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Please keep this up - not only is it fascinating (my dad's garage/shed was always full of interesting stuff), but it's also educational - I'd never heard of Swedish plate money!
I’d never heard of Swedish plate money!
Neither had I fadda, it's utterly mad, imagine having to slip one of them in your back pocket to get a coffee at the cafe stop! When I googled it to find out what it was another 1/2 Daler plate had sold for $400 at Bonhams in 2010. Steve just had it lying on the workbench with other random bits an pieces.
If only you could add the educational and interest value together with the monetary value of some of these things...
Billings and Spencer of Connecticut , there is one of those screwdrivers on ebay in US in much worse condition , that one you have is likely wort a bit to somebody.
Well there are currently 2240 posts on Watches N+1 so hopefully this will interest a few people.
A Jaeger-LeCoultre G.T.S.P watch from 1939-45. I'm not entirely sure why Steve had this, he'd never mentioned it. They were apparently ordered by the British Military for specific needs, many being used by RAF navigators and bomb aimers. The seconds hand is missing and the face damaged there. I don't know if that's just from age or one of the two occasions he was wounded, either could have damaged much of his kit. It probably sat in his garage from when he moved in in 1982 until I found it and a quick wind up and off it went. I haven't actually checked the timekeeping yet.
Big Like!
Great thread 👍
This reminds me of visiting the Dingwall auction mart to mooch around the stuff for sale on a Friday.
Amongst all the China and furniture, there's always old toolboxes and ancient power tools.
I always find them quite poignant, as they are more than likely there through shed clearance following the owners passing.
I bet everyone has at least one of these old screwdrivers somewhere but maybe not the soldering irons.
I've checked the watch this morning and it's lost 10 minutes over 24 hours so I think I'll look at getting it serviced at some point. I've been trying to think of why he might have been issued it and have one theory. 46 Commando originally only had one mission set for the whole Normandy campaign, in fact it was likely that it would be the only operation they completed of the entire war. On June 7th they were to go and attack whichever of 2 German artillery emplacements were causing the most problems on the landing beaches. They would be landing outside of any of the official landing areas, the Royal Navy had said they could get them in but not out again. The plan was for A&B troops to land first and under fire scale the cliffs putting ropes and ladders in as they went. The other troops would follow behind and then once all ashore and with no heavy weapons, only small arms they were after scaling the cliffs to attack the the emplacements which were defended with barbed wire, minefields and pill boxes. Every troop had a separate roll in the attack, X troop of which Steve was a member had been trained for the unenviable role of actually getting into the emplacements and placing the demolition charges on the guns. I'm guessing that the reason he had been issued with a watch reserved for where very accurate timings were required was so that all of them setting the fuses needed to be sure they were working to the same timings.
Once they'd completed this they would be behind enemy lines and the again with no heavy weapons would have to fight their way back to Juno where they would have been taken back to the Isle of Wight. Fortunately for them the RAF had done a fantastic job in attacking the emplacements ahead of them and neither battery was able to cause significant problems for the main landings. 46 Commando were already in their landing craft when the call was made and they were diverted to Juno.
Some 50 years or more later a few of the remaining members went back to look at the cliffs and the batteries they were meant to attack and concluded that while they may well have succeeded there was almost no chance that any of them would have escaped being killed, wounded or captured trying to get back to the landing beaches. The cliffs turned out to be mostly mud and so crumbly that all their training on Cornish sea cliffs and their equipment would have been almost useless. They all realised on that day just what they owed to the RAF.
So I think it's most likely that the watch was issued for a job that never happened. And Steve being Steve was always going to hang onto it.
I always think watches are such a personal thing (I have my mums crappy, cheap old thing as my only memento).
That watch could be already is an amazing artefact, and if it was sympathetically "fixed up", it would be truly a link back to your buddy Steve...
My old man had a complete set of those screwdrivers and chisels and a full set of wooden planes. When he died and my mum moved we gave them away.
One of the fascinating things for me Kuco is that the garage was full of things some ordinary and some rather less than ordinary but there is something almost anyone can relate to. That watch is an object of great interest just because of when and why it was made but a simple wooden screwdriver that can remind someone of their dad or granddad is just as important an object. And the watch is really no different to fadda's mum's watch in that it's true value is the person it reminds you of.
When we were clearing my grandads garage out (under his supervision aged 98) we found some cool stuff including a dictaphone type arrangement.
None of the shitty wee tapes or digital stuff. This badboy cut vinyl disks.
Put it aside and never saw it again.
Late to this thread but absolutely loving it. I vividly remember the awe and wonder of my Dad's garage as a kid. The strange objects, wonderful smells and a whiff of danger from sharp blades, toxic chemicals and lethal looking power tools. I particularly remember his home made table saw with no guards or safety features whatsoever!
My dad is still with us, but in a newer house with a smaller garage. He is now in his late 80s and still enjoys a potter. At 56 I still turn into a wide eyed kid when I visit and have a rummage through his accumulated stuff and tap into his wisdom for advice on some DIY conundrum. In my teens and twenties I used to take the piss out of his hoarded jam jars full of odd screws, pipe cleaners and widgets. Now I do the same "just in case". I think of my Dad every time I go into my own far less impressive man cave.
Lovely thread, thank you.
This money box is from the 1930's and still has sixpences and old pennies in it. it must have been his when he was a child.
I looked for a key but a bit of googling tells me the keys were kept at the bank, you took your money box in and they opened it and put the money in your account, locked it and sent you off without the temptation of spending any of your pocket money.
It seems there is a branch of HSBC still in the old Midland bank building in Streatham Hill which would have been his local branch so maybe I should go in and ask them to open it 😊
Just wanted to add my voice that this thread is brilliant, and makes me think very fondly of my old man. Cheers and Happy Easter
Amazing thread. Like you say, something there for most people to relate to.
Keep up the good work.
Great thread, this👍
To this day, my Dad’s garage has a particular smell (a mixture of solder, sawdust and grass cuttings I think) that instantly transports me back to the 80s.
Love the old soldering irons, got my grandfathers for sweating patches on small engine fuel tanks.
I cannot possibly envisage any scenario where I might need either hydraulic shock absorber fluid or valve grinding compound but I just love the tins so I'll just have to find room for them!
Great thread avdave2.
Sounds like Steve lived a life!
One or two things bring back memories for me too.
I have some of those soldering irons, and Amal carbs, and have used grinding paste on old British motorbike valves.
Never heard of Swedish plate money.
Fascinating stuff.👍
I kept seeing this thread but never dipped in. I never knew what I was missing. Fascinating stuff and brings back a lot of memories.... thanks avdave2
Late to the party and not read all the posts yet, will do later.
Just also wanted to say well done OP great thread. 👍
This really does just keep on giving - I've now recalled a lost memory of grinding valves from my very first car (a Viva HA) with my dad showing me how to do it. I was about 18 or 19, so that was over 35 years ago and I've not remembered that in years!
After a bit more googling this morning I've realised that the stick I've kept because well it's a stick isn't it and it's got suckers at either end and of course one day I'll need exactly that for something I or anyone questioning me can't possibly foresee is in fact the valve grinding stick that goes with the compound.
Yay! Go grind some vavles!
You can still get valve grinding paste and sticks. Bought these a few years ago when I was restoring a BSA A65. I've no real use for them now, but can't throw them out!
These were in box which I think from other things in it must have belonged to his father in law who served with the 47th London Division in France. We also have his medals and a couple of postcards of him taken in France.
The Australian Commonwealth Military Forces badge might have been his own fathers. At some point he abandoned his family and went to Australia. From the little that Steve told us we believe he served in the Royal Australian Navy.
Some more of his motorbike manuals and parts lists. He had a Triumph 650 and sidecar in the 50's, I've got the receipt for the sidecar ans a few of the bits he bought for the bike. I can't recall him mentioning the Norton, I'll have to ask my dad about that as he might know something about it.
I had one of those Midland Bank money boxes. In the 60s I spent many hours trying to hold the spring flap back a press a coin down onto it so that I could then slide it out. Never achieved anything other than waste a few hours.
@wingnuts I'll have to take it to a locksmith, I don't think there is a fortune in there but it would be nice to see coins that haven't seen the light of day for 80 or 90 years.
Looking through all the old tools I wonder if anyone in the years to come will have the same love for the tools we are using now.
That watch was obvious army issue, the crows foot is the giveaway. Interesting theory on the back story, I'm sure there are those out there who could shed more light on it.
I used lapping compound only a decade or so ago at sea when overhauling cylinder heads on the generators. A nice switch off and relax job if ever there was one.
@squirrelking the watch after a few days running is now keeping better time, it was losing 10 minutes a day when I wound it up for the first time now it seems to have gained 1-2 minutes in the last 24 hours or so.
There are quite a few things I've found with the arrow or crow's foot marking. It's possible I have a few items of my own so marked from my time in the MOD 😊
@squirrelking the watch after a few days running is now keeping better time, it was losing 10 minutes a day when I wound it up for the first time now it seems to have gained 1-2 minutes in the last 24 hours or so.
Maybe whatever lubricant remains in there getting redistributed a bit? You should have it serviced, running it without sufficient oil in is somewhat like doing the same thing with an engine. It only cost me £90 or so when I had it done to my grandfather's WWII-issue Cyma wris****ch.
+1 for a photo of the whole garage please.
Noted finbar, I'll not wind it up again until I've had it serviced.
Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the whole garage. It would have been misleading anyway because the whole central part where his car used to be was piled up with my stuff. When I moved out of my house 3 years ago following a divorce Steve let me use his garage for storage as he could no longer get down to use it. Just after he died I bought my house back from my ex-wife so now I'm in the process of moving my stuff and Steve's stuff back across the road. The only issue I have is my garage is knackered and needs re-roofing and a new rear door and window so everything is going in my storage area under the floor. There are a lot of boxes down there! Can't wait till I can get my garage fixed and can get all mine and Steve's stuff back out to use.
Just to give you an idea of how much sorting out there has been to do there was one knackered old Workmate in the garage and another 2 in the conservatory, he never got rid of anything!
my garage is knackered
In that case, don't just move the contents of the garage, move it as well, Hey Presto, new garage!
"following a divorce....my storage area under the floor..."
Feel like you missed a trick there!
@FB-ATB it's a great idea, might be tricky with there being a house built on top of it but I could always try. Or I could just tunnel from my underfloor storage to his garage, give me something to given there is no prospect of being back at work until June.
With all the talk of rationing when all the panic buying started her's a reminder of last time we had it.
Just why Steve kept a petrol receipt from 1946 I've no idea, but all of this was in a box of old papers and books. The mice had been at it but fortunately the most interesting stuff had survived, I'll post some of that later.
Seem to remember my dad having an old driving licence like that - sadly long gone now (both the licence and my dad!)
I think the old style log book for my Dad's Honda 50 moped is still at home (unless my Sis continued her ruthless clearout after he died).
I'm enjoying this more than FGF!
I know you mentioned donating some stuff to a museum- do you have a "living museum" locally, the type of place where they recreate homes/workplaces? Some of this stuff would be ideal.
We have one locally where they have relocated buildings that would have otherwise been demolished (my inspiration for the garage!). They're set with day to day items and it looks like the owners have just popped out.
11/6 for 6 gallons of petrol! That's 57&1/2p!
It was only after I'd posted yesterday that I noticed that the directors of the garage were all Barnwell's,so must have been relatives of his father. I checked on Companies House, it seems the company was incorporated in January 1937 and finally dissolved in 2018. I think any family involvement ended years ago, the information on Companies House only goes back to the 80's
In an old wardrobe in the garage in a box under the box of manuals was a box of old maps and road atlases. These are just a few of them, I love the old 1 inch maps so I've kept them.
Cracking thread. Thanks. Already a contender for thread of the year.
In an old wardrobe in the garage in a box under the box of manuals was a box of old maps and road atlases. These are just a few of them, I love the old 1 inch maps so I’ve kept them.
I suspect you may already have more than you can shake a stick at, but if you want any more 6th or 7th series 1" to the mile maps, drop me a PM. My dad died last year, leaving around 100 in a box, and I've found it hard work trying to shift them (basically for peanuts) on the 'bay. Yours for postage, if they're any use to you.
@thelawman thank you for the offer and if I had the warehouse I'd love to have then I'd have them. Sadly I seem to have filled my house already! They are such nice things it's hard to get rid of them, hopefully you will find a home for them.
No bother; I agree on them being nice things, particularly the ones that are mounted on cloth. Obviously the offer's available to anyone else if they're wanted, although it must be said that I'll probably have to wait until things are back to normal-ish, if only to get hold of packaging and the like. So they'll just have to live in our loft in a box for the foreseeable.
Thread of the year!
My Dad didn't have a garage but his shed was absolutely full of stuff - much of which was '....just in case'.
He's long dead but this is bringing back so many memories.
I'm surprised there have been no axes so far.
Especially for you this morning @frankconway
While anyone else might just have an axe Steve also had a sword and a machete as well
I'd wondered why he had a machete when I came across it but again google has come up with the most likely answer. It's a Collins & Co Legitimus model 1250 from 1943. They were made in the US for the Canadian armed forces. 46 Commando were used in Normandy at Rots to support the Canadian forces going in ahead of the Canadian troops and supported themselves by the Canadian Fort Gary Horse's tanks. I assume it must have come from there.
The sword looks almost homemade and the end looks as though it's broken off although if it has it's then been refinished. There are no markings on it and the scabbard fits it as though it's always been this length. It might be an old blade that's been repurposed. It had a pennant flag from the Tirol attached but I've no idea if that's where it came from. Like every knife in house and garage it's still bloody sharp. I think Steve had at least 4 sharpening stones in the garage and 3 steels in the kitchen along with 2 other knife sharpeners!
Thelawman.
Any of scotland?
@joshvegas
Cant remember all of them off the top of my head, they're in the loft at the moment. I'll try and have a look later. Mostly south and west Eng & Wales, I think.
@thelawman - if you have one covering North dartmoor, I'll very happily pay something, or make a donation, maybe to the STW coffers, in exchange (and cover the postage for you, obvs)
Edit: I'm specifically wanting to see Chagford, and I'd be interested in one that covers Usk in South Wales too... (sorry to hijack the thread...)
Edit: I’m specifically wanting to see Chagford, and I’d be interested in one that covers Usk in South Wales too… (sorry to hijack the thread…)
If you interested in looking at old maps, this is a great website. I have waste many hours on it. Fascinating. Goes back to the 1800's.
is there a peg to hold the handle on the short sword?
@thelawman if any of Scottish borders specifically hawick teviotdale I'll happily make a donation to a charity of your choosing and pay p&p
I'm going to start a new thread later today for the maps I have, rather than clutter up the Steve's Garage thread any further.
But it does look like @fadda may be in luck, we may still have the Okehampton one at any rate (according to one of the photos I took for eBay listings. It may have been sold in the meantime.) I'll drag them out and list what's left in some detail.
Not sure about the others at this point.
@tagnut69, there is no pin or if there is it's under the outer handle which appears to be wrapped around and soldered.
@thelawman I look forward to seeing those, funny to think you think you could have cluttered Steve's garage anymore than it was! 😊
New (not very good) thread for the maps that have been referred to above:-
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/1-to-the-mile-maps-available/
avdave - thanks for the axe and machete photo; I only mentioned axes because guys of Steve's generation would, at some point, have lived in houses with open fires and open fires require kindling which in turn requires an axe.
Axe brings with it a requirement for a whetstone with light oil to lubricate.
Your photos of saws took me back....a lot of years.
Wherever stuff was stored and used - in a garage or shed - there was a unique smell....oil, sawdust, metallic all mingling together; possibly stale cigarette or pipe tobacco in the mix.
Garden tools were wire brushed and oiled at the end of autumn.
Talking of garden tools....
@frankconway when I moved back into my house a couple of months ago it was to an empty garden shed, it's not empty anymore! Steve and Joan moved here in 82 when they'd both retired from the Board of Trade and spent a lot of time gardening. One of the things I found most moving were all the bits of string and wire in the pockets of his old gardening coat. Sadly it had been a good few years since he was able to get out and do the gardening but it was something that had given him real pleasure for many years. My ex-wife was the gardener, I just did all the landscaping and construction work, I've now found myself in the role of gardener and I'm really enjoying it, perfect for lockdown. It feels really good to be putting his tools back in to use in my garden.
Today some spirit levels and folding rules, the brass level is a lovely thing and the rules are imperial only so a few years old.
After a bit more googling this morning I’ve realised that the stick I’ve kept because well it’s a stick isn’t it and it’s got suckers at either end and of course one day I’ll need exactly that for something I or anyone questioning me can’t possibly foresee is in fact the valve grinding stick that goes with the compound.
I obviously inherited my mechanical sympathy and bodging skills from my dad as he recounts stories of fixing burnt valve seats by cutting one of those sticks in half and attaching it to a drill to speed the process up 🤣
Before tubeless inflators there were refillable aerosols
I think this falls into the not sure if I'm brave or reckless enough to try it!
Built in the days before anyone collected the stats on how many people they injured!
What's the liquid/aerosol part, or is it just for dusting with compressed air?
My mate bought one of those jenni cans for respraying motorcycle fairings after hed chucked them down the road. Bit of paint in can plus thinners to suit lid on pump away as far as you dare then ...nothing turns out lightly compressed air as a propellant was not up to it!! got rattle cans after that :)IIRC there were adverts on tv for them?
I won't bother with paint then, just go back to my original first thought and use a nice flammable liquid. What could possibly go wrong with a home made fuel air device?
I've not tested this properly yet but it's a rather nice battery tester. The needle does deflect with an AA battery but it needs zeroing
Built to last
I've no idea when the footpump was made but the way it's built it should last a couple more lifetimes. The tyre lever is a Dunlop one, I assume from when he had his motorbikes.One of those things I'll keep as I'm certain that one day it'll be exactly what I need for an as now unseen job.
That tester is lovely
This thread is great, thanks avdave2. Good pics as well.
Yet another reminder of my dad - he had a footpump like that, it was blue, I think. It even had the same wire catch to hold it closed when not on use.
So many continued thanks for this thread, avdave2
The tyre lever....my Dad had a stack of them including some which you could clip to spokes;
he also had a foot pump with a brass cylinder.
Loved the spirit levels and have a couple of my Dad's.
This is the thread that keeps on giving; keep it coming!
I’ll keep as I’m certain that one day it’ll be exactly what I need
You've caught "It'llcomeinhandyitis", whereas I inherited it from my Dad.
I have FB-ATB along with "Handytohavein" inherited from my mum, usually kitchen stuff with her.
Can’t complain about the affliction, I’ve just rummaged through the garage & shed and reckon I have enough bits kept “just in case” to build some rollers for my son’s trike at the weekend. The newest bits will be the bearings from his fidget spinner! Not that he knows about that!
I've got a a spirit level just like the big one in your photo.... needless to say it was my old dads...when I use it I handle it with the respect it's due and think of dad.
Jenni can.
Still got one of those.
No regulator, so all of the air + contents come out in one wooosh!
Swords into ploughshares
Well maybe not exactly but what appears to be a 25mm canon shell turned into a homemade plumb line. Typical of Steve to have found a new use for it. The casings are .50 inch and are in the list of things to clean up.
Nothing useful to add but thanks OP for a first class thread and thanks to Steve for a lifetime curating such a fascinating collection of 'stuff' and associated stories. This thread has made me smile every time I click on it at a time when smiles are hard to come by.
STW at its best.
Like the plumb line!
The casings are .50 inch and are in the list of things to clean up.
.55" for a Boyes Anti-tank Rifle.
Kinda rare and might be worth a couple of shekels on the bay...
I'll have to check on those scruffywelder, stamping on the bottom is WII K4 1942
Edit - just googled that, didn't need to though did I because this is STW and as @scruffywelder has just proved all knowledge is here! 😊
Right at the back of the garage in the top corner I found Steve's old slide projector, the box shows signs of the years it spent in there but the projector is still in great condition.
Someone had mentioned AF spanners earlier and yes he had them, lots of them, these are a few.
The Bonney ones at the top of the picture are lovely things, sort of tools that make you want to go out and find something you can use them on.