There’s a name for May the fourth – Star Wars Day…. “May the Force (the fourth) be with you.”
Well the force certainly was with us in Guisborough this year – our formidable force of committee members and volunteers, had all hands on deck to help make our book sale a resounding success!
The story behind the book sale is that one of our most active and long term members of our committee sadly died a few years ago. Jacky Quarmby was a true force to be reckoned with, an incredibly intelligent woman who, once retired from a long career at ICI, threw herself into all sorts of activities.
Despite being born in Lancashire, when she moved to Guisborough she became an adopted Yorkshirewoman. Jacky volunteered for the Guisborough Museum where she used her considerable skills behind the scenes. Along with her great friend, our own Barry Harrison, she worked to research, translate (from Latin), and transcribe ancient Yorkshire wills. And also along with Barry, she was part of the Yorkshire Vernacular Building Studies Group and became fully involved in recording, measuring and photographing vernacular buildings in Yorkshire. She also volunteered at Tockett’s Mill – as well as keeping horses! Talk about ‘if you want something done, ask a busy person’!
I mention all this because all these interests were reflected in her enormous library – including an equal number of books about Yorkshire and Lancashire! When I spoke to Jacky’s son Nick a little while after her death, he said he thought his mum would have liked it if her books were to find homes with people who would love them like she did. So we decided to hold a sale as we know all our members love books!
A Saturday in May was chosen (as it was Local History Month) and the aim was to raise money for the Guisborough Museum where Jacky loved to spend her time, and the rather lovely building we chose – Sunnyfield House – was just over the way from the museum.
On Star Wars Day a group of us gathered at Sunnyfield House to help Nick to make the collection available. He had done an immense amount of work in advance of the sale, cataloguing, organising and pricing the books so that people could receive a bargain as well as making money for the Museum.
We had made Nick’s book list available through our website (more of that shortly) and had already had some interest. People had already collected books, or had arranged to pick them up on the day.
I wish I had counted how many people came through the doors as it was a splendid morning. Lots and lots of lovely folk buying books, visiting the three stalls – our own, the Guisborough Museum’s, and Cleveland Industrial Archeology Society’s (CIAS), another of Jacky’s groups – and not to forget, enjoying a cup of tea and a biscuit in the bistro room.
We all had a great time, and the two hours flew by. Everything went really smoothly, and after we’d tidied everything away, we had a well deserved drink and a chat in a local cafe. Later that evening, Nick contacted me to say that we had raised £607 during the sale for the Guisborough Museum, which is wonderful.
Nick has sent us an amended list of books that are still available, so take a looking contact Nick if there’s anything you can give a home to. You can view the list here: http://ctlhs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/guis-books-post-post-sale.xlsx
Nick can be contacted via email on nick.quarmby@blueyonder.co.uk
Many thanks to Nick Quarmby, the lovely staff at Sunnyfield House, our volunteers, and everyone who visited us on the day – it was an amazing morning.
