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Lottery grant puts tools on show
A HISTORIC collection of tools which is largely inaccessible to the public is to go on show in buildings to be renovated at a cost of almost £600,000.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has put up the money for renovation of derelict buildings at the Kelham Island industrial museum in Sheffield.
They will be used to house the Hawley Collection, which was brought together by Sheffield tool merchant Ken Hawley who recognised that many of the industrial techniques used in Sheffield metal working industries were fast disappearing.
The collection, which is regarded as internationally important, is housed at Sheffield University but public access is restricted.
Now Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust has been given 595,000 to renovate buildings at Kelham Island to provide a permanent home for the collection.
The buildings form part of the former Russell Works, where tools were manufactured.
The museum was badly affected by last year's floods and is closed to the public during restoration.
Among the unusual artefacts in the Hawley Collection are a special hammer used to flatten saw blades, using a combination of 300 strikes at different angles, a device to cut the teeth into file blades and the world's first steel tape measure.
Exhibits also chart the history of the Stanley knife.
Aside from tools, Mr Hawley also amassed a large collection of trade catalogues and gathered film footage of the tools in use.
Fiona Spiers, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "Few people realise that Sheffield was not only a major producer of steel but also of tools used to shape the environment around us.
"Our latest grant will reveal the story of this intriguing industry captured by the Hawley Collection and add a new dimension to the wealth of industrial heritage at Kelham Island Museum."
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