Rivets, Trivets and Galvanised Buckets: Life in the village hardware
'A hymn to hardware, charming, lyrical' - The Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE WEEK
'A paean to DIY' - The Times'Strung together very agreeably, with dry wit and, dare I say it, considerable polish' - Country LifeIn 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, 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.Tom Fort was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1978 he joined the BBC in London where he worked in the BBC Radio newsroom for 22 years. He lives in South Oxfordshire with his wife and two of his children. Two of his books have been selected for BBC R4's 'Book of the Week.'
Author: Tom Fort
Format: Hardback, 336 pages, 164mm x 236mm, 560 g
Published: 2023, Headline Publishing Group, United Kingdom
Genre: History: Specific Subjects
'A hymn to hardware, charming, lyrical' - The Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE WEEK
'A paean to DIY' - The Times'Strung together very agreeably, with dry wit and, dare I say it, considerable polish' - Country LifeIn 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, 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.Tom Fort was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1978 he joined the BBC in London where he worked in the BBC Radio newsroom for 22 years. He lives in South Oxfordshire with his wife and two of his children. Two of his books have been selected for BBC R4's 'Book of the Week.'