Rivets, Trivets and Galvanised Buckets

Tom Fort is a writer, and an angler who aspires to be handy. In 2018, his daughter-in-law, the handy-woman of the family, took over a century old hardware shop called Heath and Watkins. While she was the driving force behind it, the entire family got involved in some capacity.

Fort begins his narrative with a brief history of the shop, which is followed by an account of all the changes and modifications that had to be made once his family took over. Things were going well, when covid hit, and everything was shut down. But hardware shops were deemed essential businesses, so Heath and Watkins stayed open.

The author writes vividly about that strange time in all our lives. Most of us stayed home, and our lives slowed down. But people who ran essential businesses were run off their feet, barely able to meet demand, waiting desperately for supplies, and regularly having to ration items.

The account of life in this particular shop is set in the broader context of hardware shops in general. Fort goes into the history of hardware shops, which used to be called ironmongers. He writes about the many ordinary, everyday items that are sold in hardware shops that have fascinating stories behind them, (like the rivets, trivets, and galvanised buckets in the title), the culture of DIY, the books, magazines, and TV shows that have sprung up around it, and so much more.

I found the narrative thoroughly absorbing, and that is due, as much to the skill of the writer as it is to the subject matter. This is a charming book.