TV antiques dealer Clive Attrell is coming to Kent for his latest foray to find hidden treasures to buy. Helen Geraghty packed up her worldly goods and went along.

They say ‘a rolling stone gathers no moss’ but packing up all my collectables for a valuation, it still feels rather pathetic that they all fit all into a kid’s lunchbox. With room for bubblewrap.

I’m fond of these random little things, anyway. There’s a tiny miniature Book of Common Prayer, just 5cm high, inscribed in the cover to a volunteer rifleman on they day he sailed from Southampton to the Boer War, February 19, 1900. A list of dates inside includes Queen Victoria’s birthday. How I got it is a mystery, but I’ve always looked after it on behalf of a man I never met, an unknown Frederick Neeve, and remember it doubled up as my ‘something old’ and my ‘something borrowed’ on my wedding day.

Next up is a presentation pack of Charles and Di engagement stamps, the ones where he is clearly standing on a box to make him appear taller than his statuesque bride-to-be. I bought it from a stamp dealer in Torquay shortly before they divorced. The price I paid, £2.95, is proudly displayed on the cover as proof of my ability to spot a bargain. For the record, I’ve never visited a stamp dealer, or been to Torquay, either before, or since.

And finally, a transparent bone china 1920s tea cup, part of a complete 12-piece tea set, hand made in Staffordshire, stamped with the maker’s name, ‘Thomas Forester’, and painted with gold leaf. It was a wedding present to my north London maternal grandparents and I remember as a child being steered endlessly away from the fascinatingly ugly 1950s cabinet where the delicate tea set lived untouched for many years.

So that’s it, a book, two stamps and a cup. In a lunchbox. My ever-hopeful nine-year-old wants to know whether, if it makes ‘three grand’ can I please pack up work so we can have a puppy?

In addition to the above, there’s a rumour that we may be the owners of a full set of Beatles signatures obtained when the fab four came to West Malling to make the video for Magical Mystery Tour. But no one knows where they are, so that’s the end of that.

As I arrive at the very start of the free antiques valuation day with 49-year-old Clive Attrell, formerly of Dickinson’s Real Deal fame, I find that my 15 or so companions are new to this game too and are quite giggly. We all get a nice of cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit while we sit excitedly around waiting to reveal our collection of treasures.

Next to me is a cheerful chap, Dave Lake, 70, from Biddenden, who has never been to one of these things before and has come along ‘out of interest’ and possibly to sell a British Army belt, with a mixture of no longer shiny badges and medals from both world wars. Clive offers him £80 for it, and he sits back down to have a think about it.

Clive is a full-on people person, open, straight forward. Looks you straight in the eye and shakes you firmly by the hand. He talks like Pete Beale, off EastEnders.

He says: “Antiques are in my blood. It was my dad, he used to do house clearances and he used to get a box of stuff and I used to pick the best bits out of it. I used to say ‘Can I have that?’ Years ago those things were cheap.”

TV antiques valuations for David Dickinson’s programme have led him to start work on his own TV programme, Attrell’s Antique Academy, which is still in production.

Clive’s great loves are meeting people and militaria. And he certainly wins some and loses some.

“I once bought a painting at auction for £200 which turned out to be by the French artist Francois Boucher and sold for £8,000.

“But once I bought some models from a collector for £41,000 and lost £8,000. Recently I bought an ivory vase for £7,000, then had it valued at £400. Eventually I put it in an auction and got £4,400, so not a complete disaster.

“Around 80% of people who come to these free valuations come with a view to selling if the price is right. Most people know what they are expecting. The other 20% come out of interest and if they find out it is worth some money they might decide to sell.”

When I reveal the contents of my lunchbox, I unwrap the tissue paper covering the little book, and Clive says: “I’m excited already.” He calls over his sidekick ‘Military Dave’, Dave Wallem, who knows all about the Cinque Ports regiment mentioned in the cover.

There’s £60 on the table for this, which I turn down, but Military Dave reckons a visit to Eastbourne’s Redoubt military museum could throw more light on what happened to my soldier.

The tea sets, even complete, are virtually ten a penny, which he says is due to the fact that so many people received them in the 1920s and tucked them away in a box until their deaths. They are of little interest to a dealer, says Clive, who reckons I’m best off hanging on to it.

As for the stamps? They are worth exactly 39p, the total cover price of the two original stamps. “Don’t give up the day job!” chortles Military Dave who has spotted the £2.95 price tag on the packet.

I may be no richer, but I’m one step closer to finding out more about my Boer War soldier. And at long last, I’ve shown that strange little book to someone who was interested. And that’s worth a lot.

Now, whatever happened to those Beatles signatures . . .

TOP TIPS
Clive’s three top tips for the amateur antiques buyer

1. Don’t buy mass produced and easy to store items as an investment. They will be slow to gain value.

2. Before selling signatures, line up anything you can to prove authenticity of the piece. Letters from a witness, or press clippings, all can help add value to something which is easy to forge.

3. Never feel obliged to sell. A ‘valuation’ is exactly that. If you don’t like the price you are offered, walk away and think again.

Clive comes to The Heron, in Station Road, Herne Bay on Monday, November 5, from 10am to 4pm. On Tuesday, November 6, he will be at the Anchor Inn, High Street, Wingham, near Canterbury, from 10am to 4pm. Next stop is the Hope Inn, High Street, St Margaret’s at Cliffe, near Dover, on Wednesday, November 7 from 10am to 4pm.

Later in November he will be at venues in Margate, Ramsgate, Ashford and Folkestone. For more information seewww.freeantiquesvaluations.com