This collection was a chance buy on 19th October 2018. I was in my local High Street and walking past a charity shop. I went in and in the cabinet where they keep and display their better sale items I came upon these Skinner & Rook items. I got the cabinet opened and had a look at what was on offer.The price was £50 and had gone on display that day. It was the weekend of the Nottingham Beer Festival and the manager thought it was an ideal time to be offering this brewery related collection and the price was fixed because she was confident that someone would see them who was into beer and local brewery history. Such a unique collection was not going to hang around long so I had to buy them.
I got the two booklets which I worked out to be from 1953 and 1954, 5 framed photographs of the rock celler of Skinner & Rook, Long Row, Nottingham that I believe date to between the two wars, and an envelope addressed to Mr S. Sewell.
Mr Sydney Sewell worked for Skinner & Rook from 1934 and worked as a Cellerman and looking at him in 1954 I would say he was born around the time of the 1st WW. It is believed he died at around 80 years and his family sorted his possessions and passed them onto the charity shop. It is presumed that My Sewell claimed the framed photographs as souvenirs of his time with the company,along with the booklets.
The envelope contained two large 8inch x 10inch publicity photographs showing Mr Sewell at work and one of them appeared in both booklets in the 4 photograph centrefold. He was obviously well respected by the company as a Cellerman. Sadly though I tried I could not find more information about him. Hopefully one day more might be known.
The photographs are probably unique finds that hung in the celler or the offices and were taken it appears in the first quarter of the 20th century.