Tool cases

[Tev62]

They are excellent spechg. Hats off to you, a great skill. My Grandfather was a leatherworker and had his own saddlery shop in the UK. His claims to fame were he made the saddlery for the Ben Hur movie, not sure how that came about seeing as it was filmed in Italy? Is that one of the over embellished family stories that grow each time it is told? :-) He made the boots the actor was wearing as the character Hermann Göring in the Battle of Britain movie and he was commissioned to make a saddle for the Queen of England.

I reckon you could have a nice little cottage industry going for you there.

Thanks Tev. Interesting story about your grandfather. He was obviously at the top of his game. Perhaps those same skills are embedded in your dna waiting to be unleashed! I wonder where those boots he made for the Hermann Goring character ended up.

Thanks Tev. Interesting story about your grandfather. He was obviously at the top of his game. Perhaps those same skills are embedded in your dna waiting to be unleashed! I wonder where those boots he made for the Hermann Goring character ended up.
It's not for me unfortunately, hard work on the hands. I already struggle with a bit of arthritis. I'd say that actors great nephew or suchlike has those boots sitting in an attic and the connection to the movie is probably well forgotten.

My Grandfather took over from his father both doing their apprenticeship at the shop, a seven year process in the day. Grandad was a WWI veteran and was gassed but made it back. After the war he never wasted a minute of his life knowing how life had been so fleeting for a lot of his mates. In WW2 he was a special constable (Policeman) and I still have his MK2 steel helmet, the typical "tommy" style but in black. The shop has deeds going back to 1649, the year that Charles I was executed, and it is believed that the premises has always been a saddler's. It is known it was one for at least 200 years when my uncle was there. Some of the shop's old beams have been uncovered, salvaged centuries ago from broken-up ship's timbers.

Like my father my grandfather never really retired. Seen here in the shop still making saddles at 85 years old and lived out till 89. People of this generation had a major work ethic, so impressive. He never owned a car, never went on a foreign holiday and it was a long time coming he got an inside toilet!