With its eclectic mix of Victorian bonnets and backscratchers, Cobwebs Antiques is something of a local institution in Northallerton. Ruth Addicott talks to owner Susan Edge

IF there is one word guaranteed to set Susan Edge’s teeth on edge, it is “vintage”. She lives and breathes antiques and owns one of the region’s best-loved antiques shops, but as far as Susan is concerned “vintage” is an over-used term for people who don’t know what they are talking about”.

The Northern Echo:
Some of her eclectic stock

Susan has been running Cobwebs Antiques in Northallerton for 16 years, but has been involved in antiques in one form or another all her life. The shop specialises in genuine antique jewellery from the 1800s up to the 1970s. It may be modern or Sixties, but it has all got the British hallmark, she says.

Among the jewellery, there are silver spoons, sets of knives, writing pens and rural animal artefacts including hunting whips, red coats, foxes masks and stock pins. It’s an eclectic mix, but “minimalist” isn’t in Susan’s vocabulary. “If I ever go to a house and it’s a blank canvas, I often find the people in it are the same,” she says.

The shop caters for all budgets with prices ranging from £6.50 for a costume jewellery brooch to £250 for a jet collar necklace in pristine condition. She doesn’t do cards – “no funny money, just cash” – and has nothing more than £400. “We have to be sensible, we’re not in London,” she says.

The most sought-after items at the moment are old kettles, fireguards, trivets and ornaments and utensils to go with wood-burning stoves and like Susan, customers don’t know what is going to come in from one week to the next.

“Some customers have been coming in for years and if I have anything I think they’ll want, I’ll ring them up,” she says. “One chap has a mobility scooter with two great big panniers and a basket on the front and he will get here rain or shine.

It’s the thrill of the chase.”

While some just pop in for a browse, other people are a lot more specific in what they are looking for.

The Northern Echo:
Some of her eclectic stock

“Someone came in who collected backscratchers and she picked up a toasting fork and said, ‘I’ve got 91 now.’ I thought if you’ve got that many, you should know what one is by now, but it’s up to them if they think that’s what it is. I’ve had a few people come in collecting backscratchers over the years.”

Like most antique collectors, Susan has picked up the odd bargain at car boot sales, often pearls for around £2.50 which are worth £200 to £300. (The shop also supplies a knotting service for pearls for around £15).

Some items are more difficult to shift than others, particularly from the Victorian era, when people were a lot smaller. “I’ve got a lovely Victorian bonnet but nobody can get it on,” she says. “I also had a wonderful emerald ring, 18 carat, and the amount of people who tried it on.

I had it three years then someone came in, she wasn’t particularly slim, but had long elegant fingers and it just slid on. When you’ve got something like that, you hang on until you’ve got the right body.”

Susan was born in Ripon and was fascinated with her grandma’s antique jewellery and bedpan as a child. Her grandparents ran a grocer’s shop and she began helping out from the age of five, standing on a box to reach over the counter and learning how to cut a slab of cheese or butter and wrap it with folded corners.

The Northern Echo:
Some of her eclectic stock

Just like her grandparents who worked all their lives, Susan has no plans to retire. “My grandma used to say, ‘ooh, my knees ache’, but it’s a way of life – as long as you enjoy it.” She pauses then adds: “You always hope you’ll find the Middleham Jewel.”

  • Cobwebs antiques, 2-3 Wheldon Terrace, Town Centre, Northallerton, DL7 8QB; T: 01609-489192.