Antiques Road Trip

It's the fourth leg of our trip with experts Izzie Balmer and Charlie Ross. After a quick lesson in how to identify different wood, Izzie gambles on some brown furniture – but is it made from beech or ash? Charlie, meanwhile, ends up in a shop's storeroom and uncovers an antique he's never before seen but is confident will excite the bidders of Sidmouth. Izzie rests from shopping and goes on a nature ramble in the footsteps of one of the world's first ecologists, Gilbert White, the man who influenced Charles Darwin. And Charlie hears a story of industrial espionage, religious persecution and people smuggling, and why all this meant one small town would become world famous for... carpets. All roads lead to auction in the seaside town of Sidmouth. But who will be buying celebratory ice creams for the journey home?