Piece of Sittingbourne history saved by shop owner
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By Hayley Robinson
They say curiosity killed the
cat but in this instance it led to a piece of Sittingbourne history
being saved.
Peter Morgan, chairman of the
Sittingbourne Heritage Museum, was contacted by a fellow member
after he peered through the window of a High Street shop which
was being renovated and spotted decorative tiles believed to be 100
years old on the walls.
Worried they would be removed or
damaged Mr Morgan visited the shop and spoke to Hassan Turkak
(pictured) who was preparing the former YMCA charity shop ready for
the opening of his new business Swell Cafe.
Mr Morgan said: "I explained who I
was and about the group and Mr Turkak became interested.
"I then explained the importance of
the tiles and that they had probably been there since about 1910
when The London Meat Company were the first tenants of the shop,
and that they were art deco and worth preserving.
"When I asked him what he was going
to do with them Mr Turkak said he was going to remove them. I asked
him if I could have them so they could be displayed in the museum
which he agreed to but when they tried to remove them they found
they were fixed to the wall with concrete so it couldn’t be
done.
"It was then that I suggested he
left them on the wall as an English scene for his English customers
which he agreed to do."
The two-metre long tile scene which
depicts cows grazing by a river, had been covered over and slightly
damaged after shelves were screwed into them by the former tenants,
so local artist Eric Goldsmith (pictured) was drafted in to
restore them.
Mr Morgan said: "The cracks were
carefully filled then Eric kindly brought in his paints which he
matched to the colours on the tiles and carried out the repairs.
They now look as good as new.
"Not only did Mr Turkak help
preserve the tiles for all to see but he has even put a wooden
frame around them - and all of this work was completed within a
fortnight of me knocking on the door."
Tuesday, March 02 2010
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