John and Carole Matthews

We were delighted to welcome John and Carole, who run the Vintage Garden Store, based in Redditch.  They had lined up several dozen of their carefully-restored garden tools and utensils, variously dating from the mid-nineteenth century through to the end of the second world war.  John presented and described each one in turn, explaining its origin, manufacturer(s) and often very specific uses of the tools.  Who knew that there were so many different types of forks, spades, hoes and hand-tools?!

The talk was of great interest to the engineers, gardeners and nostalgists amongst us, and most of the audience eagerly gathered around during the break to ask questions and take a closer look at the (now) increasingly rare and curious objects that John and Carole had brought along.  “Our family used to have one of those” became a familiar refrain during the meeting.