country life.

CHARLIE: Hundreds and hundreds of objects, a lot of which I think I know something about.

But there are one or two, as I came through the door I saw a wonderful gun, but it didn't look like a normal sort of gun to me.

GORDON: No, it's far from being normal.

VO: It's a 19th century gun which has been adapted to be triggered by tripwires - designed to shoot poachers on country estates.

Painful.

It's been adapted.

Yeah.

The mechanism from a musket.

Oh my goodness me, how fearsome.

Yes.

It's been so arranged that this would be hidden in the camouflage, in the bushes.

Yes.

This rod has on the end of it three rings.

Yeah.

So you could have three tripwires across one path.

Why three?

Well, you've got more chance of catching them than if you had two, haven't you?

VO: Good point, Gordon.

In the mid 19th century, such brutal devices were outlawed, and of course this one has now been rendered safely inoperative.

Gordon's taking Charlie on to see more of the museum's unusual objects.

CHARLIE: These shoes here, are they shoes?

Hm.

They look like shoes.

Booties.

Booties.

What for?

These two chaps here, they were for sheep.

CHARLIE: Sheep?

Sheep's wellies.

How do you put your...?

Sheep's wellies.

They were made by Dunlop in 1936 and they made five sizes, these are size three.

And some had zips on.

Zips?!

So you zip your sheep into boots?

Was this for a fashion show?

Was that to stop them getting rot of some sort?

GORDON: It was if they'd got foot rot.

VO: A medicated paste to treat foot rot was put into the boots before the sheep were fitted with them.

What about these ones?

Oh, those are very...

These are very classy.

They look beautifully hand stitched.

GORDON: They are, aren't they?

They're a size four.

They're for goats.

Regimental goats.

VO: These spiffy little boots would have been worn by a goat that was the mascot to a military regiment.

What an eclectic mix you have here.

What's your favorite object?

I'm always asked that, and it does change.

Does it?

I mean, that could be.

What's that?

That's a clockwork crow scarer.

A crow scarer?

Yeah.

May I look at it?

Yes.

It was made in 1850.

It is one of my favorites.

Crikey, it's as old as that?

150 years old.

Yes.

VO: It's a clockwork device that fires blank cartridges at regular intervals to scare away crows.

And it was firing... ..a pin-fired... Cartridge.

A 16 bore cartridge every 15 minutes.

I wouldn't mind one of those.

If ever you see another one, give me a call.

I will, yes.

It'll frighten birds, cats, dogs, neighbors, the lot.

Wives?

Yes!

VO: What a terrifying insight into your home life, Charlie.

Now, Gordon's got one last thing to show you.

GORDON: Now this is a part you've got to be introduced to.

Right.

This is the orange tree house, and it's played a very important part in establishing the school of horticulture.

Really?

Yes.

One orange tree!

One orange tree.

VO: The legend runs that doubty Miss Havergal was unsure about her decision to start the horticultural school until she caught the inspiring whiff of a freshly-picked orange and resolved to found Waterperry Gardens as a result.

Waterperry keeps this orange tree to remember Miss Havergal's good work to this day.

Looks like Charlie fancies one.

Careful Charlie - judging by that poacher gun, they take a dim view of that sort of thing round here.

(MIMICKS GUNSHOT AND BIRDCALL) VO: Only joking.

VO: Charles, meanwhile, has driven on to Chilton, Oxfordshire.

That looks blowy, Charles.

Lucky I'm slim and long-legged!

VO: And terrible at parking.

This is Country Markets Antiques and Collectables, and this is dealer Julie.

Hello, Jules.

Hello, madam.

Hi there.

How are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

You well?

You look a very stylish lady with that lovely necklace.

Yes, amber, my favorite.

Beautiful.

VO: Have you been taking lessons at the Charlie Ross charm school, Charles?

It's like Charlie and myself.

VO: But he doesn't want any Mickey Mouse buys today.

He's seen something with real age.

I can spy four Roman and mediaeval rings.

VO: That you can - and they're priced up at a bargain £10 each.

That ring is like a gent's signet ring almost.

I would say so.

With some sort of fleur-de-lis design.

But they all have been lived in, haven't they?

VO: Ticket price for all four is £40, but Charles is going down on bended knee in the hope of a better deal.

So Julie... would you?

I'd have to think about it.

Yes.

VO: Charles so loves the items in this cabinet that he's asked to call Frank, the dealer who owns them, in the hope of acquiring an affordable job lot.

Frank, it turns out, is only 19 years old!

Even younger than Charles.

CHARLES: Yeah, I mean Frank, you've got these Roman coins, which are £3 each... VO: Frankly Frank, they're bronze Roman coins mainly from the 2nd to the 4th century AD.

Ticket price for all the coins and the rings combined is £82.

CHARLES: There's 14 Roman coins, Frank.

VO: Now, can they strike a deal?

I know you're down with the kids, Charles.

Exactly.

Frank, mate... ..what would be your best price?

VO: Frankly Frank's gone to calculate what deal he could do.

It's so important we see more youngsters like Frank have their small cabinets, and his passion to tell me about the objects was all there, and it really is, it makes me warm inside.

VO: Now back to the real world - trying to chip Frank down on the price.

Hand on heart, you've got to make some money because you're a young man building this hobby into a career, but I would probably want to pay about £40.

Exactly.

Shall we meet in the middle?

At £42.50?

Are you sure?

Frank, I want to say thanks ever so much.

Keep collecting, keep your enthusiasm, it's really infectious.

I wish you all the best.

VO: Charles has his last lot and it satisfies his love for all things ancient.

Sometimes in this great Antique Road Trip, you need to buy with your heart.

VO: How many times has he said that before?

Now, our dueling duo have all their lots for auction, so Charles has caught up with Charlie and it's time for them to stage their last dramatic unveiling.

20 paces and fire, this is the final duel.

VO: Charlie's first up.

Oh my goodness me.

There's one lot I love Charlie, and that lot I really, really admire is your big silver ensemble here, which clearly is silver.

It looks market fresh, although we've got damage and loss and wear and tear.

Damage and loss and wear and tear.

I love it.

VO: And what about the olive jar?

Too big to even fit in the room.

Now tell me, what's on that screen?

It's an olive jar.

It's not.

An early 20th century, it's about 1910.

Terracotta?

Had to buy it.

Terracotta.

Goodness me.

Isn't it wonderful?

It's huge.

Now that Charlie smacks... That smacks of the opportunities, in that it could rise dramatically and make a fortune to the right garden dweller in Winchester, or it could go flat.

It could crash.

CHARLIE: I bought that because it's of historical interest.

There's a Russian flag and a British flag.

Oh, was it the first to the South Pole or something?

And it commemorates a Russian and a British expedition.

I like it.

Isn't that extraordinary?

I like it Charlie.

VO: Charlie seems bulletproof so far.

How will Charles fare?

There you go.

Oh!

And I saw that!

It's got damage, hasn't it?

CHARLES: I bought history!

No, no, I'm not complaining about it.

Has it got the original interior?

Charlie, you know what?

I just love it, for the veneer, for the feel... VO: Answer the question, Charles, please.

Has it got the original interior?

No.

It's got no interior at all.

It's fine.

It's a piece of history.

CHARLIE: And two snuffers?

CHARLES: Absolutely.

CHARLIE: In the tray?

CHARLES: Absolutely.

CHARLIE: Are they broken?

CHARLES: I'm not sure, Charlie.

May I hold them?

Yes, of course you can.

You think that's the way they were made?

Look at me.

You're talking complete nonsense.

Put them down.

Put them down.

They're broken.

I don't think they are.

CHARLIE: Tell me about your coins.

We are talking River Thames finds in the main.

Yeah.

Mediaeval, Roman rings, even the ring we believe.

You love these.

I do, because to me this really is hands-on history.

There's 14 coins there and they range from AD2 to AD500.

Winchester's the right place for that.

I think so Charlie.

Just the right place for that.

Digging for history.

Oh, what a competition we have!

Well done old bean.

VO: But do the gloves come off behind closed doors?

He's bought very well.

I think he's speculated hugely with that pot.

The pot will either race away and be his savior or it'll be his nemesis and he'll lose all his money.

Charles' things... Sheraton knife box, good thing, but it's completely and utterly had it.

His Roman coins, he always buys Roman coins and he does well with them, so they could make £100.

The snuffers are, quite frankly, useless.

They're broken.

Watch this space.

VO: On this leg of their chummy road trip, Charles and Charlie have traveled from Hereford to their auction here in the village of Itchen Stoke, near Winchester in Hampshire.

The pretty little village has a quintessentially English style about it.

Just the place for our pair of dapper gents to face their final showdown.

CHARLIE: Where's my pot?

VO: Charlie's managed to have the pot delivered to the auction house in one piece - phew!

Off to the sale room.

Here at Andrew Smith and Son Auctions, auctioneer Andrew Smith presides - surprise, surprise.

But before he raises his gavel aloft, what does he think of their lots?

The Russian-British plaque, I haven't seen one of those before, that's quite interesting.

The silver will do well.

Out of pure sort of quirkiness, it has to be the olive oil jar.

It's big, but it is quite fun.

VO: Charlie Ross started this leg with £410 on the button.

He spent every last coin he had on five lots.

Charles Hanson began with £302.20.

He spent £132.50 and also has five lots in today's sale.

This last great battle will determine which Charles is king - gentlemen, take your thrones.

First up is Charlie Ross, with his locally-relevant map of 1950s Winchester.

Going to start the bidding at a fiver.

Yes!

(LAUGHTER) I won't tell you whose this is (!)

(LAUGHTER) At £5.

Seven.

CHARLES: No.

ANDREW: Ten.

12?

No.

I despair.

At £10 commission bid.

12.

15.

17.

20.

22.

25.

27?

£27?

Commission bid's out now, 27 in the room.

Is there 30?

At £27.

I've got mud on my face.

Amazing.

Well done Charlie, well done.

VO: It's a local lot for local people, and that's a stormer of a start for Charlie.

Charles now, with his 18th century knife box.

Might it carve out a decent profit?

Start me at £40 there, £40?

£40?

30, £30.

Oh no.

20 if you like, £20 surely.

Oh no.

Got to start somewhere.

£10?

10 I have, well done.

Is there 12?

At £10 on my left.

We will sell, make no mistake, at £10.

12, 15, 17.

£15 on the left.

Oh dear!

Selling at £15, are you sure?

You're going to make somebody very unhappy.

At £15.

Made me very happy.

VO: So it should.

That cuts into Charles' chances.

Chin up, old bean.

Long way to go, bean, long way to go.

CHARLIE: Absolutely.

Yeah.

CHARLES: Long way to go.

VO: Now Charlie's plaque commemorating a chilly expedition during the Cold War.

£5 for it?

£5 right at the back, and we're away.

Is there seven?

At £5, and selling, is there seven?

At £5, you sure?

At five - seven in the middle here.

10.

12.

At £10 and selling right at the back, is there 12?

At £10.

You done?

Any more?

At £10, last time.

CHARLES: Is that a profit?

CHARLIE: No.

I thought it cost you a fiver.

Yep.

No, it cost me 15.

VO: Now, might the bonny, but broken set of candle accessories be enough to let Charles snuff out the competition?

£10 CHARLIE: Five.

ANDREW: £10.

CHARLIE: Five.

CHARLES: Oh no.

Too much.

Too much.

Five I have, is there seven?

At £5.

Seven.

10.

12.

15?

At £12 in the middle here.

Is there 15?

Too much money.

At £12, still a good buy at £12.

Is there any more?

Far too much money.

At £12, then.

If we're all done, last time... VO: Despite Charlie's scorn, they score Charles a nice little profit.

Now, another for Charlie, as his lot of five books on music play out.

Start me at £20, £20, £20?

Tenner?

CHARLIE: Is this it?

CHARLES: Yes.

£5?

Five we have, is there seven?

At five, seven, 10, 12, 15, 17?

£15 standing, is there 17?

At £15, we are selling.

Are you all done at £15?

Profit.

You are on top.

VO: Indeed he is.

Charlie's still comfortably in the lead.

Can Charles change his fortunes with his lot of Roman and mediaeval coins and rings?

Start me at £50.

Come on sir.

Come on.

£50.

40, £40.

It's painful.

30 to get it going.

£30.

£30.

20.

£20.

Surely at £20?

A tenner to start me off?

Oh no!

Ten we have.

Come on sir, come on.

12, 15.

CHARLES: Keep going.

I can't imagine whose these are!

15... 17.

20.

At £17 seated.

20, 22.

Keep going.

£20 standing, is there two?

Oh no.

At £20, can we do any more?

At £20 then.

Charlie, you make your own luck.

...£20.

VO: Ancient they may be, but profit making they ain't.

Another for the young pretender now as his embossed tray is up.

Might this prove every cloud has a silver lining?

I'm going to go straight in at £100.

Is there 10 in the room?

At £100.

Two gentlemen getting very excited in front of me here.

At £100, we are selling.

Is there 10?

At £100, any more?

All done at £100.

Commission bid then.

Very last time.

Well done.

I'm in business.

I'm back.

We're rolling now, to victory!

On the road again To victory, rolling to victory, bean.

VO: His fortunes have turned - Carlos steals the lead.

If silver's high today, might Charlie repeat the trick with his watches?

£60.

Is there five in the room?

At £60 commission bid, is there... £65, commission bid's out, 65 in the room.

Is there 70?

At 60 - 70, and five?

At £70, is there five?

£70 right at the back now, at £70.

Is there five?

All done at £70?

We will be selling.

Get the gavel down quick.

At £70 then, last time at £70.

This really is now game on.

VO: Time ticks on and Charlie badly needs a profit if he's going to retake the advantage.

Charles' matching pair of silver dishes now - might lightning strike twice?

40, commission bid's out, is there two?

Come on.

42, 45, 47, 50, five.

60, five.

70?

65.

Come on, one more!

One more.

At £65.

At £65.

Are you all done?

Last time.

VO: And how!

Well done Charles.

Right, come and catch me.

Come and catch me.

VO: If Charlie is indeed going to catch Charles, it all rests on this, the very last lot of their entire road trip - the enormous olive pot.

He could still do it!

Oh, the tension!

£150.

160.

Commission bid's out, 160 in the room.

Is there 170?

At 160...

He's desperate.

170!

He's desperate!

180?

180?

It's against you at 170.

180, well done.

190.

200?

At £190 in the door then.

Oh madam, I'll lend you a tenner!

(LAUGHTER) You're making some people very happy in the corner here.

At £190.

Need more.

I need more.

At £190 then, are you all done?

Last time.

He's holding it Charlie.

Oh no!

Put it there sir.

VO: Oh Charlie, a massive loss on a massive lot, and it's all gone to pot, eh?

That was a roller coaster, but you've done me.

VO: Charlie Ross began this leg with £410 exactly.

After auction costs, he made a disastrous loss of £154.16, meaning he's left with a total of £255.84.

Poor old fruit.

Don't cry.

Charles Hanson, meanwhile, began with £302.20.

He managed to bag a profit of £41.34 and ends victorious with £343.54.

Well done boy - that's the spirit.

Good pals Charles and Charlie have danced through this road trip.

It's been an epic journey.

CHARLIE: What you need is this.

CHARLES: Agh!

Ooh!

Shop!

I need a lady, please!

VO: Do behave.

It's been a very close-run race.

CHARLES: Going, going, gone.

VO: But our dear boys were made for this game.

CHARLES: I've really enjoyed our road trip.

I really have.

VO: Au revoir then.

Till next time, chaps.

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