MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

What are these?

[Mags]

Are they the ones at Helmshore??

[Stanley]

Yes Love, the ones I rebuilt but what are they?

[Mags]

I think they are called stocks

[Stanley]

Near enough Margaret, they are fulling stocks for use in the finishing process for woollen cloth.
Now we need another object.

[Stanley]

Another of the machines I renovated at Helmshore.... What is it?

[Steeplejerk]

Is it a carding machine

[Stanley]

No Tom but in a way it's a very early ancestor of the cards. This one at Helmshore had a very particular domestic function......

[Stanley]

No takers?
Here's a big clue, used exclusively to cater for work brought in by local housewives.....

[Gloria]

A washing machine?

[Stanley]

Sorry no Gloria but you are in the right ball park. Think of household maintenance that is obsolete now....

[Tizer]

Is it for tearing up old clothes etc to make rags?

[Cathy]

A rug or heavy blanket cleaner?
Not that I would let mine any where near that ‘thing’.

[Stanley]

Very close Peter but Cathy is closer. Think bedding. But not modern bedding, what was the main difference in those days?

[Cathy]

Could it be those old floppy horse hair filled Mattress’s

[Stanley]

You've got it Cathy! Not horse hair but flock, a bit like cotton wool but cotton and wool fibres mixed. Housewives brought the mattress to the mill and the flock was taken out and put through this flock shaker which was actually what was known as a 'willow'. The dirt and bits fell out onto the floor and the flock was teased out getting rid of the lumps. That made the mattress soft and good for another six months happen....
Next object?

[Tizer]

Pity the poor man who operated the machine and was probably known to his mates and neighbours as the local flocker.

[Stanley]

What is it?

[Tripps]

Is it a bummaree's hat?

Not too bothered if it isn't. The word is too infrequently seen these days, and it's a good excuse to use it.

[Big Kev]

Fish porter's hat? For carrying boxes of fish on your head?

[Tripps]

That's what I said - Do keep up. . . .

► Show Spoiler

What is a bumaree?
bummaree (plural bummarees) (UK, dated) A porter or dealer of fish at Billingsgate Fish Market in London. (UK) A person fulfilling a similar function at the Smithfield Meat Market in London.

[Big Kev]

That's what I said - Do keep up. . . .

► Show Spoiler

What is a bumaree?
bummaree (plural bummarees) (UK, dated) A porter or dealer of fish at Billingsgate Fish Market in London. (UK) A person fulfilling a similar function at the Smithfield Meat Market in London.

I'm not at my best

[Tripps]

OK understood - happy birthday by the way.

[Big Kev]

OK understood - happy birthday by the way.

Thank you

[Stanley]

Fish porter's hat. Nice one, because you both got it!
Now we need another object....