Grandads tool chest and Totem Pole
I was nine when my Grandad died in 1979. He was born in 1909. I remember him well. He always wore a check shirt with a knitted V neck tank top. He had a mop of black hair and he always smelt of putty and baccy. He was a cabinet maker, a skilled tradesman who could always found in his shed at the back of Grannys house. His shed was an Anderson Shelter ,made of corrugated metal, above ground and painted black. I loved the smell of the wood he kept inside it. He would be in there bent over his work bench, making something.
Years later i visited Totem Timber in Plymouth. They are a building merchant. They sell everything you need if doing building work or DIY. Their mascot is a huge totem pole it
stands in the carpark. I parked next to it and went in to buy something. When i came out i noticed that at the base of the totem pole is a stone carved plaque. I gave it a cursory glance . It had my grand dads name on it. Their mascot was carved by a master craftsman who was trained by my Grandad, he made the Totem Pole in honour of him. Bernard George Henry Sly is forever remembered in the carpark at Totem Timber.
Last year when we decided to buy Lanoy, Mum remembered that Grandads tool chest was buried somewhere out in one of the outbuildings. It had old books in it. It was put there and stored when he died in 79...and its been there ever since.
"It would make a lovely blanket box or towel store for the big house" she said "Its massive, about 4ft long and 2ft deep and solid pine"
34 years later.. Over the past few weeks we have uncovered it.. emptied it, scrubbed it, mended it, de wormed it, sanded it and washed it and this evening I have given it a first coat of varnish.
X
Jo.
Years later i visited Totem Timber in Plymouth. They are a building merchant. They sell everything you need if doing building work or DIY. Their mascot is a huge totem pole it
stands in the carpark. I parked next to it and went in to buy something. When i came out i noticed that at the base of the totem pole is a stone carved plaque. I gave it a cursory glance . It had my grand dads name on it. Their mascot was carved by a master craftsman who was trained by my Grandad, he made the Totem Pole in honour of him. Bernard George Henry Sly is forever remembered in the carpark at Totem Timber.
Last year when we decided to buy Lanoy, Mum remembered that Grandads tool chest was buried somewhere out in one of the outbuildings. It had old books in it. It was put there and stored when he died in 79...and its been there ever since.
"It would make a lovely blanket box or towel store for the big house" she said "Its massive, about 4ft long and 2ft deep and solid pine"
34 years later.. Over the past few weeks we have uncovered it.. emptied it, scrubbed it, mended it, de wormed it, sanded it and washed it and this evening I have given it a first coat of varnish.
X
Jo.
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