Beer Will Help Your Shake: the Recollections of a Ninety-two Year Old Papermaker

“In 1988 I went to England to meet Cyril Finn, a retired hand papermaker who had worked at the vat his whole life, to learn the motions of the ‘papermaker’s shake.’ After the interview I asked if there were any other old papermakers around. He replied, ‘If you want to meet a really old papermaker you should go up to Wookey Hole and meet Harry Glanville, the man who trained me.’ I found Harry, who was then 92, in a rest home in Wells. Harry could not answer my questions, but he could tell a good story, which I tape-recorded and on returning home I transcribed…the transcribed interview is printed on Wookey Hole handmade paper.” – Peter Thomas