Selwyn Hyam’s antiques have featured in prominent films and TV series including Peaky Blinders, Sherlock Holmes and Brookside
Selwyn Hyams, owner of Pilgrims Progress (Image: Liverpool Echo)
The Baltic Triangle, wedged between Chinatown and Liverpool’s cathedrals on one side and the Albert Dock on the other, is known as one of the UK’s coolest neighbourhoods. The formerly industrial area has undergone significant transformation over the years – but one establishment has remained a constant for decades.
Located on Bridgewater Street, Pilgrims Progress opened in the mid-1980s. Situated in a converted 19th-century cotton merchants, the three-floor warehouse is a treasure trove of antiques, furniture and other trinkets. Every inch of the warehouse is taken up with Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and modern pieces, crafted in varying tones of mahogany, walnut and oak.
Each floor is different: the basement displays different styles of mid-century modern furniture, while on the first floor is a showroom, set out in various periods. The antiques often appeal to set designers, with furniture featured in prominent films and television series that have used the city as a backdrop, including Peaky Blinders, Sherlock Holmes, Brookside and upcoming BBC crime drama The Cage.
Owner Selwyn Hyams, has been running his antiques business for 40 years, driven by a deep appreciation for craftsmanship and the natural beauty of wood.
Selwyn Hyams, owner of Pilgrim’s Progress Antiques at work in the woodwork shop(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The 74-year-old, who originally trained as a physics teacher, said he “fell into” the antiques and restoration business when a walnut wardrobe strapped to the roof of his car was ruined in a rainstorm.
He told the ECHO: “I remember it was a very wet day. All the polish had disappeared, and it looked really bad. I decided to strip it, and underneath was this beautiful golden walnut.”
But 40 years ago, Selwyn said running a business in the Baltic Triangle meant navigating daily threats and uncertainty. Selwyn, from Aigburth, described the area in the 1980s as impoverished and crime-ridden.
He said: “I had staff sitting in customers’ cars to stop them from being robbed. One of my employees was even beaten for intervening in a theft.”
Pilgrim’s Progress antiques(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Street violence was common, and Selwyn himself was often targeted. He said: “If I stood outside, I’d get a brick or an egg thrown at me. But a lot of the people who threw the stones and did the robbing are now quite respectable. I’ve come across many of them who admitted they used to rob me. Things do change – not everybody stays like that.”
Thanks to widespread regeneration in the city, the Baltic Triangle has since evolved into a vibrant and diverse area.
Selwyn said: “It’s a nice area now. It’s gone from a place where you couldn’t walk out without trouble to a place where you hear different languages and lots of students from different countries. To an extent, I can leave the door open – I don’t have to worry about having a brick thrown at me or having my windows smashed in.”
In an age of fast furniture and mass production, Selwyn champions the value of old, well-made pieces. He said: “You can still get top quality furniture but it will cost you a lot of money. So buying antiques and older furniture is actually a very cheap alternative nowadays.
Nicky, a furniture restorer at work(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“It’s cheap, well-made furniture that doesn’t fall apart. With old furniture you can take it apart and put it back together many times because it’s so well made.”
But beyond the craftsmanship, restoring furniture is about more than just wood and polish – it’s about preserving the stories that come with them. Selwyn frequently restores pieces of deep sentimental value, such as a recently completed settee that left one client in tears.
He said: “I restored a bench that he remembers his uncle sitting on as a child. He used to sit there after a meal and have a small glass of port.
“It was a complete wreck. The legs were all in a state of disrepair, the back had split, the material had split; it had lost all the colour out of it. By the time I’d finished, we took it to his house and he just choked up in front of me. He said he was so pleased to see it and have the memories that go with it.”
Pilgrims Progess can be found at 1A Bridgwater Street, Liverpool, L1 0AR