Mark Smith chose….

Micrometer

I chose the micrometer for two reasons.

Firstly, it reminds me of my own engineering background. Hands on working with tangible tools and materials rather than screen and cyberspace.

More importantly, it evokes the spirit of Britain's lost industrial heritage. The days when this country, and this area in particular, employed skilled craftsmen who could use precision tools like this to actually manufacture useful things. Maybe it's just me, but that seems a lot more wholesome than a collection of service industries overseen by accountants and management consultants.  

Mark Smith is Creative Events Assistant at the Herbert

What the curator says:

Micrometer

A micrometer is a precise gauge used for accurate measuring in mechanical engineering. These examples were used by John Henry Hilton and his son Thomas. John worked at the Ordnance Factory in Red Lane during the First World War, then at the Singer Motor Company and Coventry Climax as a jig borer. Thomas left school at 14 and worked as an apprentice turner at Alfred Herbert Ltd. He later taught apprentices at Dunlop.

Like many skilled engineers the Hiltons had their own tools and gauges, kept in a wooden tool box that is displayed in the History Galleries. They made the box and some of the tools themselves. These micrometers have Thomas's name on them.