A hymn to hardware . . . charming . . . This book tells a quirky tale of subculture, a shrine where many of us worship.
In 2018 Tom Fort’s daughter-in-law took over a century-old hardware shop. The family dreamed of developing the shop into one that would become the centre of village life; that much did come true, but not in the way they had expected.
Interweaving the evolution of the shop, its previous owners, the customers it serves and the items it sells, Rivets, Trivets & Galvanised Buckets offers a delightful study of community and shines a light on the eccentricities of ordinary people. Alongside this, it presents a fascinating history of technological development; from who thought of screwdrivers to where the spirit level came from, who devised the process of galvanisation and what genius worked out that a suction pad on the end of a piece of wood could unblock sinks.
As Tom recounts – ‘A little girl came with her father into Heath and Watkins, looked around for a while and said “Daddy, this is the shop of EVERYTHING”‘. This is the story of how that happened.
Date and Time
13 October 2023 at 11:00 am
Venue
United Reformed Church, Mere
Ticket Prices
£10 per person
Tickets for this talk will be available 01 September for Friends of the Festival, general sale will be available 08 September 2023.
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