Within two minutes I realised this house was an absolute gem. Just as the estate agent was walking out, I said, 'I'll give you this much for it. No survey. And I'll give you the deposit immediately. Take it off the market now'. I've been working on it ever since." His opinion of the value of his vocation extends as far as to say that antiques dealers do more good for the world than any other trade associated with housing and interiors. “We save more, we understand more, we fix more. And we teach more than any other trade. Nobody comes close.” So far so good. Then: “And don’t be a tourist; you see these ladies turning up at Ardingly at about 9am in a silly hat, expensive coat and wellies and you know ‘everything went four hours ago love’ so –get there early. I love the fact that it impinges on every aspect of my world. I want it to. I want it to soak into my bones. I like that. It’s a brilliant life, but you’d better be ready to work your a--- off. The work never stops.” We have been trained to buy new but don’t be afraid of buying old. Break the cycle by buying something with soul. There is a story attached to it and you can find someone to restore it and the love affair starts.”

At the age of eight his mother took him to buy shoes in Conwy, getting them from a double-fronted shop. More than the shoes, young Drew was entranced by the look of the building and, almost four decades later, it was his. Mr Pritchard is being a bit disingenuous here, I have watched many episodes of Salvage Hunters and a few of the spin off restoration programme. He has not only bought and sold painted furniture, but he has also had his restorers paint pieces. I think his comments amount to ‘I am the arbiter of what is, and is not acceptable’ and hopefully is somewhat tongue in cheek, however passionately expressed. A star on hit shows Salvage Hunters and Salvage Hunters: The Restorers says he is being forced to consider his future as costs spiral. Expert upholsterer Craig Hughes, from Colwyn Bay, has been a regular alongside Conwy antiques dealer Drew Pritchard on Salvage Hunters and a presenter on the spin off show. It’s so quiet here,” he said when placing it up for sale. “When I first moved I freaked out because of this strange noise which turned out to be the cows munching grass.

Drew Pritchard set himself up as a dealer when he was a teenager, rooting around in scrapyards, working out of a shed and getting about in a ropy old Transit. Now he's a leading figure in the antiques trade with an international online business, and he's hugely popular presenter of hit TV show Salvage Hunters. But he's still as driven by the thrill of the find as he was forty years ago. He's known to millions of viewers around the world as the star of Salvage Hunters. And, for Drew Pritchard, digging out treasures has been with him since childhood. Reading Pritchard’s book opened my eyes to how much work is needed to do well. Even when you’ve been in the business for decades. “That’s the reality. It’s flat out,” says Pritchard. You can be a dabbler. “But it’s like dabbling in brain surgery. Saying, ‘I do a bit of brain surgery at the weekend’ is fine, but you’re never going to be good at it.” He groans at the very mention of them. “I wish I’d never put that out there.” He’s bored to tears with people asking him about them. “It’s just become this behemoth.”

A flat cap among silver spoons and old school ties, our favourite no-bullshit expert may be a one-off, but his story makes us all dream of that obscure piece of antiquity gathering dust in the garden shed... As a family we’ve had great times, it’s a great party house. No matter where I was on a buying trip, I’d travel four or five hours just to get home for the night.”I’d love to be right on about this and PC but no it’s not ok because you have vandalised your environment and put something tasteless and cheap and nasty into it, and even it wasn’t that way you’ve made it that way and you’re not learning from it and it will go out of this small phase and still be something worthless so you have wasted your money [when you could have gone out and bought] something beautiful. Of all the people who read the book he hopes just one person might get “it” and go on to be brilliant. There's a lot in there you may have heard and a lot you won't have... some wrongs righted and some myths dispelled... Thanks for reading... and here's to the next one... NOW that's really something I want to share...