Shepherd Wheel

Here is the Shepherd Water Wheel in action, its now a grade 11 listed building in Sheffield, and is fully restored and reopend recently with generous donations from the public, and lottery funding too. The life of a grinder,It can be hard for todays visitors to Shepherd Wheel to appreciate the conditions in which grinders lived and worked. Fortunately two short accounts by two men at work at the whell in 1864 have come down to us today, giving insite into the harsh conditions and their dramatic impact on the health of the grinders. "I am sure something ought to be done for grinders, They dont live long, One is an old man at 40. The places are so cold and the work makes such a draught, that it is very dangerous when you have been sweating. I am pretty well myself. I began work at 9 years old, but i gi'ed over a bit and went to school,and did not begin fully till 12, i'm now 44. There are some terrible grinding places in town. I have had a stone fly with me once or twice it would very likely throw you into the cogwheels there, with all the machinery it is a very dangerous working at night as we have only candles. I scarely ever work after dark myself. "

Bengamin Wildgoose, shoe knife grinder,

"I Began work at 10 years old, and I am now 54, once caught my apron on the axle, and thrown down. Have had five or six stones break into my life, but I have had good luck, and was never much hurt. Call 10 hours a long days work eight hours is enough for a grinder to work. it is very injurious to health. "

Samuel Hind, grinder.