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Download audio/visual 'Tegg's Nose From Your Armchair Track 6'
The text below is a transcript of Track 6 of the walk.
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One of the local farmers, Will Slack worked at the quarry as a young man and here he is talking about his life then:
Will – Now I started work with the Highs of Bailey. He was a Stone Dresser. It was the first day and with a chisel, I broke one of his kerbs in half, yeah we did street kerbs which was you know, 10 inches deep and five inches wide.
Ian – Did the stone come out of the quarry here? (dog barks) |
Will – Oh yes, where your car park is, the bottom car park.
Ian – Oh yes, that was a big hole there.
Will – Yeah, because of the crane at the top, steam crane.
Ian – Near Windy Way House?
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Will – Well, on this side of the hole, straight up to the crane, because when they were loading stone for Bollington, because it’s better stone, good stone, it went for monumental. The windy way blue stone which you got lower down was a bluey colour and they cut what they call logs out of that and it went to Bollington to be sawn for you know, grave stones and such like and we got the rough pieces to make the kerb sets, anything that was ordered you see.
Ian – How long did it take to make a kerb set?
Will – Well, you got your lump of stone was tipped off. There was a metal line down from the crane coming down to towards where your office door is and there was a turntable there and it came along and there was a metal line all the way along to nearly to the top of saddler’s way and they put the stone on your trolley and just tip it off and just cut it up with your wedges into the rough shapes of whatever you were cutting. You’ve seen these holes on the stone haven’t you, there’s some on the gate outside, you did it with your pick at the top and cut your kerb out roughly. |
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Ian – What about the winter?
Will – Well it was rough up there, with the wind and you couldn’t work the stone when it was frosty.
Ian – How long did it take you to make a kerb set?
Will – Well, good lads I worked with after could make eight a day. My maximum speed was about five a day.
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Well, I hope you enjoyed this walk, please pass on this recording to a friend as they might find it interesting, even if they can’t make the walk themselves. When you get back to the centre, or you sit in the comfort of your own home, you may wish to find out the true story of how Tegg’s Nose got it’s name and hear some of the local Wallers playing the Tegg’s Nose song. Earlier this year, they performed live at an international folk festival, or was it somebody’s front room?
Anyway, thank you for coming with me today, I’ve really enjoyed it and I hope you did too… goodbye. |
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