83/8

Albert West (Maker)

A besom broom head made of birch twigs and bound with two lengths of split willow withy and one length of galvanised wire. It was made for the Museum by Albert West, a broom maker from Tadley, Hampshire, who was still taking occasional orders for besoms in 1983 at the age of 73.

1 besom broom head: wood, wire; good condition

MERL ‘Handwritten accession’ form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Standard museum name: BROOM HEAD // Accession number: 83/8 // … // Recorder: RB // Date: 24/1/83 // Description: Broom head of birch twigs. // Bound with two lengths of split willow withy and one length of galvanised wire. // Dimensions: c. 1 metre long x 9 cm diameter. // Associated information: Made for the museum by Albert West, besom maker of Tadley, Hants. // Using withies was the older method of binding the birch twigs. Split cane came into common use before the 2nd War for the same purpose, but then the War disrupted imported supplies of cane, and the material used has been wire ever since. // See attached notes, & photographs. // References: See J. G. Jenkins, ‘Traditional Country Craftsmen’.’, MERL Miscellaneous Note, Roy Brigden, 1983 – ‘Albert West was visited on 24th Jan. 1983 by Roy Brigden. He is 73 years old and lives with his brother on the ½ acre plot that was bought by his father in 1910 for £90 (with a £40 mortgage). // Mr West’s father (also Albert) was a broom maker, as were most of his uncles. The extended West family all lived in the same area, close to each other, & as a result the lane is officially known today as West St. // Albert West was taught to make brooms by his father on leaving school in 1924 not necessarily because he intended that to be his job for life but because it was thought that mastery of the trade would be a good standby. In fact, Mr West seems to have spent much of his life plying between an interlocking variety of seasonal occupations. For example, in the spring and early summer he worked at osier stripping in the area, preparing the raw material for basket makers. Early September he went down to the Alton area to hop pick for a month or so. In fact he still makes this annual trip to the hop harvest and says that he has done so every year of his life. He was one of twins and he says that at the age of 1 month, he and his brother went along with their mother to the hop harvest and that he has been every year since. // Mr West’s father also seems to have engaged in a variety of different job along with broom making. He used to go tree felling & sawing in the woods, for example, sometimes as far away as Haslemere – cycling over at the beginning of the week & returning at the weekend. // Mr West’s home consists of a brick-built, one room, living room (built by his father) with a separate sleeping area in a single storey wooden structure close by. The cooking and sanitary provision in the arrangement was unclear. Most of the plot around the house is used as vegetable garden (the family also ran an allotment as well). Close to the house was a stack of seasoning birch, with pitched roof, and by the road the small open fronted shade where Mr West makes his brooms. While he demonstrated the craft of broom making, Mr West talked about his life. He clearly remembers the ‘30s when there were many broom makers in the Tadley area. They were all in competition with one another and getting sufficient orders was often a problem. Some would go off around the country by train getting orders from the big shops in towns and cities and then, once home, dispatching the completed brooms by rail. Sometimes the rivalry got to the point where one broom maker would rip off the destination label on a bundle of brooms at the station and put it on his own so that he would get paid. // There were also a number of dealers who came down to Tadley & went round the broom makers ordering up the brooms by the dozen. One firm in particular that Mr West remembers was Bennetts of Croydon. Trouble was often stock so he remembers that if the Bennetts lorry suddenly appeared in the lane then you knew you would have some money in your pocket before long. Mr West says he remembers his father and his uncle kneeling down and praying in the workshop for orders. Judging by the staunch and fundamentalist nature of Mr West’s own religious beliefs this is quite plausible. In the 1930s, the lowest he was paid for brooms was 4/- a dozen; a more normal price would average out at 6d each – not a lot considering the work that goes into each one. A man could make, flat out, perhaps 10 dozen in a day if everything was prepared for him, i.e. if all the birch had been trimmed & sorted and the handles prepared. Women were often paid to sort & trim the birch at a cost of 2/6d per bundle. They would be fortunate to get through more than one bundle in a day. // Officially Mr West has retired but he still makes a few brooms on an ad hoc basis for people who order them from him. He cuts & stores his own birch and cuts and makes his own handles. However, the handles on the brooms that I obtained from him were cut and prepared by another old broom maker – Mr William Rompton who is now 98 years old. He called in to see Mr West while I was there (he lives just down the road from him) and is in very good health but difficult to communicate with him because he is very deaf. Apparently Mr Rompton still likes to go into Pamber Forest and cut a few broom handles (these were of hazel wood) & then he sells them to Mr West.’

Tadley

1980 - 1983

Wood, birch, Wood, willow, Metal

, Bound