Wonwings Diary-a blog with a difference.

[Guest]

They look a bit short on identifying marks!!

I have it on authority that my WWI ship identification book is on it's way. I'll let you know when I get it.

[Guest]

Is it possible that these little ships were part of a naval board game? It would be pretty complex if it was. Opening for a modern entrepreneur to reintroduce one? I`ll take 10% for the idea.

[wonwinglo]

***Yes Richard I knew that it was not going to be any easy task,but if anyone can name a few it will be you,suitably armed with that collectors manual,no problems just do your best as and when you can.

I am told that the Admiralty recruiting offices,used to get potential recruits to see if they could identify such models to see how keen they were.

They look a bit short on identifying marks!!I have it on authority that my WWI ship identification book is on it's way. I'll let you know when I get it.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-A find that needs preserving-Chedhams Yard,Warwickshire.

CHEDHAMS YARD,WARWICKSHIRE.



Situated in the village of Wellesbourne,Warwickshire is a wonderful piece of our social history,the whole place is a time warp of a most important aspect of any village over 200 years ago,the village blacksmith,but this is more than just a Smithys shop,it also incorporates a woodworking shop and Wheelwright's as well,what is remarkable are the 5000 hand tools still to be seen hanging on the walls,old wooden wheels with metal tyres are stored in one of the outbuildings,a bending machine sits atop the base of a tree and still turns,a set of drawers contain hand made nails and coarse threaded bolts,looking up at the high rafters one can see heavy wooden beams and latticework roofing,galvanised steel panels cover the roof and ivy clings all over the building,there is an air of activity even today as what seems like a building lost in time before your very eyes,the place was last used in 1965 when the doors were closed for the very last time as work was hard to find in a fast changing world of automation and technology.

So lets take a tour around this incredible piece of history and see how simple objects were crafted by hand with no power tools whatsoever many years ago.



Rows of tools align every corner of the workshop,some 5,000 items have been catalogued just in case they need to be moved for storage in the future.



Ivy intertwines with another wall full of rusting tools,most of the tools have been hand made or adapted to do the job requred of them.



Large saws hanging on the wall ready for use on hand driven machinery.



The treadle operated large stone still functions despite its age.





The saw horse.



Old wooden pidgeonhole,hanging overhead are old signs from yesteryear with familiar names of local villages.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Chedhams Yard-Part 3

The doors were closed for the last time in 1965 after a generation of family life was left behind,a recent discovery reveals a lot about how we lived many years ago.



The Patina of times gone.



More tools and stillages full of artifacts.





The floor soft as a cushion with wood shavings,treading onto a time capsule.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Chedhams Yard-Part 4

Timber would be stored for many years to season it,unlike todays force grown woods which can warp badly,then timber was laid up in rooms such as this,the stable relaxed wood would then be made into many hundreds of different items.

The wood seasoning bay.





Metal cladding roller mounted atop a tree stump,it still works as good as the day it was first mounted in the yard.



The hefty bellows for the blacksmiths forge.



Nature mixes with steel and brickwork adding yet more atmosphere.



Wheelbarrow that was made at Chedhams yard in 1950.



A place of outstanding rustic beauty,forlorn and untouched.



A reproduction cart outside the blacksmiths shop.



Cams,belts and weights,everything still turns even today.









One of the rafters is marked 'Coldest day 1941' together with other landmarks in history etched into the beams.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Chedhams Yard-Concluding Part 5

It is important that future generations find out how we lived, and how the industry we know today grew from small roots,things were not always automated and made to make money,more importantly things made from steel and wood that served its purpose well,once more these village people were true craftsmen who tackled everything with basic hand tools,not a power point in sight anywhere.



The roof of the workshops.



The narrow entrance to the enchanting Chedhams yard,between houses and well off the beaten track,what secrets it holds for those that care to explore,and go back in time.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Chedhams Yard-Part 2-The tour continues.

Let us continue our tour of Chedhams yard and take in what it must have been like to be a very important part of village life some 200 years ago.

The atmosphere of sweat and toil prevails,ingenuity being the keyword,the village blacksmith was expected to tackle almost anything.



Templates and jigs no doubt to emulate time and again standard items rest on primitive racks.



Another 'handraulic' stone sits in the middle of the workshop.



And yet more tools.





The crumbling fabric of the combined forge and wheelwrights.

[Guest]

What an amazing place Barry I would love to have a wander around it and marvel at how things were done. Did you see the hand cranked lathe with the wheel spoke in it? Amazing levels of skill learned over a lifetime.

And all this has now been replaced by Battery drills, self drilling screws and MDF board!!!

Still there is hope. I am having a unit manufactured for my lounge while I am away this time. It is being done by a local firm who make furniture from used railway sleepers. You can have the finish, colour, style and design just as you want it and the configuration will be exactly as per the sketch I supplied. We already have a table made by this firm and it is beautifull and hand made locally. I'll post a picture later.

[Guest]

As promised a dining table made from old railway sleepers.

The floor is also interesting in that is is made from planks cut from old timbers removed from demolished houses. Consequently they have many years of drying behind them so when they are cut into planks there is very little shrinkage due to any further drying.

The floor has been down a few years now and there has hardly been any movement between the planks. The skirting was also removed and the new one stained to match the floor.

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[Guest]

Memories of a time slipped by.

58 and brought up in the crountry side in Scotland, and I don't know what every tool was used for.Very interesting.

[wonwinglo]

Richard that furniture is extra special because it has been turned into its second generation of usefulness,waste not and want not,there is far too much thrown away today, that could easily be used again and reclaimed as useful items.

You have some very special items there that will give lasting pleasure.

[wonwinglo]

***Seaspray,rest assured very few people know today exactly what some of these tools were used for ? many will have been used for specialised one off jobs and placed onto the walls,imagine using the self same tools that were used in your family from one hundred years ago ? that would give extra pleasure to doing a good job,some of the bits in the photographs were adapted from ordinary every day items,I can see some valve gear from a vintage car made into some sort of clamp,much of the metal used by blacksmiths was reclaimed,they seemed reluctant to throw anything away,a bit like ourselves as model builders !

Really pleased that you are enjoying these images,I bet that building could tell some tales.

Memories of a time slipped by. 58 and brought up in the crountry side in Scotland, and I don't know what every tool was used for.Very interesting.

[Guest]

I think we all do similar things nowadays. I wanted to drill holes in the end of planks for making the hatchboards on the coaster but I needed a really fast drill speed as the wood is quite soft.

The only thing that would do it was my lathe so I had to make up a little jig to fit into the tool post so that I could slide the planks in and run the tool post onto the drill bit rotating in the lathe chuck.

It worked perfectly but I am now so reluctant to throw the little jig away and it is only a few bits of wood glued together. I think a certain degree of pride prevents you and the thought that maybe one day you might just need it again.

[wonwinglo]

Wonwings diary-Chedhams Yard-Outakes.

More Chedhams Yard,the Out Takes-







Door Patina.



Not a scrap of metal wasted,every corner has pieces of metal for further useage.



Handles,drifts,cold chisels,old grinding wheels and those coarse threaded nuts and bolts.







Rust in peace !!



Any ideas ?



What a quaint way to mount a piece of machinery,straight onto a tree stump,strips of metal could then be rolled outside for use on the wagon wheels.



Well seasoned timber some hundreds of years old rests in the seasoning shed.



A surviving Chedham mulls over his days in the yard.



Note the dimesions scribed onto the girder.