There is something strangely satisfying about using the right tool for a certain job. And the tools that create this feeling didn’t happen by accident — they have been shaped, honed and altered over centuries through daily use.
To get to this point hasn’t been easy, but tools formed a key part of man’s evolution, allowing us to reach the heady heights of the top of the food chain. The ability to use tools multiplied our strengths and minimised our weaknesses. Killing an animal with a spear was much easier (and most likely safer) than with your bare hands, and chopping down a tree to make shelter was only possible with the aid of tools.
The oldest tool to have been discovered, aged 2.6 million years, was a stone axe in Ethiopia. Although this early axe would be a far cry from what we use now, the very fact that even a child would recognise it for what it is shows what importance hand tools still have in our modern society and to those who use them.
As ever more jobs become automated, hand tools will still have their place. An excavator might be the best way to dig footings for a house, but there will always be a banksman with a shovel or a spade to tidy up the trench. A tree surgeon might use a chainsaw to chop down a tree in a suburban garden, but you can bet your bottom dollar that a landscaping rake will be used on the clear up.
You have to use the right tool for the job, though, and that can create some real tool pedants out there in terms of the people who use them every day. If you’ve ever corrected anyone for saying a spade when they should have said a shovel, you’re probably among them!
Denne historien er fra October 2020-utgaven av Country Smallholding.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra October 2020-utgaven av Country Smallholding.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Secret World Of The Honey Bee
Who knew that honey bees are the best builders? Nicola Bradbear from Bees for Development reveals how they build their parallel wax combs with extraordinary accuracy
Tip the light fantastic
The latest offering from Ifor Williams Trailers is the Single Axle Tipper, which is simply perfect for small-scale farmers
The legacy of The Good Life
The Good Life captured the public’s imagination when it first aired in 1975. On Country Smallholding’s 45th birthday, Jeremy Hobson looks at this and other programmes with a self-sufficiency slant that have captivated urban and rural dwellers alike over nearly half a century
‘The hens took shelter under the pig trailer in the paddock'
A tree Armageddon frightens poultry diarist Julian Hammer’s flock and leaves him with a mammoth clear-up job
Tools of the trade
In the second part of his mini-series on tools that are useful around the holding, Kevin Alviti takes an in-depth look at the iconic scythe, a thistle paddle and forks that were once virtually indispensable to small-scale farmers
The nightclub bouncer of the sheep world
Adam Henson waxes lyrical about the Texel, which boasts such a stocky body that it resembles a box of muscle on four legs
Buying on a tight budget
As demand for smallholdings increases and prices continue to rise, is there a way to achieve your dream without forking out a fortune? In the first part of a new mini-series, Liz Shankland explores the possibilities
Crazy for crafts
In an ordinary back garden and single paddock near Kidderminster, Kay Dalloway has created both a thriving smallholding and a successful fibre business — all while working full time for the NHS. Helen Babbs drops by to find out about her ventures
Game on
A little preparation in the autumn months will help to make the transition into winter smoother and put your garden and tools on a better footing come the spring, says Stephanie Bateman
1975 And All That
Country Smallholding is 45 this month. To celebrate, Jeremy Hobson takes a look at some of the changes — both good and bad — to small-scale farming over that near half-century
