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MERL miscellaneous note, B. L. 22 March 1961 – ‘The British Council collection. // This collection of material which is covered by the accession numbers 60/430 to 60/791 contains examples of craft products made in the British Isles. The major part of the collection was prepared immediately after the Second World War for a travelling exhibition which was sent to Australia and New Zealand. // The collection was purchased for a nominal sum by the Museum in two portions, the one in the summer of 1960 and the other in February 1961. // For further details see the individual catalogue cards and the catalogue prepared for the temporary exhibition of the collection.’, MERL 'Catalogue index' card, ‘General card’, Ash Handles [hand-written draft] – ‘The strongest and most reliable tool handles are those made from cleft ash, and although nowadays the great bulk are made in other ways, the cleaving and shaping of them was once a common craft throughout Britain. It is still carried on at Monmouth, Hereford and Cardiff, being associated with local supplies of material and a local demand, particularly from coalmines. // The method followed is to cross-cut selected ash poles to the length desire, and then to cleave them with an axe or froe upon a chopping block. The handle maker next fixes the rough cleft on a bench, which carries two iron spikes to hold the wood at the ends. One of these iron spikes carries a screw thread which engages in a fixed block, whilst the other is adjustable within a series of holes. Handles of varying lengths can thus be held very firmly or turned very easily to a fresh angle of working. So held, the cleft is cunningly shaved to the curve and cross-section required, by the use of various draw knives and spoke shaves, some straight, others with a curved cutting edge. The shapes formed vary for the different tools, being fixed by long tradition to ensure good balance and easy handling. On many axe helves a broad and end called a ‘fawn foot’ is shaped to give the axeman’s hand a firmer grip. // Cleft handles are preferred in the mines on account of their great strength and reliability, for their grain is unbroken, and they withstand the roughest wear when used for picks, axes or sledge-hammers at the coal face. // In a simpler method of cleaving, a stout ash stem is selected and cleft into two sections, each of which is then barked and trimmed up with a spoke shave: for axe helves a curved stem may be chosen. Helves must be allowed to season before the tool head is fitted: otherwise shrinkage will loosen it. // See Edlin, H. L. ‘Woodland Crafts in Britain’ Batsford, 1949.’, MERL 'Catalogue index' card – ‘This handle with its distinctive curved end hand rest is made of ash and comes from R.W. Rich’s Steam Wood Works, East Hoathly, Sussex. // It is 36 3/4 in. long and the head is 3 1/4 in. wide at the end. // See general card on ash handle makers.’, MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, ‘Introductory Note’ by Andrew Jewell – ‘The objects shown in this Exhibition of Country Craftsmanship were originally purchased by the British Council in 1946. They were selected for exhibition in Australia and New Zealand as samples of traditional handcrafts which were then being practised in the British countryside. The Museum of English Rural Life was fortunate to acquire this valuable collection from the Council and to have the opportunity of displaying such a wide variety of skills. // Almost all the crafts shown are still to be found in this country although, in the intervening fifteen years, many of the small firms and individual craftsmen whose products are represented in the Exhibition, have given up working. The number who now remain to carry on these particular traditional crafts continues to decline with the growth of mechanization, the obsolescence of their products and the difficult of finding apprentices to follow them. // All the objects on display have one characteristic in common – they were made to be used. Any aesthetic qualities which the craftsman achieved grew without self-consciousness. Over long years of apprenticeship the craftsman developed an intimate knowledge of the raw material at his disposal and its peculiarities. He acquired by inheritance the methods of his craft which may have had a continuous tradition over centuries of time. And he was quite familiar with the way in which his product was to be used. // We can derive pleasure simply by looking at the shapes and decorations. Both, however, are inseparable from function and environment, and the objects can only be most fully appreciated by an understanding of the purpose for which each was intended. // This, then, is an exhibition of everyday things, made by men and women who might not think of themselves as artists, but whose work, nevertheless, has enriched the daily life of those who live with their products.’, MERL ‘Country Craftsmanship’ Exhibition Catalogue, 2 May–31 October 1961, p.15 – '175. Axe Handle, made of ash. (R.W. Rich, East Hoathly, Sussex.)', British Council ‘Exhibition of Rural Handicrafts from Great Britain’ Exhibition Catalogue, 1946, ‘Introductory Note’ – ‘This exhibition contains only examples of handicrafts that are still being practised in the British Countryside. It is confined to the work of our traditional craftsmen and women who, with very few exceptions, would not think of themselves as artists or designers but whose work, nevertheless, so greatly enriches the daily life of those who live with and use their products. The work of these craftsmen, too, provides the basis from which many artist-craftsmen gain technical knowledge and inspiration. // Included with these rural crafts are eight screens showing handicraft processes which can be undertaken by schools or adults who wish to practise a craft at home. In this way we hope these examples of Britain’s country crafts may be related to a practical aspect of present day life in the Dominions and meet the increasing need to find satisfying ways of using the leisure which machinery now makes available to us. // Along with her traditional rural crafts Great Britain seeks to employ all the resources of modern agricultural science and engineering. We have therefore included with this exhibition some photographs showing examples of recent developments in agricultural machinery.’, British Council ‘Exhibition of Rural Handicrafts from Great Britain’ Exhibition Catalogue, 1946, ‘Screen J. Hand-Cleft Tool Handles’, p.16 – ‘Hand-cleft wood follows the natural grain and gives a strength and toughness that machine cutting cannot imitate. Hence the choice of wood prepared in this way for axe and pick handles, oak cartwheel spokes, ladder rungs, roofing shingles or willow cricket bats. Ash is the wood chiefly used. This craft is frequently handed down from father to son, many of the examples shown being made by a man with six generations of handle makers behind him.’, British Council ‘Exhibition of Rural Handicrafts from Great Britain’ Exhibition Catalogue, 1946, p.16 – 'J.3. Felling Axe Handle. R. W. Rich, Sussex.', British Council Ref. No. NZ J3.
