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The story of Yorick
the salmon
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The display in this room is a presentation
of the life-cycle of the salmon, for which the river Sée is
famous.
Among the best salmon rivers in France, the Sée provides an
average of 400 fish each year i.e. 2/3 of the salmon of Basse-Normandie
and 10 % of the national annual catch.
The
life-cycle
In the three months after fertilisation, the egg salmon remains in
the spawning area.
After birth the “ fry ” (new-born salmon), leave the spawning
area for the main waters where they develop in size, strenght and
agility. The majority, however, fall victim to predators at this stage,
but a few survive.
When spring begins, the “ tacon ” (young salmon) move to
sections of the river where strong current brings them food.
Here the young salmon matures and begins the process of physical and
behavioural change which will equip it for migration and life in salt
water (smolt). Gradually it moves downstream, gaining strength constantly,
until it joins the sea of Mont-Saint-Michel and begins its ocean crossing
to the feeding grounds off the south-west coast of Greenland.
I was born in the Sée… waters. But I really
became an adult fish in salt water when I started a long and dangerous
journey towards the icy waters of Greenland (the journey takes between
one and three years). During these years, I ate my favourite food
: shrimps which gives me my pretty pink complexion and my weight increased
by a hundred.
But what is most amazing to scientists is the fact that I can find
my way alone back to the Sée in order to breed. I rely on my
memory and sense of smell. I neither need map nor compass !
I am a migratory fish which can be angled as I swim
upstream to the spawning areas where I was born. I am called “
spring ” salmon if I spend over a year in salt waters (I can
reach up to one meter or more for 8 kilogrammes weight), or “
smolt ” (castillon or saumoneau) when I spend only one winter
in salt waters, this limits my size to 70 cm maximum. Angling is controlled
and surveyed by the Water Police and the High Council for fishing.
I am one of the few fish that is angled before it breeds and the mimimum
size for catching me is 50 cm. As for the trick of catching me, that
depends on the expertise of each angler since I stop eating when I
swim upstream to the spawning grounds. Everything lies in the art
of locating me and the skill of the angler to tease me.
So eventually I will grab the hook and the bait not from hunger but
from aggravation.
During the final stage of its life-cycle, the mature
salmon returns to the river of its birth to breed. Afterwards most
of the adult salmon die, the females from the effort of spawning,
the males from injuries received while fighting other males. By the
time they are found dying on the banks, the eggs the have laid are
already developing. Thus the life-cycle continues.
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In the
days of paper making
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Beginning on the right-hand side of
the room, this section is devoted to the famous industry associated
with the Sée valley : paper making. c.1828, more than 70 paper
mills were operational in the Brouains valley between Chérencé-le-Roussel
and Sourdeval.
Throughout centuries my ancestors witnessed the building
of dozens of watermills. These mills were sometimes equipped with
two or three wheels. So many obstacles to jump ! Fortunately my species
was given a naturally powerful spring and I can spring up to 3.50
m high.
Paper making out of rotten rags was one of the famous industries associated
with the Sée Valley. In 1810, 93 paper mills were recorded
in the Mortain area, giving work to 448 workers and producing 84 200
reams of paper. Can you imagine how hard and noisy that work must
have been !
Everything starts with shredding
When they were first brought to the mill, rags often of hemp, flax
linen or cotton were washed, cut out and sorted. This work was done
by women, then the rags were taken to rot in a stamping trough. They
were watered and beaten for 8 to 10 days in order to get an even fermentation.
The duration of this process was important for the quality of paper
because if the rotting process was too long it increased highly the
amount of waste.
The stamping trough
Rotten rags were beaten constantly with hammers operated by water
wheel in granite vats, torn to shreds and become frayed. The process
could take from 6 to 12 hours and produced the pulp.
The “ gouverner ”, a paper worker, surveyed the process,
and estimated whether the pulp was thin enough. Then it was placed
in the “ opening vat ” (a wooden vat).
The mould
The mould is a rectangular wooden frame across which copper or brass
strings are tightened at regular intervals. The watermark, which is
a brass string representing a shape or letters, is sawn on the lattice
work. It is the trademark of the paper maker.
The making of the sheet
“ The opener ” dipped the mould into the pulp and shaked
it softly from right to left and left to right until it was spread
evenly into the surface of the mould. The water oozed out of the seive,
which gave the pulp a consistency.
“ The closer ”, another worker, took the mould, peeled the
sheet from the mould and placed it on a piece of felt. Both opener
and closer could make up to 7 or 8 sheets a minute. A pile of 500
sheets, which was called a ream, was ready to get compressed in the
press.
Once they were taken under the press, the sheets were
taken up to the drying rooms, they were vast rooms, often lofts, where
the hanging lines, often made of lime tree, were hung from the parts
of frame work of the roof. After they were dried, the sheets were
collected by women and taken to be stuck.
When it is dry the sheet absorbs water. So it was necessary to coat
its surface with glue. After that it needed to be taken again to the
press in order to extract the excess of glue. At last, the sheets
were smoothed out (the remaining rough or dirty bits removed). Finally
the paper was sent to Rouen, Paris or Saint-Malo for printing.
The team composed of “ the opener ” and
“ the closer ” were the core of the activities at the mill.
Their specific expertise gave them a strong power over the other paper
workers. The women looked after all the finishing off. In their work
they were helped by children. The working conditions were hard at
the mill : workers were often busy working in the glimmering light
of candles, they had their hands in water most of the time and they
often slept in the premices in a damp atmosphere. The working day
started very early, between midnight and 2 : 00 a.m and finished at
midday or 2 : 00 p.m which made it possible for men to work on the
farm after that. The workers called “ of the courtyard ”,
those who worked outside didn’t work at night. They were mechanics,
joiners and shredders.
Paper making here virtually ceased after 1890 but
by 1920 the vats and water power were being put to new uses by cutlers
who used them to cut out, shape and stamp their products on the presses
seen here.
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The
cutlery making workshop
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On the left-hand side of the room are
displayed items connected with the cutlery industry.
I am Yorick the salmon and I know the fragility of pewterware.
That is why a lot of industries from the valley, following the example
of the Picard-Bazin firm, turned to making cutlery out of steel.
The two Bliss presses and the balance wheel which were driven by the
force of water were used in making cutlery. They were all brought from
the Rochefort mill in Tinchebray (Orne).
In order to prevent pewter cutlery from breaking it was made stronger
by introducing a steel wire inside the mould on top of which a foundry
worker poured a soft alloy made of 72 % pewter, 18 % antimony (to make
it stronger) and 10 % lead. This technique was used by the main cutlery
making firms until the 1940 s.
The vat displayed on the left hand side was used to melt pewter, its
sides are made of fire resistant bricks. In its lower part was set a
system of pipes which brought the heat. And 8 holes were pierced in
the bottom of the vat.
Most of the time the foundry workers wives worked at
the factory as “ scrapers ” : with the help of a file they
used to scrape off the extra bits of cutlery after melting. And they
used to take each piece of cutlery out of the mould and put it into
wooden boxes.
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The mills of the Brouains
valley in 1864
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The decline in the paper industry of the valley was
most marked between 1860-1870.
Though a few mills turned to textiles, flour milling or the making of
pewter, most settled on steel. Before this time, metal industries, numerous
but small-scale, were found elsewhere in the district but, as demand
increased, manufacturers set up larger units in the former paper mills.
The model shows the valley as it was in 1864 and it can be seen that
though there were many paper mills, some had closed down. The distribution
of metal works, textile mills and flour mills is also shown.
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In the days of bellows
making
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From 1907 to the middle of the 60s, the Levallois Brothers
manufactoring business was set here at the mill and they made industrial
and domestic bellows.
The machine displayed here was called “ a pencil sharpener or a
bell ” and it gave a cone shape to the mouth piece on which the
nozzle was fixed.
Then the worker pierced three holes in the central part in order to
place a valve which was to be, once set up, the soul of the bellows
(it was a leather valve in which air is held back and then released
through an exhaust nozzle). And lastly, the bellows were stored in a
drying room where they finished drying and got their colours.
As you can see on the displayed bellows the most common decoration in
the valley was a “ rosette ”. The decoration also called “
flowering ” was made by a woman who workows were stored in a
drying room where they finished drying and got their colours.
As you can see on the displayed bellows the most common decoration in
the valley was a “ rosette ”. The decoration also called “
flowering ” was made by a woman who worked at home. The only tool
she used was a compass. She started by drawing the big outside circle
with a gigsaw compass.
Then she drew the inside decoration. The leaves alone were carved with
a gouge.
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In the
days of cutlery making
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On the left-hand side the display of knives
shows the traditional skills which already existed in the area. Cod knives
were something of a local speciality.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century the decline
in the paper industry brought numerous metal industries in the valley.
They had been in the Sourdeval area since at least the seventeenth century
as there were a lot of pewter potters around. Those pewter potters were
called “ grillous ”. “ Grillous ” have remained
very dear to my heart of migratory fish. In the spring “ grillous
” went from village to village carrying their workshop, made of
a charcoal forge, a workbench and a vice, a granite vat, the tools,
the moulds and the raw material.
The tinsmith or “ grillou ” collected the broken pewter cutlery
and made new forks and spoons out of the broken pieces. Each piece of
cutlery was moulded in a simple brass mould (displayed here) which was
sprayed with a mixture of sanguine (a kind of red iron oxyde) and of
soda silicate. This spraying prevented the mould from getting tinned
(which means covered in pewter).
Then the piece of cutlery was roughly scraped with a knife and it was
polished with a buffing wheel. It is displayed near the cutlery making
workshop.
By the end of the century, however, technical developments
using water power made the work labour and machine intensive.
Many manufacturers opened workshops in the valley and early this century
its six factories were responsible for 12 % of the national cutlery
output. To protect it from tarnishing, tin was poured over the steel
core. This was the hey-day of steel production. However, futher technical
changes were about to occur.
The process for making stainless steel cutlery was introduced c. 1930.
After 1945, all manufacturers turned to stainless steel
and the phenomenal success of Guy Degrenne began. By one simple process
the cutlery was shaped and stamped with the dye stamp.
There are one cutlery factory in the Sourdeval area : Lebrun.
Stainless steel cutlery Have a look at the display cabinet
dealing with “ how a spoon and a fork are made ”. The raw
material (raw stainless steel) is brought to the factory in the shape
of stainless steel sheets.
The cutting of spoons and forks is made piece by piece and these pieces
are produced as “ flans ”. Then they are laminated (flattened)
so as to give them the required thickness and “ détourés
” (surplus bits of steel were removed) in order to get the required
shape.
During the stamping process called “ estampage ” a mould-matrix
(displayed in this showcase) gives the piece of cutlery its volume and
its decoration according to the style of the model. For forks another
process is necessary, that is cutting out between the prongs, then speculum
and prongs are stamped and the arching process is made at the same time
as the decoration.
The finishing off : coating with emery (buff wheeling in order to remove
any fault), polishing, trimming, controlling and packaging finish the
manufacturing cycle.
The most sophisticated techniques mixed with skills
inherited from past generations, such is the skill of the engraver.
He makes the decoration which is intaglio engraved on a stamping die.
An original matrix is engraved first : it is used as a standard for
the numerous matrix made for the production. Once engraved all dies
are hardened. They are made more resistant through firing.
A lot of tools are used by the engraver : hammers, scribers, gravers,
small chisels, burin, rifflers, files, compass and emeri or diamond
powder. One or two months are required to acquire all the tools necessary
for the making of a new model. The engraver’s skill is essential
to the creation of new models.
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Water and mills
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In this room we show the evolution of the
technology for harnessing the energy and force of water. The chain pump.
This is the earliest ancestor of the water-mill and devices of this sort
first appeared in Syria and China c. 2000 years ago.
Driven by the flow of the river, these devices were
used to raise water for irrigation purposes.
The development of the mill wheel in its modern form occured very slowly
until the 18th century Industrial revolution when French and English
engineers devised efficient ways to extract maximum power from minimum
amounts of water.
The three main types of wheel to be developed could be adapted to the
variations in local water supply. Left example :
- The undershot Wheel. This was worked by the force of water strinking
the blades as it passed under the wheel.
- Middle example : The overshot Wheel. The blades are replaced by long
buckets, so that the weight of a little water turns the wheel.
- Right example : The breast Wheel. Water is directed at the mid-point
of the wheel.
Finally, at the back of the room on the right-hand side, we display
the French Water Turbine system which replaced the English steam engine
for manufacturing purposes.
Two steam engines are shown : the first is an upright
engine of the double action type, and the second : a horizontal steam
engine.
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Water cycle in a mill
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Water race : water reservoir which is the power supply.
Overfall : regulating device (dam or level) situated upstream of the
mill and equipped or not with sluicing. It enables the divertion towards
the factory of the amount of water necessary (and legal) to its working.
The water which is not used (when the mill is stopped or because of
flooding) returns to the river through a tail-race.
Head-race : a branch canal man made which drives water from the reservoir
to the overfall up to the water race. It can be made of wood, granite
or concrete.
Sluice valve : this is placed across the water race immediately upstream
of the water fall and it permits the modulation of the flow in order
to work the wheel and put the devices into motion.
Tail-race : a canal which receives the water which has just driven the
wheel. It leads this water back to the natural stream where it belongs.
On its way, sometimes in several kilometres, it may supply water for
the wheels of other mills.
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Forge of Guy Degrenne’s
father
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At the top of the stairs may be seen
the original forge installed here in 1933 by Emile Degrenne who bought
the old factory of Lemonnier-Lenicolais des “ Vallées
” and adapted it for the production of hardware and ironmongrey.
In 1940, his son Guy Degrenne, took over and began the manufacture
of cutlery which has made his name a household word.
Now, let’s go to the projection
room.
If you wish to follow Yorick’s tracks, a pedagogical tour is
mapped out along the river the Sée. Start from the museum car
park.
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