Laurie Scully outside her welcoming antiques shop in the village of East Boldon.
Photo courtesy of Shields Gazette/National World
We have featured in this column plenty of quirky locations for antique centres and shops including churches, mills, pubs, people’s front rooms and a couple of narrowboats.
And here’s another. Dealer Laurie Scully has opened an antiques business called Laurie’s in a former chicken house/mushroom farm in East Boldon, one of three villages called The Boldons in south Tyneside.
Laurie’s is one long broken-up room which Scully, who has made regular appearances on ITV’s Dickinson’s Real Deal, has packed tight with antiques and vintage pieces as well as some of her own craft stock.
To add to the attraction the hospitable dealer offers tea, coffee and a menu of 40 types of biscuit served at a table in the middle of the shop.
An interior scene of Laurie Scully's antiques shop.
Better setting
This is Scully’s second shop of the same name in the Boldons.
She opened the first in 2021 in the village of Boldon Colliery with the developmental support of a local enterprise agency. Her new business, which is now her sole shop, is “in a fantastic location and I am much busier business-wise. It’s a more relaxed setting than my first shop and the size of the space is brilliant so I can display my antiques better.”
She adds: “Old and new customers have been popping in and the feedback has been really positive.”
Business is so upbeat that Scully is taking on a member of staff so that she has more time to stand at a few fairs including the Wolsingham Antique and Salvage Fair (see below).
Laurie’s is open from Thursday to Sunday inclusive and to see what is happening at the shop, opposite a duck pond in Tile Shed Lane next to Greenfingers Nurseries in East Boldon, visit Facebook.
Wolsingham views
A view from Wolsingham Antique and Salvage Fair.
The two-day Wolsingham Antique and Salvage Fair is held three times a year at the Wolsingham Showground in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.
The next is on July 13-14. Organiser Ken Besford of Durham Promotions NE said: “The Wolsingham Showground is a magnificent 47-acre site in the Wear Valley with views to match and this is our third year for the fair which is growing all the time.
“We usually have between 70-80 dealers from all around the country including Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Cumbria as well as some from Scotland and Wales. They are all very supportive with some seeing record-breaking takings.”
