Weighing Things Up…

Weighing Things Up…

Last week we’d been watching a programme on BBC called, ‘Flipping Profit’, where three different experts buy or upcycle items, then try to sell them at a profit. Each episode has an Upcycler, an Antiques dealer and a Trader and, of course, we’re always rooting for the Upcycler to win. Anyway, in the background on one episode I spotted a set of red Vintage Scales and had the bright idea that a vintage set of Avery industrial floor scales would look good in the kitchen in an alcove, with house plants around them.

Breaking the rule that says “never to go on Ebay when red wine has been consumed”, I found what looked like a perfect set, priced at £49.99, in Liverpool. I paid the seller and arranged to collect them on Sunday afternoon – a rare trip to Merseyside, to be combined with a visit to the Cains Brewery Village in Liverpool 8. The village is described as comprising, ‘Workspaces and venues for the independent thinkers, makers and innovators to start brewing their ideas’ It’s an eclectic mix of Vintage Stalls, Hipster Barbers, and General Junk, plus it also has a large eating hall with lots of different street foods available.

So, back to the scales. The M6 was at its benign best and we got to the guy’s house who was selling them, a little early. He kindly got his son to help us move them towards Absinthe, but they were huge, weighed far too much for one person to lift and there was some doubt as to whether they’d even fit in the van. After a bit of ‘umming’ and ‘erring’ I decided we couldn’t take them. I apologised to the guy selling them (who was great about it, by the way) and we came to a compromise on a refund. I think we’d dodged a bullet because I’d no idea how we’d have got them out of the van and into the kitchen.

Onward, then, to Liverpool 8 to try to find Cains Brewery. The SatNav took us down some dodgy looking back streets before we took things into our own hands and found our way into the car park.

We popped into a Vintage Clothing unit before going into the brewery proper. They had as good a range of stock as I’ve seen in any vintage outlet – with lots of gents clothes too, which is quite unusual.

It was cold to say the least inside the main building – how the traders can spend 8 hours in there without heating beats me. What it’s like in Winter, I can’t imagine.

Amazingly, Alison didn’t buy anything (apart from some Chilli Mayonnaise) – she must be getting more discerning with her shopping, I guess.

We headed outside for a look around – there’s a newly opened Peaky Blinders bar and a couple of Craft Ale bars too.

The Baltic Food Market on site, does a wide range of Street Food, but it was heaving and seats at the communal tables were at a premium, so we headed out to Tusk, which is just round the corner, for a snack and a brew before heading back to the van.

We didn’t have time to stop on the way through Liverpool to do the touristy things, but I did grab a couple of shots of the Liver Building just to prove we’d been there.

A good trip out on a Sunday afternoon. Who knows, it may tempt us back to Liverpool again…

Things We’ve Learned

Never buy things on Ebay after a couple of bottles of red

Alison can resist the retail urge

Peaky Blinders with a Scouse accent isn’t quite the same

There’s a full set of photos here: FLICKR