Potty for Profit

Look out, Staffordshire. There’s a sky blue 1971 camper van coming your way. Behind the wheel we have Derbyshire auctioneer Charles Hanson and Scottish antiques dealer Roo Irvine. With up to £400 each, they are footloose and fancy-free as they shop around the West Midlands.

The competition is well and truly on as we battle it out in this best of five. Whoever wins the most auctions across the week will become the champion on this road trip. Charles means business as he opts for an ecclesiastical flavour with a pair of beautiful arts and crafts tabernacle panels and a collection of late-19th-century nun’s shoeboxes. He also scoops up a large decorative art deco vase, a George III chocolate pot and a Napoleonic ship’s log box. Jewellery lover Roo plumps for a Viking ring and a large papier-mache tray to name just a couple of her treasures.

As they pass through Stoke-on-Trent, they visit a place that's a paradise for Charles, the World of Wedgwood, where they learn all about pottery giant and social justice champion Josiah Wedgwood. Scientific curiosity and incomparable talent ensured enduring success for a company that is still very much alive and kicking 260 years later.

Roo and Charles also manage to have a snazzy time in Stafford as they squeeze in as much shopping as possible from Lichfield to Nantwich. The big question is: who will nab an auction victory on this leg?