A Place Where Time Stands Still

A PLACE WHERE TIME STANDS STILL … Alison Neale (@AlisonNeale) longs for the days of dolly tubs and washboards when she visits Swiss Cottage Antiques in Burley …

The world today is set up to make us run around madly, answer emails the second they appear, buy the latest fashions (if only because last season’s fell apart after three washes), see the latest movie, read the latest book, and somehow fit the cooking, grocery shopping and washing into the half hour before bed.

Don’t get me wrong: I love technology and the modern world. I don’t want to revert to beating carpets in the back yard rather than plugging in the vacuum cleaner. I enjoy working busily and, quite frankly, nostalgia would be foolish in any woman. There are, though, elements of the past that I can appreciate. Once upon a time things were slower, more considered, built to last. Furniture was crafted, intended to be handed down to child and grandchild rather than assembled in twenty minutes with the aid of a few swear words. Fashions did change, but fewer dresses were bought and, tailored to the right size, they were intended to wear well.

The reasons for my preference for ‘retro’ and ‘vintage’ items are multifarious: I know that in general they’ll last longer than the ‘Made in China’ tat I can buy today. The wood might be dented but it is also buffed to a shine by years of polishing; the material is unusual and I won’t bump into someone wearing the same coat at every other step; the plate is just like the one on which Grandma used to serve up breakfast, and if I close my eyes for a moment, I can just smell the fried sausages …

So when three weeks ago @culturevultures tweeted about Swiss Cottage Antiques, intrigued, I walked out to take a look. I’m no spendthrift but this was truly Aladdin’s cave, and with temptation around every corner I’d happily have forgotten the password and stayed there forever. I’ll readily admit that I agreed to write about the place just to have an excuse to go back and take another look round!

The day I returned they were trying to get a wind-up gramophone working, and the strains of an ancient record followed me around from room to room … Furniture, glassware, crockery, ornaments, pictures, tiles, jewellery, old tins and adverts, clocks, lamps, cameras and binoculars, baskets, boxes, cashboxes, crates, trays and kitchen ephemera (including – yes! – the exact teasmade that served my morning cup throughout childhood), garden furniture and plant pots, fireplaces and grates, hats, hatboxes and handbags, doorknobs, handles and keyhole covers, suitcases, mirrors, children’s games and rocking horses, doors, sinks … oh, I could go on and on.

Stacked high and deep, you have to hunt around, look, look and look again to find what you want, but I’ll warn you now, those chores will fade into the background and while you just meant to stay twenty minutes, you’ll re-emerge into the sunlight two hours later feeling that not a minute has been wasted.

So, as I have carpets to beat and hearths to scrub – wait, no, books to edit and emails to answer – I’ll leave you with some far more eloquent photographs.

Swiss Cottage Antiques
85 Westfield Crescent (off Burley Road), Leeds
Tel. 0113 2429994
10am-5pm, Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat (i.e. closed Tues and Sun)