Salvage Hunters

Drew and Viki tour the Midlands as part of the Industrial Heartlands programme. Their journey takes them to a shoemaker who maintains a family business that has been operating for 150 years. They also meet a specialist collector of twentieth‑century lighting.

Industrial Heartlands is a programme formatted as an episode that follows two presenters as they travel around the Midlands. The show’s purpose is to highlight the area’s industrial heritage by taking viewers to local sites and meeting the people who keep traditional crafts alive. Viewers are invited to see how historic trades continue to shape modern life. In this episode, the duo – Drew and Viki – set out on a tour of the Midlands. Their first stop is a shoemaker whose workshop has been run by the same family for a century and a half. They’ve also spent time with a specialist who collects lighting fixtures from the twentieth century. The visit to the shoemaker offers a glimpse into a business that has survived for 150 years, underscoring the endurance of family‑run manufacturing in the region. By observing the workshop, Drew and Viki get a sense of how traditional shoe‑making techniques have been passed down through generations and the enduring quality of their handcrafted products. The meeting with the lighting collector reveals a passion for preserving twentieth‑century illumination design. Through conversation, the presenters learn about the collector’s criteria for selecting pieces and the stories each fixture carries. This segment adds another layer to the episode’s focus on niche crafts that contribute to the Midlands’ industrial narrative.