On 23rd June 1995, Drew Pritchard, the star of the Discovery and Quest\u2019s Salvage Hunters<\/em>, moved into a Methodist chapel in the Conwy countryside in North Wales. He was then just 25 years old and it was the first property he\u2019d ever owned.<\/p> \u2018Oh, it was a total mess,\u2019 he says. \u2018Completely derelict. There was no water, no drains, no planning permission. A friend told me I\u2019d be better off pulling it down and starting all over again.\u2019<\/p> You might also like<\/strong> what to watch on TV if you love antiques and interiors<\/a><\/p> Over twenty years later \u2013 with the chapel now completely renovated and every corner crammed with lovely things \u2013 and the man the press calls the \u2018junkyard genius\u2019 has now sold this property and moved elsewhere.<\/p> \u2018I\u2019m not sentimental,\u2019 he explains. \u2018It\u2019s a mistake to be sentimental in my business. You end up hanging on to things you should be selling, with the result that you make no money at all.\u2019<\/p> Pritchard\u2019s Conwy chapel was filled with all manner of extraordinary antiques, including a lavatory that once belonged to Mick Jagger (Pritchard bought it from his plumber).<\/p> A beautiful late-Victorian painted screen with a large flamingo on it (discovered in the kitchen<\/a> of a house he was clearing, where it was stuck between cooker and fridge to protect the latter from spitting fat).<\/p> But above all, a vast amount of reclaimed ecclesiastical pieces<\/a>: crosses, statues, pews, kneelers, even an altar. \u2018In the last 20 years, I\u2019ve cleared more than 500 religious buildings. I own so many kneelers, I hardly know what to do with them. When my kids were small, they would use them to climb up to the dining table,\u2019 he laughs.<\/p> You might also like<\/strong> meet the dealers championing salvage and reclamation yards<\/a><\/p> Pritchard grew up in Glan Conwy. His father was a sign writer. \u2018The family would go away in our VW camper van and, from the age of eight, my parents would take us around museums<\/a>. It was my father who taught me how to look at things. Even as a young child I couldn\u2019t understand why people would buy new things. I used to think, \u201cAre you mad? Why not buy something old?\u201d\u2019<\/p> He left school as soon as possible and was apprenticed as a stained-glass restorer. It was this trade that led him, eventually, to the antiques business. He began working for himself at 23. His clients now include Ralph Lauren and the chef Marco Pierre White.<\/p> He also sells via his website<\/a> and North Wales antiques showroom. Among the recent arrivals are a 19th-century pawn brokers sign, exquisite antique plaster masks and a magnificent mahogany breakfront bookcase, plus his recent collection<\/a> of heritage-inspired sofas and armchairs designed in collaboration with Barker and Stonehouse.<\/p> How does he know what he likes? It\u2019s a gut thing. \u2018It\u2019s hard to explain. I just have to have something. It\u2019s a Christmas-morning feeling. I have an imaginary house in my head and when I see things, I put them in it. I\u2019m not an antiques dealer so I\u2019m not interested in an object\u2019s age; it could be 16th century or 21st century. I\u2019m not interested in its value either; it could be worth \u00a350 or \u00a350,000. All I care about is how it looks. The patina<\/a> of something or how tatty it is, that\u2019s all part of what I\u2019m looking for. When it\u2019s right, it\u2019s right and you do get better at knowing that over the years.\u2019<\/p> He gets what he calls an \u2018artistic kick\u2019 out of odd juxtapositions, the placing of unlikely objects next to one another. So what would he most like to own in all the world? \u2018I collect old cars, so it has to be a type 35 Bugatti.\u2019 For a practical man, he sounds almost dreamy at the thought\u2026<\/p> ![\""Drew\"](\""https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/03\/MG_4196-RS-3c175f0-e1f6e01.jpeg"\/\"\/)
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