The toolbox stays where it always was but is - to use the jargon - 'in a better place'. I can look at it without a shudder of shame. And I have issued instructions to myself and others that items from it ARE TO BE RETURNED TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM."

This very readable book has a simple structure held together by the story of one family's revival of a village hardware store in England and the gentle humour of the author and his role in the success of Heath & Watkins. 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. Fort appeals to the craftsman in every reader from the position of a fellow traveller on the journey to accomplishment, perhaps never to arrive. His gentle humour lifts us away from the memory of our past misdeeds. Tom Fort was education at Eton and Balliol Collge, Oxford. On leaving Oxford he went to work as a reporter at the Slough Observer and the Slough Evening Mail before joining the BBC in 1978 where he worked in the BBC Radio newsroom in London for 22 years. A celebration of the quintessential cornerstone of any village in Britain – the shop – in this case a century-old hardware shop in a beautiful Berkshire village.Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth Tom Fort’s musings on the origin of the hardware shop and the roots of DIY, interspersed with the histories of the various items encountered along the way, is a delightful read.

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. Gebunden. Condition: New. Über den AutorrnrnTom 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 and. Following the progress of the restoration of Heath and Watkins is heartwarming, and makes one long for that sense of English village community which many seem to have lost.Each short article gives the reader just enough information to acquaint themselves with the miracle of the ingenious solutions people have found to the problems of running a household. The hardware store is an emporium of solutions to just about everything. Shro and her team build up a wealth of know-how they can share with customers seeking the answer to whatever needs fixing. Strung together very agreeably, with dry wit and, dare I say it, considerable polish’– Country Life Strung together very agreeably, with dry wit and, dare I say it, considerable polish' - Country Life