Jeyda Heselton is the new creative consultant for Doorco and a self-labelled Doork. Each month Jeyda will be giving Glass Times an insight into what’s happening in the world of doors, but from a rather different perspective than we are used to seeing. Here’s an introduction to Jeyda, what she does, and what she thought about her first meeting with a “real door person” in a “real door factory”.

What do you like to do in your free time? Perhaps you like to throw around a frisbee, belt out some tunes at the karaoke, ponder the cryptic puzzle or perhaps go for a swim in a pool with questionable hygiene?

For me, it’s door hunting.

It all started with a beautiful looking door on Earls Court Road – I took a photo and thought to myself, “The world needs to see this”, so I set up an Instagram account and shared my find. And that was that. Since then I’ve been frittering away my free time roaming the streets, capturing gems wherever I can and posting them online for the world to enjoy.

There’s something fascinating about a door – something that is common to all people and yet they can take so many different forms. The colours, sizes, textures, features and surrounding area all come together to something completely unique. Whether it’s vibrant and extroverted, or ageing, shabby chic, it makes me think about the owner and the world they live in, and perhaps even gain a sneak peek into their personality.

Now you may think this sounds barmy, but it seems I am not alone; there’s a whole army of door lovers out there who are revelling in the joy of seeing each other’s finds. Search online for common hashtags like #doortraits and #ihavethisthingwithdoors and you’ll find a whole host of fellow doorks.

Following a video interview (https://bbc.in/2tcQE8N) with the BBC about my somewhat strange hobby, the ‘woman obsessed with doors’ ended up on the BBC’s homepage where Dan Sullivan, MD of Doorco, watched it. He got in touch to see if I’d be interested in any kind of collaboration and, all of sudden, the proverbial door was opened.

I met with Doorco to discuss all kinds of creative ideas and I was immediately excited by the company’s plans for the future. I knew very little about composite doors and the manufacturing of them, but when it comes to being creative and what we’d both like to see from doors in the future, we were very much aligned, and I am delighted to have been assigned as creative consultant.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from my visit to Macclesfield. It’s the first time I’ve ever been inside a door factory and had in my mind the door vault from Monster’s Inc with furnishings flying all over. Although not entirely accurate, it was closer that you might think. Doorco’s warehouse is vast, with rows and rows of doors stacked to the ceiling. Dan showed me the areas where people were using all kinds of complex-looking machinery to create the designs, colours and glass seen all over the country. Each station has different specialities and I was excited by all the possibilities.

After the tour, Dan asked for my impressions of the factory, Doorco, and everyone I’d met. I told him that as the first proper door person I’d met, he seemed much more normal than I expected. I travelled back home with ideas buzzing around my head that I can’t wait to share. Until next time!