FACILTIES FRIDAY: MASTER CRAFTSMAN, BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERS!

We spotlight C Relph Ltd, owned and run by Colin, a master craftsman with nearly four decades in set construction whose work has shaped some of the Northwest’s most distinctive productions – none more so than Peaky Blinders.

Colin first entered the industry in 1989 at just 19, joining the team behind Brookside and building sets out of a tiny garage tucked behind one of the bungalows on Brookside Close. From those early days, he went on to help establish the on-screen infrastructure for the likes of Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, working on both for well over a decade and becoming part of the region’s television backbone. Colin is now based in Knowsley, after five years at the Trafford on a site regularly used by Peaky Blinders and continues to bring his craft to productions that demand detail, scale and imagination. 

Across four seasons of Peaky Blinders and now ‘The Immortal Man’, the show has become one of the defining projects of Colin’s career. Season 3 stands out in particular: constructing a large-scale treasury complete with sweeping brick arches from scratch, “a cracker build!” Season 6 pushed the team even further, taking them more than nine hours north to Portsoy in Scotland, a remote coastal town chosen to become 1930s Miquelon. Filmed during lockdown, the team had full access to the harbour with no interruptions, allowing them to build expansive period environments with unusual freedom. As Colin puts it, “Because we had the run of the place… it just looked like a film, the result was out of this world.” 

 For The Immortal Man, he and the team delivered major builds across Birmingham, Bradford, Liverpool and London, from the mud of the Jam Factory in Aintree to grand set pieces surrounding St George’s Hall, as well as crafting the film’s ornate Romani caravans. His portfolio stretches far beyond Peakys. Work on Lady Chatterley’s Lover brought high‑quality, detail-rich builds, and his work on the upcoming ‘Clayface’ has to be seen to be believed. Their philosophy stays the same across every project: “If you can draw it, we can build it (as long as the budget can keep up!)” 

Looking back across 37 years in the industry, Colin’s advice is simple: be open and enjoy the unexpected. “Every day’s a school day. The weirder and wackier the thing, the better.” From tiny garages to sprawling harbour builds, from Liverpool soaps to global period dramas, his work continues to bring depth, authenticity and ambition to the worlds seen on screen, with Peaky Blinders remaining one of the proudest chapters in a long and remarkable career. 

Get in touch: 07795 253911