CASH IN THE ATTIC

A friend said she'd been to an auction house in Liverpool where they were filming Cash in the Attic. Not one to be outdone, I went along today with my husband in tow. Again they were filming Cash in the Attic and I was chatting (as you do) to Angela Rippon. The saleroom was cold and there wasn't much that was worth a second glance - apart from an old 70-piece Royal Copenhagen dinner service, which was very lovely. Ms Rippon said she'd seen me looking at the dinner service and said she also thought it was a beautiful set. It was number 43 on the list so we decided to wait for that lot and then go. I know Royal Copenhagen and have a small collection and I expected the dinner service to be well out of my range. And it appeared that that was going to be the case when the auctioneer announced that he'd got lots of interest on the phones. He started the bidding at £120. I showed my hand at £160. He said the bid was with him at £170 and asked if I wanted to go to £180. I said no because I felt that the bidding was just going to get silly. "Will you do £175 then?" he asked so to be polite and because he seemed to be helping me I said yes. I honestly could not believe it when the hammer came down. Angela Rippon said she thought it was the best lot of the day and I am still feeling thrilled. All 70 pieces are now spread out on the dining room table and I just keep looking at them. And, I might add, that I have looked on the internet and my £175 has bought me £9,000 worth of Royal Copenhagen - jammy or what!