Medieval Nail

 In my post of December 12th 2009 I wrote about a lump of Oak I'd been given which had come from the restoration of York Minster.  Yesterday I decided to make some Medieval style spoons with it.  You can hardly call it green woodwork when the wood may be 800 years old!
In the evening as I was clearing up I was dismayed to discover a chip in the edge of my Gransfors carving axe - couldn't think how it had got there.

I discovered the culprit this morning...

...a medieval nail hammered into that beam hundreds of years ago and concealed by the charring.

I'll have to regrind the axe and remember to use a froe next time I'm working old timber.  The Oak looks gorgeous though and not as hard to work as I'd expected.

George Leslie Fawcett 1924-2010

My Dad passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday.

Hard to put my feelings into words but he will be sorely missed by all those that he knew and loved.

At his 86th Birthday Party in January 2010

As a young man in the RAF