Two Spades.

Quite boring, but to me a reminder of my father who was born in 1892 and died in 1971. He worked outside all his life doing various jobs mainly in agriculture and farming. He had scarlet fever as a child and was deemed unfit for war service during ww1, something he never understood. He worked the land with horses, ploughing etc. During the second world war he was employed as a grave digger at a large cemetery on the outskirts of Liverpool, these were busy times.
Getting back to the above blip, the spade on the left was the one he wore out at work. The right hand one was a replacement which he used as a gardener in the final 20 odd years of his working life. I still use this spade in our garden.
These spades were manufactured in Wigan, one is stamped Bulldog, the other Wm Parr Wigan. They were designed for use in light sandy soil, and were referred to locally as Formby delving spades.
I wonder how many people these days would wear out two spades in their life time? He always said the worn out spade "Has buried many a hundred".

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