MASTER COOPERS - beer barrels

Where does our surname come from ? - Cowle - a clay pot on top of a chimney, now what is a Cooper ?- here is a interesting version - We all have this in-born thing about our ancestors and where did we come from and what did our fore-fathers do generations ago. Well one of the family mysteries has been solved. Old man Cooper had a passion for wood-work which he passed onto Allan and the family tradition of wood-work lives on in Allan's daily work. Now we can see also where Shaun gets his love for a beer or two, another family tradition lives on.

This feature I watched on the BBC 1 world news at 10am today was extremely interesting and thought now this is something to share.

MASTER COOPER LOOKING FOR AN APPRENTICE
to carry on the old age tradition

He said: "Coopering is not just a dying trade it's already dead. There are only four breweries left who employ coopers in the country and I'm the only master.

"It's a proper old-fashioned, historic trade and if you don't have a natural ability for woodworking and skill with your hands then you can't learn it.

"I'm going to keep working as a master cooper until I'm dead but I'm very keen to pass on my knowledge to another generation.

"I have loved my career and have no regrets except that no one will carry it on.

Hopefully we will find an apprentice soon so that we are secure for the future.
to read up about the whole article then just click here