England's oldest cooper to shut up shop in Liverpool

[Mr_P]

Article here
http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2017-03 ... liverpool/

Video here, from 22 mins
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... s-07032017

Some archive footage, sadly not much of it but I did spot one of those huge wooden cooperage planes. I saw one in the flesh at David Stanley auctions a few years ago, Richard T took a picture

post861519.html?hilit=%20canoe#p861519

Richard said

Yup, upside down; so it's like a bench with a blade in it sticking up. You actually pull the work over the blade. Much used by coopers for fitting cask staves together for that water - tight fit.

but the one in the old footage is being used diagonally. Then again the one in the video is a bit smaller than the David Stanley canoe.

 

[graduate_owner]

Well at least the guy is choosing to shut shop, not being forced out because of lack of orders or increased business rates of whatever. I think he has earned his retirement, good luck to him.

K

 

[thetyreman]

'There are still about 200 coopers in Scotland, some directly employed by the distillers, but now in England there is just Les and one other cooper based in Yorkshire.'

if there's one in yorkshire they aren't quite gone yet