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Wheelwright

1970 , March (Cambridgeshire)

Cat no. 700

A portrait of a wheelwright working in the fens.

The film opens with shots of Tom James at work in his workshop dismantling a wheel. The commentary explains that Tom was apprenticed to his father in 1919. At the time there were up to 60 wheels per week to repair. This varied according to the agricultural season. World War II changed the wheelwright's job.Tom James works on the hub of the wheel, and then on the six ash fillers that make the rim. He is filmed shaping and fitting oak spokes. These are measured with callipers. Tom is also an undertaker and there is film of a company employee, not him personally, making a coffin. The sound track is of the Fenland Singers of which Tom is a member, singing baritone. He measures the iron tyre. This should be 1 inch smaller than the rim. It is expanded in a fire, fitted to the rim and then cooled with water. Children watch from the street.

Keywords

Fenland; heritage crafts; rural life

Other Places

March

Background Information

In Kelly's directory for Cambridgeshire in 1929, George James is listed as a carpenter and joiner working from premises on The Causeway.

Manifestations

Wheelwright

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