The workshop
Hand brace
There is a second one in the library of things.
- Made by
- Unknown maker, Sheffield
- Date
- About 1920
- Material
- Steel, beech
- Size
- 36 cm long
- Cost new
- Seven and six
- Came from
- The works’ maintenance shop
On view The workshop, on the wall rack. Ground floor, the old grinding hull.
Used by the works’ own joiner to hang doors, fit shelves and, according to the wage book, make a cradle in 1931. Hand braces outlived the electric drill by decades in places like this, because they never needed a socket.
We had two. One stays on the wall; the other goes out on loan most Saturdays and has hung shelves in kitchens all over Kelham.
Its twin is in the library of things. The spare from the maintenance shop, with four bits. £2 a week, Saturday mornings.
How to borrowMore from the workshop.
Table forks, worn through
Merrin & Sons, Tenter Lane, 1924The workshop, on the packing tableCost new: nine shillings the dozen
Hand sewing machine
Unknown maker, about 1905The workshop, by the windowCost new: four pounds ten, on weekly payments
Pocket knife, bone handle
Merrin & Sons, Tenter Lane, about 1900The workshop, on the grinders’ benchCost new: a shilling (staff price, fourpence)
Where to see it
The workshop, ground floor.
You’ll find it on the wall rack, on the ground floor. The lift is by the front desk.
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, and until 20:00 on Thursdays.