Married 'mesters' crafting knives in the shed

Steven and Kylie Cocker, described themselves as a "little mester" and a "lady mester".

Transcript

00:00yeah yeah it's just that we enjoy doing it and well that's how we work it too

00:08yeah and it's keeping the trade going and we both enjoy it so yeah no we like

00:14working together well we make bespoke old Sheffield patterns so we'll get like

00:25from an old pattern book pick a pattern we like to do and design it like draw

00:31around it make every single part and just recreate it the old traditional

00:36Sheffield way. Little Mester was someone who worked in a small little workshop

00:41similar to this but worked for did work for bigger firms so they were like like

00:47an out worker but they focus on say like making pocket knives or putting handles

00:53on knives grinding and then they do it for the bigger firms so they were like

00:57the Little Mesters the machines I've inherited from cutlers I've worked with

01:01I've saved them from the scrap so I've worked with various Little Mesters and

01:05when they've come to retire instead of just saying like get rid of it pass it on

01:10to me yeah it's a bit of both yeah yeah it's just that we enjoy doing it and well

01:17it's how we work it too yeah and it's keeping the trade going and we both enjoy it so yeah

01:24no we like working together in my family we've had knife makers silversmiths always

01:30working in Sheffield I think your family have as well yeah so we're still doing my

01:35family tree but my family's Haywood so I could be related to Joseph Haywoods who

01:40were knife makers as well and their emblem was a teapot well I liked it my dad used to

01:47run to workshop on Sylvester Street in an old cuddly works and I just enjoyed

01:52watching the old like people making scissors knife makers and it was just

01:56something I was just drawn to so I was about nine year old me and my dad made my

02:00first knife yeah I've made a few like exhibition knives one in particular I made

02:05they went on display in the Millennium in the in Kalamana Museum sadly stolen when

02:10they had a break in along with some others but that was a 14 piece like

02:16exhibition knife but I've made others for I made Tony capstick one who was a BBC

02:23radio Sheffield presenter and some other people I've made so yeah made quite a few

02:28for several people yeah I think it has yeah especially where we where we were we it

02:35used to be Eggington's and they've just been taken over by Durham Duplugs and

02:38they're focusing on traditional handmade knives all made in Sheffield and every

02:43part back again still done in Sheffield yeah I think they could I mean it's it'd be

02:49difficult to build up certain equipment that you'll be able to pick certain

02:53things up and it's get to know who you know but no if people are interested in

02:57there's there's many people out there will be able to help them to encourage

03:02them be inspired by Stan Shaw I knew Stan Shaw very well Trevor Ablett and then

03:09there's another guy called Frank Carr you were brilliant bow knife maker I've

03:12known them personally they've always I inspired me to to make knives