Whenever I film a Flog It! programme or someone brings a really lovely item into my saleroom and tells me that they bought it from the local charity shop or church bazaar for a few pence, one does feel for the charity shop when the item then goes on to sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.

But I suppose it's a free market place - I will say that in my experience it rarely happens in and around this county as more and more shopkeepers are now doing their homework and bringing the interesting bits and bobs for me to look at before they go on sale.

It does just prove a point that the ardent collector now has to look everywhere and leave no stone unturned. There used to be an expression that if you look in a dustbin you'll surely find rubbish. Well, perhaps we could all learn a lesson about recycling here.

I can well remember filming an episode of The 20th Century Roadshow when a dustman brought in a whole collection of items that he had salvaged from the bins.

There were no Constables or Chippendales but he had put together an interesting array of modern day household collectables ranging from old Roberts radios - interest in which I can perhaps understand - to the quite astonishing. One such example being an incredibly rare Pyrex dish (as my exceedingly enthusiastic fellow TV expert assured). So this week's top tip' (or not) is to think twice before you bin that freebie out of the cereal packet.

*All of us in the antique trade are purveyors of second-hand finery. But what has always intrigued me is this - when does second hand worthless tat become a collectable antique?

Well, the true definition of an antique is something that's 100 years old but some of the more exclusive shops on London will not look at anything that dates after the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837, deeming it as being simply too late for their clientele.

Which leads me on to how worrying it is to think that I can clearly remember some of today's collectables as being normal everyday items, and that nowadays people are scouring auctions and antique shops looking to add my childhood items to their collection.

Do they ever stop to think how old this makes me feel?

PHILIP'S TIPS: HOW TO TELL IF CARVING IS ORIGINALOUR 19th century forefathers had no television - no Flog It! and Bargain Hunt to keep them amused.

Something had to take its place during those long winter evenings and it strikes me that they either bred huge families or carved furniture that the previous generations had made or collected.

The number of tables, cupboards and chests that have been devalued by Victorian tinkering is endless. But how do you tell whether the carving is original or not?

I believe that original period carving normally stands proud of the surrounding wood whilst later work is actually carved into' the timber and does not stand proud at all.

And it wasn't just furniture. The lovely Georgian tankard pictured below would originally have been completely plain until great-great-great-granddad got at it and started improving' it with lots of floral decoration.

AUCTION NEWSIT was a typically elegant George I wing armchair which took top price at the Cotswold Auction Company's Bingham Hall auction in Cirencester.

This good looking chair was in excellent condition, having been re-upholstered with pink damask and had outswept arms above cabriole supports with pad feet. Bidders at the auction saw the price rise to £1,650, the chair, being secured by a telephone bidder.

A handsome George III longcase clock with an unusual painted moon phase in the arch took the eye of clock collectors.

The domed brass dial was decorated with chased spandrels and was inscribed Edward Cockey, Warminster. The clock, with eight-day movement, also boasted a calendar and was finally sold for £900. Also in the clock section was a 19th century mahogany eight-day movement bracket clock with an elegant arched top and brass carrying handle. This was bid up to £300. Another clock enthusiast managed to carry away a more modestly priced 19th century walnut mantel clock in need of some restoration for £130.

One seller auctioned off a piece of furniture which he had inherited from the previous owners of his house when it was bought several decades ago. This was an impressive Victorian walnut credenza with satinwood and gilt metal mounts, having a central cupboard flanked by a bow fronted glazed display sections. Impressive Victorian pieces of furniture such as this are still very much in demand and this piece was finally knocked down for £850, exceeding its £600-£800 estimate.

Books and collectables always feature strongly in these sales and bidders in this auction were keen to acquire an early English carved horn beaker showing village scenes together with an embossed bronze beaker, which sold for £190. A quantity of fishing related hardback and paperback books, including The Practical Angler and Fishing For Dry Fly, were bid up to £170.

CONTACT: Write to Philip at philip.serrell@virgin.net or to Philip Serrell, Worcester News column, 29 Sansome Walk, Worcester, WR1 1NU.

Philip can not reply to your individual correspondence personally, nor can any photographs be returned without an enclosed SAE. Please do not send any items to be valued through the post.