Original subtitles

On Salvage Hunters,

the climb to the top doesn't always pay off.

There's two cookers here, you know. And I know they're worth nothing. Yeah.

Discovering heavyweight treasure. Oh, God. These're heavy.

I can definitely tell you, these are early cast iron.

They are rare.

And a new friend.

Oh, put him down.What?

Put him down. It feels very comforting.

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...

Two seventy-five the lot. 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.

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

Five fifty, Drew.

Today, we're off to meet a guy called David Sheard,

who's based in York. I know him.You know him?

I know him. I've sold to David. A few times.

Really?Yep. I haven't met him.

I've seen him at the fairs with a friend of mine.Oh, okay.

So he gets about and, a prolific buyer of antiques.

It's only because he's moving house that he's selling.Okay.

Every dealer knows that when a collector needs to move house

or change the space they're in, there's a good chance

they'll also be parting with prized items.

So today, Drew and Al are heading 150 mi north-eastwards to York,

where a stash of antiques with a legendary reputation

could be up for grabs.

So, David, I've seen him buying

from some of the very best dealers in this country. So...

It's got good taste. Great taste.Yeah.So, we will see.

After the Viking invasion of 866 AD,

the the city of York was renamed Jorvik

with its new occupants turning it into a prosperous hub for farming and trade.

Centuries later, the city has become home

to a majestic collection of decorative antiques

meticulously exhibited over the last six years

in the private home and garden of dealer David Sheard,

who's moving home in just five weeks' time.

My collecting began as a student at Hull University,

where I could only afford things that were costing 50p and a pound

and over 45 years, the collections have moved onwards

from tiles onto pictures, onto kitchenalia.

I think it's called having an OCD problem.

Selling is not the natural goal with me.

It's tricky because the attachment

is linked two phases of your life.

I've had very different phases of life.

From being married with a child to being with my partner

and now coming out as a gay man, and the stuff is the only thing

that's the solidity right through it.

It feels as though a lot of it is me. Yeah.

Hi. Welcome.How're you doing? Good to see you.

How're you doing, David? You all right?Yeah. Come in.

Good.Thank you.

Oh, lots of lovely things. Look at him.

I'm a collector of heads, all sorts of heads.

What I love is the whole patina.

And...Yeah.Although some people find them creepy,

some people say, "I'm not sure about your heads, but I love them."

Well, they're wrong. That's great.

So, what's the deal? You're selling everything

My partner would say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

They'd like to live in a white, minimalist flat with Ikea,

but they've had to put up with this for 34 years.

No, I'm not selling everything, but I'm...

I've got to 66 and decided it's about time I fine-tuned.

Let's use that word, fine-tuned.

I don't know, David. I feel like I know him.

I've done quite a bit of business with him online.

He buys good things.

So, I'm expecting just to find a house full of quality.

You know, I go to house calls every day. It's part of my job.

But I know that David's house is gonna be exceptional.

Let's carry on, there's more in here.

Yeah, this is probably the room

where most of stuff will go with me unless I'm tempted otherwise.

Okay. Can I have a look at this fella?

A biggie, big lay figure.

He definitely will, sadly, be going with me.

Oh, put him down.What?

Put him down. Feels very comforting. Yeah.

David unbelievably, is 66 years old.

He looks younger than me, he has been collecting for 40 years.

And I think he feels he has to downsize a little bit,

but doesn't really want to.

Just a few jars.Just a few. None for sale, I imagine.

No, they are my personal collection. Okay.

He is reticent, to say the least about getting rid of stuff.

And I got to be honest, so would I be.

He's got some lovely things.

What a lovely house.

It's a bit of a Tardis, innit, compared to the outside.

Yeah. God, where are we going next? The east wing.

Look at this. Wow!

So a bedroom, which, yeah, got all sorts of pieces in.

I like that. That's nice.

And in the corner there, that little tripod leg lamp.

Yeah. The arts and crafts.

Yeah. That's, yeah, that's for sale. Is it? Can we get that out?

There's just bits everywhere, right? It's all good.

Then, in the corner, I see.

Oh, that's a nice little Benson table light

or student's reading light. Or sometimes they were called ship's lights.

And sometimes people say they come off trains

because they've got three legs and adjust at the top like that.

But one of the legs got a little hook on it, is to hang on the wall

so you can have it as a table or a reading or wall light.

What would you want for that one? It's not stamped.

Two fifty. Stunning shade, innit. It's the shade.

The shade's wrong, but it works. Yeah, it does, doesn't it?

Hmm. Okay, so that I'm interested in.

Have a look underneath, see if it's marked. It's not.

I'm not sure age wise, if it's absolutely right, but it's very attractive.

And he says, "Right, I want 250 for the lamp."

But when I first walked in, I clocked a very nice carved marble statue.

I like that. Is it for sale? It could be. Yeah.

Characterfully aged and probably dating from the early 20th century,

this statue is unsigned and damaged, but it is marble.

And with the skilled sculpting mimicking the style of ancient Greece,

Drew thinks it could fetch around £950.

I'm in the region of around 1K on it.

Okay. Would you do that and the lamp for 1,100 quid?

I would.Thank you very much. It's very good of you.

But remember now, this is where I had the heart attack.

Oh, don't say that. Don't say that. Don't say that.

No, that's a good one. That's very good. Thank you.

So I'm valuing the statue at about 900 quid,

and the lamp makes up the rest of it.

Gives me a margin. When it comes down to it,

I really like both things. I'm very happy

to be walking out with both of them.

Have you had any of these? Yeah. Yeah.

It's nice. Got all the stamps on it. It's great.

Good colour, very clean.Very clean.

So those chairs, they're just great bits of advertising.

Probably 1910, 1920.

They'd have been in a shop advertising the product.

A lot of them are soaps, starches,

and it's just rare to have them set in the chair

because the chair either perishes

or somebody just pulls the sign up and sells the sign.

So, what'd you want for that if you were to sell it?

A lot of money. I can tell. I can tell.

Six fifty.Yeah, that's about right, isn't it? No.

You've got to respect David. He's paid up for it.

He doesn't want to lose on it. It is a good thing.

But there's not a lot left in it for me, if anything.

So, let's keep looking.

Oh, my word. Look at this.

Another treasure trove.

I'm jealous. David's got a fantastic garden.

It's the sort of garden I like. It's this...

It's like the contents of his head spilled out on the lawn and he's created this.

Loads of layer of different pots

and huge plants and structures and just all sorts going on.

This will be a real hard garden to leave.

Oh, man. It's great.

It's fab. Oh, hello.

Those big coppers. The big, big, big.The big ones.

When you said the big, you mean this one?Yeah.

Let's just kick off with prices.

Eight.Eight hundred.

These are just huge copper pots

for heating up water and washing clothes in.

It's all they were for, but they make the most wonderful planters.

The big copper at the back, the really big one at 800.

Um, yes.Okay. Cheers.

It's the second biggest one I've ever seen.

It's a gem. Now I'm thinking that's gonna cost two grand.

He turns around and says, 800 quid. Well, that's coming home.

Can we carry on looking around? I wanna closer look at that marble piece there.

I don't wanna really... No, it's all right. ...ruin your garden.

It's all gonna be unpacked, though, isn't it?

When are you moving?Five weeks.

You better crack on. Yeah. Yes.

He has got behind me an 18th century wine cooler.

It isn't anything else. It's a wine cooler.

That is what it is for.

It's a remarkable find in a garden in York.

I think, if I recall,

there is a piece out the base. Oh, that's a pain.

I think we'd have to dig it out, the stuff out where it is.Yeah.

And then, it's gonna have to be moved really, really carefully.

Where do we start?Uh, 12.

Thousand pounds?

Drew and Al are in York, where an upcoming change of scenery

means a dealer needs to downsize his impressive collection.

When are you moving?Five weeks.

You better crack on. Yeah. Yes.

And Drew spotted an extraordinary Georgian wine cooler,

which has been repurposed as a garden planter.

Where do we start?Uh, 12.

Thousand pound?Go for it. Thank you very much.

He asked 1,200 quid for it. So again he's... this is viable now.

We are in viable territory.

So let's not be silly.

I offer him 1,000 quid for the wine cooler. Yes.

What about the grass signs? Uh, they'd be two each.

Two each?Two hundred each. Can I, can I pull them out?

Yeah, just pull them up, yeah.

I spotted in amongst the foliage, a keep off the grass sign

and when we get to the centre, there's another sign.

No dogs allowed in this garden.

I thought, "Hm, that's a nice pair."

Will, um, 350 buy them?

Done.Thank you. Thank you very much.

That wasn't too hard, was it?No. I am jealous now.Are you?

That's a lovely, I love the dogs one.Yeah.

The dogs one is fantastic.Yeah.

Al has bought something rather wonderful, and I'm a bit jealous, I am.

These are cast iron signs, which you would put in,

you know, beautiful parks they had in the 19th century,

where you would parade around and they are rare.

Those are belters, and he gets the pair for 350.

I think one of them is worth more than that.

Can we have a look in your storage facility?

Yeah, ten, 15 minutes away. Is that all?Yeah. Let's do that now.

Welcome to another version of storage.

What's over there?

The oak bunker drawers, David.

Four.Four hundred.

Yeah.Hm. Okay.

Do you want to get them out?Yeah.

Just down below me, you see a bank of drawers.

Oak fronted and also oak sided.

All the furnishings, all the knobs, looked original.

They were all the same.

A nice thing, like everything else. David buys nice things.

Nutmegs. Mace.

So they've had herbs in.Mm.

How much did you say you really wanted for it?

Four dead on that. It can't be three?

No, I'm only getting my money back, honestly.

Really?Yeah. I think you're okay with that one.

Hm. Come on then. Yeah.

Good one. Thank you.Thank you.

It's a great thing for the shop.

It'll go in the window and it will look fabulous.

Again, another piece of quality from David.

Can you hand us that table down?

It's for sale. I've had it forever, 25, 30 years.

Yeah, it's the walnut top that was for me the...

Absolutely lovely.

There's an occasional table octagonal top with a bobbin turn type leg.

The top's beautiful.

The figuring on the wood and the colour

and the way the light has affected it,

and the polish has affected it and time has affected it.

It's just a beautiful thing.

What'd you want for that? Two-two-five.

Two hundred?Yeah.Yeah?

Cheers.Thanks very much.

It's all about the top. So that choice of top.

When they decided to make that table, the guy said,

"I've got just the right top for this."

And it's made it. I'll tell you what.

I think I'm done.Yep. Nice and quick.

I think we'll throw these last pieces on the van and get out of your hair.

Good one. That's all right. Been a good day. Enjoyed it.

Thank you.Cheers. Right, let's go.

David's collection is wonderful. Beautiful.

He clearly isn't finished. He's just gonna carry on buying.

I look forward to what his next house is gonna be like.

Bought well, from a wine cooler to a massive copper copper.

Definitely a couple of things I'm gonna make money on today. For sure.

I do a lot of house calls. Most of my business is going

to people's houses buying antiques.

I haven't been in a house like that before.

I haven't been in a house that good.

Right, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

And you.Thanks so much for coming. It's been fun. Cheers.

Take care. Bye-bye. Thank you, cheers.

I was happy with the things that they found.

None of them caused real tear jerkers.

Probably until tonight, when you start thinking,

"Oh, but I did like that." But no,

I'm at a point in life where stuff's gotta go.

What do you think of that?Yeah, it was all right. You did well.

Very well. The copper copper, that's gonna sell itself.

Definitely.The marble statue, good.

I was happy with my signs. Especially the one about the dog.

The park signs. Keep off the grass. They're very good.

Yeah. Very saleable, very easy sell.

A little rare, I'd say, especially the dog one.

Yeah, yeah. A nice bloke. Good man.Yeah.

I wouldn't want to be his removal guy.

No, no.

While David faces the challenge of adapting his vast collection

to a new space, back at his shop in Aberystwyth,

Al's changing his space to fit his growing business.

There's a lot been going on here over the last few weeks.

Uh, we've moved up into the attic. It's not finished yet.

It's work in progress, but we've moved stock up there.

So if we come out the back here,

we've got Dan, the local builder here.

There's a couple of walls that are coming down

and this wall is coming down

very, very soon and that there

is gonna be another retail space.

It's gonna be the size of the shop. So we've got double the floor space downstairs.

So up here we've had stairs put in

because there's still a bit to do. But the space up here is fantastic.

It's really good. So this was the attic,

um, the stores, of the exchange shop that was in the village.

The window up here is incredible.

When I was younger, I remember it was stained glass.

Used to come here to buy Wellington boots,

farmers used to come here to buy their corn, their animal feed.

And it all used to be brought up by a winch through that window.

So the place holds great, great memories for me,

and it's brilliant to be able to have it as my space.

Wow.

That's really good. And it's just opened it up.

Just adds a new dimension to the shop.

There's south-facing light coming in, I'll have that all day.

Lovely old Victorian windows.

I couldn't see it before, but now Dan's pulled all these walls down,

it's amazing. When Dan's finished the work,

this is just gonna double my retail space.

It's gonna be a new shop. It's gonna be like a fresh start.

Yeah, I just can't wait.

But while the shop undergoes transformation,

the buying doesn't stop.

Today, Drew and Al are heading to Lancashire to meet a dealer

who has a big online presence and who's found her own solution

to the space problem faced by every antiques dealer.

Right. Where are we off to, then? Just outside Preston.

Yeah, Sunshine Antiques to see Angela.

Yeah. You must have seen her on social media.

She's on every time you put your phone on.

Yeah.She's there.Yes. A lot of garden...

Garden antiques. Architectural stuff, yeah.

Love it. My great love out of all of the areas of the antiques world,

architectural salvage, reclamation and garden

are without doubt the most interesting of all of it. I think.

You've got the most likelihood of actually finding something.

You know, with furniture it's very unusual

something really fresh comes to the market.

With garden and architectural, there's lots of it still coming.

Yeah.It's turning up and I find that really exciting.

It was the waters of the Ribble River

that fed the 19th century steam powered looms

which transformed the social fabric

of the small Lancashire town of Longridge.

And more recently, the area has become home to an unusual collection

whose maker believes in going with the flow,

having adapted her business to fit her outdoor showroom space,

dealer Angela Whittle.

I've run Sunshine Antiques for roughly ten years now.

Uh, we deal predominantly in architectural antiques,

love the architectural salvage and garden items

and all that sort of thing. That's me, really.

So, we go all over the place from house calls in London

to north tips of Scotland,

wherever we can get good quality things.

I'm really looking forward to meeting Drew and Alister, seeing what they like.

It's going back to Drew's roots because he started with architectural salvage.

I've chatted with Alister once or twice on the telephone.

I've done a live on Instagram with Drew,

but never met either of them in person.

So it will be lovely to do so. Looking forward to it.

Hello.Hello.Angela, Drew. How are you doing?

Hi, Drew. Lovely to meet you.

Alister, how are you doing? Want to come in?Yes, please.

Oh, hello. Oh, this is good. Thank you.

So, why garden antiques then?

Really because of the outdoor space I have.

Because I just haven't got the room inside.

It started, just came from nowhere.

It was just passion that came. I bought a few garden antiques.

Hm.And yeah, that was it. It just bits and I--

Somebody bought one. Yeah.That was it. That was.

That tends to happen. Do you think I'm on a winner here?

Yeah.Keep going in that direction.

It's such a, it's such an interesting thing

because new stuff keeps being found all of the time.

Of course, it does.All of the time.

I like that grotesque. He's cool, isn't he?

Yeah. What can you tell me about him?

I bought that from a gentleman near Ripley Castle.Right.

So he's obviously flat backed. Sandstone.

Quite, yes, sandstone, hand carved.

Quite what creature he is, I don't know.

He's a bit of all sorts, I think, really.

It's a rabbit.Do you think? It's a rabbit, is it?Yeah.

Just in the background,

this grotesque catches my eye.

The scale of it. It's not very big.

So you can imagine that inside the house

on a console table in the hall.

It's just perfectly sized for that. Obviously, it needs to dry out.

It's been outside in the garden for years, but it's that colour.

And that colour will change again once it dries out.

What would you want for that?

I've been looking around 350 for him.

Oh, hello.

Drew and Al are in Preston, where an outdoor space

has been transformed into an extraordinary outdoor showroom

of architectural salvage and gardenalia.

Oh, this is good.Thank you.

And Al's leapt into action, having spotted a rabbit

or hare-like stone grotesque,

with just the right amount of weirdness.

What would you want for that?

I've been looking around 350 for him.

Can you cut a little bit or is that your...

Yeah, you can cut... Three hundred. Yeah?Yeah.

Cool. I like that. He's nice.

He is. He's different. He's unusual. He's obviously a one off, isn't he?

I'm gonna have to take him away from you. Sorry.

I'll miss him.

I think I've had a really good buy.

It's a great start. The scale, the colour and just what it is.

It's weird, but it's wonderful.

There you go. Nice original 19th century.

Handyside urn on the base. Hm. Just the one?

Just the one. Just the one, unfortunately.

What do you want for that?

Two hundred.

Oof! A bit manky.

It's a proper Andrew Handyside

campana form urn on its original base.

I thought, God, that's good, but it's in a really bad state.

Now it takes a hell of a lot to get an urn of that age

to really rust that badly.

It needs to be practically on the sea edge

to get that bad, but it has.

But if you look, it's only on one side,

so it looks like it's windblown by the sea

for 100 years, maybe.

But the urn with the original pedestal is rare.

This campana, or bell shaped urn,

displays traits typical of products

from the renowned Derbyshire factory

of Scottish-born engineer, Andrew Handyside,

which became one of the great foundries of the 19th century

because of Handyside's focus on improving the tensile strength

of the cast iron he used.

The corrosion in this piece suggests possible prolonged exposure to sea air.

Over 150 years old with its original pedestal intact,

if left unrestored, it could still be worth around £350.

Not for you, Al? I don't know, actually.

It's an original.Hm. Definitely Handyside.

Nice and heavy.

On a ped.

Do you want it?No, go on. You go ahead.Sure?Yeah.

Thank you, Alister.Nice thing that. It's all right, isn't it?Yeah.

I'm gonna leave that urn exactly like it is.

I just like that look. Angela wants £200 for it.

That's fine. That's a good buy

because there's £150 left in that.

I'll mark that up at 350, because of its age,

because it's got its original plinth.

Um, yeah. Happy with that.

That looks interesting.

It's a funny little thing, Alister.

Obviously, money box, but... It looks Welsh.

But why does that... Why does it pivot?Yeah.

Don't know.Folky, isn't it? She's got a nice look.

In the corner, there's a little miniature stool.

I'm convinced it's Welsh, the style of it, the colour of it.

But it's so small. It's not an apprentice piece.

On closer inspection, it's a money box.

But is it a money box? There's a pivoting section underneath

which doesn't hold the money in.

So it could be anything. It could be a game, a magic trick.

I don't know, but it's just lovely.

There we go. It does fall through. Maybe you need a bit more weight.

Maybe. How much is that then?

Fifty pounds.Forty pounds. Go on.Yeah?Yeah.

Thank you.Thank you very much. It looks very Welsh. It's nice.

I'll double my money on that because of what it is.

It's just a rare little, probably a one off thing.

Small, it's Welsh.

Buy it and walk straight out the door with it in your hand.

On the far side of the garden there you've got two small standing...

Oh, with--...with baskets. Baskets above the head.Yeah.

There are two very small cast iron figures of young putti

holding woven baskets above both of their heads.

Now I recognize these. I've seen these before,

and I can definitely tell you these are early.

This is early cast iron.

Somewhere around 1820.

And there's a pair. But they are rare.

Forged by hand, for centuries wrought iron was used all over the world.

But that changed in the 19th century,

when casting became more popular

thanks to its repeatability and cheaper production costs.

One of these statues will need an expert repair,

but once complete, Drew thinks

the pair could be worth around £1,500.

I've never known cast iron pieces be quite so heavy.

But they're solid.

They're not hollow cast like you would expect.

And how much are they?

Oh, God. These're heavy.

I could, I could weigh them in.

I'll give you the scrap value if you like.

It's not very much. Not with cast iron.

No, obviously not. Six-fifty for the pair.

Five-fifty.You got to do the old.

No.No wiggling in the middle. No.

Five-fifty.Go on.

Thank you very much.Thank you.

Those two small cast iron figures really saved the day.

They're very interesting. What I've got to do is let them dry out gently,

so that the moss and lichen that's grown on them stays on them.

And, then, do my homework on them. Right, shall we load up?

Let's do it.You done?You're gonna grab one. I'll grab the other.

We'll need a trolley for that. They're that heavy.

Yeah, they're very, very heavy. Yes. We've got a trolley.

Okay. All right, let's do that. Okay.Thank you very much.

Overall, really nice to meet Angela.

Uh, she's lovely, passionate about the business. Brave.

Absolutely dead on with her prices. And she works hard.

There's a lot about dealing with gardenalia,

garden antiques and architectural salvages.

You can leave it outside, but it's really heavy and difficult.

And when it breaks, it's extremely difficult to fix.

She's taken all of that on board,

and she's making a very, very big success of it.

Today's favourite item has got to be that grotesque here, rabbit.

I'm going to do well on that. I've had that at a very good price.

But I just wanna spend a little time

research it, take it inside,

let it dry out, watch it change colour slightly,

and do my work on it,

because I think there's a good few pounds to be made on that.

Angela, lovely to meet you.And you. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you. I really enjoyed it. Been a pleasure.

Thank you.Thank you so much, guys.

Safe journey.Bye-bye. See you next time. Bye-bye.

The guys were both great to deal with.

We did have a bit of a haggle at one point with a couple of pieces

and some of the things Alister and Drew have taken,

I'm gonna miss. Such a fun day.

Loved every minute of it.

We had lots of laughs and fun all the way.

I was particularly pleased at the end of the day

with that little pair of cast iron pieces.

They are at right at the beginning

of cast iron being used for garden ornamentation.Really?

Right at the beginning of it. Yeah, very, very early.

So what? Early... Early 19th century, 1820.

Excellent. And I'm very happy.

You've done extremely well.Yeah.

The 19th century urn, if you do some work to that, right,

if you just set yourself up a little workshop

in that shed in your garden, and spend a couple of hours, right,

cleaning that down, dry scraping, tidying it all up, right.Yeah.

Just spend a bit of time and you will make £200 more.

Really?Yes. So, what do you see that at?

Four-fifty to six-fifty quid easy. Really?Yes.Okay.

It's finding the time, Drew. What do you mean, finding the time?

In between watching telly and fishing?

There have already been rich pickings this week,

but Drew and Al are heading 110 mi southwards

into the heart of the Midlands to visit a very different business

which also happens to be grappling with a spatial challenge.

Okay, so we're off to see Will. Keatley's.

I think they process metals.

So if you wanted a bit of steel that big, they'll provide it.

Well, this bit we're in, this bit we're driving around now,

the Gun Quarter and the Silver and the Gold and Jewellery Quarter,

all of that, right? I've been here numerous times

because it's basically where everything's made and done.

Some of the best things I've ever found come out of Birmingham.

Really?Yeah. And it is that old, you know, the old adage,

it's the workshop of the world.

Well, it was, it's nicknamed that in the 19th century.

But if you wanted something making, you'd come here.

The streets around the Cathedral of St. Chad's,

designed by leading Gothic revival architect

and one of Drew's idols, Augustus Pugin,

are known as the Gun Quarter of Birmingham.

During the 19th century, vast wealth poured into this area

when it became a major supplier of weapons to the Napoleonic Wars

and the Confederate side of the American Civil War

with local craftsmen forging a path for the city's industrialization.

And one part of that success story for well over a century now

is John Keatley Metals,

today, in the hands of fourth generation metalsmith, Will Mason.

The business was started in 1896

by John Keatley, who was my great granddad,

and we've been in this building since 1960.

My father moved it here when it was passed on to him.

We've invited Drew and Al today to have a look around

to see if there's anything that they fancy

because we're now in a clean air zone,

so we're probably gonna have to move out of this building.

We have some old furniture, industrial furniture, cabinets,

mainly that kind of thing.

And then, of course, the family's furniture collection,

which I've never had time to delve into.

So, it would be interesting to see what Drew finds.

Hello.Hi, Will. How you doing?

Nice to meet you.I'm Alister. Drew. Hi. How are you?

Nice to meet you.And you. Thank you for having us.

Come on in.After you. Thank you very much.

It's like going back in time.

Good.Good.

So, what's this bit, then, if it's not stating the obvious?

Yeah, this is where we do the bulk of our cutting and processing.

So, we bring stock in, long lengths.

Yeah.And we'll cut it up into whatever you want.

If you want 50 mil, if you want a metre

or you want 50 pieces or one piece, we'll do it.

Because not many people will do that now.No, exactly.

Wow. Oh, there you go. What are these for?

Uh, these are aluminium, so that'll be machined into

probably car parts, I think. Okay.Yeah.

We sell a lot of aluminium blanks for brake discs for racing cars.

We sell bronze, that's bearings, bushes.

Brass, again, same thing.

But now the brass is a big furniture market for.

Still busy?Yeah, we're still busy.

Our market has completely changed in the last 20 years.

As I say, we're doing more decorative stuff now.

The engineering used to be probably 80% of our work.

I'd say it's now 40 or 50. Your customers have changed?

Yeah. Totally changed. Yeah.

Factory clearances are something that I got into by chance.

I have to be honest. I thought every antique dealer did it.

And when I started doing it, I realised

most of them shied away from it.

And you can see why. It's hard, dirty, heavy work.

But the sort of stuff that I really like,

I tend to find in these places.

Boxes full here.

What's that?

Nineteen forties. Oh, that's quite nice.

Isn't it?Oh, yeah. Lovely. That's nice.

Good topic.That's a belter.Yeah.

That one is on board and it's in an 18th century style.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, hello. Little cameo.Yeah.

This one's signed. Shelly.

And it's got, ah, look, it's got writing on the back.

Something of Sir Henry Something, first Baronet.

This is worth investigating further. Well done, Al.

These little paintings that Al's pulled out,

and particularly one of them sparks both of our interest.

The painting itself is signed very clearly to the right-hand side,

but on the back, turn it over, somebody has done,

which I wish everybody who has a piece of furniture

or a painting or anything would do.

Go and do it now. If you know anything about your antique,

write on a piece of paper and stick it to the back in some way

or fold it up and put it in it, whatever you can do.

So that one's got who it is, and who it was presented to.

And he's a baronet, so we can trace him really easy.

Sir Henry Chandler, possibly, yeah, I think it is.

Okay, lovely. Okay. Thanks, Robert. Yep. Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Okay. I just spoke to Robert, my friend from Aberystwyth,

who's very good at this sort of thing,

and it's come back good.

The name on the back, mother of Henry Chamberlain

it says, first baronet.

Robert believes that holds a lot of significance.

So we need to look into this.

There's a lot of research gonna go into this piece

because I think, it's a good thing.

So, I've had a quick look into this one

and I think that's of good importance.

Okay.So, the mother of Sir Henry Chamberlain.

Ah, Chamberlain.First baronet. Need to look into that a bit more

because there's a lot of copies of these, Drew.

Yes, but that looks right to me. It looks right and it's signed.

I was thinking a couple of hundred quid for that one.Okay.

And it's probably English school or something like that, isn't it.

One twenty, the pair.

So, 320 on the three.

I think that's fair.Do 350?Um...

In Birmingham, a family run business about to move premises

is having a clear out, and Drew and Al have discovered

a surprise trio of paintings,

one of which may have an intriguing back story.

So, 320 on the three.

I think that's fair.Do 350?

Um, go on in.Yeah?Yeah. I'm not gonna argue with that.

Okay. Thanks very much. I think you've had a good deal.

Great, thanks.Much appreciated.

Henry Chamberlain, first baronet,

was the illegitimate son of Henry Fane,

an 18th century conservative MP for Lyme Regis.

Brought up alongside Fane's legitimate children

as a supposed distant relative,

young Henry was only told about his parentage

when he fell in love with one of his half-sisters.

Finally painted on ivory by Samuel Shelly

leading water colourist of the time, this portrait dates to around 1795,

and with a back story of aristocratic intrigue,

Al thinks it could be worth around £350.

Will wanted $350. Okay, that's, that's... it's okay.

But there's good provenance, good history to it.

There might not be another painting of this lady.

That might be the only one. Then I've done well.

Those stairs sound like my knees. Creaked for 50 years, though.

Wow. What have we got here? Hang on. So, what's this about?

Yeah, not only are we stocking metal,

we've got a load of old furniture as well,

because this is kind of what was left

from all the generations of Keatleys.

Oh, is it?

What? Chucked everything up here.

It was my father, to be honest. He was basically a hoarder.

Yeah. Good.

Shall I go for it? Have you got it? Go on, go on. Yeah.

There is literally a mound of stuff.

But what you've got to do with this, I learned very quickly

that you've got to get right to the back corner.

The first things that went in there, right.

They valued those very highly.

That was a clear space. And they thought, "I wanna keep this."

"Let's put it in the back corner."

And it got covered up over years and decades and generations.

There's two cookers in here, you know.Is it?Yeah.

I mean and I know they're worth nothing.Yeah.

That's the job. Suck it up. You know, life's tough.

Don't worry about it. There's still a great job. The best job in the world.

Oh, there's a nice bank of drawers behind you.

Delving into territory that's not been visited for years down there.

Go on, you're all right, You're all right.

Oh. Give me that.

I said there looks like there's something in the back corner there.

Al dives straight in and he finds

a very small early 19th century, actually, bank of drawers.

Made for nothing out of the cheapest timber.

But they're charming, and people love them.

What're you doing? Tetris.

Just playing about. Getting carried away.

You wanna give the man some money for it?

You wanna sell it?Yeah. Good. Thank God for that.

Let's sell something. Okay.

Um, as is 50 quid.

And if we find more drawers, I'll add to it.Okay. Yeah, 50 quid.

Fifty quid as is.If we find some more drawers. Great. Thank you.Right.

The size is perfect. The colour's good.

The old paint on it is good. But that was missing three drawers.

And that's fine because people put their little trinkets in the voids.

So, I'm happy with that.

Right. Shall we load these bits on the van?

Take two minutes and we'll sort you some money.

Okay. Yeah.Cool.Thank you.

To find paintings in a factory in Birmingham,

in the city centre.

It's a little bit different, but they were put here

by his grandfather, his great grandfather,

and that's where they've been. They've been there 30, 40, 50 years.

And today, they've seen the light of day.

It's a very strange thing for me to say,

but I mean, I'm quite happy to come away with nothing

because I get to root around.

Now Al, you know, it's like, you know, Drew's world of fun.

Thanks very much. Appreciate it. Good to meet you.

Great.Nice one. Thank you very much.

Take care.See you. Thank you. Cheers.See you.

I've really enjoyed meeting Al and Drew today.

It's been a great experience and particularly learning

that some of our stuff is worth nothing.

But that means I can start having a tidy up now,

knowing that there's not anything that's worth a fortune there.

I didn't know those paintings were in the room.

That came as a surprise, but it's great that we've found something

and it's been worth the trip.

How do you like that? All right.

In the end, yeah, it was all right. Slim pickings.

Very slim, I did, I thought we'd get a lot more.

A lot more, but you know the score.

Hey, look.Done it before.

You don't get anything if you don't try.No.

After a week of surprising finds and the chance to see

how other businesses are tackling the challenge of changing spaces,

the extended display areas in Al's shop are complete.

Okay, so, uh, this is the new part of the shop.

Love it. It's brilliant.

So, if you can remember, we had a partition wall across here,

a staircase below here and all that's gone.

And, now, we've got this.

So, we've got all the natural light from the morning sun coming in,

and it's pushing its way into the main shop,

lightening that up, just the whole feel of it.

Everything feels better here. And we've also got

another back room over here.

It's a small room, but I've got an idea for this space.

I've got a very good friend who's a dealer, so he can have this space,

sell his own stuff and man the shop from when I'm away with Drew buying

or I'm away in auctions or house calls, and the shop's covered.

Just from taking down a wall, blocking up a staircase,

it's just breathing nice.

I can put more stuff in the shop. People can see more things.

So, yeah, this has made a massive, massive difference to the shop.

It's transformed it, and I'm really, really happy.