Alison and Mike Terry present the tools to Shepherd Neame archivist John Owen (centre)
A large collection of historic cooper’s tools has been donated to Shepherd Neame brewery. The barrel-making equipment, which dates back to the 19th century, was collected by the late Alan McCulloch, a licensee for more than a decade at the Rising Sun, East Malling, when it was owned by Shepherd Neame.
Alan was prompted to begin the collection when he and wife Joan took on their first pub tenancy at the Coopers Arms in Romford, Essex.
Alan’s daughter, Alison Terry, said: “As it was called the Coopers Arms, my father thought it would be nice to emphasise the connection by collecting cooper’s tools, which he used to decorate the pub. He carried on collecting them after they left the Coopers Arms and moved to the Rising Sun in the late 1970s, and people actually started bringing them to the pub for him.”
After her parents passed away, the tools ended up in a box in Alison’s house, and recently resurfaced when she and her husband Mike began some renovation work.
Mum-of-two Alison, an education consultant who lives in West Sussex, said: “I put one on eBay but had a lot of reaction from people telling me not to break up the collection, so I decided to donate them to a place where they could go on display for people to enjoy.
“My parents loved being tenants with Shepherd Neame when they were at the Rising Sun — it was a really warm, family business — so I came up with the idea of donating them to the brewery.”
Alison and Mike recently visited the brewery to present the equipment to the brewery’s historian and archivist John Owen. It will go on display in the Shepherd Neame Visitor Centre next year, tying in with a recreated cooper’s workshop already on show.
John said: “Shepherd Neame used to buy in barrels from a company in London, but it had its own cooperage at the brewery which refurbished and repaired them. It is very kind of Alison to donate these tools, which are a very welcome addition to our collection and will help offer an insight into the history of brewing. My first task will be attempting to work out what they all do!”
