Lost Country Crafts - The Traditional Barrel maker & How to string Onions

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  • Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
  • Join Jack Hargreaves as he explores the traditional rural crafts, of Barrel Making - coopering, and the unique art of stringing onions like those that were bought by the Breton onion sellers by bike to England.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 158

  • @tinkytinca
    @tinkytinca 2 місяці тому +17

    There is one thing about getting old and that is Dave Knowles, and people like him, post video's that take you back for 20+ minutes to when times were simple and life was good. We were the last generations to enjoy life. I don't know why I have a tear in my eye. Is it for me, or is it for todays youngsters who will never know the life we had. Life wasn't easy but if you worked at it, it was such a wonderful life

  • @Offgrid.grinch
    @Offgrid.grinch 2 місяці тому +21

    One of the best TV series ever made, in my opinion.

  • @PeteLewisWoodwork
    @PeteLewisWoodwork 2 місяці тому +74

    I've been a carpenter for over 40 years and at home, joinery is my hobby, so I found this episode to be of special interest. Coopers may use simple tools but their skills are built with years of experience. Excellent episode. Thanks.

    • @Derek0846
      @Derek0846 Місяць тому +5

      For anyone who might be interested. Jack Hargreaves was one of General Montgomery's staff officers during WW2 in the Middle East.

    • @NaturalBornWinner-
      @NaturalBornWinner- 19 днів тому +2

      ​@@Derek0846And he was also in the tv program "HOW" with Fred dinage and co.

  • @michaeltreadwell777
    @michaeltreadwell777 2 місяці тому +20

    How to string Onions - ONLY Jack could explain, and so perfectly. R.I.P. Jack.

  • @XFlaviousX
    @XFlaviousX 2 місяці тому +8

    Ahh, happy viewing, Thanks as ever Dave.

  • @ferretmanjon8152
    @ferretmanjon8152 2 місяці тому +22

    Fabulous video it reminds me of a better England that we lived in used to watch these in the late 70s I have the full collection on dvd please keep posting them 👍

  • @jackmckinnon3208
    @jackmckinnon3208 2 місяці тому +7

    My late father was a boat builder, when he finished his apprenticeship his award was an adze, which I still have. About the only thing I think he ever used it for was making an oak coffee table, which I also cherish.
    Thanks for the upload, I grew up very close to the new forest and this brings back great memories, thank you

  • @TheGreatest1974
    @TheGreatest1974 2 місяці тому +11

    Brilliant. When people learned proper skills. 🇬🇧👍

  • @guyrippon6085
    @guyrippon6085 2 місяці тому +8

    Proper job

  • @nickhall7894
    @nickhall7894 2 місяці тому +11

    It’s a real joy to see someone so attuned to their craft as the cooper.

  • @FranssensM
    @FranssensM 2 місяці тому +7

    A joy to see a craftsman at work. I wonder how many real coopers are left.

    • @John.Flower.Productions
      @John.Flower.Productions 2 місяці тому +2

      There will be coopers until the end of days but there cannot be too many places for them to work anymore.

    • @EarthFolk-bp5fm
      @EarthFolk-bp5fm 2 місяці тому +3

      One here in my 40th year .

  • @darenwright1071
    @darenwright1071 2 місяці тому +13

    Great stuff, not the mass produced garbage we are fed these days, instantly forgettable, Jacks shows are thoughtful, insightful, inspiring and educational. Absolutely love this.

  • @samdavies7337
    @samdavies7337 2 місяці тому +11

    Love the music. It takes me back to being a kid in anticipation of the delicious knowledge coming my way. Thank you so much.

  • @JimNicholls
    @JimNicholls 2 місяці тому +13

    Thank you for another fascinating video, Dave. It's very sad to see craftsmen disappearing, but with luck a few will pass on their skills and maintain them for a while longer. My grandfather, who died 70 years ago, was almost uneducated, but had a lot of skills he'd picked up in a lifetime of working on farms, and I still remember watching him do jobs that almost no-one these days would have any idea how to cope with.

    • @MarkPearce-u7m
      @MarkPearce-u7m 2 місяці тому +1

      Agree with your sentiments, but 'lifewise' knowledge is education, skills that even 'Joe 90' couldn't learn.

  • @malcolmhill691
    @malcolmhill691 2 місяці тому +7

    Thank you once again for making my Sunday night with one of your perfect broadcasts..

  • @G.A.R.2002
    @G.A.R.2002 29 днів тому +14

    One of the best programs for showing the younger viewers what the country was like before automotion took over .
    And if the farms go
    All knowledge will go with it.
    We need to keep all the trades we will miss them once they have gone.!!!!!

  • @MrMoggyman
    @MrMoggyman 2 місяці тому +9

    Absolutely fascinating. Where have programmes like this gone?

  • @philleggitt3005
    @philleggitt3005 2 місяці тому +7

    Interesting seeing how to make a string of onions, my Grandfather used to do the same to his shallots, they were tight as ticks each to the other, he never showed me how to do it, i can still smell now his garden store & see his string of shallots, 60 yrs on...
    His shallots were my first gardening venture, i took a few out of the kitchen store an old half gallon paint tin & planted them without instruction...Happy memories...

    • @diogenesegarden5152
      @diogenesegarden5152 2 місяці тому +1

      I like to string my shallots and onions, although I do it differently by simply folding the stalk around the string so that the weight of the bulb holds the stalk in place. It’s also a good way of sorting the good from the not so good so the better quality ones can be strung to store and the ropey ones used straight away. It’s one of my favourite little chores as they look great when all lined up in the kitchen on hooks. When it comes to replanting time for the shallots, I just grab a couple of strings and off to the allotment I go.

    • @IngleburtHumperdink
      @IngleburtHumperdink 2 місяці тому +1

      Tight as ticks! 😂

  • @edwardharrington678
    @edwardharrington678 2 місяці тому +6

    Love watching craftsmen work and I always wondered how the French strung them onions and remember seeing them years ago on their bikes..Very good.

  • @kenshort8901
    @kenshort8901 2 місяці тому +6

    I remember the French 'Johnny Onion Men' coming round the Dorset villages in the 1950s with their bikes laden with onions - I guess they landed at Weymouth or Poole.
    A couple of years ago, we visited a cooperage just outside Bordeaux (they make wooden wine barrels) - much the same techniques as in the video, except the shaping of the parts was mechanized.
    Another fascinating video - thank you

  • @davidsefton2792
    @davidsefton2792 2 місяці тому +7

    Love it

  • @IgnavusOchre
    @IgnavusOchre 2 місяці тому +6

    what joy

  • @mental963
    @mental963 2 місяці тому +11

    Another great episode. So sad to think about all the skills we have lost over they years.

  • @brindle2009
    @brindle2009 2 місяці тому +11

    As ever a pleasure to watch and relive my childhood seeing the old trades that were in our countryside

  • @oldaircraftguy8844
    @oldaircraftguy8844 4 дні тому +3

    I remember Jack Hargreaves from my childhood. I'm 67 now, he was and always will be a legend. Such a knowledgeable man in county ways. We won't see his like again!

  • @zerog5041
    @zerog5041 2 місяці тому +6

    Ahhhh Dave, takes me back to my younger years, I'd sit indoors watching these films, then when they finished, off to the pub for a drink and chat with my mates about what we'd seen. I live in London so a breath of Hampshire or Dorset fresh air was most invigorating even on the gogglebox. Hall & Woodhouse beer is still a much sought after brew up here in the smoke, yummeee!

  • @robbie2awesome
    @robbie2awesome 2 місяці тому +6

    So good

  • @kevinshave7082
    @kevinshave7082 2 місяці тому +8

    I used to love watching these back in the late 70's. Jack had such a laid back style.

    • @seamuskavanagh9653
      @seamuskavanagh9653 2 місяці тому

      Was "Bob Flemming" from "The Fast Show" modeled on Mr Hargreaves?

    • @Ingramdumpkiss
      @Ingramdumpkiss 2 місяці тому

      @@seamuskavanagh9653 Yes, but with affection. Paul WHitehouse and Charlie Higson were big fans of Out of Town.

    • @seamuskavanagh9653
      @seamuskavanagh9653 2 місяці тому +2

      Of course.
      Watching these as a child led to me going to the Hereford Technical
      College to train as a Blacksmith, back in the 80's. Best years of our lives. l​@@Ingramdumpkiss

  • @neilgillmore
    @neilgillmore Місяць тому +8

    Roll out the barrel, amazing, Jack Hargreaves.

  • @TerryC69
    @TerryC69 2 місяці тому +6

    Hi Dave! I've never been shy about singing the praises of this series. It is a joy to watch indeed.

  • @lucycolwell949
    @lucycolwell949 2 місяці тому +6

    been following jack since i was a little boy, taught me trapping fishing, crafts

    • @HookBeak_66
      @HookBeak_66 22 дні тому +1

      As your name Lucy, do you mean since you were a little tom boy?

  • @tachikomakusanagi3744
    @tachikomakusanagi3744 2 місяці тому +5

    He knows his onions!

  • @flashtheoriginal
    @flashtheoriginal Місяць тому +10

    Ah Jack
    A model Englishman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

  • @richardfiennes3616
    @richardfiennes3616 2 місяці тому +7

    Fabulous craftsmanship and quiet, thoughtful, appreciative commentary. Shame these skills have vanished along with Jack opening our eyes to how to do things properly.

  • @59patrickw
    @59patrickw 2 місяці тому +7

    when a workman took pride even his work shoes are polished

  • @matthewmarting3623
    @matthewmarting3623 16 днів тому +9

    I’m not British, didn’t know Jack existed till now. It’s a pity, I would have loved for his films to be part of my childhood.

  • @keithadams1538
    @keithadams1538 2 місяці тому +5

    That was an absolute delight TY Dave.

  • @montyf2165
    @montyf2165 2 місяці тому +4

    Fascinating. The skills required to make/repair oak barrels cannot be understated.

  • @bobstacey9311
    @bobstacey9311 25 днів тому +7

    I remember my dad stringing onions up in the garage for the winter from his allotment

  • @goddam9925
    @goddam9925 2 місяці тому +5

    Yet again thank you !!

  • @BarryEdwards-s7f
    @BarryEdwards-s7f 2 місяці тому +6

    Many thanks for taking the time to put that on..

  • @garyharley3868
    @garyharley3868 2 місяці тому +8

    Wonderful programme really made my day keep them coming please Dave

  • @burniemaurins2382
    @burniemaurins2382 2 місяці тому +5

    Thanks Dave, I used to live near Burton on Trent, there were still Coopers then around 30 years ago, I also like to tie my Onions up, though not as neat as that, I shall have to try that.

  • @NutritionalHealthService
    @NutritionalHealthService 2 місяці тому +3

    Beautiful. I well remember the wooden barrels. Our family lived in one of the "Arthur Coopers" Off-licence shops. And I can recall having a frenchman arrive carrying his onions on bike. Early 60's.

    • @LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts
      @LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts 2 місяці тому +1

      Can remember having one going door to door in the late nineties around the village.. north Dorset. Think he came with the annual french market in Shaftesbury

  • @RoyPayne-r2b
    @RoyPayne-r2b 3 дні тому +2

    A wonderful person is jack good old days ❤❤❤❤❤❤ God bless him 🙏🙏🙏🙏

  • @3riverspiper1792
    @3riverspiper1792 2 місяці тому +5

    Thank you Dave for sharing this historic episode on "Coopering", it takes me back to the days when we had Greenall Whitley Brewery in our town, within their production they still employed their own traditional coopers, a wonderful craft to witness, sadly the Brewery closed in 1990 , and the cooperage closed with it... I used to supply and maintain their fleet of forktrucks which gave me the opportunity to see this unique process in operation many times. 🍻🍻 Steve.

  • @JimWood-sh2wb
    @JimWood-sh2wb 2 місяці тому +6

    My grandad was a cooper at a Scottish distillery

  • @johnhughes8563
    @johnhughes8563 2 місяці тому +4

    Excellent video.

  • @billyandrew
    @billyandrew 23 дні тому +7

    Adzes we're also used in farming, usually with a sharp point on the opposite side of the blade.
    The blade was used to till and the point to get under boulders or heavy stones for removal.
    I've also seen such an adze used by bricklayers, decades ago, to make shallow ditches to lay their mortar into, ahead of laying the bricks.
    Jack knew his onions. 😉😂

  • @Bass-ne6dl
    @Bass-ne6dl 21 день тому +4

    Used to love watching jack as a kid great memories

  • @robertcorradi8573
    @robertcorradi8573 2 місяці тому +4

    Really enjoyed this one ..... Perhaps more than any other..... Like a comment above.. I've been working with wood for over 40 years ..... and the skill demonstrated. Fantastic. Thank you for sharing.

  • @BenJamin-rt7ui
    @BenJamin-rt7ui 2 місяці тому +4

    These videos are priceless.

    • @petemoore5104
      @petemoore5104 2 місяці тому +2

      Especially if you're in your early 70's and recall the TV series..
      A true blast from my past...

  • @nigelbarrett3602
    @nigelbarrett3602 2 місяці тому +3

    Excellent episode Dave. This is Jack at his very best. Thanks as always for sharing. Can't wait for the next one. Ps thanks to Jack i always tie my onions this way.

  • @johnnyknap
    @johnnyknap 2 місяці тому +4

    Very interesting! I was lucky enough to be able to remember drinking beer from wooden barrels before they were phased out . Theakstons brewed in the old State Management brewery in Carlisle and Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth: Both now closed.

  • @garyproffitt5941
    @garyproffitt5941 Місяць тому +6

    Technology with the craftsman with the wood 3:00
    Roll out the barrel amazing Jack Hargreaves.

  • @deerohdeer8000
    @deerohdeer8000 2 місяці тому +3

    Hi Dave , finally had chance to watch the magical series with Jack ! Thanks as always for posting!!! 👍

  • @robertmeadows7508
    @robertmeadows7508 2 місяці тому +4

    I have a couple of old bill-hooks ! One has its edge ground bias to one side that I can only think was for hedge laying !

  • @krisdavison9355
    @krisdavison9355 2 місяці тому +5

    Brilliant dave I string my onions but some always fall out now I know how to do it properly keep up the good work

  • @paulcoomber4009
    @paulcoomber4009 2 місяці тому +3

    Fascinating to see this again.
    I used to use an adze when erecting post and rail fences.
    This was the best programme on television. Thank you Dave for showing it to us again

  • @richardeljay
    @richardeljay 2 місяці тому +4

    Wonderful as ever - the past really is a different country.

  • @jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering
    @jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering 2 місяці тому +3

    Absolute perfection Dave 👌
    👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  • @FrankCrabtree-fi6mn
    @FrankCrabtree-fi6mn 2 місяці тому +11

    Jack hargreaves used to be on a kids show in the 70s called how

    • @HookBeak_66
      @HookBeak_66 22 дні тому +1

      I do remember watching Jack Hargreaves & Fred Dineage on 'How' as a child.
      Jack died aged 82 in 1994 aged 82, but at this age Fred is still alive. These
      educational programmes on ancient crafts are so precious, that due to the
      swift pace of technological advancement, it's important these old skills are
      remembered & regularly showcased at countryside fairs.

    • @FrankCrabtree-fi6mn
      @FrankCrabtree-fi6mn 22 дні тому +1

      @HookBeak_66 i am always talking to my children and grandchildren about my life in the 1960s and 70s ,also about things i remember my gran talked about when she was growing up in the 1800s

  • @chrisjones-ys5zg
    @chrisjones-ys5zg 25 днів тому +4

    the talented mr ripley... brillant... thanks dave... good memories of watching jack hargreaves with my dad... much love xxc

  • @MacsMachines
    @MacsMachines 2 місяці тому +4

    Joyful to watch 👌👍

  • @PeterMorrow-x3c
    @PeterMorrow-x3c 2 місяці тому +4

    Absolutely love watching these, thank you

  • @weerobot
    @weerobot 2 місяці тому +4

    Wow...

  • @Phiyedough
    @Phiyedough 2 місяці тому +5

    That old Flying Doctors TV series was set in a place they called Coopers Crossing. I always thought there should be a road sign showing someone rolling a barrel across the road!

  • @VijaySuryaAditya
    @VijaySuryaAditya 2 місяці тому +2

    Ah, the good old days!

  • @Greebstreebling
    @Greebstreebling 2 місяці тому +2

    The upside down plane concept is also used to good effect by lute makers, where the ribs of the body of the lute are planed in much the same way as the staves of a barrel. It looks very easy, but as with all these skill tasks, it takes time and practice to acquire the skill, and fairly frequent use in order to keep it. Thanks for posting a great video :) :)

  • @a11oge
    @a11oge 2 місяці тому +3

    So interesting, I never knew how involved repairing a barrel could be.

    • @stephenjones1380
      @stephenjones1380 2 місяці тому +1

      Yes, it's a barrel of laughs.

    • @a11oge
      @a11oge 2 місяці тому +1

      @@stephenjones1380 😂

  • @General813
    @General813 2 місяці тому +3

    A nice series, thank you for uploading 😊👍🏻

  • @domocullen2763
    @domocullen2763 2 місяці тому +3

    Fantastic old series it is

  • @bonadesign
    @bonadesign 2 місяці тому +2

    Enjoyed the talented Mr Ripley

  • @bobp7964
    @bobp7964 2 місяці тому +12

    This along with videos of Fred Dibnah bear witness to a sadly bygone age.

  • @GavinM161
    @GavinM161 2 місяці тому +4

    Fascinating.

  • @robertcotton9091
    @robertcotton9091 2 місяці тому +4

    Big thanks for sharing as always Mate :)

  • @jameshargan2786
    @jameshargan2786 2 місяці тому +4

    Thank you Mr Ripley! I did enjoy watching that. Amazing skills !

  • @DaveP668
    @DaveP668 2 місяці тому +3

    Speyside Cooperage is a fascinating place to visit. Very hard work and not something you can do for 40 years, but it is very well paid work if you can refresh a few thousand barrels a year - all on piece work rates.

  • @ferrumignis
    @ferrumignis 2 місяці тому +3

    Thank you for this fascinating video, I really enjoy watching craftsmen practice these almost lost skills.

  • @terrystokes7047
    @terrystokes7047 2 місяці тому +3

    Excellent; very interesting and informative episode; thank you

  • @petemoore5104
    @petemoore5104 2 місяці тому +1

    I own a Billhook, it was used for laying hedges.
    One edge would crack the branch so that you could lay it over and the other was for trimming branches.

  • @jumpfortyfour9965
    @jumpfortyfour9965 23 дні тому +6

    my grandad was a cooper

  • @bobmiller7502
    @bobmiller7502 Місяць тому +4

    reminds me of being a kid remember him on HOW? ok im 60 but only on the outside im thirteen and three quarters in my heart still
    im a BODGITER i still use all those hand tools and more be it chairs of gates or if you have the dosh bespoke handmade furniture any size any wood
    dont get the fine furniture much goto be in the big citys, thats NOT for me im a outdoors bob,with Mr TAO my chi we are living the dream,xxxxnever STOP loving ,,

  • @janwong9437
    @janwong9437 2 місяці тому +2

    How lovely to watch and will you be doing anymore? Thank you for sharing 👍

  • @slimjim227
    @slimjim227 Місяць тому +1

    I've always strung my onions on a length of thicker cord like washing line, by trying a big knot in the end, wrapping the onion stem around above the knot and laying the bulb of the onion over the stem to hold it in place, continue on upwards with each onion adding it's weight to the ones below to hold them in place. It's nice to see the proper way to do it though and I'll be doing it that way from now on. Thank you Jack.

  • @davidberlanny3308
    @davidberlanny3308 2 місяці тому +3

    This was a great episode. What a skill to be able to make a barrel.
    If you ever get the chance worth visiting the Gonzalez Byass winery in Jerez. They have giant barrels the older ones signed by people who have visited, such as Winston Churchill. Not sure who makes them. Most I think go to Scotland fir use in making Whisky!!
    All the best

  • @garybrownsword-xq1um
    @garybrownsword-xq1um 2 місяці тому +2

    nice

  • @judithmalan1502
    @judithmalan1502 19 днів тому +1

    So interesting❤❤❤😂
    Thank you very much...Vital skills...teaching patience, pattern, perseverance, and self-control...

  • @raymondpomfret4214
    @raymondpomfret4214 17 днів тому +2

    Great stuff, very interesting

  • @bobmiller7502
    @bobmiller7502 Місяць тому +4

    lovely watching the flow of that cooper skinning the inside barrel hardly any weight beautiful work a PROPER MASTER CRAFTSMAN, pity no ones following the trade still hardly
    witches teeth we could call them lol scratch stocks ish,,probable use a jigged out laminate trimmer now for the rebate one pass job done lol

  • @petemoore5104
    @petemoore5104 2 місяці тому +3

    He forms the top of the rivet with a tool called a dolly and I have a set of dolly's for rivet forming...

  • @iainclark5964
    @iainclark5964 25 днів тому +4

    billhooks, its flipping true I tell you!!!

  • @seanflewin9803
    @seanflewin9803 2 місяці тому +7

    Anyone know what tobacco jack smoked in his pipe

    • @ralphhayward4713
      @ralphhayward4713 Місяць тому +1

      Rich Dark Honeydew now called Rich Dark Spring Dew now produced by Gawith and Hoggarth

  • @markbeale7390
    @markbeale7390 2 місяці тому +3

    Rivet snap .

  • @MichealRandall-q2x
    @MichealRandall-q2x 2 місяці тому +13

    Ahh when England was English and all was well,people don’t know what a barrel is anymore,or even an onion for that matter

    • @jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering
      @jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering 4 дні тому

      I know what you mean , in Scotland we never had barrel makers or folk that stored Onions in this way , nor folk called Jack , nor country folk , nor horses and definitely no one called Ripley … so your quite right to insist more than once that it’s a purely English thing .. we don’t even have countryside in Scotland never mind auld pipe smokers 😳… thanks for letting us foreigners see that side of country life that can only be seen in England … 🙄
      … you’ll be a Brexit enthusiast right ?… 😆
      👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  • @garypointing5825
    @garypointing5825 2 місяці тому +2

    Just think how tough the skin on a coppers hands must have been. All the rubbing wood, pushing hoops into place etc

  • @casper1240
    @casper1240 2 місяці тому +1

    Mouseman Thompson used an Adze on his Oak furniture Tops as well

  • @Walter_Nepasky
    @Walter_Nepasky Місяць тому +2

    Is there a specific name for the style of flat cap Jack is wearing in the barrel mending part of the video? Its very hard to find flat caps in the modern world that have the same look and fit as the styles you see in these old England videos...

  • @iniquity123
    @iniquity123 2 місяці тому +10

    People today can't even change a wheel.....

  • @PetroicaRodinogaster264
    @PetroicaRodinogaster264 16 днів тому +2

    How did they stop or get out from the barrel any saw dust that went in when he was drilling the hole for the tap? Or did that just stay there sink to the bottom and provide extra flavour...?