Stars of Broadway

A Worthing antiques showroom, based on New Broadway, is celebrating 80 years in business this month.

Wilsons Antiques, which was founded in 1936 by Harold Wilson, is now run by his son Frank, who joined the family firm in 1967 at the age of 18.

With five decades in antiques, specialising in furniture and fine art, Frank has seen many changes, with today’s preference being for light French country-style painted pieces over dark, period  English furniture.

The golden age of Worthing’s antiques peaked from the fifties to eighties when the Sussex town boasted more than 25 antiques shops.

Frank’s discoveries over the years have included a mahogany wash stand from Buckingham Palace, a large settee once exhibited at the Paris World Fair in 1889 and a bronze by renowned Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal.

Customers have been just as varied ranging from a member of the Arab royal family to a Texan beef baron who bought a Victorian oil painting featuring grazing cattle.