Only a week ago, in a digression from a chat about Jim's new French carving vice, I was enthusing about Ken Hawley.
Ken was an extraordinary man who spent over 60 years personally collecting the tools that Sheffield made, literally preserving the history that was being abandoned all around him.
Anyone who met him, or benefitted from his immense knowledge of and enthusiasm for the history of tools and their use, will be sad to hear that he passed away last Friday, aged 87.
There is an excellent obituary of him by Simon Barley here: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/aug/19/ken-hawley. Do read it, and also follow the links to the video in which he talks about his life's work.
No details yet, but there will be a commemoration of his life in the Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum:
http://www.hawleytoolcollection.com/.
Ken was an extraordinary man who spent over 60 years personally collecting the tools that Sheffield made, literally preserving the history that was being abandoned all around him.
Anyone who met him, or benefitted from his immense knowledge of and enthusiasm for the history of tools and their use, will be sad to hear that he passed away last Friday, aged 87.
There is an excellent obituary of him by Simon Barley here: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/aug/19/ken-hawley. Do read it, and also follow the links to the video in which he talks about his life's work.
No details yet, but there will be a commemoration of his life in the Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum:
http://www.hawleytoolcollection.com/.
