Fleaming Knife from Burton-on -Trent

It ws a very common practice to bleed horses. It was thought to increase their performance. The knife was tapped into the neck vein with a wooden mallet. It was swifly done and the incision was small and then an amount of blood would be let out. This knife and sharpening stone came from the Brewery in Burton-on-Trent, circa Early 20th century possibly late 19th century. donated by Maggie Bolderson.

Maggie Bolderson’s husband, Nigel was employed by Bass Brewery, Burton-on-Trent, in the 1080’s. He was asked to clear out, sort out, update, and record some old warehouse site of the then Bass Museum. This included the wonderful stables and yard where the Bass Shires were kept. Much had already been thrown into skips. He saw a knife in a skip and thought it was a pen knife of sorts and he knew as I was an art teacher and calligrapher, I would be interested in it. This is how it came to be saved. How sad to think of all the other wonderful items from the museum could have been saved and have now gone forever.