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- Dec 2, 2005
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Id intended to go for a walk yesterday, at a place called Tadcaster near York, which is perhaps best known as the home of Samuel Smiths Brewery (and a couple of bigger, but lesser, breweries). However, due to heavy rain, I decided to stay on the bus and travel past York, to the North Yorkshire market town of Malton. I thought Id passed through Malton before, and that there wasnt much there, but I must have just been on the outskirts, because it really is a lovely place, with some great old architecture, a thriving market, and utterly unspoiled by MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc. It is full of old independent shops, which seem to be doing very well.
Yesterday there was a large and very well-organised food and drink festival taking place (the photo above shows only a very small part of it), with lots of great food and beer on sale, and at reasonable prices. I struggled home afterwards heavily laden with as much beer as I could carry, in particular the local Brass Castle Brewerys award-winning vanilla porter, Bad Kitty.
There is a smashing old hardware store in the market place, which sells everything from rope and grommets to cloth caps and garden canes, and the best selection of knives Ive seen on sale in England for a long time. The cramped shop was packed though, so I decided to go back another time, but I had already been in another of Maltons independent hardware shops, where they also had a good number of knives on sale. This was a larger emporium, which aimed to supply just about everything the local farmers and agricultural workers might need. The knives on sale reflected local requirements, with lots of inexpensive no-nonsense patterns. While much bigger than the previous shop, the cash-desk was also extremely busy, and the staff were struggling to cope. However, I was tempted to buy a few inexpensive knives, and did so.
This Lambsfoot immediately caught my eye, and at first I thought it was a Sheffield-made knife. No indication of manufacture is in fact given, but the blades similarity to those claiming Sheffield provenance, interested me enough to quickly purchase a couple. On closer examination, for the price, its a well-made knife, with a well-centred blade and a good sharp edge . It has a half-stop, but strangely no kick. On the whole, its of better quality than most of the Sheffield knives I see on sale.
Now, I could tell from the range of knives on display, who their wholesale supplier was. This long-standing British knife distributor sells a range of Sheffield knives, including Lambsfoot knives, as well as SAKs, and other quality knives from Europe and the States. In the past, Ive seen them source or have made up virtual copies of their more expensive knives and offer them as part of their budget range. I dont think this knife is made in Sheffield, or anywhere else in England, but I think its been designed to look like the basic, less expensive Lambsfoot knives made in Sheffield, by Arthur Wright & Sons for example, a line the wholesale retailer also distributes.
Here it is next to my Arthur Wright Lambsfoot, which is the smaller pattern Wrights do, they also produce a slightly larger knife like this. The wording on the blade is the same, right down to the font, though the etching is deeper and better done on its silent partner.
I should say that, even if this knife is intended to be a copy of the Sheffield-made knives, I have absolutely no problem with that. No claim of Sheffield provenance is made, and the Sheffield cutlers all copy the same patterns anyway, if indeed they dont all buy in their blades from the same source as each other.
The knife feels good in hand, and I like it so far. Ill see how it lasts. The only rub is that the Saturday lad in the shop told me it was made from carbon steel, and I now suspect the blade may in fact be made from brushed stainless steel, which would probably make sense for most of their customer base, just not my cup of tea.
Ive done various image searches on the knife, but can find out almost nothing about it. I think Ill break out the vinegar later to answer the question regarding the steel. Id be interested to hear from anyone whose seen anything similar to this, perhaps knives of a different pattern, but sharing cosmetic similarities. The shop I bought it from had a Hawkbill in the same range. Ill let you know what I find out myself.
Jack
Yesterday there was a large and very well-organised food and drink festival taking place (the photo above shows only a very small part of it), with lots of great food and beer on sale, and at reasonable prices. I struggled home afterwards heavily laden with as much beer as I could carry, in particular the local Brass Castle Brewerys award-winning vanilla porter, Bad Kitty.
There is a smashing old hardware store in the market place, which sells everything from rope and grommets to cloth caps and garden canes, and the best selection of knives Ive seen on sale in England for a long time. The cramped shop was packed though, so I decided to go back another time, but I had already been in another of Maltons independent hardware shops, where they also had a good number of knives on sale. This was a larger emporium, which aimed to supply just about everything the local farmers and agricultural workers might need. The knives on sale reflected local requirements, with lots of inexpensive no-nonsense patterns. While much bigger than the previous shop, the cash-desk was also extremely busy, and the staff were struggling to cope. However, I was tempted to buy a few inexpensive knives, and did so.
This Lambsfoot immediately caught my eye, and at first I thought it was a Sheffield-made knife. No indication of manufacture is in fact given, but the blades similarity to those claiming Sheffield provenance, interested me enough to quickly purchase a couple. On closer examination, for the price, its a well-made knife, with a well-centred blade and a good sharp edge . It has a half-stop, but strangely no kick. On the whole, its of better quality than most of the Sheffield knives I see on sale.
Now, I could tell from the range of knives on display, who their wholesale supplier was. This long-standing British knife distributor sells a range of Sheffield knives, including Lambsfoot knives, as well as SAKs, and other quality knives from Europe and the States. In the past, Ive seen them source or have made up virtual copies of their more expensive knives and offer them as part of their budget range. I dont think this knife is made in Sheffield, or anywhere else in England, but I think its been designed to look like the basic, less expensive Lambsfoot knives made in Sheffield, by Arthur Wright & Sons for example, a line the wholesale retailer also distributes.
Here it is next to my Arthur Wright Lambsfoot, which is the smaller pattern Wrights do, they also produce a slightly larger knife like this. The wording on the blade is the same, right down to the font, though the etching is deeper and better done on its silent partner.
I should say that, even if this knife is intended to be a copy of the Sheffield-made knives, I have absolutely no problem with that. No claim of Sheffield provenance is made, and the Sheffield cutlers all copy the same patterns anyway, if indeed they dont all buy in their blades from the same source as each other.
The knife feels good in hand, and I like it so far. Ill see how it lasts. The only rub is that the Saturday lad in the shop told me it was made from carbon steel, and I now suspect the blade may in fact be made from brushed stainless steel, which would probably make sense for most of their customer base, just not my cup of tea.
Ive done various image searches on the knife, but can find out almost nothing about it. I think Ill break out the vinegar later to answer the question regarding the steel. Id be interested to hear from anyone whose seen anything similar to this, perhaps knives of a different pattern, but sharing cosmetic similarities. The shop I bought it from had a Hawkbill in the same range. Ill let you know what I find out myself.
Jack
You'd love it, it's a 4 hour round trip for me, but I'll definitely be going there again soon.
