THE ROOTS OF TRATMAN AND LOWTHER LTD., the Bristol firm of ships stores merchants and sailmakers, are buried deep in the days when the city’s waterfront stretched far into what is now the traffic-congested, garden-decked Centre.

Let us take a look at the scene as it was then. . . . A lively one, certainly. Sailing ships jostled each other along the quay-side. They heaved a tangle of intricately-rigged masts. There was a smell of tar and old rope. Piles of cargo, perhaps casks of rum, molasses, sugar, dye-woods, tobacco, were abundant. But everywhere, activity, for this was Bristol, the home of the Merchant Venturer, altogether forward-looking, prosperous, industrious.

A fitting birthplace, then, for a firm which this year celebrates its 150th anniversary in its offices in Broad Quay overlooking the Centre that was once the hub, the very reason, almost, for its existence.

Those early days, of course, were the days of true craftsmanship, of skills which have long been killed by modernisation and industrialisation. Tratman’s depended very largely on the skill of the blacksmith, the rigger, the sailmaker. They had their own forge. Anchors were shaped, chains mended, rigging checked. And sails, the mainstay of the trade, were made, too. These were expertly sewn by leather-protected hands. They were taken Out to the quayside and treated with fish oil. This process was ‘proofing’, designed to make the sails water and rot proof.

Mr. James Beresford Lowther, the firm’s managing director, whose family came into the business after the First World War, says of those early days in the company’s history: ‘I suppose it all started when ships went out from here loaded with all sorts of trinkets. Old army coats, coloured glass, goodness knows what. Yes, our men were craftsmen. They had to be. Take riggers. They had to know everything about splicing. Craftsmen in their own right. Staff were taken on as needed. Sail-making? Very important. Sails were, after all, the engines of the ships. But with the turn of sail to steam trade inevitably slackened off. It had to happen’.

Tratmans moved to Broad Quay about 1860. A sail loft was set up. Sail-making continued to play a major part in the firm’s business. But conversion from sail to steam meant less prosperous times. A smaller staff was carried. They did not lose heart. It was more or less on this basis that Tratman’s kept going. Came the end of the 1914-18 war and the return to Bristol of Mr. John Edwards Tratman. That proved to be a hallmark for the company.

‘Old’ Mr. Tratman, as he became known, had carried on the business through the war. The home-coming of Mr. John Edwards Tratman coincided with the return to Bristol of Mr. Edward Charles Lowther, a merchant seaman, son of a Bristol corn merchant, who had been round the world in sailing ships. The two went into partnership (Mr. ‘Jimmy’ Lowther is now chairman of the company) and set out to rebuild the business. They met with success. A painting agency was acquired, then a rope-making firm at Falmouth and a wire-rope firm at Plymouth.

Business went ahead. It expanded quite considerably between the wars. During the last war the company did much for the Admiralty. Awnings and blackout equipment were made. Tratman and Lowther kept abreast, however, of their peacetime training. There was a memorable occasion when they had to store a Dutch hospital ship at short notice. They did it complete with the one million cigarettes.