A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to visit the last cutlery forge in Sheffield. I was not invited, but a quick chat about industry and steel with the old school foreman made us hit it off and I was pretty much given free run of the whole place unsupervised. The huge "Massey" hammers, decades old were still stamping away forks knives and other cutlery.
He told me "We make over 50 types of knife, from bowie to circus throwing, knives for tea planters in india and for explorers in antarctica, and as many varieties of scissors, blunt ones for prisons, left handed scissors and poodle trimmers"
The whole place was like a museum, but fantastic in the fact it was still working.
Working no longer...Swung past on the weekends Sheffield steel trip, and the whole place is empty. Which means there are now zero forges in "steel city"
Very very sad. I found a couple of knives as the only trace of what the building ever did...
Then... in full swing
The works today
He told me "We make over 50 types of knife, from bowie to circus throwing, knives for tea planters in india and for explorers in antarctica, and as many varieties of scissors, blunt ones for prisons, left handed scissors and poodle trimmers"
The whole place was like a museum, but fantastic in the fact it was still working.
Working no longer...Swung past on the weekends Sheffield steel trip, and the whole place is empty. Which means there are now zero forges in "steel city"
Very very sad. I found a couple of knives as the only trace of what the building ever did...
Then... in full swing
The works today