Making history (From Free Press Series)

Making history

Home and garden makeover shows on television may only offer budget solutions for DIY enthusiasts but they have had a major spin-off in the world of architectural antiques.

The customers, it seems, are getting younger and younger and snapping up all manner of Victorian and Georgian treasures - from gargoyles and chimney pots to baths and Belfast sinks.

In the 17 years since the business started, Gallop and Rivers - based at Ty'r Ash Farm near Crickhowell - has counted everyone from footballers to film producers among its clientele.

When one of the original partners, Andy Rivers, left to pursue his acting career, Geraint Gallop carried on the business with his sons Rikki and Jo.

"I came up with the idea when I was renovating cottages and finding it difficult to locate authentic materials," Geraint explained. "I used to travel all over England and Wales to farm sales and auctions. I'd call in at demolition sites and stick my head inside skips. I gradually built up a string of contacts."

Nowadays he and his sons don't need to scour the countryside for architectural antiques - people with interesting things to sell contact them.

"Our pieces have gone into everything from the humblest cottage to the largest mansion. We've sold to footballers, writers, musicians, pop stars and aristocrats," Said Rikki Gallop.

"We've also provided period furnishings and fittings for film, theatre and TV productions.

"But the majority of our customers are ordinary members of the public. In the early days we had to educate buyers about what we had in stock. Now they appreciate that things made over a century ago were of far better quality and will still last longer - and they're full of ideas.

"Rare pieces are always the best sellers - statues, busts, urns, gargoyles, sandstone fonts from chapels and churches.

"People like a bit of history and each piece has a tale to tell. It's not like buying a telly from a shop assistant who has no idea how one model differs from another. We know the background to everything in stock.

"Ten years ago the most popular pieces were for bathrooms and kitchens, now it's mostly building materials such as flagstones, oak beams, windowsills, landscaping materials, bricks, roofing tiles, reclaimed oak and pine flooring.

"There's a big market for local items too - stonework, fireplaces, railings and roof tiles from the terraced houses which were built in the Welsh valleys from the 1850s to the 1900s.

"Because this area is in the National Park the building regulations stipulate that you have to use local stone and reclaimed slate.

"The average age of our customers used to be over 50 and they'd be interested in what we were selling for sentimental reasons. Now we're dealing more and more with thirty-somethings who appreciate quality and want the out-of-the-ordinary.

"The problem is there's less and less available. We used to have stacks of Victorian terracotta lawn edgings, for instance. Now we're down to the last few dozen and we'll be struggling to find any more.

"For that reason we also get things made for us. We searched around on the internet and found a Chinese manufacturer of neo-classical radiators. The company ships them over and we send them away for shotblasting."

Rikki admits he occasionally buys on impulse. He pointed out a dilapidated 200-year-old cider press 'rescued' from a barn in Penhow.

"It might be here for months, even years but it will eventually be 'recycled' as the centrepiece for the roundabout in someone's driveway. You won't find a greener business than this!"