Rivets, Trivets and Galvanised Buckets is a charming and poignant celebration of a
quintessential cornerstone of village life – the local hardware store.
In 2018 Tom Fort’s daughter-in-law bought a century-old hardware shop in a beautiful Berkshire village. The family dreamed of developing the shop into one that would become 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 and 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 everyday objects and technological development; from who thought of screwdrivers to where the Stanley knife 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 to him “Daddy, this is the shop of EVERYTHING”’. This is the story of how that happened.
Beaminster is lucky enough to have its own excellent hardware shop, Larcombes, illustrated here in Tracy Linwood’s beautiful picture.
Kindly supported by Larcombes of Beaminster
- Thursday 29 June 2023, 2.30pm
- St Mary’s Church, Beaminster, DT8 3BA
- Adults Unreserved £12
- Students Under 18 £2