Cambs Antiques Centre and The Hive on Gwydir Street have featured on more than 15 episodes of the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip – with the most recent filmed early in the spring due out later this year.
Sheila Grisham, who manages Cambs Antiques Centre for owner Stephen Hunt, has made a number of appearances on the show. She said: “It is always good for business. We will often get people call or come in who have seen it on TV.”
Cambs Antiques Centre is next door to The Hive, co-owned by dealers Anita Morgan and Brenda Blakemore. Both businesses have also been boosted by the return of visitors to the David Parr House museum opposite, which reopened in September.
Billy Deadman, who manages The Hive, said: “They bring us a lot of trade and have bought Victorian items for their visitor centre from us. We all work together to promote the area.”
David Parr House at 186 Gwydir Street was the home of Victorian decorative artist David Parr. He was employed by the Cambridge firm FR Leach & Sons which worked with Victorian Arts & Crafts architects and designers including George Frederick Bodley, William Morris and Charles Eamer Kempe.
Parr spent 40 years decorating the interior of his home with elaborate neo-Gothic designs. It is now owned by a charity and the house next door has been converted into a visitor centre. The museum was launched in 2019 and reopened last month after pandemic-related closure. Small tours can be booked in advance.
