Meet the man behind Pilgrim’s Progress

National World - LocalTV

Pilgrims Progress has been on Bridgewater Street for 40 years. Owner Selwyn, left a career in teaching to get into the antiques business

Transcript

00:00The Baltic Triangle is often named as one of the UK's coolest neighbourhoods.

00:05The once industrial area has changed hugely over the years,

00:09but there is one place which has been a mainstay here for decades.

00:13People seem to appreciate what we do,

00:15and a lot of my customers have been coming here for 30, 40 years.

00:19They know my standards, they know the way I like to do things.

00:23So, yeah. But that's the bit I enjoy.

00:25I enjoy the fact that, I mean, at my age now,

00:28I'm doing it as much for the enjoyment as for anything else.

00:31Pilgrim's Progress is run by Salwyn,

00:34who left a career in teaching to get into the antiques business.

00:38My favourite part is people.

00:41I mean, there's so much interest nowadays in things like the repair shop,

00:47and my wife's always going on about,

00:49oh, look at the way things are, how people emotionally get involved.

00:53I get a fair share of it.

00:55Most of the restoration I do nowadays has sentimental value.

00:59It belonged to a father, a grandfather, an uncle, an aunt.

01:03It gets passed through the family, and people want it restored.

01:06And I've had my share of people getting quite emotional

01:10when I've restored something, and it brings back memories.

01:13Liverpool Film Office has been running for 35 years,

01:16and Salwyn has been part of other productions that use our city as a backdrop.

01:20We've been doing lots of film work, really, for over 30 years,

01:23from Brookside to Hollyoaks to all the other little films.

01:26That was ongoing, obviously, up in Chilwar,

01:29to all the other little offshoots that have occurred since then.

01:33It's interesting because you find a little bit about it.

01:36You're asked to use your head to see what was appropriate for that period,

01:41and sometimes people just ask me to suggest furniture that's appropriate.

01:45But Liverpool, yes, because we've got Cobble Street as much as anything else.

01:49As well as selling antique pieces in his workshop,

01:51Salwyn restores heirlooms to their former glory.

01:54Upcycling's very, you know, it's the thing of the moment.

01:57People enjoy it, people get into it,

01:59and I suppose in some way I'm part of that conservation world.

02:03I mean, I can't see any point in buying new

02:06when you can buy a good piece of old furniture,

02:09usually cheaper and certainly far better made.

02:13Four decades on, and it doesn't seem like Salwyn has any plans on slowing down.

02:18I still love it. I still find things interesting.

02:20I think when I stop being interested, then I will retire.

02:23But there's still an interest. There's still quirky things.

02:26There's still interesting things.

02:28And I'm still fascinated.

02:31There's still something to learn all the time.

02:33The three-floor warehouse has been here on Bridgewater Street for over 40 years.

02:38It's situated in a converted 19th-century cotton merchant

02:41and is an Aladdin's cave of furniture and other collectible items.

02:46It's a good-sized building. It's nearly 10,000 square foot.

02:49But we soon fill it.

02:51In fact, we may say we overfill it.

02:54I'm not allowed to take anything home unless I take something away from home.

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