SheffieldStar
A Hare Above
You forget how green it is above grey Sheffield; still wild enough for a hare in summertime.
I have a pair of traditionally crafted hand made scissors in my kitchen drawer, made by the Sheffield company of Ernest Wright and Sons. I intended them to be gift, but couldn’t bear to part with them. They’re nothing fancy to look at, but they feel clean and strong and easy to hold. The company started making shears and scissors back in 1902 when Sheffield used to make cutlery, or flatware, (if you prefer) for all the world. My grandmother’s bone handled knives and long tined forks are in the draw above; embossed with the words H.G. Long and co Sheffield ENG.
All that happened down in the valley, an industrial revolution, a railway, a steel works and a glut of factories, putting knives and forks on peaceful tables, making weapons and munitions in wartime. All that has come, and apart from dogged survivors of recession (such as Ernest Wright and Sons), it has all gone. But my kitchen scissors will last more than a lifetime, and I hope the grass will still stay green above Sheffield, wild enough for a summer hare.
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