Welcome to
the website of my collection.
My name is Ross Mather. I live in
a village on the outskirts of Bridgend in South Wales U.K. I retired from South Wales Police after 30
years service in the South Wales and Manchester areas. The police helmet collection (now in the region of 110 helmets)
has been built up during those years.
My other collecting field is police insignia or police badges from police forces of Wales from the 19th
century on. Currently, there are over 200 items of insignia from Welsh police forces, some dating back to the
19th Century.
Most of the police helmets you will
see come from older Borough and City police forces which sadly no longer exist, swallowed up in amagamations. You
will see a number of County force police helmets, mostly from the 1950's and 1960's. There are a couple
of police helmets that date from the late Victorian period c.1890.
As you go through the collection, you will
see numerous older Welsh police helmets. My main aim is to preserve as many police helmets as
possible for the future. It is important that any historic collection be kept for the future. This collection will
eventually to be donated to a Museum for general view to the public.
CAN YOU HELP PRESERVE ITEMS FOR THE
FUTURE BY ADDING HELMETS OR BADGES TO THIS COLLECTION?. IF YOU CAN, YOU WILL BE PRESERVING HISTORICAL MEMORABILIA FROM
POLICE FORCES OF ENGLAND AND WALES (PLEASE READ ON).
The vast majority of older helmets have been
lost forever, mainly because to the fact that they were made of perishable materials such as cork panels, leather,
wool covering etc. The helmet was often discarded after the badge was removed i.e. by insignia collectors. From
personal experience I know it is easier to display a frame full of badges, rather than display them on the
original helmets.
If you have a police helmet, or military helmet,
it is important that you give thought to the environment and atmoshphere in which it
is to be kept. An attic or garage usually seems to be the place where someone stores a box away in
a corner... a decision you may later regret. Extremes in temperatures, especially in an attic, or a damp garage, a variety
of 'creepy crawlies' that enjoy eating soft helmet materials, will quickly reduce grandad's police
helmet into something a far cry from what it might have been when you first stored it away in the box. You
cant replace the past.
I do hope that you enjoy viewing the
collection. The website was developed by me, for no other reason than giving others the opportunity to
see these historical items.
Do you have a question regarding British
police helmets, or Welsh police insignia?
Do you have any items
that you may like added or scanned onto this website?
Do
you have any police helmets or insignia you may consider disposing of ?
If so, please contact me on my email link below.
