Calling Jack Black...
Jack, I have a few questions that I find myself wondering about. I do love your photos of the Sheffield area, and having been to England I have many fond memories of the green English countryside. But my questions are for the modern U.K.
As we all know, the knife laws in England are, for lack of a better word, rather Draconian. But according to the law, you can carry a knife, as long as it mets certain limits. But I wonder about the attitude of the people.
Say you are carrying a regular slip joint pocket knife, and for some reason, need to open a package, cut a sandwich in half to share with your better half. Lets say it's a barlow. Will people freak over it, or be wary of you, and if a constable or Bobby see's it, are they lible to give you big hassle over it anyway. Sometimes people in uniform tend to get a little carried away with themselves, as well as not knowing the letter of the law themselves. Is there still an attitude of give and take, or is it getting a bit heavy?
And I'm curious as to the attitude of your contemporaries in the workforce and friends. I see these adds about no knife programs on the street os London, with drop boxes for your knives to be surrendered, and advise for people to not try to take a knife away from anyone in the family that may be carrying a knife. Like the knife is being demonized to the point of old time witch hunts. I want to know, does anyone over there have a thought about how they used to be the steel capital of the world, with the very best knives coming out of Sheffield in it's heyday? Is there a consciousness of the fact that they used to be the best in the whole world at producing great knives? Among your friends and co-workers, are there many who do carry a small knife for whatever cutting jobs come up? Or is it like almost being a social outcast or reformed drunk, where co-workers and family are sort of guarded about your obsession with knives? I know some of my friends and former co-workers were a little leery of it. Like "Oh, keep an eye on old Carl over there, he loves knives." Or "So, Carl, uh, why do you always carry a knife like that on you?"
Just curious as to the overall attitude on knives in the modern U.K. I know London is nuts, but big cities usually are, like our New York. But is it more relaxed in the smaller cities, esspecially those with an industrial history?
I know that's a lot, so I apologize in advance.
Carl.
Hi Carl,
Thanks a lot. There’s certainly no need to apologize, I’ll try to answer as best I can. I know that in some areas of the U.S. people are facing increasing restrictions on what they are legally allowed to carry, and also a change in attitude, and I really hope that it never gets like it is here, and in one or two other countries.
Certainly, in my lifetime, I’ve seen a huge change not only in the laws relating to knife carry, but in terms of general public perception. When I was a boy, as I’m sure it was for you, everyone carried a pocket-knife, certainly in Sheffield, and many carried fixed blades too. Some of my earliest knives were given to me by close relatives, and I bought them on school trips, because knives were always on sale and on display. Right next to the cardboard display of plastic combs in every newsagent and hardware store, and every other sweet shop, there’d be a display of Richards slipjoints, and maybe some small sheath knives from Rodgers or Nowills.
Sheffield has a history of gang violence going back at least to the turn of the 20th century, so I guess that knives were sometimes used as weapons, but that didn’t seem to mean that knives were regarded as in any way offensive in themselves. When things began to change I’m really not sure, it’s been so creeping and insidious, but things have changed enormously within the past twenty years.
When the law was first changed so that you needed a valid reason to carry a sheath knife, or a pocket-knife with a blade of over three inches in length, I welcomed the clarification at least. The law explicitly allowed you to carry a folder, locking or non-locking, with a blade length of three inches, without having to explain yourself any further. Later though, and relatively recently, an overzealous prosecutor argued that there was effectively no difference between a folder which locked automatically and a fixed-blade knife, and the judge sitting on that particular case accepted that argument, even though Parliament had specifically rejected it when drafting the law. So now we have a situation where lock-knives, while not illegal for every day carry under the law made by Parliament, have been outlawed by the ruling of a solitary unelected judge.
Even that has not been enough though, many constables are under the impression that the carrying of ANY knife is unlawful, and that is hardly surprising since that view is promoted in print. I’m of an age where I’m unlikely to be stopped and searched in the street, though it has happened to me, and there was a case where an elderly doctor was arrested and held in custody because he was carrying the small Swiss Army Knife he’d owned for decades. He was discovered to be carrying it when he was obliged to pass through a metal-detector, which had been set up by West Yorkshire police at Leeds train station.
The thugs in my area carry guns, and if they stab each other, or even attack innocent people, I imagine it’s with the sort of long, sharp, pointy things people all over the world kill each other with, not Swiss Army Knives or bespoke penknives. The hysteria about knives though has certainly infected the general population. The production of even a small folder to open a package or peel an apple in public will cause people to stare, possibly even to call the police. This is even the case when people know you. I was in my favourite Leeds bar sitting having a pint with a younger chap I know quite well just the other week. There was a promotion of two Italian craft ales on, and some snacks had been delivered to go with them. The barman asked if we wanted to try some, but couldn’t open the thick plastic packaging, so I took out a small Sheffield lambsfoot to open it for him. The guy next to me didn’t freak out, but he remarked “You’ve got a knife.” I asked him if he hadn’t got one himself.
I regularly sharpen the knives they use behind the bar, and there are several other regulars who appreciate decent knives and tools, but even here, if somebody produces a nice old slipjoint, you might get the odd disturbed look. It’s hardly surprising that the few remaining cutlers in Sheffield have difficulty finding outlets for their wares, and I know of several shops where I’ve been told they’ve been put under pressure not to sell the tiniest Swiss Army Knives. Yet, in every town, there are shops that openly sell cheap and nasty daggers, throwing knives, machetes, and “samurai swords” to hooded teenagers, who wouldn’t so much as look at a Sheffield-made slipjoint, even if the shops sold them.
There’s a danger of legitimate knife use and carry being forced even further ‘underground’ by ignorant false perception. I try to talk to people about the knives I EDC, to tell them about their beauty and history, and use them openly to perform the numerous things they’re good for. At times though, I also try to be discreet, for example opening mail in the street. Such an innocent act would certainly cause a passing police car to stop, and you’d be questioned at least, if you weren’t arrested or forced to surrender your knife.
This complicity also extends to which particular knives I chose to buy and carry, even though I try not to let it. Flicking open a Barlow to peel an apple in the park may well lead to you being surrounded by armed police if the wrong bystander takes offence. I have large gardens at the front and rear of my house, but I tend to take my knives into the woods to photograph them, and I always make sure there’s no one else about. At times I’ve had to ask my girlfriend to keep an eye out for other walkers, as if I was relieving myself behind a tree or something. You just don’t know how people are going to react.
When I was a boy, every boy-scout and hiker carried a sheath knife when out on the hills. That’s something you don’t see anymore, even in the most remote places. If I’m carrying a fixed-blade myself, I’ll generally make sure I have a jacket to cover it.
As for people’s awareness of their own history, people seem to have short memories. You’d have to at least be in your forties now to remember when Sheffield was ‘Steel City’, and when I talk to younger people there, they’re barely aware of the city’s historic past. Probably any talk about knives has been expressly removed from the school curriculum. I know of only two shops in Sheffield that still sell Sheffield-made pocket knives, and they are both tourist shops, that I imagine sell mainly to tourists coming from countries with a more sensible attitude to pocket-knives.
I was camping with a group of a dozen or more people a couple of years ago, and incredibly, I was the only person with a knife – ANY knife! I don’t know how they thought they’d have been able to prepare a meal if I hadn’t been there! People have been de-skilled and de-tooled, we lost our longbows long ago, and now only a few of us retain a knife.
Sorry, for this long and rather rambling reply, and please tell me if I haven’t properly answered your question. It’s a very sad state of affairs all round, and as I say, I hope the day never comes when U.S. knife collectors, or those who just have a use for a pocket knife (or simply like carrying one) are treated like criminals.
Best wishes
Jack
). Lilah slept through my entire visit yesterday, I guess she's had a big couple of days. We didn't want to disturb her with flash photography, so the pics are a bit grainy to say the least. Hopefully get some better ones when I go to see her next week. In answer to your question P, no, my move won't take me further away. Hopefully I'll see lots of her growing up, as you say, the time really flys. Still struggling a bit with the idea that my 'little girl' had a baby. Mum and baby are doing very well anyway, and my daughter was surprisinly sprightly yesterday despite quite a long labour. Lilah was born at 8.30am and they were all back home by 6.30pm. I'm sure I'll be posting more pics over the months and years to come. Thanks once again. Here's the two of us yesterday.
Have to see if it stays like that, but her mum was pretty good in that department 
