A Visit To Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet

Jack Black said:
Of course I had my trusty Barlow with me :) I've posted a few pics in the Barlow thread. Below is my Barlow on an old Abbeydale scythe, and below that in front of the tilt hammers - imagine the racket when they were going at full tilt!
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I had been scouring your photos for the hidden Barlow, Jack. :)

Great piece of historical journalism. Thanks for the tour, I hadn't heard of the place I'm ashamed to admit.

Paul
 
Thanks, Jack. Beautiful pics and fascinating story as always. And as usual, I have some etymologies to look up- teem, hull, Sheaf.
 
Fascinating article and pictures. This is great history. In my opinion, too many young people today forget that simple tools and skilled craftsmen were important only a few generations back. Automated and computer-aided machinery are fairly recent innovations.
 
Thanks Paul, TBH after uploading the pics I was too exhausted to write much! Even with the spectre of Mr Tyzack looming! :D

AIH is well worth if a visit when you're next down that way :)
 
Faiaoga said:
Fascinating article and pictures. This is great history. In my opinion, too many young people today forget that simple tools and skilled craftsmen were important only a few generations back. Automated and computer-aided machinery are fairly recent innovations.
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Thank you. I often find myself lamenting the loss of the old traditional skills in Sheffield, but when you think of the work conditions, and the pittance the workers were paid, it's hardly surprising that they wanted something better for their kids.
 
Thanks very much Jack, for yet another excellent glimps into steel makings past. I sit and think about the pics you showed, and them my mind wandered to the miners side of things...coal miners and iron ore miners, the toil that was required to produce steel was immense. All to produce tools and necessities for daily life, and industry. It must have been some sight to see the shafts turning those huge grindstones, and that tilt hammer! Youwser, I bet that baby made the ground shake and the ears ring! Always a pleasure to indulge in you little tours:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Thanks Duane :)

sitflyer said:
It must have been some sight to see the shafts turning those huge grindstones, and that tilt hammer! Youwser, I bet that baby made the ground shake and the ears ring! Always a pleasure to indulge in you little tours:thumbup::thumbup:
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The wheels still turn on working days :)
 
Thanks Jack,your pictorial tour of Abbydale was awe inspiring & informative.
 
Wait a minute, back the truck up! Wilkinson Sword still exists in some form, and they have an individual bloke grinding their swords for them?
 
Howdy Jack.
Again- a fantastic Thread, oh man I just can't wait to see this place. It's been an amazing 2 weeks - visiting a Country where it's Castles I have been standing in are up to and most probably more than 5 times older than civilised New Zealand. My apologies for the non participation- a camera that I can't load photos on to the computer until I get home ( drivers ), and pretty much too tired lol.
Jack- thank you and I can't wait to meet you- share the sights and a beer!
 
Jack Black said:
Thank you. I often find myself lamenting the loss of the old traditional skills in Sheffield, but when you think of the work conditions, and the pittance the workers were paid, it's hardly surprising that they wanted something better for their kids.
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I was not thinking so much of the pay and social conditions, but of perceptions concerning technology and invention. I think that people forget that people in earlier times were able to accomplish a lot using simpler technology. As a science teacher in the Pacific islands, I sometimes felt that my students found it hard to believe that people in the USA did not always have pickup trucks, chain saws and electricity. They did not always understand, for example, that my father drove horses on a Wisconsin farm before World War II and that the family cooked using a wood stove.

People forget that the forests of Minnesota and giant redwood trees in California were cut down using axes and crosscut saws. While I have seen pictures of this work being done, my father and others of his generation actually used them.
 
Very interesting! Pretty tough working conditions, those guys did not have it easy.

Now, would you mind sending me one of those grinding stones and a crucible for my collection?
 
Thank you Jack all have said already, but reading your tour posts give me the feeling of actually taking part in the tour. Very interesting.
Mike
 
Thanks again guys, appreciate your interest and kind words :)

scrteened porch said:
Wait a minute, back the truck up! Wilkinson Sword still exists in some form, and they have an individual bloke grinding their swords for them?
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Yeah, still in London, though they've always had a lot of work done in London. My girlfriend has a pic of me looking at one of the swords, which the Armed Forcees use for ceremonial purposes, I'll have to get it off her. They arrive already blanked out and heat-treated, and the guy there grinds them, including grinding in a fuller. I asked him about the HT, and he told me they're not heat-treated after, but reckoned that the water-powered grindstone kept the blades cool enough. I guess these swords are just for show anyway.

Campbellclanman said:
Howdy Jack.
Again- a fantastic Thread, oh man I just can't wait to see this place. It's been an amazing 2 weeks - visiting a Country where it's Castles I have been standing in are up to and most probably more than 5 times older than civilised New Zealand. My apologies for the non participation- a camera that I can't load photos on to the computer until I get home ( drivers ), and pretty much too tired lol.
Jack- thank you and I can't wait to meet you- share the sights and a beer!
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Hi Duncan! Glad you were able to have an advance look at the place. I know you've been pushing it pretty hard, but hopefully having a great time. I hope we get a bit of sunshine, and we should have a great day. Can't wait to meet you my friend :)

Faiaoga said:
I was not thinking so much of the pay and social conditions, but of perceptions concerning technology and invention. I think that people forget that people in earlier times were able to accomplish a lot using simpler technology. As a science teacher in the Pacific islands, I sometimes felt that my students found it hard to believe that people in the USA did not always have pickup trucks, chain saws and electricity. They did not always understand, for example, that my father drove horses on a Wisconsin farm before World War II and that the family cooked using a wood stove.

People forget that the forests of Minnesota and giant redwood trees in California were cut down using axes and crosscut saws. While I have seen pictures of this work being done, my father and others of his generation actually used them.
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Good post :) Things have moved very fast haven't they, and it seems it only takes a few years for perceptions to change and skills to be lost. How many people now would even think of patching a pair of jeans or even sewing a button on, let alone cobbling their shoes, or, heaven forbid, fixing their car?

lambertiana said:
Now, would you mind sending me one of those grinding stones and a crucible for my collection?
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The area around Sheffield is absolutely littered with grindstones because the price of French stone dramatically became cheaper than English stone, and the quarries shut down literally overnight. Also, the grindstones were used up at an astonishing rate, so there's no shortage of worn ones. If you visit, we can fill your suitcases with them! :D
 
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