A 77-year-old repaired the typewriter used to write Poldark!

THERE’s very little George Blackman doesn’t know about typewriters.

Even the famous author of Poldark wouldn’t have managed without his help!

The 77-year-old has enjoyed a marvellous, varied career since his six-year apprenticeship set him on his way, and today his typewriter repairs are earning him recognition.

At his family-run business in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, George and his team sell the usual stationery and office equipment, but specialise in finding, restoring and repairing vintage typewriters, some over a century old.

One he recalls fixing belonged to Winston Graham, and was used to write the original scripts for the Poldark books.

“At the time, I had a workshop in Hastings, and he lived quite a way away, in Buxted, Sussex,” George recalls.

“He asked me to come and repair his machine, an electric Adler typewriter.

“It was too far and costly, 40-odd miles each way, but he said it was no problem and he’d pay top dollar, kept nagging and eventually I said OK.

“I went there, it was a beautiful house, went into his study, and I realised I was looking at the typewriter that had written Poldark!

“All around me, on shelves, were countless editions of Poldark in every language, and it was amazing.”

A far darker, more sinister story crops up when George talks about another vintage typewriter he found, a 1936 model from the Channel Islands.

“A chap from Surrey got in touch about an old typewriter, and said his great-uncle had been one of the first officers to free up the Channel Islands after the Germans had left,” George explains.

“He had found this typewriter in its box, and now he wanted me to get it working again.

“It’s a pretty chilling thought, that in 1936, three years before the war and while we were trying to appease them, the Germans were already making these officers’ typewriters for a war.

“Neville Chamberlain was still telling us there would be no war, but Germany was already taking over Olympia typewriter factories and making SS machines, in their battleboxes, as we call them.

“The chap didn’t want to sell it, but it would appeal to two sets of collectors, those who are looking for vintage typewriters and those who are after Nazi memorabilia in general.

“So it would start at about a thousand pounds, I would think.”

The TV series coming up later this year, The Crown, is sure to attract audiences the size of Poldark’s, based as it is on the Queen’s early days — and the folk making it were straight on the phone to George for some period-correct typewriters for it.

JK Rowling’s latest Harry Potter creation, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, will also feature a typewriter rented from George, as did Pinewood Studios’ Their Finest Hour and many other TV and cinema hits.

Even the high street furniture stores rent or buy his old typewriters, as they make modern furniture look all the more stunning with a carefully-placed old Olympia or Adler as an ornament.

“Today’s younger generation like these old typewriters, and in the past five years they have become very popular,” George explains. “I think they appreciate the quality, compared to computers that are soon obsolete.

“Things were built to last, back then.”

Thankfully, men like George Blackman were built to last, too. You wonder who will keep these fantastic machines in fine working order in the future.

To find out more, visit www.georgeblackman.co.uk/ or call 01424 217550 or email georgeblackman@tiscali.co.uk

Beatie Edney’s well aware why we all love Poldark