Dick Nicholls
Dick Nicholls in tool heaven
One day Ernie Hunt, my woodworker friend
suggested I go and meet a person in town. Knowing I am writing a book on Alex,
he said it would likely be of some interest to write about this man and his
collection of tools which is legendary among people in the know. I was given a
name, a number and an address. I called, made an appointment and went over. I
took my little daughter along just to keep her entertained, not sure if she
would enjoy spending an hour or so looking at old tools and old folk. We were greeted
by a friendly lady. Then a smiling man with a twinkle in his eye came, said ‘Hello’
and took us around to show his garage. My daughter had a great time. She was
engrossed in everything she saw and totally at ease with our friendly guide who
treated her with such kindness and respect. I was just blown away by what I
saw.
Move over Tim Allen, the real tool man is
Dick Nicholls. He has a garage and a tool shed to the side, hidden from the
street outside. Both are chock-full of a great variety of stuff. Dick will usually show you something and
ask, “What do you think this is? What do you think this was used for?” It’s a
bit like what you see in those TV shows featuring old antiques and treasures
that people bring up for evaluation.
Many of us will be left scratching our
heads, what does this thing do? How does it work?
The older you are, the better your chances
of answering some of it right – you may have seen it used or used it yourself.
Of course, if you are too old and have lost your memory, then forget it! But
many things used by humans and long since gone out of use or out-of-fashion
will be found in good condition, well maintained, ready to be used or to
demonstrate.
Dick Nicholls is a true collector of tools
and other stuff. He does not simply
collect them, he gets them to perfect working order, uses them as well. There
is a perceptible affection he has for each item, a story behind it and an
appreciation of its value. One could spend hours, weeks and months in his shed
just trying out or looking at each thing just once. Even more fun is listening
to him explain things and tell their stories. From machine tool bits to little
bottles, scoops, to all things metal, wood and glass. You can start to
appreciate the mechanical genius of man long before the plastics, synthetics
and electronics came along. It is fascinating to see what all tools humans have
made, to make life easier and what at different times were considered good to
own. It is a relatively brief representation of the distinguishing marks of our
human civilization itself. No other animal can make this many tools.
At some point in time, people started to
throw away old stuff, not repair or fix them. Or there were newer, fancier
tools or gadgets and old tools and gadgets were no longer needed. Dick is one
of the rare ones who collects those and understands their use and gives them a
welcome new home. This is tool heaven where the good tools go after their time.
Dick also reclaims the souls of some of the less fortunate tools and keeps them
there.
Just cataloguing each item and its use
will give us a brief but rich insight into our history- sounds like a great
idea for a few school projects!!
Dick himself is a descendant of English
immigrants. He has worked at farms mostly around this area. He does great
woodwork at home and told me about the clever design of a ‘Lazy Susan’,
something I started to work on but, being a ‘Lazy Kannan,’ it is taking me a
long time. For those that don’t know - a “Lazy Susan” is a turntable kind of
thing set in the middle of a dining table to put different dishes of a meal on. People can serve different dishes by
themselves by simply spinning it.
No comments:
Post a Comment