• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hayle Heritage Centre

Visit Us For Free!
Closed until further notice
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • About Us
    • What we do
    • Volunteering
    • Events
    • Talks and Tours
    • Our Blog
    • History of the Trust
    • Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers Third Edition – Now for sale online!
  • Industrial Heritage
    • Engineering
    • Shipping
    • World Heritage Status
  • Collections
    • Introduction
    • Collection Highlights
    • Oral History Collection
    • Pre-history
    • Exhibitions
      • Previous exhibitions
      • Online exhibitions
    • Hayle Community Archive
    • Conservation
  • Educational Resources
    • Maps & Trails
  • Visit Us
    • Getting here
    • Facilities and access
    • Shop
You are here: Home / Our Blog / General News / Who was Mr R Hodge? Introducing the Biggleston Collection Project

Who was Mr R Hodge? Introducing the Biggleston Collection Project

  July 26, 2017    Daisy Culmer

My name is Inge Bratley. I moved from Gwithian to Hayle 6 years ago and only since then have became aware of Hayle’s fascinating industrial history which captivated me and made me want to know more. So I started volunteering at the Heritage Centre in January of this year. One of the things I enjoy most about volunteering here is the opportunity we have for working on a wide range of projects and so I was thrilled when I had the chance to work on the Biggleston Collection Project.

Here's me (on the right) carefully selecting the first document for conservation work during training.
Here’s me (on the right) carefully selecting the first document for conservation work during training.

The Biggleston Collection is a collection of documents that had spent the last 122 years on their original spikes in the eaves of “Biggleston’s”, a well known and loved ironmongers in Hayle which finally closed in 2012, when the last owners retired.

Conservation - The Biggleston Collection
Originally, it looked as though there was a large, single bill spike but it emerged that there were two others nestled beneath.

At the end of last year the Heritage Centre was awarded a grant to bring the collection back to life. Looking into the boxes full of dusty, possibly mouldy, even sooty looking documents, with creases and tears, nibbled at by paper-loving insects, it was clear we needed a lot of help. And so in January the volunteers took part in a training day run by PZ Conservation C.I.C, Penzance. Keira, from PZ Conservation, was a fantastic teacher. 

Training.
Keira (centre) from PZ Conservation C.I.C delivering paper conservation training to the Heritage Centre volunteers.

We were introduced to “magic ingredients” and tools of the trade like the smoke sponge, which gently rubs off dust and dirt, Japanese tissue and wheat starch used to repair tears and cuts, and the water pen for flattening creases. Each item receives a temporary consecutive number and after it has been through the cleaning, repairing and flattening process is put into archival-standard acetate wallets kept in files.

Like my fellow volunteers, I found the whole process fascinating and the result very satisfying. I have been working on the collection ever since.

It is an extraordinary feeling to hold in your hand a fragile 122 year old piece of paper, an order form by Hosken, Trevithick, Polkinhorn  & Co. (originally a milling firm) written in 1895 by Mr. Broach to Mr. R. Hodge.

H.T.P. Delivery Truck.
H.T.P. Delivery Truck

Mr. Hodge built the original ironmongers shop in 1894 after the people of Hayle were finally allowed to build shops in their front gardens along Penpol Terrace. Previous to that the workers of Harvey’s were paid in tokens which they could only use at Harvey’s Emporium (now Barclays Bank).

Intrigued, I carried out some further research and discovered that Richard Hodge and his wife Mary were born in St. Ives and the 1891 census also confirms that he was an ironmonger and  plumber and  had a son and a daughter, both pupils of Hayle Foundry School. To complete the history I found that a Mr. Biggleston worked for Mr. Hodge and when he died bought the shop which henceforth was known as “Biggleston’s”. 

As we work our way through the 1200 or so documents I will share my observations, thoughts and interpretations of what I find. Please feel free to comment and contribute.

Biggleston Training

 

  General News    Biggleston Collection, Biggleston's, Conservation, Hayle, Hayle Heritage Centre, Paper Conservation, Remedial Conservation, Social History

Primary Sidebar

Blog Categories

  • General News (19)

Recent Blog Posts

  • My Duke of Edinburgh Award and beyond…
  • The Power of Cataloguing
  • Visit to the PZ Conservation Studio
  • Why mould is not fond of freezers
  • My work experience week at Hayle Heritage Centre

Our Contact Details

Hayle Heritage Centre
Harvey’s Foundry Trust
John Harvey House,
24 Foundry Square
Hayle, Cornwall,
TR27 4HH

Tel: 01736 757683
Email: enquiries@hayleheritagecentre.org.uk

Opening Times

In light of government advice regarding the Coronavirus, we will be closed until further notice.

Check our Facebook and Twitter pages, or give us a call in advance of visiting.

Footer

Contact Us

Hayle Heritage Centre
Harvey’s Foundry Trust
John Harvey House,
24 Foundry Square
Hayle, Cornwall
TR27 4HH

Tel: 01736 757683
Email: enquiries@hayleheritagecentre.org.uk

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

OUR LOCATION

Content © Hayle Heritage Centre
Hayle Heritage Centre is owned by Harvey’s Foundry Trust. The Trust is a UK Registered Charity no. 1112920
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund

Website Sitemap | Admin
Website designed & developed by Fibonacci Designs

 Menu

  • About Us
    • What we do
    • Volunteering
    • Events
    • Talks and Tours
    • Our Blog
    • History of the Trust
    • Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers Third Edition – Now for sale online!
  • Industrial Heritage
    • Engineering
    • Shipping
    • World Heritage Status
  • Collections
    • Introduction
    • Collection Highlights
    • Oral History Collection
    • Pre-history
    • Exhibitions
      • Previous exhibitions
      • Online exhibitions
    • Hayle Community Archive
    • Conservation
  • Educational Resources
    • Maps & Trails
  • Visit Us
    • Getting here
    • Facilities and access
    • Shop