About me

By the time you get to read this page you will have realised that collecting is a large part of my life. What you will not know is how I came to collect truncheons or little else about me. I therefore thought I would include this page to fill that gap.

I was born in Epping, Essex in 1966 and like many that come from similar commuter towns I started my working life in London. Having experienced a number of office based jobs I found myself working in the retail sector dealing in fine antique silver and jewellery. This was a happy time for me as I have always felt at home being surrounded by fine objects and have appreciated the skill and craftsmanship that went into making them.

Like most boys I had dabbled with collecting during my childhood and had accumulated small collections of things like stamps. However the big move into serious collecting followed my change of career when in 1987 I made the decision to join Essex Police. Whilst undertaking my 13 weeks basic training at Ashford, Kent I could not help noticing a small collection of truncheons which were placed just above the doorway as you went into the dining area. The buildings also housed a collection of badges which I believe were once displayed at the now closed Eynsham Hall Training Centre.

Having finished my training I made contact with a dealer who specialised in police badges and my police collection started. I remember clearly the day my quest took me to London and whilst wandering around Grays Antiques Market near Bond Street I discovered a dealer who specialised in truncheons. Having only ever seen those at Ashford I soaked up what he had to tell me, but realised truncheons were in a different league to badges and could be expensive. By the time I left the shop I was the proud owner of two interesting, but rather tatty truncheons. One was a special constable's truncheon for Bootle, Merseyside and the other a parish constable's truncheon for St. Saviours, Southwark.

Since this time I have been fortunate to find many rare and interesting pieces, some of which are illustrated on this site. My own collection contains in the region of 250 truncheons and tipstaves. I have viewed many other collections and have accumulated much information on truncheons. It has been a long term ambition that one day I might publish another much needed reference book on this subject. However this will be sometime hence as my research continues.

Throughout my service with Essex Police I have served at a number of locations including Clacton, Harlow, Grays and Stansted Airport. I am currently a Detective Inspector on Scenes of Crime, based at Chelmsford HQ. I live in Essex with my wife and eight year old daughter. My other interests are long and varied and space precludes me from going into them here.

I hope you enjoy this website and will visit it again soon.

Alan Cook.