FINCH Foundry in Sticklepath opened for its new season on Saturday — thanks to the delicate and difficult replacement of the 4 tonne piece of wooden shaft, it will be back giving visitors to the property demonstrations of this unique piece of engineering. At the heart of the forge are two massive trip hammers providing the power driven by a huge waterwheel to the forge which would have, in its day, produced upwards of 400 high-quality 'edge- tools' designed for cutting per day. The power from this waterwheel is transferred to two hammers via a huge wooden shaft, which unfortunately, after some sixty years finally succumbed to decay. Teams of National Trust staff began putting the new wheel shaft made from English oak, in place earlier this year. Finding a piece of wood that large was no small feat in itself. Roger Boney, National Trust custodian for Finch Foundry said: 'We are delighted the foundry is once again back in working order. 'It has been a mammoth task to get it all ready in time. 'Putting a four tonne piece of wood in place was not a simple or quick job! 'I know I'm biased but it's a fantastic property to visit, something quite out of the ordinary and I would recommend it to anyone.' Originally run by the Finch family, Finch Foundry was capable of producing upwards of 400 tools per day and helped the family establish a business that became famed throughout the Westcountry. The hammers weighing three quarters and one and a quarter tons respectively were purchased second hand by the Finch family around 1820 and are thought to date from the eighteenth century and are the last survivors of their kind in England. The foundry remained in the family's hands until 1960, when lack of maintenance and the heavy vibrations generated by those massive hammers, caused the rear wall of the foundry to collapse. The foundry was finally restored as a working museum, saved by Richard Barron and a team of volunteers, and was finally given to the National Trust in 1994 by the Dartmoor Museums Association.
