Antiques at the altar with the Flog It! crew

By cgregory

TREASURES from a doll to a chair made for Lawrence of Arabia, were taken to Truro Cathedral on Thursday when the popular BBC2 antiques programme Flog It! came to Cornwall.

Hundreds queued outside the cathedral, clutching carrier bags of items they wanted valued and were also prepared to sell.

Flog It! – presented by Paul Martin – regularly gets an audience of two million viewers each weekday.

The valuations – and opportunity to appear on TV with experts David Fletcher and David Barby – certainly drew the crowds.

"It's chaos, but that's how it is supposed to be. Things spill out of people's bags," said director Phil Kerswell, who was leading team of more than a dozen cameramen, sound recordists, lighting experts and other production staff.

There were also four valuers behind the scenes who examined each item before deciding whether or not to send it on to the on-screen experts.

Fred Miller, from Illogan brought along a Victorian oyster shell carving of the nativity scene and bronze statues of a horse and two dogs, which he was hoping to sell.

Morton Russell, from Four Lanes, had two boxed Dinky Toys from the 1950s, a car transporter and a bright red Mobilgas tanker.

The second Christmas card ever printed, in 1842, was brought in by Felicity Howard, of Camborne, who was with Marie Stevens, of Illogan.

David Barby was particularly interested in a glass powder pot brought in by Elaine Dennett, from Portscatho.

It had a silver mirror top on a gimble, and it had belonged to Elaine's father and possibly her grandfather.

Dawn Flynne, from Perranarworthal brought in two paintings, including one of Pendennis Castle, painted in 1882 by John Richardson. Once valued, the owner and experts decide whether items should go forward for auction.

Paul Martin, who spent his youth in Falmouth, where his father was the vice-principal of Falmouth College, said that after moving to London he worked at Pinewood Studios, and for The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, before getting into the antique business.

He has made 700 programmes in nine years, but remembers his days at Falmouth where he played drums for various bands. A lot of Troika pottery had been brought in, together with a watercolour by Lamorna Birch.

The auction will take place on March 10 at Jefferys Auctions, Lostwithiel, and will be broadcast as part of the ninth series this year.