Inside the Aladdin's cave of hidden gems and collectable items that has served Liverpool for 40 years

Often named one of the UK’s coolest neighbourhoods, the once-industrial Baltic Triangle area has changed massively over the years but, there is one place which has been a mainstay here for decades. Pilgrims Progress has been on Bridgewater Street for 40 years.

The three-floor warehouse is situated in a converted 19th-century cotton merchants and is an Aladdin’s cave of furniture and other collectable items. Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and early modern furniture, crafted in walnut, mahogany, oak and ash takes up almost every bit of square foot in the warehouse.

Owner Selwyn, who left a career in teaching to get into the antiques business told LiverpoolWorld: "I mean, I can’t see any point in buying new when you can buy a good piece of old furniture usually cheaper and certainly better made or it wouldn’t still be here 100 years later."

Liverpool Film Office has been running for 35 years and Selwyn has been part of the productions that use our city as a backdrop. He said: "We do a lot of props for films so you need array of bits and pieces for them to use in different periods settings whether it be early period or whether it be 20s 30s 50s 70s so I tend to have a few bits of each period which if somebody was furnishing a set, they’d be able to come here and I’d be able to loan it to them."

As well as selling antique pieces, in his workshop, Selwyn restores heirlooms to their former glory. "Most of the restoration I do nowadays has sentimental value; it belonged to a father, a grandfather, an uncle an aunt, it gets passed through the family and people want to restore it. I’ve had my share of people getting quite emotional when I’ve restored something that brings back memories,” he explained.

Four decades on, it doesn't seem like Selwyn has any plans of slowing down as he noted: "I still love it, I still find things interesting. I think when I stop being interested then I will retire."