The farm workshop was originally used as a stable to house the horses which pulled the chaise (a lightweight cart used by the family to go to market). Their tack cupboard (harness for the horses) was fixed to the wall over where the large lathe tailstock is now. The tack cupboard, with many of its original contents, is at present located at the north end of the cowshed. It is not known when the horses and tack cupboard were moved out.
The farmer, Jeff Hawkins, found he needed workshop space to work metal in association with the silo project (see details elsewhere on this site) and the room in the photos is the room he chose for it. He blanked off the doorway into what is now the Museum Meeting Room (at that time it was stabling for draught horses) and opened up a new doorway at the rear, into a second workshop. The two rooms together became the farm workshop, and increasingly mechanical maintenance of all types was carried out in there.
The first equipment acquired was oxy-acetylene welding and cutting gear (regrettably no longer with us). This was followed soon afterwards by the second hand lathe, drill and a double wheel grinder, all powered by an electric motor via belts and line shafting typical of the pre-war era. The grinder has been moved elsewhere on the site in favour of a second, smaller lathe of the same period. An attempt is being made to preserve the workshop as Jeff Hawkins built it, whilst continuing to use the equipment for restoration and maintenance work in the museum.
The electrical system in the workshops was well past its' sell by date' and had to be completely restored. This led inevitably to some loss of character of the workshops, but attempts have been made to minimise this.