BYGONE INDUSTRIES OF THE PEAK: THE CLOG BLOCK CUTTERS
This is one of a series of articles published in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper, on 23rd September 2002 (p16), and
reproduced by kind permission of its author, Julie Bunting.
The series is now available as a fully-illustrated paperback, published in 2006
by
Wildtrack Publishing of Sheffield (ISBN 1-904098-01-0) See also this
Review by Alan Jacques.
BYGONE INDUSTRIES OF THE PEAK: THE CLOG BLOCK CUTTERS
A stream which rises just south of Wirksworth is the infant River
Ecclesbourne, the 'eccles' element of its name believed in fact to refer
to the nearby parish church.
The course of the river came to be followed by the Wirksworth to
Duffield branch of the Midland Railway, giving access to the main line
stations as well as bringing passengers into Wirksworth, especially on
market days.
The route through the Ecclesbourne valley is quite beautiful, passing
between low rolling hills scattered with spinneys and copses. In the
late nineteenth century charcoal burners could be seen at work from the
train, whilst another rural industry was carried out beside the river
until at least seventy years ago. This was known as clog block cutting
and it took place in summertime where alder trees grew thickly along the
river banks.
Alder is soft to work with but extremely hard-wearing and even after
repeated wetting does not warp. For that reason it used to be popular in
Derbyshire for platters, but was chiefly felled for clogs. Alder wood
changes from white to red when cut, but by the time it is worked has
faded to a pale yellow.
Aspen was a good alternative wood, both light and durable, but was
always less abundant then alder. In the reign of Henry V, supplies of
aspen were reserved for making arrow-shafts: those who turned it into
clogs or pattens risked a penalty of one hundred shillings.
TO THE MILL TOWNS
Clog block cutters worked out in the open, under a tarpaulin hung from
four posts in wet weather, using yellow wood-shavings when they needed a
fire. They sawed the alder wood into short logs, before splitting them
lengthways into rough blocks. Then, using a tool like a scythe blade,
with a handle at one end whilst the other end turned on a swivel joint
fixed to a crude bench, the men trimmed the pieces into uniform 'clog
blocks' These were mostly about 14" by 4" and 8" by 3" from which a wide
range of sizes could be shaped.
Finished clog blocks were sent in sacks to the clog-makers, mostly to
the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, although earlier this
century clog and pattern factories were also to be found at Glossop,
Chapel en le Frith, Chesterfield and Derby. There the blocks were
rounded off, shaped into soles with a hollow on the top surface for the
ball of the foot, and fitted with a leather upper.
Back in places like the Ecclesbourne valley, the clog block cutters were
already planning a year, or perhaps two, ahead, felling the most mature
alder trees so that they could be left to season. By late autumn the men
had left, the cycle of their toil seen in piles of yellow shavings and
freshly-cut, bright red tree holes, until one year when it was not worth
coming back, for nobody was buying clogs anymore.
© Julie Bunting
From "The Peak Advertiser", 23rd September 2002.
© Copyright Julie Bunting, GENUKI and Contributors 1995-2008, &c.
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[Created 19 Jun 2003. Last updated 24 Oct 2008 - 11:23 by Rosemary Lockie]
