Strange Characters
Have you noticed that we have some wonderful characters here in Tunbridge Wells, but how many of you have met Petal? Petal can be seen standing outside on Monson Road on fine days watching the traffic and shoppers pass by, sometimes not moving all day. Oh, and she's a giraffe.
Yes, the picture kind of gave it away. Petal is the guardian giraffe of M Saltmarsh the artist supply store, which at over 170 years old is the oldest surviving retail supplier of art materials in the entire country, and pretty noteworthy for any retailer in the town.
M Saltmarsh has changed position and ownership several times during the period of its existence. However descendants of the very first owner, John Saltmarsh, still survive and maintain a connection with the shop to this day.
The history begins during 1835 when a young man from Brighton came to Tunbridge Wells to open an art shop at 7 Edger Terrace, a long since lost row of buildings that stood at the bottom of Grove Hill Road. The young mans name was John Saltmarsh and he gave his business the family name.
The shop prospered and in 1837 John and his wife Elizabeth had a son, Mark, who was destined to take over the business and from whom the ‘M’ in M Saltmarsh derives. Sadly, the thriving new business was hit by a couple of disasters when in 1841, not long after opening his shop, John died from a psoas abscess. Also the business was forced to move from its Edger Terrace premises due to the coming of the railway, as the buildings sat where the tunnel now exits from the railway station. This was actually the first of several moves, occupying a couple of locations on the High Street over the next few years.
By 1950, the shop had passed from the Saltmarsh family, passing through many different owners and not really fulfilling its potential, until 1998 when the current owner Sue Luck purchased the whole kit and caboodle. In fact although a Saltmarsh didn't own the company, a Saltmarsh still worked there. Louisa Saltmarsh was, apparently, still working in the shop into her 90s, teaching drawing as a sideline.
Much of the old shop furniture has been retained and is still in used in the shop and makes for a fascinating rainy day peruse. If the sun is out after your artistic dip and you fancy a walk, myself and another keen-eyed reader found another strange character gathering last week in Hanover Road. It seems a large party of jumbled characters are permanently embroiled in a mock field battle. Go take a walk, take a camera and check it out, let me know what you think.
