The "Ironmongers" that time will not forget J H ADAMS

[toolsntat]

During our visit to http://www.prickwillow-engine-museum.co.uk/ I was given as a present the DVD "The Fenland Shop that Time Forgot" which is a fascinating insight into the life and times of JH Adams & Sons Ironmongers Littleport and the people who frequented this establishment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-HPOVDBmrs
Sad to say it is now gone but thanks to this http://www.familyadamsproject.org.uk/ it will still have a presence =D>
Wish I could have been there when they were uncovering the past....
There are some great pictures in the Archive Albums section.
Having spent some time reading the correspondence from some of their suppliers it is interesting to see how hard they were fighting in 1926 to keep hold of valuable franchises and stay sole agents for the village/area. This was a real eye opener and shows the behind the scenes work involved in the business.

Hope you enjoy the story and documentation as much as me and if the old shop does open up as a museum can I have "first dibs" on the curators position 8) :lol:
https://www.facebook.com/familyadamsprojectlittleport

Andy

 

[toolsntat]

Ah well, may as well stop having illusions of being the curator

Just found this :shock: :shock:

http://pa.eastcambs.gov.uk/online-appli ... =firstPage

Andy

Edit; there may be a little museum :roll: (but I was hoping for more room than that #-o )

 

[paultnl]

As a resident of Littleport, I cannot tell you how sad I was when Adams closed. They had "magic" draws that could produce almost any screw, nut, bolt or hinge on demand and staff that could find exactly the right thing from the vaguest description (I am sure there was telepathy involved).

The only downside to the proposed museum is that I was unable to buy any of the magnificently aged shop furniture. I really wanted some of those magic drawers

 

[toolsntat]

As a resident of Littleport, I cannot tell you how sad I was when Adams closed. They had "magic" draws that could produce almost any screw, nut, bolt or hinge on demand and staff that could find exactly the right thing from the vaguest description (I am sure there was telepathy involved).

The only downside to the proposed museum is that I was unable to buy any of the magnificently aged shop furniture. I really wanted some of those magic drawers

Eeek!! surely those drawers should have been the focal point for any undertaking :shock: :shock:
Is it now all empty then?

Andy

 

[nathandavies]

Our excellent local ironmongers called Towy Works in Carmarthen has magic drawers. I went in there one day and asked " I don't know if such a thing exists, but have you got a fixing that is wood screw at one end, and threaded rod at the other?" the guy behind the counter said " What size?" and went and got them.

 

[AndyT]

What a wonderful place Andy!

Did you read Gary Cook's post about a similar place in Hackney - also recently closed - http://hackneytools.com/2013/06/goodbye-to-w-h-clark/?

 

[paultnl]

As a resident of Littleport, I cannot tell you how sad I was when Adams closed. They had "magic" draws that could produce almost any screw, nut, bolt or hinge on demand and staff that could find exactly the right thing from the vaguest description (I am sure there was telepathy involved).

The only downside to the proposed museum is that I was unable to buy any of the magnificently aged shop furniture. I really wanted some of those magic drawers

Eeek!! surely those drawers should have been the focal point for any undertaking :shock: :shock:
Is it now all empty then?

Andy

As far as I know it is all still there. When I asked about the fixtures and fittings during the close down they said that they weren't for sale.

 

[Glynne]

Probably a pure coincidence but there is an amazing little hardware store in my neck of the woods: -
Adams Hardware (Sutton Coldfield) Ltd.
This has been around for ages (certainly well before I arrived in 1982) and is one of those shops who seem to stock everything and if they don't, they know where you can get them from. They will sell "one offs" rather than packets of bits and it just takes you back in time to go in there.
The shop is a bit out on a limb from the main shops in Sutton and you are unlikely to come across it by accident but it is well worth a visit if you are around.

 

[Cottonwood]

I just looked at Gary's slide show, it must be highly unusual to see a collection of old buildings like that in London thesse days. No doubt hackney council are happy, the site will presumably be razed and redeveloped into yet more inane offices or retail units or whatever?
Any way, it reminded me of when I lived in London, early 80's. I once went to Hackney with a mate. We went into a derelict premises under the arches. It used to be a furniture factory, there was still a rusted old saw bench in place, and dozens of old rusty blades up on the walls on nails. You could see where they did staining and finishing. It struck me that at one time lots of people worked here, there must have been hundreds of small workshops, factories, foundries, yards etc mixed in among the houses and schools markets and shops. Lots of thriving small business enterprise. A modern retail park doesnt quite hold the same appeal for me personally.
I also remember going into a tool shop up Islington way, (Ammetts I think it was called??), another place that was the old fashioned ironmongers type of place, where they didnt get offended if you went in and said give me a ******* file... :lol: Any way I went in there once with my Daddy C1972 to buy a tenon saw and a screwdriver with some birthday money. I still remember asking the owner how much is a tenon saw? OOh they aint cheap son....! I paid a guinea for both tools in the end....

 

[AndyT]

I've just been back and had a proper look at the project website - http://www.familyadamsproject.org.uk/

Wow!!

This time I was on a PC and could look at the photo slideshows that don't work on a tablet - it really is well worth a proper look. A real survivor from times past.

But now I have questions which the project site does not seem to answer...

- If the shop is now to be re-modelled (as per the planning application) what has happened or will happen to all those wonderful fittings?
- What about all the 'new old stock' from the C19th? Is there a special ebay for museums so places like the Black Country Museum, Ironbridge, St Fagan's, Amberley etc get first dibs on this rare stuff?
- and while the photos are lovely (in a Sunday Supplement style) they make no attempt to identify what the objects are - is anyone doing that?

I will find 45 minutes to watch the full video as soon as I can...which is presumably what you have on your DVD Andy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ofHFK2wC0#t=114

 

[Paul Chapman]

What a fantastic shop. Thanks for posting that Youtube link, Andy - watched the first bit, will watch the rest later.

To think, every town had shops like that years ago and all we have now are rubbish stores like B&Q......very sad

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Tony Spear]

And then there's this:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/headli ... 480_years/

I just hope that Laurence is still keeping his head above water:

https://plus.google.com/101624905760422 ... t&socpid=1

 

[undergroundhunter]

This is such a shame places like this should be conserved, I wonder if they are retiring due to lack of business or have just had enough. The forge in the 45min video should certainly be made into a living museum as kids these days have little appreciation of how things were/are made. Just for the record I am 25 and love anything like this but most people my age haven't got a clue about "craft" and skill.

Matt

 

[toolsntat]

Cheers for replying :wink:
Did not know the film was online :roll:

I wonder if they were fighting their corner all along or it just happened to be that around 1926 it got a bit sticky for them?
Mind you how come Miss Adams did all that swotting at uni to get a degree to be a teacher and then chucks it all for the shop?
Also I noticed that in the picture of her on the bike trailer, does she(born1903) look 38 years younger than her Uncle Alf(born1865)?
I wonder if they have more years of paperwork (did you notice the spike holes? 8) ) and if so I would love to go through it. Maybe Mr Norris gets a mention!!

The pictures are nice but would love to see more and I did enjoy identifying the 11 items hanging on the boarding between the window and shelving(*** Finds No 63) :roll: Can you?

The giving to the poor at Christmas was a nice thing to hear about

Having recently become the proud owner of several "skate gimlets" I was surprised they were not mentioned but must say the skate repairing jig made up for it 8) 8)

3 items shouted "buy me " while watching.....
Warwick Tyres wall clock =P~ =P~
The cast iron garden roller.
The embossing die (one side missing?) for the brass Adams plates.

Wonder how much of it was skipped/scrapped after closing?
Probably best I weren't there :roll:

Andy

 

[dickm]

There are similar tales to be told of lots of little ironmongers around the country. When we first moved to Milton Keynes (almost before it existed) there was a very short chain of family ironmongers (Odells) in Newport Pagnell and Stony Stratford. The one in Newport was particularly fine, run by a stone-deaf Odell brother and an Irish assistant whose brogue was almost impenetrable. That was a restaurant last time we were there, although the Stony branch had modernised and become indistinguishable from any other small shop.
There were similar treasure houses in Presteigne (closed about 40 years ago, still containing stock from the 1850s) and one in Montgomery that was still going about 10 years ago. Our local garage up here in the Arctic wastes beyone Aberdeen makes a pretty good job of emulating such a place and is usually cheaper than the big boys.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The one in Montgomery is still going - Bunners - it's a bit of a local institution. They do all sorts; tractor overhauls, general ironmongery, wood-burning stoves....

They've even got a website! - http://www.bunners.co.uk/