J.B. Banks & Son
Traditional ironmongers with free museum
For almost 200 years, we’ve been providing Cockermouth with a unique retail experience. We sell traditional home and hardware items and restored tools. In the back we have the original workshop that dates to the 1820s and is in situ from when it was last used in the 1950s.
Very few shops offer both a retail and a historical experience. From the Georgian drawers and counter to the original workshop in the back, there’s very little we don’t have. Along with traditional items we also repair and sharpen a multitude of hand and garden tools. We also refurbish vintage tools and sell them on to be used again.
From garden tools, to brushes, twine, cleaning products, nuts, bolts, nails, screws. The list goes on and on from the large to the small, the common to the obscure. And if we don’t have it then we’ll check in one of our many boxes or out the back!
After the flood of 2009, we opened up our workshop and it’s become a popular tourist destination. Downstairs we have a rare Atco car that dates to 1939 and was used to teach children how to drive. Upstairs is the old workshop, with original tools, and the office with items like the Olivetti typewriters.
