Taylors of Welwyn

Taylors of Welwyn by Robert J HawkerThomas Bates Blow was from a working class background and leading a lifewith little direction until he was befriended by a member of a leading Britishfamily: with his patronage and much hard work, Thomas laid the foundation ofwhat was to become the largest business in Europe supplying the requirementsof beekeepers.This volume charts the history of Taylors of Welwyn, from its birth throughthe challenging changes and large expansion in the last two decades of thenineteenth century through to the Company being put into liquidation after morethan a century of trading. From zero to zero in three acts, with three leadingmen, changing scenery and a large supporting cast involving confl ict, changes ofownership, fi res, World wars, no infl ation, high infl ation, but mostly about bees,beekeeping and beekeepers and the vagaries that come with that fascinating mix.The AuthorBob Hawker is a retired Professional Engineer. Following graduation, trainingand employment in the Electrical Supply Industry, he moved over to the academicworld where in addition to normal lecturing duties he acted in Consultancy roles,organised and talked at Conferences and appeared as Expert Witness in criminaland civil legal proceedings.Bob is married with two children and for the last thirty-eight years he hastended between four and twenty four colonies of honey-bees in his large garden,most years in late Summer taking them to the nearby Northumberland moors.Researching and writing beekeeping history is his way of attempting to remainsane in the dark Winter days.