Raking it in
This was no ordinary modern rake you’d expect Buckingham Palace to order by the dozen, but an all-wooden tool that looked handed down from the first King Charles
So, it’s a chilly, misty day in London and everyone (including my wife) is riveted to what’s going on at the entrance of Buckingham Palace. Everyone, that is, except one determined groundskeeper, and one guy in the crowd watching him intently. That would be me.
What held everyone else’s rapt attention was the approaching carriage of King Charles and Queen Camilla, returning from his speech at the opening ceremonies of Parliament. The groundskeeper was preoccupied with his raking. I was staring at his rake.
This was no ordinary modern rake you’d expect Buckingham Palace to order by the dozen, but an all-wooden tool that looked handed down from the first King Charles.
I’ve seen similar rakes in antique stores, and new ones being sold in Amish country, but never expected to see one in use at The Palace. I made a point to research it once back stateside, and Google didn’t let me down.
That particular tool is a “Rudd’s Rake,” a hay rake first produced by John Rudd in 1891 based on a design already centuries old. Members of the Rudd family have been making them ever since in Dufton, a small village in Cumbria in northern UK. The Rudd workshop has been around almost as long as the rake design itself, located in a red sandstone building constructed in 1632.
Made of ash with a steam-bent bow to keep the tool rigidly reinforced, the rake head features 16 teeth of silver birch. Each finished rake is about 6’ long, and 2-1/2’ feet wide at the head. They’re unexpectedly inexpensive, selling through a UK store for 45 pounds. (About $61)
While not as much in demand as in the 19th century, the family still turns out about 6,000 of them a year. Buckingham Palace uses them as their official rake supplier, along with many upscale golf courses throughout the UK.
Glad I got a chance to see that rake in action, another example of woodworking craftsmanship hiding in plain sight. Everyone (again, including my wife) went home talking about the King and Queen.; I came back with a story about a historic rake. I think I win.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
