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Cookham Residents in TV's Boot Sale Challenge

(7 May 2001)

If you remember earlier on in the year LWT approached Cookham.com to see if anyone was interested in taking part in their fourth series of Boot Sale Challenge.   Having seen the article on the Cookham website, Broomhill resident Robin Cruse and friend Jeanette Stevens applied to become contestants on the TV programme currently being shown on ITV, Sundays at 6.05pm. Robin and Jeanette were thrilled to hear that their application was successful and several weeks later found themselves very early Sunday morning on a very cold multi-story carpark in Lewisham, London. “Despite being an unusual site for a boot sale, it was great fun.” says Robin, “We were given £100 to buy the best bargains we could find and these were later valued by the two judges. The two highest valued scores would then go on to the final at a later date.”  “It was really interesting being involved in making a programme like this,” continues Jeanette, “and seeing the techniques used. If we were too fast making a buy, the film crew asked the stall-holder to hand back the money, so they could do the take again! The good thing was that we were allowed to keep all the things we bought.”

And how did they do at valuation time?  “You’ll have to watch the programme on Sunday!” they reply in unison. Robin and Jeanette are on ITV on Sunday 20th May at 6.05pm. 

The Challenge consists of two teams of boot sale enthusiasts competing against each other to see who can unearth the most valuable goods within a limited budget. The only condition was that the applicants had to live in the LWT region.

The presenter, Lorne Spicer, guides the two teams of contestants through a boot sale somewhere in London and the Southeast. Lorne is joined by expert judges, Mark Oliver from Phillips Auctioneers, and Paul Hetchin, an antique collectibles dealer.

The two teams are given 90 minutes to race around the boot sale in search of that special boot sale bargain, which could be worth a fortune. With Lorne on hand to offer advice, information and handy hints, they could turn their spending money into a lot more! At the end of the show, the teams present their boot sale buys to Mark and Paul who tot up the value of the goods and announce which team has been the most successful bargain hunter. Each week as well as keeping what you buy, the winning team gets to take home a special prize and have the chance of qualifying for the grand final set in an exciting city with an even more exciting prize at stake.  

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