A Heritage Lottery Funded project based in the beautiful English Lake District. The project was undertaken by The New Woodmanship Trust, with assistance from The Heritage Lottery Fund, in order to sort, catalogue and renovate a collection of heritage hand tools, and to create a tool library for public use. The tools had been collected over many years by Walter Lloyd, and the renovation and display project was completed in 2015. Since that time the tool library has been housed at Stott Park Bobbin Mill, at Lakeside, Newby Bridge, an English Heritage property. Following Walter’s death in 2018, the collection is now managed by his son Bill Lloyd.
- The Catalogue section gives details of the tools and the library.
- The Tools in Use menu illustrates some of the crafts to which the tools belong.
- The Story of the Project menu is a journal of the renovation process.
Walter Lloyd had previously been a Naval Officer, a hill farmer, a Civil Defence Officer and Emergency Planning Officer for Greater Manchester Council. On his retirement in 1985, he moved to the Lake District in North West England and for almost 25 years was a woodsman, charcoal-burner, rope-maker, willow grower and bow-top wagon builder. He had an extensive knowledge of the uses of hand tools relating to woodland trades and agriculture. That knowledge was generously passed on, and it is presented here and in the tool display for the benefit of the general public.
The project was initially managed and administered by Sarah Thomas, and, once established, was managed by Grace Holland. The renovation work was carried out by a team of volunteers under the direction of The Woodmanship Trust, which amalgamated with the Rusland Horizons Project in 2019. The video below provides an excellent context and background the the Walter’s Tools project, which is featured at 5′ 40″.
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Thanks Bob.
As a tool collector it is always good to see what has happened to a fellow enthusiast’s tools. I hope my family will undertake a similar challenging project when I am gone.