Original subtitles

On Salvage Hunters,

dazzled by high-end lighting design...

They've clearly seen what the Bauhaus were doing

and gone, "We'll have some of that. Thank you very much."

...derailed by a meticulously constructed railway model...

Please tell me the other side's as nice as that side. - Yeah. - God, I love it.

It's such - an interesting thing. - I love it.

...and duelling over depictions of fantasy footwear.

They'd look fabulous in my shop.

I think they'd look better in my shop.

Drew Pritchard is one of Britain's leading antique and decorative salvage dealers...

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

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

- 275 the lot. -Yeah. Yeah, I'll take them.

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

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

Can we do it the other way round?

Drew is sharing the knowledge...

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

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

God, it's an education already.

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

It'd have to be a really buy-me-now price,

but I don't think it will be. 550, Drew.

We're on our way to Sanders & Sanders,

shoemakers and retailers of much renown.

As a company, they're doing really well.

But what they've been doing is buying up other shoe manufacturers,

and as they've been doing that,

they have been...

buying out the contents of their businesses. Right, okay, yeah.

And now they've got...

way too much, - like, way too much stuff. - Cool.

So what am I looking out for today?

What you need and what you want

are things that are useful, things that you can use.

Number one out of these shoe factories are their trolleys.

And they've always got loads.

It's just down to condition, that's all.

And they sell all the time.

Plus, you've got work tables,

task lighting, advertising,

cupboards, chests, tables, you name it.

Reimagining relics of British industrial history as decorative pieces

is something Drew's championed.

And with its famous manufacturing traditions,

the Midlands has always proved to be a rich hunting ground.

Today, he and Viki are heading nearly 200 miles southeast

into Britain's industrial heartlands.

It's served me well, clearing all these factories over the year.

So it's really nice

to actually be going into a factory

that's working and is selling stuff off,

because they just need room to expand. That's good.

Do you know what? It makes me feel very happy

- that it's thriving. - Good, huh? Yeah. Really good.

It was when a group of local shoemakers

secured the contract to supply 2,500 pairs of boots

to Cromwell's army for his invasion of Ireland in 1649,

that Northampton's future as a shoemaking capital was sealed.

Today, it remains home to a thriving family business,

set up in 1873

by two local brothers called Sanders.

I am Megan Sanders and I'm the fifth generation,

so we have been making shoes for 151 years now.

So my father is Henry Sanders,

who's still here, and he is fourth generation.

We make around 1,600 pairs a week, totally made in this factory.

We make boots for the British Army.

We make riding boots for the Household Cavalry and the King's Troop.

We make collections for different brands.

And then we have our own in-stock collection as well.

The Sanders shoe, iconically, is known as the chukka boot.

A crepe-soled chukka boot was made famous by Steve McQueen in "Bullitt".

And then we were very, very fortunate

with Daniel Craig going into our retail store in London

and purchasing the said item, that Steve McQueen had worn,

for "Spectre".

So we were very lucky to actually supply 007.

Hi. Nice to meet you. -Hiya. -Hi. Drew. Good to meet you.

Nice to meet you. - Simon from Sanders. - Simon. Nice to meet you, Drew.

Let's show you around. Yes, please.

Welcome to that classic chukka

with the rubber soles.

We sell hundreds of them a day and hundreds of them in a week.

I am a shoe enthusiast.

- Great news. - I have far too many. How many?

It's well in excess of 150 pairs.

- Wow. - This is a new side that's just emerging.

I thought he was just about trainers.

I've kept it quiet. I have got a lot of trainers as well, but -

You've come to a shoe factory. - It's all coming out. - Yeah.

As always, you know, I love to see things

that are handmade or just really well-made,

whether it's a knife and fork, a pair of shoes or a jacket,

a hat or a cupboard, it doesn't matter.

If it's beautifully made, it's always a pleasure to be around.

So you're now trying to create the upper,

to then create the toe shape.

And how we're doing that is with pressure and using plates,

and then a glue is injected underneath.

That is, without doubt, the most complicated machine I've ever seen.

It's mind-blowing. My God.

I've never seen anything like it.

You see the end product.

You know, you don't understand there's 250 processes to make a shoe.

100 people have touched that shoe. It's incredible.

Drew, Viki, I just want to show you a couple of things

in our little box room we have here. Oh, yes.

And a really old cobbler's bench.

- Yes. - This was my grandfather's. No!

What is this? This is a cobbler's bench.

Like, an ancient cobbler's bench.

They'd sit down basically on the floor,

you'd bring your shoes in, and they'd fix them or they'd make you a pair.

My God. I've never seen anything like it.

I'm not sure what that was for. Probably for sitting on, maybe.

- To sit on? - I think that was the seat, wasn't it?

This. I've seen lots of these. They're not uncommon.

- I've never seen that. - Really? I've never seen this done before. Ever.

With it on the side. Ever.

You couldn't replace it. - It's irreplaceable. - Yeah.

This form of early, quite primitive industrial furniture,

I've always championed it. I really, really love it.

So whatever you do, get it out of here.

Put it somewhere in your office... ...and don't clean it.

That was one piece we wanted to show you - from our history. - Yeah, absolutely.

We've got lighting fixtures, things like that.

Okay, sure. This sort of lighting, here, you've got loads of it, I see.

They are particularly stylish.

They're in nice nick as well. They haven't had a hard life.

How many is there? Loads of them.

We've probably got about 20.

While Drew's sort of waxing lyrical about these lamps,

I'm thinking, "God, they'd be good for the shop."

You know, I've had some sort of more modern lights

out of an office, wired and plugged,

and everybody loves them in the shop.

And I'm standing in my brain calculating, "Could I do that with these?"

And yeah, they're honestly perfect for me.

I like them. So what's the going rate for them? 20, 25 quid?

Yeah. Tops. Yeah.

You want them gone in a oner or... you can split them?

You can split them. Happy to split them.

I'll tell you what, I was going to be dead fair and go,

"I'll be happy to take ten of them." Yeah.

Cleanest... Of course.

...at 20 quid each.

That's sold. - Perfect. - Pleasure.

Thank you. - Easy. - Thank you.

I'm not going to hang them.

You can just lean it against the wall,

put it in a corner of a room, put it along the ground,

just use it to light up different parts of the shop.

And I know customers will buy them 'cause they'll want to do that in their house as well.

Oh, wait a minute.

The trolleys, are any trolleys up for grabs?

Oh, yes, they are. We've got a few. These ones or other ones? These ones are.

And then we've got a few more, Viki, as well.

We've got the metal one here. You've then got the wooden one as well, which is set.

And then we've got different varieties as well.

The thing for me is that I sell textiles in the shop,

and these are perfect to put textiles in.

The problem is, we'd both be interested in those.

Fantastic. What are you gonna use them for? There you go.

Storing all the shoes that you have.

So now we're sort of confronted with some things

that we really wanted to find,

which are these factory shoe trolleys,

multi-layered... one, two, three, four...

five to six layers of shoe racks on them.

Timber, some metal, mostly in good condition.

It turns out there's approximately 30 of them available.

These early-20th-century shelving racks on wheels

would have transported batches of shoes around the factory to be worked on.

With the added appeal of bumps and scratches

from a hard-working past in a British industrial setting,

their sturdy structure makes them highly practical

for Drew to sell on for home use

and Viki to use as shop display racks.

Drew and Viki think they could be worth around £180 each.

I think between us... -Take the lot. - Yeah.

Tell you what, across the board, if we buy them all,

10, 20, 30, 40, £100 apiece.

Rough, ready, better, good, bad, ugly.

How's that sound? - - Perfect. - Yeah? - Happy with that.

Yeah, we'll be happy with that. Thank you.

Thank you very much. - Thank you, Drew. - Thank you, mate.

So, £100 apiece.

Bought them 50-50 with Viki.

Yeah, it's a good deal for us. A really good deal.

I'll take you back into the factory, guys.

What's that over in the corner there?

These are old images of shoes

going back to Saxone days, etc.

So what were they originally?

I... If I'm honest, Viki, I don't know.

We just found them by chance.

We were just having a little tidy-up,

trying to put a bit of order in.

Love that shoe of a noble lady. Noble lady.

How lovely. - Good, isn't it? - So, Saxone...

Saxone....yeah, was an old shoe shop, brand.

- - Did you own them? - No. - No. Nothing to do with us. No.

Maybe it's just the history.

I think it's the history that's come out of their factory.

It's a collection of framed...

not prints, and this is the good bit, drawings.

Now, these are good.

These have got a great look to them, you know.

They're so individual. I've never seen them.

There probably is only that set. There won't be any more, I should imagine.

Believed to have been created for Saxone Shoes,

which once operated the largest shoe factory in Scotland,

with shops on many British high streets until the business closed in the 1980s.

These watercolour and pencil images

seem to be imaginary shoe designer sketches

from across the centuries.

As a unique collection of 20 paintings,

they could be worth around £750.

I like them.

You? Yes? No?

I think they're great.

And they'd look fabulous in my shop.

I think they'd look better in my shop.

I think they'd look better anywhere but here.

You don't have a shop?

I'll throw out a figure that's fair, and you can decide if you want to get involved or not.

500.

Drew and Viki are at an historic Southampton shoe factory

full of rare gems of industrial history.

I've never seen that. Really?

I've never seen this done before. Ever.

And they've discovered a collection

of original 20th-century advertising artwork,

which could be a highly desirable relic

of British fashion and design history.

I'll throw out a fair figure, and you can decide if you want to get involved.

500.

I would shake your hand on 500

because I'd like to see them looking beautiful again.

Good. Thank you very much. Are you happy with that? I'm happy with that.

Are you in on this deal as well, Viki?

We'll discuss it over a coffee, I suspect.

That means she's gonna do me over on my and her half.

That's a 60-40 split there, - isn't it? - That's fine.

No, it's a 100-zero split.

If you're into fashion, you're going to want them.

If you're doing a shop interior, you're going to want them,

a dressing room, anything,

any fashion retail whatsoever is going to want those.

I like that.

Old printers trays.

This was actually from our factory.

This one wasn't, but this one was.

That's nice. Got a nice label on the side.

Printers, joiners and engineers.

I don't know, a lot of work, Vik.

There was an old, probably 1910, 1920s...

oak, timber-fronted office cabinet

and an earlier, mid-19th-century probably, drawered unit.

They're always really popular.

However, the amount of work that's involved in them, you had to get them for a price.

Do you know what? I'm gonna just chuck out a really cheeky bid

for the two bits.

How cheeky can it be? 200 quid.

Well, that is cheeky. For the two bits.

250 would float it a bit better.

Oh...300 would be floating off into the sunset.

But I don't think you're going to set 300.

I am not anywhere near 300 quid.

But would you be near to 250? For the two.

And we might even be able to find you a pair of shoes.

- Okay. Deal done. 250. - Sold. - Thank you. - Thank you very much.

There's money left in both. Not huge amounts,

but there's enough for me to buy them.

I've had a really good day at Sanders & Sanders today.

Did two of my favourite things.

Buying loads of industrial furniture

and looking at shoes.

Don't ask me. I know I've let the world into knowing that I really, really like shoes.

Without a doubt, all of those pictures

were the best thing we bought today.

They're just one of those things that you're not going to see again.

Do you know what? I just loved today from start to finish.

It was just brilliant fun.

Getting shown about. What an amazing factory.

You know, I love all that stuff about manufacturing.

That's the sort of stuff I love. I know it's fab.

And nice meeting Megan. - Megan was lovely. - Lovely.

Simon was great. She's taken over the family business.

- How cool is that? - Yeah.

Good luck to her. She's got...

She's got big shoes to fill.

That's so bad. Sorry. It was in me. I had to let it out. - Sorry. - That was...

I'm sorry. I've apologised. I'm really sorry.

It's an exciting start to the week,

and next stop is in another of Britain's industrial heartlands,

Staffordshire, where Drew wants to pay a visit

to a hunting ground which has always come up trumps.

So we're going to go and see Steve at...

Odeon Antiques. Odeon Antiques.

Yeah. You've been before. I've been a lot, yeah.

Very good trade call. Three floors, tons of stuff.

He has the sort of stock - which suits both of us. - Good.

In the late 17th century,

Huguenot refugees settled in the Staffordshire town of Leek,

bringing silk weaving skills,

which became an important local industry.

And in more recent times,

a former silk mill has become home

to an extraordinary collection of decorative antiques,

viewable by appointment with restorer and design expert,

Steve Ford.

So I did 3D design,

multidisciplinary design as my degree.

And obviously, along with that always comes with the history of design.

I'd always, you know, been buying and restoring and making things,

antique things.

So I enjoy looking for things that have got quality,

things that maybe need repairing,

things that can be upcycled or improved.

It really hurts me to see things that -

I know how hard it is to make things,

to see things just discarded.

And so I'm a bit of a hoarder, I suppose,

but only if it can be used and it's got some value.

- - Hi. - Oh, hi. - I'm Viki.

- Hi. Nice to meet you. - Hello, mate. Nice to see you again. How are you?

Come for a bit of a wander around. - Would that be okay? - Yeah.

So I'll lead the way, or... Yeah, sure. Show us through. Please, thank you.

Looking forward to this. You always have lots of good things.

Cool. This looks good. - There's loads, isn't there? - Yeah.

I like Steve's stock and what he sells because...

number one, it's pretty buyable and it's useful. It's things you need.

So it's lighting and small pieces of furniture and decoration.

It's affordable, and it's great to come here and buy things

that have got a bit of meat left on the bone.

Those are Sugg ones I think.

They're what? Sorry. Sugg ones.

Sugg? - Maker. - Yeah.

Gas taps on the side of them.

Real ones, I think as well. Yeah they are. Yeah.

One of the first things I see are these gasolier bracket lights,

adjustable bracket light, and...

with lighting, I like to start off with some fairly original bits

and then see where we can go with them from there.

The ones Steve got down there, they're 90% there.

They're pretty much all there. And that's what I want.

I need a pair like that. So they're not far off.

But I'm not sure about the shades. What are you asking for these?

Without the shades. Without the shades?

- Um, sort of £80 each. - Okay. All right. So they're affordable.

They're all wired and tested.

I have got hundreds of those. - Have you? - Yeah.

They're all - none of them match. But they're not restored or finished or anything, so...

Unrestored is fine. It's fine, you know?

I'll take them any way I can, really.

I didn't buy the lights sort of immediately because there's lots of them.

And I thought... Well, there's lots of singles.

And I thought, maybe as I'm wandering around, because there's a lot of stuff,

I might be able to get some close pairs together or even pairs.

I didn't want to buy them straight away, then see a better pair.

There's another one.

We might be able to make a pair of these up.

Do you see these little things?

You've got, like, - a little pile of them. - Yeah, yeah.

I can't quite work out. I've tried to have a look - a few times. - What does it say?

I haven't got my glasses on. "Sailor's sanitary container".

So, look, do you know what I love,

is look at the attention,

when they've got wrapped up and everything.

Oh, that's nice. - They're all hand-wrapped. - Yeah.

They came out of an old hospital. Um, we did a clearance years ago.

When I spotted those little glass jars

with the embossed writing on them,

I thought, "Yes, that's exactly what I want."

I want rows and runs and bulk buys

of old items,

and they just look amazing together in a group.

But you sell them individually, and they are just so gorgeous.

How much are you asking for them?

Um, what, for all of them or... Yeah, for the lot.

50 quid. For the lot?

- Yeah. - Yeah, I'll have them. - Okay. - Fantastic.

They're quite interesting. They've got "sanitary" or something along those lines on them.

It's just funny. It's a little talking point

and, you know, you get this kind of juxtaposition with them

because they will sit, and let's be honest,

who knows what originally they were made for?

And it'll have just a beautiful pretty little flower sitting in it on a windowsill.

And it's just the whole package. Just, I love it.

Oh, what are these tags off, again?

You know, when miners used to go down the mines?

- Yeah. - They used to have a number, so they used to put it on a board when they came back up again.

- Ah. - They'd put it back on to...

Count them in, count them out. - Yeah. - Wow.

So those are most of the Staffordshire miners, - - apparently. - Really? - Mm.

That would be a whole mine, that bundle.

My father-in-law used to work at the mines

and he passed them on to me, so...

There's something about them. I don't know what it is.

They should go to a museum, - shouldn't they? - Yeah.

See that little barn thing up there.

Is that, is that your kind of...

That's a scratch-built railway.

Please tell me the other side's as nice as that side. - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah.

I've had lots of these things. I've never had one like that, though.

It's a beautiful early-20th-century scratch-built model of a covered bridge.

I adore them. I just love them.

They just have a sense of wonder and fun and naivety to them, I love it.

It's just heartfelt. It's heartfelt stuff.

Possibly an architectural model of a covered wooden bridge,

this item is almost certainly a one off rarity,

handmade or scratch-built from pine in the early 20th century.

Its unique character and story make it an intriguing decorative piece,

and Drew thinks it could be worth around £500.

Depends on the money. What do you want for that?

I would have to do 150 on it, I think.

Thank you. There we go.

God, I love it. Such an interesting thing, isn't it?

Yeah. I love it. Love that.

Absolutely wonderful. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

Just leave me alone.

Radio 4, small nails, bit of wood, hammer, happy.

Just fixing that.

Chance of me selling this, slim.

I'm not saying never, but slim.

The chance of me spending my weekend

with this on my kitchen table, cleaning it and repairing it, high.

Because for me, half the fun is doing that.

And I love, love to do that sort of work.

But, uh, buy of the day, week, month and year, I love it.

What's that?

Is that for a wine bottle?

Um, yeah, they're Liberty's, those are.

There's two of them. They're stamped up Liberty's.

They're for champagne bottles. You put your ice bucket in it.

A pair of little wine coolers, basically, these are.

They've got a lift out section as well in there,

little drainer in there. Lovely.

Maker's mark underneath with the Liberty retailer stamp as well underneath it,

and I've never seen any before.

Constructed from copper and brass,

this decadent pair of bath-shaped wine coolers

was made around 1900

to retail at London's famous Liberty store.

Described at the time by Oscar Wilde himself

as the chosen resort of the artistic shopper.

In good condition and a pair, this is a highly unusual find,

and if sold on Drew's website,

the pair could fetch around £400.

What are you asking for those?

I mean, I was hoping for sort of about 300 quid for the pair.

I just quite rated them. Yeah.

Just because they're so unusual.

200.

Um. I'll do 250.

Drew and Viki are soaking up British industrial history

at an eclectic antiques collection in Staffordshire.

When the miners used to go down the mines... Yeah. ...they used to have a number.

And along the way, Drew spotted a rare luxury item,

a pair of early-20th-century Liberty's wine coolers.

200.

Um, I'll do 250.

- Yes. - Okay. - Thank you. - Cheers.

I've never seen them before. No, really interesting.

They're really nice. Yeah, I like those.

These are a cracking good find. They really are.

I'm lucky they're here, to be honest,

I really, that was sort of, that's made my money for the day, that.

I wanted to talk to you about more of these lamps that I need.

- Yeah. - Just getting the ones that are actually all the original parts wherever possible.

As we're leaving, I think, do you know what,

let's sort these lamps out, these bedside lamps.

They wouldn't have been bedside. I'm using them for bedside.

So pull about five of them together. I have a really good look.

And there's two that are clearly close enough

that they could be used in the same room.

You want one about the same sort of length,

so they look similar when you put them into the house.

Oh, right. Yeah.

Okay. So what's the best on that pair?

Uh, say 80... 140 for a pair.

Yeah, I can do something with that. - Okay. - Thank you very much.

There's two that I can give to my restorer,

and he will get them looking pretty much...

as close as they're ever going to be.

The bulb holders will match, the height of where the bulb holders sit,

because at the moment one's there and one's there,

and they need to be elongated so both match.

And they're not far off at all.

All right, well, look, thanks for that. - I think I'm done. You? - Yes.

Can we start loading everything up? Get some money changing hands?

I'll take those with me. Great stuff.

Steve, very easy to deal with. Prices are right.

Straightforward, easy, no-hassle day.

And then Viki pointed out that wonderful railway bridge.

And I just fell in love with it.

This is probably the only one in the world, and I adore it.

I think it's fab.

The view when you look through it as well,

it's like a little miniature film set.

It's a wonderful thing.

So what do you think of that?

It was quite good, actually. Yeah.

You did well. Yeah, very.

Thanks to you. I didn't even spot that thing.

I always like to point that type of stuff out to you. - Yeah. - If I see it.

You know how much I love it. But the thing for me is,

I'm never quite sure if it's for you or not because you're so particular.

So I just have to sort of blanket bomb it and go,

"Look, that looks scratch-built, that looks like a model."

And then you just sort of cherry pick what you like.

It's one of the best ones.

You really like it, don't you? It's seriously good.

I think it's really, really wonderful.

With a mounting haul of extraordinary finds in the back of the van,

Drew's not done with his Industrial Heartlands tour.

He and Viki are heading 50 miles to the east.

We're in Nottingham, and we're off to meet a guy called Grant

who runs a business called Industrial Glow.

Can you guess what he sells? Let me think.

Industrial lighting? Yes. Well done.

And he's got a shop down here.

Does fully restored industrial pendant lights,

wall lights, bulkheads,

table lights, articulated lights, the lot.

As you know, I've got a bit of a history with these.

I very rarely buy them now.

- Yeah. - Very rarely buy them,

but I will occasionally buy them if they are very rare variants

or in exceptional condition.

Okay. And you've been doing it for how long now? 25 years?

30 odd years. Yeah.30 odd years.

Digging around for knackered old lights from factories. I mean, really.

Still doing it.

Still doing exactly the same thing.

Nothing. Nothing has changed.

The Nottinghamshire town of Arnold was the birthplace

of visionary 19th-century engineer Thomas Hawksley,

who created the UK's first permanent pressurised town water system,

supplying thousands of local homes and factories.

These days, on a smaller scale but no less passionate,

Arnold's innovators include specialised collector

and restorer of 20th-century lighting, Grant Wilson.

The first lights I bought were a Holophane factory light,

and I was just sort of blown away by the materials.

They had, like, really cool brass wingnuts on them, and they had the Holophane glass.

It was just so pretty, and that got me hooked, really.

So I just started looking and looking and just picking up more bits.

We tend to specialise in industrial lighting

or lighting that's come from industrial settings

or public buildings like railway stations,

lights that you wouldn't normally see in a home setting.

They'd normally be in a chemical mixing plant

or something like a military sort of area.

And also clocks.

The thing I like about them is the materials they're made from and how well they are made.

They're just so robust and just...

the design features of them are so cool.

Hi, Viki. Grant. - Hi, Grant. - Drew. How are you, Grant?

How are you? All right, thank you. All right, all right.

So come to have a look at what you're doing.

Lighting and clocks, basically. Yeah. Um, yeah.

Anything industrial and anything that's a bit unique and...

All right. And you're doing the rebuild yourself, are you?

I try and do everything in-house if possible, yeah.

So I've got a sandblast cabinet and polishing machine downstairs

and yeah, I try and do all the restoration.

Industrial lighting. It's something I immediately fell in love with.

Now, over 30 years ago,

that was the first light I bought. I remember it was £15

and it was a green industrial ceiling light. I think it was a Revo.

And I cleaned it with some washing up liquid and a rag

and I sold it and I made 25 quid and I thought,

"This is great, and I love these items."

And there was thousands of them out there

and hardly anybody wanted them.

But if you knew where to sell them, you were gonna make money.

I'd be interested in seeing the Anglepoise on the far right. Yeah, sure.

Also, you've got a very, this very basic one with the white shade there.

The holograph. Wouldn't mind having a look at that as well.

We walk in, meet Grant and straightaway,

top right hand corner, there's a three-step Anglepoise, completely unrestored.

I'm thinking I definitely want that.

And when I talk about three-step, the square base that they're on

has one, two, three steps to it, right?

That was the very early models.

And then it changed to a two-step.

That design remained sort of largely unchanged

through the next 80 years.

But I think the purity of design of that three-step,

I think, just make them the most desirable.

And they can be mightily expensive for really good ones.

So Grant, so if you've got a three-step and a two-step, what's the date?

Yeah, the three-step ones are tricky. I think...

I think basically around '38, I think.

But the guy, Carwardine, who invented them,

this section here, see this bit here. That bit there.

He was working on a suspension system for vehicles.

- Oh, really? - That's all it was. Then he came up with this.

And the whole thing, as everybody knows,

is based on your arm.

It's just your arm and your hand. That's all it is. That's your hand.

There's your forearm. There's your...

And when they're fully working properly, they're just so easy just to move.

And they just hold the position. Anglepoises,

they are an engineering tour de force,

but their mindset is purely, absolutely, squarely

in that brief explosion of English modernism

around the late '20s, early '30s.

And it's a wonderful period that's never really been shouted up enough as far as...

It needs to be celebrated more.

We created incredible things and companies and factories and...

fabulous items that have stood the test of time.

And the greatest of all of those things,

all of that period, all of that stuff that came out

is the Anglepoise desk lamp.

Mind blowing. Genius design.

That's on a two-step base, but it's another... Another early one.

So this is a changeover. Yeah.

So you will get these as well.

So is that - so is this...

Sorry, this is... Honestly, this is like a massive...

...learning curve for me. So that's got the early fork.

And the paint changed as well. So if you look at the paint

really close up, it's got that crinkle effect to it.

On the bottom of that green base.

- It's called Japanning. - Yeah. Yeah, "black Japanning" they'd call it.

Oh so that's not, that crinkle hasn't happened because of age?

No, it's factory. - That was the finish. - Factory, see it there, it's like skin.

This conversation that we've been having about these lamps

has gone on way longer and into way more depth

than I could ever have imagined.

But I don't care, because I'm hanging about

with two guys who are experts in their field,

and that's what I want to do. They're having fun, I'm listening in.

We're surrounded by really cool, unusual, rare items.

What more can you ask for?

These clamp lights, I really like them. - Yes. - I think they're fab.

This type of lamp, I've always loved them.

I just think they were super cool. There's something about the shade. They're just...

Very, very... It's... We're looking at -

They've clearly seen what the Bauhaus were doing

and gone, "We'll have some of that, thank you very much."

The next piece I see is a clamp light by Walligraph.

This lamp was made in the '30s, as you can see,

stylistically pure '30s again.

Modernist, right.

But it has that slash cut shade, which just makes it.

And I think they're actually the best-looking of their design era.

I think they just nail it. They are pure.

The Walligraph brand was manufactured in Britain

in the early 20th century,

and this Zonalite model was built to clamp onto a workbench.

Its enamelled steel shade still has its 1930s factory paint,

and the original mechanism is completely intact.

Its particularly unspoilt condition means it's another rare find,

and Drew believes it could be worth around £345.

What would you take for the pair?

425.

Really? God Almighty. Yeah.

So how much is that one? Just on its own.

It's got to be 300.

I've got to ask. I've got to ask. 400?

At a Nottinghamshire lighting specialist,

Drew's found not one but two rare 1930s industrial design icons.

A Walligraph clamp lamp and a three-step Anglepoise.

What would you take for the pair?

425.

Really? - God Almighty. - Yeah.

I've got to ask. I've got to ask. 400?

Okay. - Yeah? - Yeah.

Thank you very much. There you go.

Now, his price for the three-step Anglepoise,

that's a good price. Got to be honest. That is a good price.

But then the price for the Walligraph

is the most expensive one I've ever bought.

So swings and roundabouts.

We do a deal, in the end, of 400 quid.

That's fine. That's okay.

Because the three-step, I bought that well.

I bought that really well.

There's the bowl in the window, if you open that latch there that you'll be able to see as well.

That's quite a pretty thing.

So you've made this up, yeah?

Yeah. Literally the bowl came separate to the top.

It really works. It really works.

The ring came separate, but it just all ties together really nicely.

What would you ask for something like that?

That's on the website at 1,450.

Um,

it'd probably have to be...

realistically about 800, really. Trade on that.

That's a very good trade discount. Yeah.

It is. It's ready to go.

I think that's one of the nicest ones I've seen made up from parts.

But there's nothing wrong with making them parts - I don't think so.

No, I think you're dead right. You're saving original parts.

- Yeah. - And why not?

I think it just looks right - to me anyway. - Yeah, it's nice.

I'd have that in my house. Yeah, definitely.

The reuse of any antique can be problematic

because it can look quite naff,

or you can do quite a lot of damage to it by repurposing incorrectly.

But with lighting, it's, you know, it's Lego.

Bolt it together. You can always undo it.

And if you can use any of these materials in any way, shape or form,

you're saving it from landfill

and you're saving another one having to be made.

And it looks a lot more interesting than anything else.

Have you seen these Land Rover, army Land Rover lights?

I thought they'd make the coolest picture lights. They're cool.

Oh, great switch. - Yeah. - Listen to that.

There's a couple of variants, but that one with the shade, I think looks the best.

Right, wait a minute. So these were on Land Rovers?

Yeah, these were in the back of the army Land Rovers.

Cool, aren't they? I'm gonna have to say that they're really cool.

Aren't they? Super cool. How much do you retail them for?

I haven't yet because I haven't done one,

but I would guess, I would guess around the 225 mark.

I think if you did that, renovated, for that money, I think you...

I think they're great buys.

Grant is one of those guys you do want to keep in contact with

because he has two things.

Number one, he has a great skill base

and can do a lot of the work for you.

And the one that you really need is passion,

and he has that for the subject. You can't buy that.

Like I said, I was so fortunate

to get in at the beginning of all this happening,

and it was really exciting. And it still is now.

It still is now because there's lots and lots of different variations.

That means you're always going to find something you've never seen.

And that's exciting and that's interesting.

Well, it is to nerds like me. I love that sort of thing. So I'll look at this stuff all day.

Cool. So did you enjoy that? Little trip down memory lane for me.

Yes, obviously, you know,

there's a lot of bits of information

that I picked up about the Anglepoise.

I didn't quite realise they were as geeky as they are.

Oh, man, it gets, it can get even geekier.

What, it can get geekier than that? It can a bit. Yeah.

Actually, for short periods of time,

got quite swept up in the pair of your's passion.

And then it sort of... - - Waned. - Yeah. - Yeah, it'll do that.

And then it got up a wee bit and then it went down again. I know.

And then the minute he said "lamps" and "Land Rover" in the same sentence...

That was it, just white noise then. ...I thought I'm done for.

A few days later, Drew's extraordinary purchase

from Industrial Glow has arrived in the Dorset workshop

of specialist lighting restorer Jez Speed.

This is a great find by Drew, actually, it really is.

I mean, I've probably restored into the,

well into the hundreds of Anglepoises,

but I think, from memory,

I've done four in 25 years of the three-step ones.

I'm continually looking for them, but I just never see them.

The first step is to carefully dismantle

the century-old lamp into its components.

You can really start to see how beautiful it once was.

This is a reminder of the old chrome on the inside there.

This is a Barco scraper, basically,

tungsten carbide, little tungsten blades on it.

It can be really quite aggressive if you if you're not careful.

I just want to just skim it across the surface to remove the loose rust.

A little bit of paraffin in the tub.

I'm using a very fine wire wool.

I'm going to use the paraffin just to get the grime off the old chrome.

People see the peeling chrome and the decay on something as a negative a lot of the time.

Over the years, I've learned to just appreciate the decay.

I like the fact that it's been on a journey somewhere.

We don't know where, who's had it, where it's been, but it's had its own journey.

And this is how it looks like.

I like its honesty and its integrity.

I mean, this particular thing is really, like,

the first generation of them, and they're just getting rarer and rarer and rarer

as the months roll on.

You can see there the crackle paint here.

It looks like a fingerprint. Really, really lovely.

Each cleaned component is then buffed

with a petroleum-derived wax known as microcrystalline,

commonly used in museums for conservation.

It will protect the metal surface from moisture and reduce corrosion.

I'll just put the arms on.

Lamp's wax-cleaned. Nice. Engineered, works nicely.

I need to put some wire through it,

so I've got to go and get the box of -

I've got a bulb holder for this somewhere. So I'm going to go and get one.

Box of light parts.

And I want a black, to have a black or a brown Crabtree.

I think I'm going to go black with a black shade.

This was what would have been fitted on it from new.

So I think it's very appropriate that we fit them again,

because just as far as I'm concerned,

it doesn't look right unless it's got an old Crabtree fitting on it.

With the bulb holder fitted

and a new plug wired in

using period-correct braided cable,

the lamp is once again in 1930s working order.

But it hasn't lost the character gained over nearly a century.

I absolutely love that, I think.

That is exactly as I would like to see on my desk.

That is a thing of beauty.

I've done very little to it, actually,

other than gentle conservation.

Someone's going to be very, very happy to have this,

you know, real, real iconic, original lamp on their on their desk.

I'd be made up with it, I really would.

I wouldn't be selling it. I'd be keeping it if I was Drew. I really would.

It's great. You just never see them. You never see them.

It's an appropriately bright finish

to a week of delving into Britain's industrial design past.

Cracking week this week. Very different. Lots of good tradeable stuff.

I think the financial buy of the week, to be honest, was the shoe racks.

I sold all mine before I left the building.

They've all gone, traded the whole lot out. Yeah, gone. Sold.

One of the most interesting things I've bought in a while

is the little model railway tunnel walking bridge I got from Odeon Antiques.

Ruth said, "You have to sell it. It's on the books."

So I put it on the website and I put an enormous price that nobody's going to pay

because I don't really want to sell it. It's in my house and I love it.

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