Millstone Dresser - Thomas Devey (1977)

Thomas Devey spent all his employed life at Worsbrough Mill near Barnsley and was at the time of filming retired. The film shows him demonstrating the craft of millstone dressing which is ‘the act of cutting, then maintaining the pattern of furrows and flat lands between them which sit on the grinding faces on the millstones’. Although his trade served flour milling, dressing stone in this manner was also relevant to other trades across South Yorkshire.
One of the series of South Yorkshire County Council sponsored films commissioned from Sheffield Independent Film and the Sheffield City Polytechnic to document ‘little mester’ trades. This film was No.4 in the series entitled 'Trades & Crafts'.
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[@scrimdog3328]

Honest work for honest men. Privileged to now have this memory 👊💪

[@tonywatson987]

Heartbreaking to see Thomas struggling with his Parkinson's to cut the grooves accurately - but he sticks at it, despite the shakiness of his grip, good on him!

[@andrewschrotenboer9445]

My grandfather used to work in the DeZwaan windmill where he occasionally dressed the stones for milling. First American miller of the mill in 1965.