Shop of the week: Bristol Design

The quiet wooden interior of Bristol Design feels good for your health, like a walk in the forest after staring at your computer for too long. A hardware shop specializing in woodworking, owner Charles Stirling has been selling hand tools (with the odd electric drill thrown in) since he first opened on Perry Road in 1980.

There is something soothing about quality wood, almost as though the tree is still alive in the object, and an understated dignity about the shopkeeper himself, who talks eloquently through the story of his business.

Planes to suit every need and wallet size

Charles came to England from America as a young man, to pursue a career in Neurophysiology. Opportunities weren’t forthcoming and instead his path led him to the world of woodwork, but he still possesses the softly spoken and considered manner you might expect from an academic.

Opening first as a workshop, Charles quickly realised the premises were too small for his requirements and made the decision to operate solely as a shop. Both new and second-hand tools are sold, and they are displayed from floor to ceiling, hanging decoratively from the walls or arranged neatly in wooden boxes and shelves.

Some of these second-hand tools are no longer manufactured

The clientele range from amateur DIY beginners and woodwork enthusiasts, through to professional cabinet makers, stonemasons and woodcarvers. “They come here because we have a wider range of carving tools than anyone else in the country,” says Charles.

The geography of his customers is no less varied. “They come from all over the UK and the continent,” he says, with some even making the pilgrimage from as far as San Francisco and New Zealand.

A box of hand tools in the workshop

“We’re probably slightly silly,” Charles suggests, “because we try to do things properly”. The sentiment is bittersweet. The world of tool manufacturing has changed hugely in recent years and emphasis is now inevitably on mass production, often to the detriment of quality.

Modern day tools are mostly made with plastic, which, aside from any environmental implications, can give a different weight and quality of action. And as Charles adds frankly, “the plastic handles on a chisel – you get blisters from them”.

What makes Bristol Design unique and draws people from all over the world is its wide variety of older tools no longer produced by mainstream manufacturers: “tools that no one else has” as Charles puts it. Not so silly after all, then.

Leila, one of the staff, hand-carving a piece of wood in the back workshop

Another joy of Bristol Design is that it is not elitist. Both beginner and expert are equally welcome and there is a tool to suit every need and level, with prices to match. While he offers bespoke high-end items costing hundreds of pounds, Charles says that generally speaking, the price of tools has plummeted.

“In 1900 it was a week-and-a-half’s wages for a Stanley number 4 smoothing plane,” he says, pointing to one of many tools, pleasingly arranged in rows along the wall. Now second-hand planes can be bought in the shop for between £5 – £40.

Charles’ ethos is “about problem-solving,” and he and his small team are active in helping each customer to accomplish their task in the best possible way. When I ask his favourite tool, he says “I tend not to have favourites,” before reflecting, “the one that’s going to do a particular job the easiest.”

Bristol Design
14 Perry Road, Bristol, BS1 5BG
0117 929 1740