I was not sure what to expect when I went to J & FJ Baker. When I arrived I gathered the place was a very old traditional place, almost farm like. This traditional tannery was a very different environment to Pittards tannery. The place had so much more character and story to it. It almost reminded me of my secondary school, I was in the school for 4 years and they had plans to create a new modernised school and nock the old one down, I spent my final year of secondary school in the new school, yet all I remember was the old school, it had so much character and history and memories to it, entering this new modernised building felt like a totally different atmosphere. It wasn’t half as good as the old school, which was very traditional.
I was shown around by one of the craftsmen who worked there, he explained the full process from the cowhides arriving fresh from the UK with hair still on to the finished piece of leather.
Unlike Pittards using chemicals to produce the tan, J & FJ Baker used a traditional natural Oak Bark to tan with.
The process was still the same as the Pittards modernised tannery, however traditional methods where used. The rawhides where hung in pits of lime scale which acts as the mordant, they would stay here for a long time to ensure the mordant was fully absorbed. The hides then moved to the tanning process where the hides where hung again in pits, these pits where powered by a water wheel which made them tilt side to side slowly, this was to ensure the hides where equally getting the right amount of tanning either side. I thought the traditional idea of the water wheel powering the tannery pit was so much more interesting than a spraying facility or a electric powered tanning drum. Also the fact these hides are placed in the pits over a 12 month period, going through different stages of tanning levels, for example the hide would first be placed in a weak solution of oak bark dye, the dye in the next pits would then get stronger and stronger, then weaker and weaker in order for the hides to reach there full potential of quality tanning.
The wet tanned hides where than hung beautifully to dry over a period of time. I took lots of photographs or the hides hanging to dry which will inspire my design process. It was interesting to see the different ways of modern and traditional drying of the hides, Pittards used a compressing machine which is set to a very high temperature and evaporates all the liquid from the hide, where as the traditional tannery left the hides to dry naturally.
The man laid out a full cowhide, the neck, the back and the stomach to give me a rough idea of the size of a full hide. I was not expecting the hide to be so big after seeing Pittards factory; they mainly work with goat/sheep hides. He explained the leather is used for shoe soles as the leather it really tough and hardwearing.
The man who was showing me around worked on coating the leather to finish it off with a concoction of treatments such as raw linseed oil and wax polish. It was great to see these people used traditional everyday products to finish the hides than chemical treatment spray finishes which Pittards use.
The leather then goes through a traditional buffing machine, which requires skilled craftsmen.
The man kindly gave me a huge bag of oak bark to try tanning for my self!
Overall this visit was very different to the modernised tannery. I am so happy I got the opportunity to visit both to see how modernisation has evolved. I am much more inspired by the traditional tannery visit therefore I will focus on using the traditional research images to inspire the design process and develoment.
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