Over the years Austin had many interests, as a young man he used to make and fly gliders. During the war he bought a coal merchant business from a colleague who was called up on war duties. Helping to “keep the home fires burning” he built the business up, added more lorries and did very nicely, but it was hard work carrying heavy bags of coal up ten or more flights of stairs in the flats around Ardwick, Gorton and surrounding areas. With the blackouts, no TV etc people had to entertain themselves, so Austin started buying secondhand train sets and Meccano bits and pieces which he made up into sets. A very lucrative period for him.
After the war he sold the much bigger coal business back to the guy he bought it off at the beginning of the war.
Looking for something else to do he decided to buy The Handy Shop, a local hardware business in south Manchester in 1952 with his wife Rennie. One of customers was called Reg Coleman, who introduced Austin to Frank Otway-Smith. Frank and Reg both lived very close to the Handy Shop.?Austin’s decided to start his own collection after seeing Reg Coleman’s greenhouse full of cacti.
Austin joined the Manchester Branch eventually becoming the Branch Secretary from 1963 to 1966, taking over from Frank who had been Secretary since 1959.
Over the years his two sons, Graham and Geoff, continued to expand The Handy Shop whilst Austin started to build his Cacti nursery, having bought Frank’s collection before he relocated to Bristol. When Austin eventually decided to sell the Cactus Nursery Harold Gaulton bought the plants.
The Cactus Nursery had many visitors from far and wide including Cyril Parr, Editor of the African Succulent Plant Society Journal, and Curt Backeberg.
He enjoyed several other hobbies including photography, and below is a selection of his cacti and succulent plants housed in several greenhouses. There are pictures of Cacti and Succulents and Nursery visits, which can be seen by clicking the buttons below.
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