Locals get the chance to Flog It

Hidden gems found in Oldham cupboards will go under the hammer on television tomorrow when the popular BBC-2 programme “Flog It!” goes on air.

Oldham’s hidden treasures surfaced at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in November when the show was filmed.

It is the first time the popular show has come to Oldham but background filming for other episodes also took place locally.

“Flog It”, which goes out at 3.45pm and lasts for 45 minutes, gets two million viewers each weekday — around 25 per cent of the total TV audience.

Members of the public are invited to take along antiques and collectibles they might be interested in selling. Once valued, the owner and the team of experts decide whether it should go forward for auction.

Tomorrow’s show will reveal how much Oldham’s treasures — selected by experts Annika Manning and Kate Bliss — were sold for when they went under the hammer at the the Calder Valley Auctions in Halifax in January.

Presenter Paul Martin will also tell viewers about the history of clog-making in the region.

One item which interested Paul and the other experts was a wartime telescope owned by Barbara Smith, of Chadderton, and brought back from the Second World War by her father-in-law.