Rivets, Trivets and Galvanised Buckets: Life in the village hardware shop

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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."

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. 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. Strung together very agreeably, with dry wit and, dare I say it, considerable polish' - Country Life 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.

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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. Strung together very agreeably, with dry wit and, dare I say it, considerable polish’– Country Life

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.

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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. A hymn to hardware . . . charming . . . This book tells a quirky tale of subculture, a shrine where many of us worship.