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- Dec 2, 2005
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These rather gloomy and depressing photographs are contemporary shots of the famous Taylors Eye Witness Works in Sheffield. Its a location Im very familiar with; my mother was brought up just a couple of streets away, where my grandparents lived until the early 1960s; my parents were married at St Silas Church just a few streets away, and spent the first year of their marriage living very close to the Eye Witness Works, with my dad working at Richards just down the road; I lived in the same area on and off from the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s, and I used to walk to work past the factory every day when it was still a busy working factory. I have long had a special fondness for Taylors knives, not just because of living near the Eye Witness Works, but because they always made very good knives.
Today, Taylors are one of the surviving big names of the Sheffield cutlery industry, they have a decent range of kitchen cutlery, and several different ranges of pocket knives, from a gaudy budget range with red plastic handles to beautifully made high-end traditional patterns.
It must be very hard for a knife manufacturer in todays cold climate, and I dont think it would be too controversial, certainly not in Sheffield, to say that most of the big Sheffield cutlers really havent helped themselves over the years, anymore than theyve been helped. Taylors have fared better than most, but theyve seen difficult times, and some of their kitchen cutlery is certainly now made abroad.
Long-term Traditional posters might recall I made a previous visit to the Taylors factory (see http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1029646-Eye-Witness ), and in fact Ive been back there many times. I wanted to take some photographs for you, but I also wanted to have a good look at the place. When Duncan and his wife visited Sheffield recently we also visited the site and looked around. Duncan knocked on what looked to be the office door at the front of the factory, and inquisitively looked through the letter-box when nobody answered. There was a clocking-in machine and a number of time cards which could have been there for years, but no sign of anyone there. We walked around the edge of the building, and asked some passing workers from nearby businesses if they knew anything about the place, but they were unsure if it had closed down. There are sometimes lights on inside, and on one occasion I spoke to one of the companys directors as he was leaving by a side door, but Ive never seen any other activity. Ive never seen any deliveries, or workers going in or out, or heard any sound from within. It doesnt look like a working factory, and it doesnt SMELL like a working factory.
I dont know what you think, but I think the photographs below give the impression of an old factory which is semi-derelict. Im sure its still used by Taylors, but I am sceptical about how many of their knives are made there. And if theyre not made there, where are they made? The high-end premium knives are certainly still made in Sheffield, though Im not sure theyre made in the Eye Witness Works. As for the less expensive Taylors knives, who knows, maybe theyre made by small cutlers elsewhere in the city, or by another big firm, or maybe theyre made somewhere else.
Its a shame this historic works is now in such a state of decrepitude. Who knows how long itll continue to stand in its current form (when I visited with Duncan it looked even more derelict than in these photos taken a few months before), but for now its still there, and the photos below represent a full 360 degree tour of the outside of the building. Let me know what you think.
Jack
Today, Taylors are one of the surviving big names of the Sheffield cutlery industry, they have a decent range of kitchen cutlery, and several different ranges of pocket knives, from a gaudy budget range with red plastic handles to beautifully made high-end traditional patterns.
It must be very hard for a knife manufacturer in todays cold climate, and I dont think it would be too controversial, certainly not in Sheffield, to say that most of the big Sheffield cutlers really havent helped themselves over the years, anymore than theyve been helped. Taylors have fared better than most, but theyve seen difficult times, and some of their kitchen cutlery is certainly now made abroad.
Long-term Traditional posters might recall I made a previous visit to the Taylors factory (see http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1029646-Eye-Witness ), and in fact Ive been back there many times. I wanted to take some photographs for you, but I also wanted to have a good look at the place. When Duncan and his wife visited Sheffield recently we also visited the site and looked around. Duncan knocked on what looked to be the office door at the front of the factory, and inquisitively looked through the letter-box when nobody answered. There was a clocking-in machine and a number of time cards which could have been there for years, but no sign of anyone there. We walked around the edge of the building, and asked some passing workers from nearby businesses if they knew anything about the place, but they were unsure if it had closed down. There are sometimes lights on inside, and on one occasion I spoke to one of the companys directors as he was leaving by a side door, but Ive never seen any other activity. Ive never seen any deliveries, or workers going in or out, or heard any sound from within. It doesnt look like a working factory, and it doesnt SMELL like a working factory.
I dont know what you think, but I think the photographs below give the impression of an old factory which is semi-derelict. Im sure its still used by Taylors, but I am sceptical about how many of their knives are made there. And if theyre not made there, where are they made? The high-end premium knives are certainly still made in Sheffield, though Im not sure theyre made in the Eye Witness Works. As for the less expensive Taylors knives, who knows, maybe theyre made by small cutlers elsewhere in the city, or by another big firm, or maybe theyre made somewhere else.
Its a shame this historic works is now in such a state of decrepitude. Who knows how long itll continue to stand in its current form (when I visited with Duncan it looked even more derelict than in these photos taken a few months before), but for now its still there, and the photos below represent a full 360 degree tour of the outside of the building. Let me know what you think.
Jack
Hold on to your boots!!
