About
Kim Roberts and his workshop team in Hawick.
Having previously worked as a restorer in the south of England, in 1980 I moved to Hawick and started up my own antique restoration business, called Chisholme Antiques. I then embarked on a sustained policy of developing and broadening the scope of the business, some of the fruits of which you can see on this site.
In 1990 David Black, historic buildings consultant and author, appeared at my door and we ended up having a long conversation about composition fireplaces, some of which I had made for clients the previous year. Once my wife had come up with the name 'Thistle & Rose' for this development, we proceeded on the basis that 'if I could make them, he could sell them'.
After about nine months of R & D I invited David to come and look at our first exact facsimile of an Adam chimneypiece, and we were in business. The workshop has made a copy of every piece of composition that has ever passed through our hands and we now have a reasonably comprehensive collection of moulds so that, as happened last year, when a London antique dealer sold a fireplace online, only to discover that he had already sold it to somebody else, we were able to make an exact copy from a photograph and the basic dimensions. Likewise, when a fireplace has been lost through theft, from a photograph and the witness silhouette on the wall we have been able to provide the same service.
Our staff have all been trained 'in house' and each has their own specialisations. It has always been our aim to try and provide a comprehensive service to our customers and to solve their problems for them. We can now say with confidence that we can give our clients pretty much whatever they require, whether it be restoration of furniture, cabinet making or manufacture of fireplaces.
Kim Roberts