This is a bit off the wall, but over the past several years I have become addicted to the British documental series 'Salvage Hunters', which is shown on one of the Spanish TV channels with Spanish subtitles every morning. One of my elderly Spanish neighbours loves it and he first put me on to it.
The main protagonist, antiques dealer Drew Pritchard, is a bit marmite. You either love him or hate him. I think the series ran for many years, so as well as his antique buying adventures, you get to see how his life evolved. He started with just a warehouse up in Conwy, North Wales, then he bought and fitted out a prestige shop in the high street, as well as selling online. He was assisted by his wife Rebecca, plus a small group of staff and some very talented restorers.
In the show, he travels around searching for antiques with his sidekick Tee in a white van, and over the years he has been shown visiting all sorts of venues in the UK and all over Europe, including country houses and castles, factories, shops, schools churches, other dealers and antiques fairs and markets.
Eventually his marriage broke up (playing away with an acquaintance's wife, according to the internet), the business downsized and he sold the shop. The final fascinating iteration of the series shows Drew realising a life's ambition. He bought a tall Georgian terraced house in Bath built in 1790 which had been converted into flats over the years and needed massive restoration. How he and a small team of experts did it was brilliant viewing if you have any interest at all in the subject of building and restoration. He had to sell everything he had and more to do the work (reminded me of the Tom Hanks film 'The Money Pit'), but the end result was amazing. Everything used was authentic as much as possible, including a new roof using Welsh slate, restored sash windows which alone cost £200,000, organic paints made in Herefordshire, and antique Victorian bathroom fixtures and fittings. The setbacks the team had to overcome were jaw dropping, including rotting wooden beams in the basement which put the house in imminent danger of total collapse. When the top floor was finished, he moved in because he'd had to sell his cottage in Conwy to raise funds and was homeless! What a batchelor pad. I read that the house was finally completed last year.
It's still shown in the UK on one of those weird retro channels. It's compulsive viewing, I can't recommend it highly enough.
. My wife said earlier, ‘well they must know it’s Cat, as they were bound to pick a female traitor’. Didn’t like to admit that I hadn’t thought of that. If someone twigs that they’ll regret murdering Celia…although it was because of where she was sat.
