The Gavel and The Gabble

Today on the show new dealer Sophie Champion joins Harry and Simon to have a chat about how she’s finding the antiques industry so far and what inspired her to make this massive career change. Sophie is absolutely brilliant and you’ll love hearing what someone who is actually in touch with the younger generation has to say. Also find out what happened to the art of haggling and why auctions are sc...

You’ve read the title correctly, finally after all of Simon’s Branscombe bashing, Chris the representative for all the people of Branscombe is on the podcast for his right of reply. Find out why Chris and his mates decided to look for gold in the local river with a frying pan, how he blew his beard off trying to make gin, how Chris found an Argentinian race car driver’s steering wheel in a barn in...

Today on the show Simon has a rather big confession to make and Harry has been doing his best to combat the absolute silence of their recent auction. The interesting items they’ve sold this week include Baluster Chinese vases and a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk, you’ll also get to hear about what happened to the rare LEGO sets at Windsor and Lyme Bay. As usual there’s ranting on someone trying to ‘u...

Today Harry and Simon are chatting about all the silly stuff like a leaky Tesco, the wrong chandelier, how both of them are pretty clueless when it comes to cars, and needing a sturdier broom. But there’s also chat on all their fascinating auction finds including the best engraving they’ve ever seen and how nobody wants your dark wooden dining table. This week you’ll even learn a little, with the...

What do you get when you combine two unruly children, two dogs you didn’t ask to look after, and a shipment of 53 huge boxed LEGO sets? You get Simon’s hectic week, so at least he’s in a good mood for the podcast… Or not… But at least his microphone is the right way around now.  By contrast, Harry has had a great week getting involved in a Bargain Hunt style game with the local sixth form stu...

Today on the podcast, Harry and Simon chat about some of their favourite items that went up for sale last weekend as well as playing you some clips from those auctions.  Find out how much a vintage Action Man is worth if you resisted the urge to play with it and send him off to war with your other toys. Is brown antique furniture coming back into fashion? How the pair managed to make a whoppi...

Today on the podcast Harry and Simon have a fantastic and funny guest for you, Sharon O’Connor. Following a 20 year career in fashion, Sharon re-trained with the Association of Master Upholsterers and the Cass Art Faculty of Design before starting her business, Vintique Upholstery, in 2013. From her studio in Sunbury-on-Thames, Sharon re-upholsters pre-loved items of furniture, restoring them to t...

Today on the pod Harry and Simon give a massive pat on the back to their brilliant house clearance team after navigating really difficult circumstances in a way that made the client happy. As well as that there’s chat on Simon’s latest find, a pair of taxidermy dogs (not real dogs of course) and Harry is left with the largest collection of garden gnomes he’s ever seen.  CONTACT Instagram @the...

This week Harry and Simon have some clips from their latest Lyme Bay auction to share with you as well as the usual anecdotes and hilarious back and forth. Simon also has an apology to make, Harry is getting a t-shirt made that says the podcast is ‘better than sex’, find out about a £5 note smuggler, and what happened when someone tried to sell the pair some tigers teeth.  If you’re a fan of...

This week Simon is head over heels in love, which for a married man shouldn’t come as a surprise. The surprise is that it’s with a rather lovely Ford Mustang. Also this week Harry gets his revenge by entering Simon into a charity boxing match, possibly against Conan The Barbarian. The pair also chat about having to be the deliverers of bad news, a Cypriot cab driver, and some rather expensive Roya...

Better late than never! After a busy week in Windsor, Harry and Simon return to tell you what happens when you turn up at the wrong house and try to put all their stuff in the van. Find out about the resurgence in the popularity of vinyl LPs as well as the Japanese floral stamp worth over half a million pounds. Also this week, Simon explains how all sports works….Or how he thinks they work. Josh's...

It’s all very exciting this week as Harry and Simon are joined by their first guest on the podcast, well, first invited guest if you exclude all the people getting in the way at the RNLI auction. Michael Hawkins of Home Care Removals stops in to tell us all about his business, his best ever finds, and gives Simon the best day ever and absolutely humiliates Harry with just one little story about a...

Your favourite auctioneers who aren’t on the telly every week are back from another successful sale. This week Simon and Harry dive into the topic of what, if they could turn back time, they’d specialise in. Listen in for lots of hilarious chat on Harry’s slowly deflating tyre, why Simon is yet again in trouble over Harry Potter wands, how it’s apparently easier to make thousands on Matchbox cars...

How do you fit a cow with rigour mortis into the back of a car? What on earth is a half eternity ring? And what will happen when the seagulls finally come for you? If you want to know the answers to these burning questions then this week's The Gavel and The Gabble is for you. Listen in for amusing anecdotes from auctioneers Harry and Simon on the rise of Airfix, Rob Becketts LEGO sets, and find ou...

This week Harry’s not prepared anything to talk about because he was at a Coldplay gig, watching some people on exercise bikes power the stage. That means it’s up to Simon to carry the podcast….oh dear. Listen in for stories on doing a house clearance at Windsor Castle, Simon’s wild shopping habits, the Mouseman furniture motherload, and how a photo of Carrie Fisher turned into one of the sweetest...

What makes a good lot to sell at auction? Who are the weirdest bidders? And what ever happened to Simon’s irresponsible boat purchase? Those are just some of the questions Harry and Simon are answering on this week's The Gavel & The Gabble. There’s also talk on tweed, getting sent to the headteacher’s office, FOMO (fear of missing out), and Simon is on yet another holiday.  CONTACT Instag...

Postage! Why, oh why does nobody think about the cost of postage! Let’s face it, we've all been a bit miffed having to pay more than the cost of an item just to get it sent to us, but Harry and Simon are here to tell you why you’re wrong and why you shouldn’t blame them. As well as postage, the duo are also answering your questions on the topic of buyers remorse. Listen in to find out why the remo...

This week your two favourite auctioneers are bringing you a special episode recorded at the RNLI charity auction they recently hosted in Lyme Regis. This edition is a mix of stories told from the lifeboat house as well as some of the best bits recorded live during the auction. So if you’ve never had the pleasure, or some would say displeasure of Harry and Simon trying to shake you down for another...

We’re officially the hottest podcast in the country right now… temperature wise that is, as this episode was recorded mid-hottest day on record, poor us. This week Harry and Simon will be talking about making dreams, and breaking them by valuing items. Is the thing you’ve been collecting going to make you millions or have you just been accumulating junk? Also find out why a pastel painting of a co...

Simon's back from holiday...well... Not quite a holiday, but he's back joining Harry to share their best loft anecdotes. As well as that unbelievably exciting topic, the pair are also going to gabble on about panning for gold, running laps of Tesco, why Harry is “one of the good fats” and whether or not Simon should be allowed to post on social media.  CONTACT Instagram @thegavelandthegabble...

This week is a competitive one as Harry is feeling just a little envious of Simon and his TV gig. Listen in for stories of how an audience once stole a 5 star hotel room from the pair, why they dragged a boy (man) into an alleyway and shaved his head, if Nelson had a hammock big enough for two, and what on earth you should do if someone builds a train track on your driveway. CONTACT Instagram @the...

Ever wondered how much that old vase in the attic could go for at auction? In this episode Harry and Simon gabble on about the most expensive items they’ve ever sold at auction and how fake goods almost made it into the saleroom. Find out why Harry demands Battenberg cakes from lovely old dears, why they arranged a 4 minute trip to Paris, and how one lucky woman turned £1 into £18,000. CONTACT Ins...

Join Harry and Simon as they take you behind the scenes of a real auction house, telling you what they’ve sold and who they’ve annoyed this week. Listen in to hear their weirdest stories including finding a snake named Sid in bed and turning up at a house full of nuclear waste. You’ll also learn why Simon has the most famous elbow in the UK, if muffin cookers even exist, and if some spears were ju...

The Gavel and The Gabble is a podcast hosted by Harry and Simon who, together, are lucky enough to run two provincial Auction Houses in Windsor, Berkshire and Seaton, Devon. Now we know there are lots of TV shows about buying and selling antiques and collectables but we thought followers of this podcast would like to hear about what goes on behind the scenes of an actual working auction house, as...