Heptonstall has a small museum, happily open on the day I was there. It shows how life would have been in the village in times gone by and has an exhibition about the Cragg Vale coiners, which I'll post more about tomorrow. The Museum is right beside the old, ruined church, housed in a building that dates back to 1600. Originally a warehouse, it was later a school, then a bank, and became a museum in 1972.
One room contains a replica of an 18th century handloom. Most of the people in this area used to eke out a living from sheep farming and handloom weaving, so that many homes would have had a loom similar to this.
These (below) are hobnail boots, the kind that many people wore in times past, the soles strengthened and given grip by nails.
Others wore clogs: leather shoes with wooden soles. I can't imagine they were very comfortable, with no flexion in the sole, and they must have been very noisy, clattering on the cobbles and stone floors. They'd have been hardwearing though, and lifted your foot slightly out of the mud and wet. The museum had a number of pairs in the dressing up area for children to try on.
Museums do a good job of reminding us (or teaching us) of old times.
ReplyDeleteIf those last shoes shown are clogs, they are quite different from the ones I see around here...which remind me more of the Dutch version of wooden shoes. These can be seen in more plasticized versions worn even by many nurses in hospitals...an open back, maybe with just a strap...and a high version of sole. I have worn a similar leather-topped version in the 70s on a farm and found the high sole kept my feet dry even in muddy conditions.
ReplyDeleteI love the room set up with the loom. Natural light.
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